06-10-2006, 08:46 PM
After some discussion on IRC, I have written a letter that Gareth is going to send to the Ad Council in America (assuming he likes it, of course). It's a letter of protest against their campaign for Autism Speaks.
It's not quite finished, there may be a paragraph to come about their support for chelation. The evidence is thin on the ground though, and I'm a little burned out so if someone could contribute a paragraph or two on it - preferably backed up by solid evidence, and no, a web page talking vaguely about funding into research or an angry, unsupported blog post isn't going to cut it, then I'd be very grateful.
I have tried to avoid making a direct attack on the Autism Speaks position, going instead for an argument that suggests instead that the Ad Council are wrong to support a controversial organisation. It's an uphill battle trying to argue directly against them, with their millions of dollars and public relations smoothies - not to mention that the guy who runs it is head of NBC! I'd rather play on Ad Council's public service commitments.
Anyway, see what you think:
It's not quite finished, there may be a paragraph to come about their support for chelation. The evidence is thin on the ground though, and I'm a little burned out so if someone could contribute a paragraph or two on it - preferably backed up by solid evidence, and no, a web page talking vaguely about funding into research or an angry, unsupported blog post isn't going to cut it, then I'd be very grateful.
I have tried to avoid making a direct attack on the Autism Speaks position, going instead for an argument that suggests instead that the Ad Council are wrong to support a controversial organisation. It's an uphill battle trying to argue directly against them, with their millions of dollars and public relations smoothies - not to mention that the guy who runs it is head of NBC! I'd rather play on Ad Council's public service commitments.
Anyway, see what you think:
Quote:
Hello,
I am writing to you about your campaign for Autism Speaks, which has been running recently across multiple media. Firstly, I apologize if this has gone to the wrong office, but I was unaware which of your offices was responsible for the campaign. Since the campaign was implemented by a New York-based ad agency, I assumed your New York office would be the best place to send this mail.
I represent an organization called Aspies For Freedom, a loose-knit community of over a thousand members, nearly all of us with some form of autism. We therefore claim to have a degree of authority to speak on behalf of autistic people, as opposed to parents of autistic people, who comprise the main contingent of Autism Speaks.
We wish to inform you that your campaign, which advises interested people to visit the Autism Speaks website directly, contains not only a charitable element but also a political one, and by representing only the opinion of Autism Speaks and not its opposition (of whom we are one of many organizations) is therefore politically biased.
Please allow me to give a brief overview of the ways in which Autism Speaks disagrees fundamentally with the views and aspirations of actual autistic people: firstly and most importantly, their stated aim is to attempt to "cure" autism. Not only is this anathema to autistic people - in the same way that homosexual people before the 1970s or so resented attempts to "cure" them - it isn't even possible, at least until the advent of pre-natal testing and abortion, which we also oppose, because we regard ourselves as a people with a collective right to exist and to thrive. Please note that I am not asking you to agree with this position necessarily, but to acknowledge that there is a real and credible opposition to the effort whose propaganda you support in the name of charity and public information.
There is more similarity with attempts to "cure" gay people than you might suspect at first: autism is a neurological condition, which means that any attempt to change our nature, in order to be successful, must be neurological: in other words, it must change our brains physically. The great majority of attempts to "cure" or remedy our condition are behavioral: they seek to manipulate our behavior so that we appear to be normal. Like attempting to "cure" gay people, this strategy is inherently bound to fail, in that while they may succeed in making us appear normal we are still autistic underneath, and suffering from the increased pressure for us to behave normally and be socially articulate at all times - even in our own homes, which should be sanctuaries that allow us to relax and be ourselves.
We do not oppose all treatments - those aimed at giving us greater understanding and proficiency with social situations are, by and large, welcome, but those aimed at modifying "problem behaviors", as Autism Speaks calls them, most certainly or not. "Problem behaviors" can be anything as innocuous as rocking back and forth in a chair, an activity that gives many of us comfort and relaxation at the sensory level, improving our quality of life. Applied Behavior Analysis is a common treatment applied for such things (although it also professes to offer more positive changes, such as better social interaction and general educational achievements), and is indeed listed right at the top of Autism Speaks's "What to do about it" web page[1], as the number one thing a parent should do to an autistic child. We hold that ABA is an inherently cruel treatment, and our position is supported by scientific research[2]. Again, I am not asking you to agree with us necessarily, merely to acknowledge that there is opposition, and to make you aware if you are not already that you are promoting a one-sided, political message.
** CHELATION BIT HERE ***
The Autism Speaks website, which you promote heavily in your campaign (indeed, it is the only thing you promote in your campaign) is full of propaganda implying that autism is a bad thing and that autistic people must be made normal. Even the name is misleading: "Autism Speaks". Autism Speaks is not the voice of autism, it is the voice of people related to those with autism. The founders are not autistic, the leaders are not autistic and I daresay the membership (or should that be the employees?) are not autistic. The "learn the signs" page[3] contains loaded words and phrases designed to modify readers' opinions of autism, and by extension autistic people, by the back door: it tells people to watch out for the "red flags" of autism; informs them that their child may be "at risk"; tells people that early intervention may be their "best hope". This is propaganda on a web page which, incidentally, carries your logo. The interactive quiz[4] tells people what their child "should" be doing, and what is a "cause for concern". The site also presents a warped picture of autistic people, focusing on children and those without speech. I myself am neither a child nor mute, and yet I am autistic.
All of this, however, is moot compared to the one big, shocking message that belies their attitude to autistic people: their much-vaunted new video, "Autism Every Day"[5], in which the mother of an autistic child willingly, and apparently proudly, admits six minutes into the video that she would willingly murder her daughter, taking her own life in the process, and only has not done so because she has a normal - neurotypical - child as well. This admission gives the lie to the sort of attitude that the organization you support are happy to promote: neurotypical people are precious and sacred, autistic children can be murdered if they are an inconvenience.
In summary, the messages promoted by Autism Speaks run the whole range from benign, to harmful to autistic people, to downright evil, and they face mass opposition by autistic people themselves. They enjoy widespread support from unconcerned parties such as publicity from celebrities, and their various activities net them millions of dollars a year[6,7]. Their opposition, the autistic community, operates on a shoestring, does not have the resources to mount a large-scale publicity campaign and are all but ignored by mainstream media - yet have resounding support from the most important people of all: actual autistic people. Please give some consideration to the message that you are promoting in the name of public service.
Thank you for your attention.
---References---
[1] What to do about it - http://www.autism speaks.org/whattodo/index.php
[2] The Misbehavior of Behaviorists - http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/naa_aba.html
[3] Learn the signs - http://www.autism speaks.org/whatisit/learnsigns.php
[4] Interactive quiz - http://autism speaks.avasio.com/index.asp
[5] Autism Every Day -
http://www.autism speaks.org/media/d_200605_Autism_Every_Day_-_112k.wmv
http://www.autism speaks.org/media/d_200605_Autism-Every_Day_LoRes.wmv
http://www.autisms peaks.org/media/d_200605_Autism-Every_Day_MedRes.wmv
[6] Autism Speaks Concert Raises $1.8 Million - http://www.autism speaks.org/inthenews/seinfeld_post_concert.php
[7] Weekend Walks Raise $2.1 million - http://www.autism speaks.org/inthenews/2million_weekend.php
I am writing to you about your campaign for Autism Speaks, which has been running recently across multiple media. Firstly, I apologize if this has gone to the wrong office, but I was unaware which of your offices was responsible for the campaign. Since the campaign was implemented by a New York-based ad agency, I assumed your New York office would be the best place to send this mail.
I represent an organization called Aspies For Freedom, a loose-knit community of over a thousand members, nearly all of us with some form of autism. We therefore claim to have a degree of authority to speak on behalf of autistic people, as opposed to parents of autistic people, who comprise the main contingent of Autism Speaks.
We wish to inform you that your campaign, which advises interested people to visit the Autism Speaks website directly, contains not only a charitable element but also a political one, and by representing only the opinion of Autism Speaks and not its opposition (of whom we are one of many organizations) is therefore politically biased.
Please allow me to give a brief overview of the ways in which Autism Speaks disagrees fundamentally with the views and aspirations of actual autistic people: firstly and most importantly, their stated aim is to attempt to "cure" autism. Not only is this anathema to autistic people - in the same way that homosexual people before the 1970s or so resented attempts to "cure" them - it isn't even possible, at least until the advent of pre-natal testing and abortion, which we also oppose, because we regard ourselves as a people with a collective right to exist and to thrive. Please note that I am not asking you to agree with this position necessarily, but to acknowledge that there is a real and credible opposition to the effort whose propaganda you support in the name of charity and public information.
There is more similarity with attempts to "cure" gay people than you might suspect at first: autism is a neurological condition, which means that any attempt to change our nature, in order to be successful, must be neurological: in other words, it must change our brains physically. The great majority of attempts to "cure" or remedy our condition are behavioral: they seek to manipulate our behavior so that we appear to be normal. Like attempting to "cure" gay people, this strategy is inherently bound to fail, in that while they may succeed in making us appear normal we are still autistic underneath, and suffering from the increased pressure for us to behave normally and be socially articulate at all times - even in our own homes, which should be sanctuaries that allow us to relax and be ourselves.
We do not oppose all treatments - those aimed at giving us greater understanding and proficiency with social situations are, by and large, welcome, but those aimed at modifying "problem behaviors", as Autism Speaks calls them, most certainly or not. "Problem behaviors" can be anything as innocuous as rocking back and forth in a chair, an activity that gives many of us comfort and relaxation at the sensory level, improving our quality of life. Applied Behavior Analysis is a common treatment applied for such things (although it also professes to offer more positive changes, such as better social interaction and general educational achievements), and is indeed listed right at the top of Autism Speaks's "What to do about it" web page[1], as the number one thing a parent should do to an autistic child. We hold that ABA is an inherently cruel treatment, and our position is supported by scientific research[2]. Again, I am not asking you to agree with us necessarily, merely to acknowledge that there is opposition, and to make you aware if you are not already that you are promoting a one-sided, political message.
** CHELATION BIT HERE ***
The Autism Speaks website, which you promote heavily in your campaign (indeed, it is the only thing you promote in your campaign) is full of propaganda implying that autism is a bad thing and that autistic people must be made normal. Even the name is misleading: "Autism Speaks". Autism Speaks is not the voice of autism, it is the voice of people related to those with autism. The founders are not autistic, the leaders are not autistic and I daresay the membership (or should that be the employees?) are not autistic. The "learn the signs" page[3] contains loaded words and phrases designed to modify readers' opinions of autism, and by extension autistic people, by the back door: it tells people to watch out for the "red flags" of autism; informs them that their child may be "at risk"; tells people that early intervention may be their "best hope". This is propaganda on a web page which, incidentally, carries your logo. The interactive quiz[4] tells people what their child "should" be doing, and what is a "cause for concern". The site also presents a warped picture of autistic people, focusing on children and those without speech. I myself am neither a child nor mute, and yet I am autistic.
All of this, however, is moot compared to the one big, shocking message that belies their attitude to autistic people: their much-vaunted new video, "Autism Every Day"[5], in which the mother of an autistic child willingly, and apparently proudly, admits six minutes into the video that she would willingly murder her daughter, taking her own life in the process, and only has not done so because she has a normal - neurotypical - child as well. This admission gives the lie to the sort of attitude that the organization you support are happy to promote: neurotypical people are precious and sacred, autistic children can be murdered if they are an inconvenience.
In summary, the messages promoted by Autism Speaks run the whole range from benign, to harmful to autistic people, to downright evil, and they face mass opposition by autistic people themselves. They enjoy widespread support from unconcerned parties such as publicity from celebrities, and their various activities net them millions of dollars a year[6,7]. Their opposition, the autistic community, operates on a shoestring, does not have the resources to mount a large-scale publicity campaign and are all but ignored by mainstream media - yet have resounding support from the most important people of all: actual autistic people. Please give some consideration to the message that you are promoting in the name of public service.
Thank you for your attention.
---References---
[1] What to do about it - http://www.autism speaks.org/whattodo/index.php
[2] The Misbehavior of Behaviorists - http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/naa_aba.html
[3] Learn the signs - http://www.autism speaks.org/whatisit/learnsigns.php
[4] Interactive quiz - http://autism speaks.avasio.com/index.asp
[5] Autism Every Day -
http://www.autism speaks.org/media/d_200605_Autism_Every_Day_-_112k.wmv
http://www.autism speaks.org/media/d_200605_Autism-Every_Day_LoRes.wmv
http://www.autisms peaks.org/media/d_200605_Autism-Every_Day_MedRes.wmv
[6] Autism Speaks Concert Raises $1.8 Million - http://www.autism speaks.org/inthenews/seinfeld_post_concert.php
[7] Weekend Walks Raise $2.1 million - http://www.autism speaks.org/inthenews/2million_weekend.php