What would an ideal autism charity do? What programmes or help would it offer? What research would it fund? What would be its purpose? Would it be a volunteer organization solely or have paid staff? If they were paid, how much would they be paid?
Please make your list.
I think The Autism Acceptance Project focus alot on making it easier for autistics to get into work.
Maybe it should support serious research into whether popular alternative treatments are usefull or not, that way parents may not have to spend all their money on something that later may turn out to have been indifferent. It may promote scepticism towards alternative practioneers so that organisations like DAN! who sometimes promotes overly negative views of autism get weakened. Promoting acceptance by removing what may cause stigma.
1. Social skills classes.
2. Free or very cheap counseling, over the phone or in person.
3. Either free/very cheap diagnostic services or free professional opinion/referral to a specialist.
4. Possibly daycare for autistic kids/kids of autistics? I know parents sometimes complain that normal daycare centers can't handle their kids differences.
5. Seminars on good parenting for autistic kids.
6. Training to help people get jobs- this would include how to do a good job interview, how to interpret things a boss might commonly say to you, how coworkers will expect you to act, etc.
7. Place to get together with friends/hang out with fellow autistics.
8. Organize APD celebrations, demonstrations, awareness programs, etc.
9. NT training course, to help the everyday person understand autism better for whatever reason they might want to.
10. Send speakers to give talks to students about autism.
Oh, one more:
11. Fund research into therapies, technology, or other things that might provide REAL assistance to autistics.
I was wondering if my city could arrange it so that children and adolescents on the spectrum could meet up every week for activities. It would be nice with something more organised and less stressfull than e.g. a once in a year Pizza dinner party.
I'm going to art classes (that's not how I learn to draw however) on wednesdays and find that a comfortable situation to socialize without pressure as I can participate in the conversations others are doing whenever I want.
Provide assistive services like housecleaning on a regular or as-needed basis.
Teach life skills like cooking, paying bills, going shopping, etc.
Can a charity do all that?
I'm personally just wondering what a charity organisation may do with great impact without it demanding too much money.
I bet you people don't like the thought of something like a Cure Autism Now pity-propoganda fundraising, but I bet that is currently the most effective way of getting attention and collecting money from the public.
So before a neurodiversity-based-or-whatever charity organisation could do anything big there should probably be a set way to marked it.
There may still be some pity in the advertisement, but to make it more acceptable to more people it should probably not be pity for people's autism, but pity based on a lack of services that would change their lives dramatically in a better direction.
I suggest that an ideal autism charity would focus as many efforts on helping adults and teenagers with the condition as it does on younger children.
I wonder if offline autistic communities might give alot of the things you've mentioned maybe for less money than otherwise. Things like advice and practical assistance. Don't be too quick to think utopia here, I was thinking more of something like close contact.
I wonder if an autism charity could help organize something like that.
Telling them a way that might help you better might help them help you more efficiently than telling your diagnosis, which they probably don't know much about anyway.
But I don't know what kinds of problems you face in the shops anyway.
I was thinking of a model of organization to use for an ideal autism charity. I was thinking about AA. They are self funding and all mostly volunteers. They provide one-to-one mentoring and weekly support meetings. Some aspects of their organization are useful and others I would reject as not being helpful to people with autism.
I am tired of waiting for someone to do something? I do not like the feeling of helplessness or hopelessness. Could we organize ourselves to help each other? Would that be feasible?
A charity that helps orgnaize a community of autistic people who together try to marked themselves in the working marked.
A charity that helps orgnaize a community of autistic people who together try to marked themselves in the working marked.
Do you mean "A charity that helps organize a community of autistic people who together try to market themselves in the working market"? So you want help for getting jobs?
Not sure if you use the word "working marked" in English, but I was thinking about something to make autistic people less scary for employees.