Aspies For Freedom

Well, probably not *ours*...  

  From their e-mail:

    "World Autism Awareness Day, April 2, will celebrate the unique talents and skills of persons with autism. In recognition of this event and Autism Awareness Month, we will be showcasing the writing of talented individuals on the autism spectrum on our website. Please send your short stories, poetry, and song lyrics to 'editors' @ their site for consideration. Autism Speaks reserves the right to edit contributions for space, style and content. Because of the volume of submissions expected, not all can be published on the site."

  Just as a supposition, what if *we* were to flood them with writing that *really* celebrated our 'unique talents and skills'?

  Here's a little example:

    Johnny goes to Rotenberg, he gets shocked every day,
    Johnny goes to Rotenberg, of course he has no say,
    I think it's just because he sneezed,
    But Israel is really pleased,
    It satisfies his own disease,
    Of course, he'll never say...

  Get creative!!!  

  -BobB

I know that's a standard thing to say but... coming from THEM, I read it as "Austism Speaks plans to pick only letters that sound like the views we want to project.. and it reserves the right to change what they say and put words in the mouths of autistics... because Autism Speaks knows best"

I liked your poem

silky,
  Of course that's what Autism Speaks wants to do!

  And that gives us the ammunition to criticize them for showing *only* their side!  

  Glad you liked the poem, too!  

  -BobB

You don't think that we should send them writings that show a positive view of neurodiversity, and not bash Autism Speaks? I am not a fan of that organization, but it seems like they might be finally recognizing the voice of those on the spectrum, so we should send them genuine submissions. However, I am also worried about how they may select and edit the submissions. A website where they can be posted in their original form seems like a good idea. However, we know that they are not going to post anything that bashes an organization, so what will that accomplish?. Am I just being naieve?

aspiemama,
  Naive? Not in the least.  

  What AS is more than likely going to do is to present writing that promotes *their* point of view, by their *hand-picked* 'creative autistics'. Thus, it behooves us to have a comparison available.

  Here's a story that's a little more subtle...

    (I'm making it up as I go, by the way)

  The Turtle

  Once Upon A Time, there was a Turtle. He lived his Turtle life, did all the Turtle things, and was generally happy in a Turtle kind of way.

  One day, Mr. & Mrs. Patron were walking down the road, when they saw the Turtle.

  "Look at the Turtle," exclaimed Mr. Patron, "See how slowly he moves!"

  "Yes," Mrs. Patron agreed, "It must be because of his shell!"

  "Undoubtedly," Mr. Patron replied, "If we took his shell away, he could run free like all the other animals!"

  And so, Mr. and Mrs. Patron took the Turtle home with them; once home, they delicately removed the cumbersome shell, and voila! They had a Freed Turtle!

  Mr. and Mrs. Patron went back to the road where they found the Turtle, and set him free.

  "Run free, little Turtle," they cried excitedly, "Be like all the other animals!"

  But the couple were dismayed to see the Turtle plod along as though nothing had happened! He wasn't fleet of foot; he didn't even seem to understand that he was now free!

  Mr. & Mrs. Patron's dismay turned to horror as the Turtle was attacked and ripped to shreds by a trio of crazed Racoons, since the Turtle's natural protection was gone!

  "What have we done?", the Patrons cried in anguish, "We wanted to free this Turtle, not cause him to be killed!!!"

  And so, Mr. & Mrs. Patron sadly walked home, having learned a horrible lesson, and realizing that being in a shell wasn't such a bad thing after all...

  The End

  (Copyright 2008 by BobB)

  -BobB

mmh...

that turtle story was good...

I just realized I am leaving on vacation for nearly a week in less than an hour, so I will post the letter without the poem here:

*

Hello,

I am a fourteen-year-old student with Asperger’s Syndrome living in California. Although I do not agree with absolutely everything your charity has said/stood for (no offense), I believe showcasing people with autism’s writing ability for Autism Awareness month definitely raises awareness, in multiple ways. Anyway, I wrote a poem this morning, which doesn’t have to relate to any Autism issues unless you interpret it that way, rather, it can relate to many things. It has not been edited or reviewed by anyone, including parents (not that I am embarrassed about it), so you will be the first person aside from me to have read it.

Here it is:

*

<Space which poem occupied>

*

Thank you for giving your time to read my work.

Willis Xxx Xxx

Xxx, California

<I X-ed out the name of my town as well as my full name, but did not do so in the letter>

*

P.S., does anybody know where these poems will be published, because I would like to know where I could read them.

Will

Never mind, I read a bit more carefully and found out where.

Will

No, neurodiversity is less positive then Autism Speaks.  Its filled with people with the attitude were better then NTs because were autistic.

Hello,

Thanks, Lucie1 . I showed the poem to my mother after I sent it… she loved it a lot and thought it very profound, and made several copies and sent one to my humanities teacher . I was quite happy with that outcome, obviously. Sorry that I am too paranoid to post it here, but I probably will once/if it gets published on Autism Speaks.

P.S., I am currently at our vacation destination, enjoying unlimited access to high-speed internet .

Will

Gareth,
For once I have to disagree with you, I dont think Autism Speaks would alter a submission.

Then I think you need to read through the archives a bit.

Where exactly in the archives, Pikajedi.

blimey, where to start?

hmm...the News section might be a good place.NT/AS discussion. hell, everything seems to get lumped into general, dig a bit and you will be amazed at what you can turn up.

Thanks I'll dig some and see. Getting rather confused with all these conflicting reports. My parent forum is for Autism Speaks so I'm being tucked both ways thanks again.