Aspies For Freedom

War on autism? They should put the money into pediatric cancer research instead! Pediatric cancer research is really underfunded.

I liked the really big letters.

It took a while but this might be a blessing in disguise. Out of all who come here, do you think your autism is a disease to be cured? I don't think so, my AS is who I am. (rant) Check the 2nd to bottom post on my thinking.

Why I say this may be a blessing in disguise is that the government funded research may turn up just that, it's not a disease. Just a difference to the norm. Like skin color or one's nationality.

Correct me if i'm wrong, I kinda skimmed through the article, but was an anti-cure group qouted in that article? I only saw reaction from CAN. Personally I think they are the one's who lobbied for this bill. Now look at what CAN was quoted, how parents are fighting this disease, I think this is the ONLY view of the autism spectrum that was given to congress.

That is the first part I think we should change. Inform congress of how there are others outside of poor and helpless children who have autism. People like Bill gates has autism, we need to show not just congress but the world that we are capable of living in their world. And flaunt it perhaps, that we, those who were shunned and hated in our younger years, thse who felt like we didn't belong here, that were are somebody and somebody of worth.

Here is where I first mentioned I want to go itno politics. This is how I will prove my worth, that i'm not a person with a disease, that I am a person. We can not use violence in this, we need to prove to them we can work in their world. This does mean we have to adapt to social events our social situations, but I think it will do lots of good if we can show what we have is not the doom and gloom theme CAN has been painting.

It was not me that was in pain because of my autism when I was growing up. I saw myself for who I was, the problem to me was the people who ahd a problem with who I was. They are the cause of so much pain and hatred I have felt in my life, not my AS.

Going into politics will be my way of showing these NTs that I beat them at their own game. They have no power over me. That someone with a 'disease' was able to get ahead in life, where my life was tougher then theirs, I am stronger then them because of my 'disadvantages' gave me more challenges to surmount in my life then theirs.

(I'd post more but i'll be late for my poli sci class, post more later. Ciao)

Ok, moving on. I realise I got a bit carried away with my earlier post but oh well.

Congress itself probably has information fed to it by groups like CAN. This is what needs to change first, someone suggested everyone write their congressperson, that's a good start.

We as a community need to also show why our autism is a good thing. Not just like what CAN says autism is. If we do that no good can come of it for us.

We need to open ourselves to the general public, show them what we can do. Myself, go into politics, show them what an autistic person can do there. Someone who is proficient in art, go into the art world, show off your work. Same with music, books, whatever happens to be your autistic speciality.

And don't be shy about being autistic either, I realize this is an insert foot in mouth thing because I need to do this too. This is what I really think we need to do to stop people like Congress from doing things that could end up hurting us.

We need to take pride in our strengths, because I believe it is our autism that helps to not only discover our gifts, but strengthen them. If I were to personify my AS, it'd be like this: Autism is not an enemy to stand against, but an ally to stand with. it has been with me since the very second I came into this world, it has been with me and been a part of me every step of the way. It's been a curse on my life until now because it had made me different, now I want to make it the gift it truly is because I am different, and it's that difference that makes me a person.

It's like we all have a glass that you can look at as half empty or half full. Not just people with autism or asperger's but all of us. Nobody is perfect, and there is no such thing as "normal".

We all have things that can be perceived as flaws. You have a choice about how you look at yourself and your "flaws", or what society percieves as "not normal". You can waste your entire like thinking that your life sucks because you're autistic. Or deaf. Or gay. Or short, or overweight, or bald, or unathletic. You could think, "My life would be so much better if I were neurotypical/hearing/straight/tall/skinny/had a full head of hair/good at sports! I really have it hard!"

Or, you can celebrate your uniqueness and your gifts. We all have flaws, but we all have talents as well. Besides, how boring would it be if we were all the same? Differences may cause challenges, but they can also be a source of happiness if you let them.

Some **** pharmaceutical company is backing this.  It's got to be.  The US never declares "war" on something unless there is big profit for some fatcats at the top.

War on drugs == big profit for PRIVATIZED PRISONS.
No Child Left Behind == Big profit for privatized schools which are taking over in some school districts
War on terror == Huge profit for the industrial-military complex.

And this...Who wants to lay a few bills down against the fact that some medical or pharmaceutical company came up with something to "cure" autism, or is about to, and is shoving huge bills in congress' pockets...?

OpenSecrets.org is a good place to start. It tells you which industry is buying which candidate.

This is my definitive '08 voting guide, right here. Forget what lies those politicians are spewing from their mouths (they're all lies!)... go by the numbers.

"Fighting the disease of autism." I'm curious about what exactly this means.  I mean, they can't just go rewire someone's head.  Yes, I've read about the pre-natal screening and so on, but it begs me to ask a question of whether or not this is disdain for the different talking, or just plain ignorance.

Most people out there think autism means Rainman, and that's the end of that kind of thinking.  I think most people seriously think that they are trying to do something good.  

I used to substitute teach for a classroom in an elementary school with a number of autistic children in it (low-functioning.)  It quickly became very apparent to me that the best thing that we can do is to help said children find their own way to fit into the world and to deal with the world beyond themselves.  

Autistic children do not need to be cured.  They need to be understood.

I wonder idly if there are any programs where autistic adults, who have a greater knowledge of the world and how to work within it, work with autistic children to help them find ways to get along in a world that doesn't understand them.  If not, maybe we should do one.  I think such a thing would go so much farther for helping autistic children than any "cure."

*cheers*
i wish i had a teacher more like you when i was at school,joule.my SEN teachers were generally patronising people who i wanted to be violent towards,due to the belittlement.except one old lady,who was the SEN teacher at a private school i went to..now,what was her name...

I really, really wonder if there is such an organization, where adult Autistics/Aspies work with school-age Autistics/Aspies.  From the teachers that I've met who have worked with Autistic/Aspie children, a lot of them don't seem to know what is going on with them, or really what to even do with them.  I saw so many autistic children who had so much frustration because the teachers often pushed them around, punished them for things that the child had no control over.

I remember this one kid who would start screaming every time they ran the vaccuum cleaner in the other room.  Rather than ASKING the child what was wrong, they pushed him in a corner (even closer to the room where the vaccuum was running) where he cried and cried some more.  This particular kid was extremely sensitive to certain kinds of sounds, but nobody even thought to -ask- him what was wrong or why he was so upset!  No no, he was just throwing a tantrum.  RIDICULOUS!!!!

I think that if an adult Aspie/Autistic were in the room, working with that child, that poor boy might not have had to suffer or be punished for something that was causing him pain.

Has anyone heard of such a program?  And if there isn't one, would anyone maybe want to talk about forming one?

I've never heard of such a program, but it would be a great idea. For example, in my music class there's this one kid who's more on the LFA side of the spectrum (He can talk, but he's developmentally delayed). My music teacher does not know how to deal with him - for example, he's always getting mad at him for stimming (he likes to shake pieces of paper, and tap his feet).

Well, that's along the lines of things that I'm thinking... things like stimming can be really odd to NTs, and they seem sometimes very disconcerted by it.

That child with the vaccuum cleaner problems... I showed him that he could always ask me if he felt overstimulated and needed to leave the classroom, and I'd figure out some excuse to take him for a walk outside where he could get some quiet.  (For me, it was quite a nice treat, too.)

"The autism community applauds all its congressional champions who have made this historic moment possible?!" Do you see anyone at AFF who is applauding? NO!!! Those curebies! Why the hell are we so bad? Those dollars would be better spent trying to cure diseases that kill people. Curing breast cancer is important to me because if it wasn't for that disease, I would have another grandmother and my grandfather wouldn't be married to a ***. By the way, I love the reference to 1984 you made in the title.

If we didn't have breast cancer I'd still have mom.

though it is too late for mom breast cancer seems prevasive on her side of the family.  I think it might be go as far as to encourage some relatives to consider a pre-emptive mastectomy to prevent cancer from even happening.  Have you heard of it?  they must be scared of the family history