Go to this site to do it, LOL. Where it says, "support new autism bill".
http://www.autismspeaks.org/autism/index.asp
I copied what I wrote, but dang...lost it when I went to copy the link!! (dur...) :roll:
At any rate, you will need to do some extensive editing of their prewritten message. Basically, I told them that there is no epidemic, we are useful, we work, we contribute, many great minds have been autistic, and I don't want myself or my son to be cured. I brought up the fact that genetic testing will weed ALL autistics out, not just the sort that the media portrays. (I don't want to weed any of us out...)
“
Senators Santorum and Dodd have launched an attack on autism that has never been seen at the federal level,” said Jonathan Shestack, a parent of a son with autism, and co-founder of Cure Autism Now.
"
I am confident that increased federal funding for research will continue to unlock autism's secrets and lead us to more effective treatments and, ultimately, to a cure. As the grandparents of a child diagnosed with autism just last year, my wife, Suzanne, and I - along with the rest of the highly dedicated autism community - are committed to seeing that this legislation is enacted." - Bob Wright, vice chairman, General Electric, and chairman and CEO of NBC Universal and co-founder of Autism Speaks.
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These quotes (bold added by me) were taken from the article ("Learn more about the bill") at the link provided by chamoisee. I would encourage every U.S. citizen to contact their senators and house representatives. In addition to faxing them through the website above, they can be e-mailed at
http://www.senate.gov/
Tell them to use the proposed funding to develop educational programs that work with autistic peoples' natural strengths, not against them! :grin:
All this stuff about an "epidemic of autism" sounds to me like whipped up hysteria by the media and other people with little better to do with their lives. All that has happened is that diagnostic methods have improved and autism (especially HFA) has become more widely known about in our society (though not with anywhere enough understanding as yet).
In a time of budget and funding cuts, people always want to make out that some minority group isn't really deserving and otherwise want to scapegoat them.
Okay, I found it. Here is what I wrote him (them).
Dear Senator Craig,
My name is --------, and I live and work in ------, Idaho. I have Asperger's syndrome, a high functioning form of autism. My fiance and son also have Asperger's. I have lived with autism from the inside for all 32 years of my life.
I am VERY concerned about S.843 The Combating Autism Act of 2005, recently introduced by Senators Santorum and Dodd. Autism is NOT an epidemic, and neither are we a cancer to be stamped out. We are *people* not a statistic, and many of us are contributing members of society. I don't want to be discriminated against, and neither do I ask for special treatment. All I ask for is an equal place in the world, to live, work, pursue my goals, and enjoy my family.
Autism is not a disease, it's a neurological difference. If genetic testing is used in order to detect and abort autistic babies, we will lose not only the over-publicized "low functioning" and profoundly autistic people, but also those such as myself, who have the potential to be perfectly functional, just a bit....different. Many of history's most prominent scientists, geniuses, and artists have had autism in some form. Even Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg are reputed to be autistic. We are not leeches on society. The autistic mind is unique in it's ability to focus and concentrate intensely on a given subject, to memorize large amounts of material, to visualize outcomes and come up with creative and intelligent solutions. Stamping us out before birth would very possibly deprive the world of many potentially great minds, unless the test can detect severity.
There isn't an epidemic, autism is not contagious or transmissable (except genetically). There is an awful lot of hysteria on the subject and very little attention paid to those of us who have done so well that we weren't even diagnosed until adulthood!! We are the success stories of autism, and we are consistently IGNORED by CAN. They would have the world believe that we are all, every one of us, drooling incompetents and forever dependent 'tragedies'. This is simply not true.
I ask you to please at least consider this side of things, to contact and speak with other very high functioning autistics (Temple Grandin comes to mind). I don't want a cure or need one. The traits that makes me autistic also happen to be my strengths that enable me to excel at my job. My son who is autistic not a devastation, he is one of my brightest children and the joy of my life. Please think of us when you vote on this bill: we are not all the stereotyped image of autistic.