Aspies For Freedom

the uc davis mind insisute is one of the most promient autism research labs in the united staes, if not the world. i think we should talk about the impact of their influence as their research is very powerful for the cure groups. to start with, here's a quote from one of their researchers in a recent article.

Quote:

�Discovering an early diagnostic test is an important focus of research,� said Amaral. �There is a growing view among experts that not all children with autism are �doomed to autism� at birth. It may be that some children have a vulnerability�such as a genetic abnormality�and that something they encounter after being born, perhaps in their environment, triggers the disorder. Studying the biological signs of autism could lead to new ways to prevent the disorder from ever occurring. And even if it can�t be prevented, intervening early in life�ideally shortly after birth�could greatly improve the lifetime outlook for children with autism, particularly those who now respond poorly to therapy initiated when they are three or older.�

lots of things wrong and lots of potental for eugenics in this statement folks. first of all, doomed to autism is such stupidity, first refrers to the fact that we are living worthless lives and our lives are living hecks. so not. if an autstic person were to live completly nt to satisfy socitey, it would be nearly imossible to pull off. and of course, says we are geneticlly defective, also false. i belive there is a bioglogcal advantage to the autism trait which has not been found yet becuase people are too busy looking at what we lack compared to our nt conterparts, again putting the theory that nt's are superior to us, also false.

of course, he mentions that he wants to prevent autism, and that will be considered eugenics. autism isn't cancer. and socitey may lose valuable surival genes which only autistics have and that the human race needs for surival. can anyone think about any diseases that autistics rarley get compared to nt's? and of course, he mentions the fact that they want to start "brain reprogamming" asap, valuing the nt brain as much more useful than the autistic brain.:evil:

as a biology major, this digusts me that there is a whole lab decidated to potental eugenics research.:evil:

here's their site if anyone is interested in seeing what kind of research projects they have going on: http://www. ucdmc. uc davis.edu/ mind institute/

here's their statment as listed on their front page. this is a potentally dangerous research insiution, as they are soley deicated to "disorder" research. they have made alot of strides twoards autism research and testing. i think they are defintley getting can funding. and of course, "prevention and cure" aka eugenics is their main goal.

Quote:

The M.I.N.D. Institute is an international, multidisciplinary research organization, committed to excellence, collaboration and hope, striving to understand the causes and develop better treatments and ultimately cures for neurodevelopmental disorders. Standing shoulder to shoulder, families, scientists, physicians, educators, and administrators are working together to unlock the mysteries of the mind.

Neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, fragile X syndrome and learning disorders are increasingly recognized. It is likely that you know an individual with one of these disorders. At the M.I.N.D. Institute, the �race is on� to identify the causes and develop better treatments, interventions, and preventions for the neurodevelopmental disorders that affect children and families around the world.

While much work needs to be done, UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute is committed to using an integrated, comprehensive research approach to understanding the causes and finding cures for these neurodevelopmental disorders.

Do you think there is any worth in us emailing as a group to express our feelings on the research?

Kathleen Seidel and Autism Diva have been sending e-mails and otherwise monitoring MIND very closely. Unfortunately, MIND's agenda has been strongly influenced by extremist curebie parents as discussed here:

http://neurodiversity.com/weblog/article...d-responds

I do think it would be helpful for AFF to send an e-mail to Dr. Hendren of MIND. The more pressure brought to bear on this issue, the better.

When one walks into the MIND institute, the very first thing one sees is a sign proudly proclaiming that they will have "defeated autism" by 2016 or something like that. Makes me feel sligtly nauseous whenever I walk by it.

nathanww Wrote:

When one walks into the MIND institute, the very first thing one sees is a sign proudly proclaiming that they will have "defeated autism" by 2016 or something like that.

nathanww, are you a student at UC Davis? I suggest filing an official complaint with the university, on the ground that this sign is an expression of prejudice against a minority group.

Are there enough aspie students to organize a protest demonstration?

Even if they don't take down the sign, you might be able to get some media coverage.

No, actually I'm just a resident of that area, and recently my parents signed me up to attend a social-group-training type thing there.

Oh dear ...

really do you think they could get funding if they said their purpose was to study autism to just understand it? It depends where they are getting their funding from (companies or government).

The government can fund some research that is ethical such as safety of products and drugs. When private companies fund research, there is sometimes conflict when a researcher finds out something that is not what the company wants.

Actually, they do some research just for research's sake(some people I know are participating in a study on "obsessive interests") However, seeing as how it was started by a group of parents who were devout curebies, most of their research focuses around finding cures and intervention methods.

Scary thing is according to the latest Time magazine issue (see News/Media section) this guy at MIND already believes antigens cause autism, is finding a prenata test and has proposed a potential cure: prenatal plasmaphoresis. This procedure already used for a number of applications in ALS and other autoimmune disorders. It does require some pain and inconvenience to the patient, sometimes like dialysis. So really after being told all the bad stuff about autism, how many woman are going to want to bother with the treatment. They will just get an abortion with the second option as treatment which will be more expensive. The last option would be to have a full-term autistic child. We will be the last of our kind.

here's something intersting...what if the cure kills the fetus? yeah, then it would be proven that autism is a natural and imporant part of the person, not a unwanted appendage that should be elimated.

i wouldn't kill a non autistic child becuase they behave diffrent from me...although some of them were rude in those years.

what's the cure for the autistics living? death, i suppose is their version of the cure...which begs to question, do these curebies really want to have their children as autistic or dead?

Part of what saddens me is that autism will be considered a disease. I will be considered a person with "brain damage and diseased". I just want to be accepted and be able to have a job where I can not be harrassed. How is this research going to make my life better?

M Wrote:

Part of what saddens me is that autism will be considered a disease. I will be considered a person with "brain damage and diseased". I just want to be accepted and be able to have a job where I can not be harrassed. How is this research going to make my life better?

it aldedy has. autism speaks refers to autism as a child stealing disease. i do not have a disease. they don't understand that autism is netural, and the curebies wrap the disadvantges to a point where autism is pure evil. a cure will not make my life better, it will probaly have me running away.

i'm not brain damaged, brain diffrent. nobody asks me what's wrong with me, they always look at what's right with me. i will problay not tell others i'm autistic becuase of the mass hysteria the label has for being digusting. i don't want to be treated as a baby...i just want to have a fufilling life.

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