06-06-2007, 07:00 PM
06-07-2007, 05:34 AM
Timelord Wrote:
There was a story on an Australian current affairs show, "A Current Affair" which showed a distraught mother clearly not dealing with a violent angry teenager. Again - this was being promoted about the child, when in fact it's the MOTHER that needs help. Mind you, the state of Australia that she lives in (Queensland) doesn't exactly help!
Not to mention the problem with stereotypes this story brings up!
Not to mention the problem with stereotypes this story brings up!
...Well that's "A Current Affair" for you -- they're into just that kind of stereotypical crap about everything they've ever reported.
06-07-2007, 05:39 AM
^ Off topic. Sorry.
s0_y0u_kn0w Wrote:
Any suggestions on how Autism Speaks can be legally stopped (i.e. maybe some sort of massive campaign by autistics themselves?)?
The key is publicity and education. If the general community knows nothing, then they will of course continue to support whichever organisation shouts the loudest.
06-07-2007, 05:42 AM
I think they get alot of money by having advertisement campaigns in schools. The schools doesn't necessarily know much around the topic of autism so they could probably be easily persuaded to not arrange the advertisement campaign.
If you take a search at google you will probably see that the three first hits supports Autism Speaks even though they are not popular hits, and then the rest are against Autism Speaks.
If you take a search at google you will probably see that the three first hits supports Autism Speaks even though they are not popular hits, and then the rest are against Autism Speaks.
06-08-2007, 03:01 PM
autism speaks isn't the only reason why people think autism=evil disease, but they are a main culprit, especally in the last year or so. they make autism look like a message of despair and the worst thing ever for a child, and that all of us are helpless sufferers. it makes us look less human in return, and if they become more promient, i can see things getting really bad for us (like autiephobia starts happening).
hrick
06-08-2007, 03:54 PM
I think you all have tremendous potential to change things because you can speak to it first hand...not just to what you experience as AS, but also how you experience how others treat you as AS. In speaking to it you also have to understand that many are not as high functioning as AS and do need help, the difference becomes largely the attitude with which it is offered... and that is to my mind the area to which you can speak most effectively because you all have felt the ill effects of being made to feel less worthy and less than you are by both well intentioned and ill intentioned.
I will readily admit to you that when I first learned about Hrick as being autistic my mind and actions went to "fix it". I did not do this out of ill intention. It was done out of love...in wanting to make things better for him, to give him a better quality of life. It was also the WORST message I could have sent him. And surprisingly, despite all of his sensory issues and learning issues that message still managed to come through loud and clear.
Of those early times Hrick wrote: I was two and a half when my autism was first discovered. All I knew was I was bad; the way I was, was bad. ...
and
I want to let people know at some point that how you treat autism has to depend on the individual characteristics and problems of each person. Being an expert as to one and insisting on your rightness of approach as applied to all can significantly damage others. I wish I had the universal answer in treatment. Instead I only have the universal question.
It has taken me years to decide autism is what I am, not something I have, like a disease. Autism is not a condition for cure. It is a different way of being; like the man with no hands who used his feet as hands; his reality is different. Like the man with no sight who uses his ears to describe his experiences. Over selectivity is no different than existing blind. You are simply blind in ways others can not see. Doing for someone autistic requires understanding this. Otherwise the message is debilitating ; the autistic being made to believe they are broken, damaged merchandise not fit for use. It is true we each have our own individual problems, but so too does everyone. If treated for our over selectivity it maybe wouldn’t be so bad, but so often your approaches attack us at our personhood instead. I am an autist and proud of it now. It is not about being disabled. It is about being differently abled. Are you disabled because you can not hear my thoughts, or see in minute detail , or hear like a dog? Many autists have these abilities , but we do not call you disabled for your lack of them. .... "
I have had to grown tremendously as person with and in consequence of Hrick. I am most grateful for his forgiveness.
What is right (and true and just ... as he an Bill often say) is not always obvious.
Your participation and words would do a great deal to make what is right clear to others.
Some of you might want too want to look to Autcom as they too put out a newsletter and readily accept writings from those on the spectrum.
I will readily admit to you that when I first learned about Hrick as being autistic my mind and actions went to "fix it". I did not do this out of ill intention. It was done out of love...in wanting to make things better for him, to give him a better quality of life. It was also the WORST message I could have sent him. And surprisingly, despite all of his sensory issues and learning issues that message still managed to come through loud and clear.
Of those early times Hrick wrote: I was two and a half when my autism was first discovered. All I knew was I was bad; the way I was, was bad. ...
and
I want to let people know at some point that how you treat autism has to depend on the individual characteristics and problems of each person. Being an expert as to one and insisting on your rightness of approach as applied to all can significantly damage others. I wish I had the universal answer in treatment. Instead I only have the universal question.
It has taken me years to decide autism is what I am, not something I have, like a disease. Autism is not a condition for cure. It is a different way of being; like the man with no hands who used his feet as hands; his reality is different. Like the man with no sight who uses his ears to describe his experiences. Over selectivity is no different than existing blind. You are simply blind in ways others can not see. Doing for someone autistic requires understanding this. Otherwise the message is debilitating ; the autistic being made to believe they are broken, damaged merchandise not fit for use. It is true we each have our own individual problems, but so too does everyone. If treated for our over selectivity it maybe wouldn’t be so bad, but so often your approaches attack us at our personhood instead. I am an autist and proud of it now. It is not about being disabled. It is about being differently abled. Are you disabled because you can not hear my thoughts, or see in minute detail , or hear like a dog? Many autists have these abilities , but we do not call you disabled for your lack of them. .... "
I have had to grown tremendously as person with and in consequence of Hrick. I am most grateful for his forgiveness.
What is right (and true and just ... as he an Bill often say) is not always obvious.
Your participation and words would do a great deal to make what is right clear to others.
Some of you might want too want to look to Autcom as they too put out a newsletter and readily accept writings from those on the spectrum.
06-08-2007, 04:20 PM
erkolos Wrote:
If you take a search at google you will probably see that the three first hits supports Autism Speaks even though they are not popular hits, and then the rest are against Autism Speaks.
Wait a minute, that's YouTube.
06-09-2007, 02:31 PM
knoxboxlox Wrote:
bravesj858 Wrote:
autism speaks isn't the only reason why people think autism=evil disease, but they are a main culprit, especally in the last year or so. they make autism look like a message of despair and the worst thing ever for a child, and that all of us are helpless sufferers. it makes us look less human in return, and if they become more promient, i can see things getting really bad for us (like autiephobia starts happening).
I disagree..I think Autism Speaks might lead people to think that autistics are more limited than they are, but I don't think it makes anyone come off as evil. You also have to remember that associating autism with mental retardation isn't incorrect -- it's promoting the belief that mental retardation is universally a part of the condition that is incorrect. Most autistics do require a lot of government and educational services and they are more limited than the general population in certain respects. Remember it's called "Autism Speaks" and not "Asperger's Speaks"...I think it would be a good idea that they ran a campaign about Asperger's so the general population understands that autism doesn't necessarily mean that the individual is limited and so the population learns about the benefits autistics can provide to society.
***
In response to some of the other comments, I really admire those that were able to be sympathetic for the parents. While obviously murdering their kids is not any sort of a solution, having the fleeting suicidal/homicidal moment is understandable -- raising an autistic is a struggle few parents consider when deciding to have kids. I cannot even fathom how depressing it is for a parent to feel like he or she cannot connect with his or her child. They need support, otherwise they will inadvertently take it out on the child or the child will at least on some level understand that he or she is causing his or her parent stress and depression. By supporting the parents, the children would benefit too. It's good for parents to know that they're not in this alone. Trying to "cure" autism is the problem I have with Autism Speaks -- they should focus more on educating and providing resources for families instead.
i was dx with autism, not aspergers, just to get that clear. so it's not put the aspies in there, and the auties are all retards.
Lienda Balla
06-09-2007, 06:28 PM
That wasn't a moment of distrautness for this 'mother' figure in question. Insane however, is a logical assumption, but no one is insane for just a moment. People normaly act insane because they are, period. In the interview, she didn't breath heavily, or take any sudden, deep breaths in or out.
Her voice didn't even sound strained out of tone, it was fairly steady and controlled. When some one is distressed for a moment, it's more obvious. PLUS, she clearly stated also "It's only because of Lauren..." That tape was/is used to display the wrong message! That the child is a burden and needs to be fixed, and that she is hurting her family, and that every problem is her fault.
Ausitm Speaks gives alot of messages that say "The world would be perfect if Autism didn't egsist. Parents, just imagine the possibilities if your child was like a beautiful norm instead of that sick, ugly person. Donate, and we will help find a way to whipe out Autism forever."
Honestly, they need some bites in the butt for trying to display other people as something ugly, hopeless, and full of shame! The real disease we are dealing with is the fact that people want someone else to be what they want, and any person not fitting into their ideal fantasy is considered 'sick', 'hopeless', and 'stupid'....ect. Being a parent doesn't make them any better, or their actions any more justified.
Her voice didn't even sound strained out of tone, it was fairly steady and controlled. When some one is distressed for a moment, it's more obvious. PLUS, she clearly stated also "It's only because of Lauren..." That tape was/is used to display the wrong message! That the child is a burden and needs to be fixed, and that she is hurting her family, and that every problem is her fault.
Ausitm Speaks gives alot of messages that say "The world would be perfect if Autism didn't egsist. Parents, just imagine the possibilities if your child was like a beautiful norm instead of that sick, ugly person. Donate, and we will help find a way to whipe out Autism forever."
Honestly, they need some bites in the butt for trying to display other people as something ugly, hopeless, and full of shame! The real disease we are dealing with is the fact that people want someone else to be what they want, and any person not fitting into their ideal fantasy is considered 'sick', 'hopeless', and 'stupid'....ect. Being a parent doesn't make them any better, or their actions any more justified.
06-10-2007, 01:36 AM
Do they really completely ignore positive sides of autism? I mean, they even have a video with Vernon Smith on their site where mr. Smith says "Accept us". If they completely ignored it, they wouldn't put up that video...
06-11-2007, 06:22 PM
If only they would donate money to help us fit into this crazy NT world! Get us education and communication help and give us a bit of good publicity... We could really be an asset to the world, if only they'd let us.
06-11-2007, 09:56 PM
How do you imagine communication help for Aspies? Or did you mean LFAs?
07-07-2007, 06:35 PM
Granted I have little knowledge of this group, other than their incessant commericals and this odd newsletter I received today (no idea why it showed up, gonna have to gripe to mom about her donating money to 'charities' without first doing research...)
Anyway, the first thing I noticed was the unusual, perhaps ironic fact that the group calls themselves "Autism Speaks," and yet, I don't see anyone with an ASD actually speaking for themselves? Oh sure, on the newsletter, it has happy little pictures of children who may or may not have one of the spectrum disorders, but other than that, it seems almost monotropically focused on parents, relatives, celebrities, who do nothing but raise "awareness".
All this awareness certainly isn't doing me any good--I'm autistic, I'm struggling to pay my way through college. But at least people are aware, right? Bullshit. Maybe instead of funding so many ineffective and expensive walks, they should put that money back into services that help the autism community in salient ways now; instead of sitting on millions of dollars, waiting for some miracle nostrum, that maybe one day will be helpful, while millions of others need that kind of help now.
Autism speaks? No. Self-aggrandising, martyr-complexed, family members and friends speaks. They ought to just jam a bastard in it and let Autism speak for itself. Just because someone can't speak for oneself, doesn't mean they necessarily want others to speak for them.
Ugh. I don't know why this has me riled up. To put this in perspective, I just today received Autism Speaks' little bi-monthly newsletter that came across rather shallow--it talked a lot about how much money they've raised, upcoming fundraisers, etc, but there was absolutely no mention of what plans had been made for this money.
Oh, this seems to be my first post. Too bad it turned into such an incoherent rant. Heh. Have a good day everyone.
-Thalassa
Anyway, the first thing I noticed was the unusual, perhaps ironic fact that the group calls themselves "Autism Speaks," and yet, I don't see anyone with an ASD actually speaking for themselves? Oh sure, on the newsletter, it has happy little pictures of children who may or may not have one of the spectrum disorders, but other than that, it seems almost monotropically focused on parents, relatives, celebrities, who do nothing but raise "awareness".
All this awareness certainly isn't doing me any good--I'm autistic, I'm struggling to pay my way through college. But at least people are aware, right? Bullshit. Maybe instead of funding so many ineffective and expensive walks, they should put that money back into services that help the autism community in salient ways now; instead of sitting on millions of dollars, waiting for some miracle nostrum, that maybe one day will be helpful, while millions of others need that kind of help now.
Autism speaks? No. Self-aggrandising, martyr-complexed, family members and friends speaks. They ought to just jam a bastard in it and let Autism speak for itself. Just because someone can't speak for oneself, doesn't mean they necessarily want others to speak for them.
Ugh. I don't know why this has me riled up. To put this in perspective, I just today received Autism Speaks' little bi-monthly newsletter that came across rather shallow--it talked a lot about how much money they've raised, upcoming fundraisers, etc, but there was absolutely no mention of what plans had been made for this money.
Oh, this seems to be my first post. Too bad it turned into such an incoherent rant. Heh. Have a good day everyone.
-Thalassa
07-07-2007, 08:16 PM
Taken from their site (section 'Our Mission'):
At Autism Speaks, our goal is to change the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders.
We are dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder. We are committed to raising the funds necessary to support these goals.
Autism Speaks aims to bring the autism community together as one strong voice to urge the government and private sector to listen to our concerns and take action to address this urgent global health crisis. It is our firm belief that, working together, we will find the missing pieces of the puzzle.
Autism Speaks. It's time to listen.
Urgent global health crisis? Bringing the autism community together? Prevention, treatments and a cure for autism?
As an autist, I can't find myself in these things at all. 'Urgent global health crisis'........that makes it sound like prior to this particular crisis, an 'acceptable amount' of Autistic-like people were part of the human population, whereas our percentage has increased to an alarming level nowadays. At any rate it is an early and dangerous condemnation of many people, whose personal issues vary greatly.....as are the solutions to those problems.
By doing that they are certainly not bringing the autism community together....to say that one party has to be treated in such a way that he/she is apparently 'saved' from 'the crisis' comes closer to truth.
While treatment on it self isn't a bad thing, if it leans towards the abovementioned purpose however it is a pretty scary thought that people actually pursue such methods IMO. Prevention is word on the same, or perhaps even higher, scale considering that this will mean that a) the child will have to aborted or b) the parents are so disappointed with the neurological state of mind of their kind that they want to use genetic modification on him (once we'll get to stage somewhere in the future).
As for the cure, well I think that at least the Autistics on this board have reached consensus on this subject.
In the past (and even in this thread) we've concluded that education on Autism is definitely needed. By choosing to go for a cure Autism Speaks has already chosen what the final conclusion of that learning process will be, ignoring the many who prove them wrong every day. Yes, LFA's included.
In this case it is a blessing that most people don't know about autism, taking away potential 'awareness' for these kind of organisations. One of them calls it selfs 'Autism Speaks' and by that logic it is safe for me to conclude that the message 'Autism' spreads is: 'I am a problem and I shouldn't belong in this world?' At least Cure Autism Now's brand name bluntly says what they're all about while they're misleading people (if only temporarily, as any fool can quickly figure out what they stand for).
They've done a good job for themselves collecting all those millions but it should be obvious that I can't ever support an organization which insults me (with their brand name), ignores the likes of me (by pointing out that autism primarily is a problem) and intends to vaporise the part of my personality that I've come to hold so dear in a world full of NT's.......and by this I'm just saying that I'm embracing my diversity where too many people want to adhere to the norm, even beyond the rational.
At Autism Speaks, our goal is to change the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders.
We are dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder. We are committed to raising the funds necessary to support these goals.
Autism Speaks aims to bring the autism community together as one strong voice to urge the government and private sector to listen to our concerns and take action to address this urgent global health crisis. It is our firm belief that, working together, we will find the missing pieces of the puzzle.
Autism Speaks. It's time to listen.
Urgent global health crisis? Bringing the autism community together? Prevention, treatments and a cure for autism?
As an autist, I can't find myself in these things at all. 'Urgent global health crisis'........that makes it sound like prior to this particular crisis, an 'acceptable amount' of Autistic-like people were part of the human population, whereas our percentage has increased to an alarming level nowadays. At any rate it is an early and dangerous condemnation of many people, whose personal issues vary greatly.....as are the solutions to those problems.
By doing that they are certainly not bringing the autism community together....to say that one party has to be treated in such a way that he/she is apparently 'saved' from 'the crisis' comes closer to truth.
While treatment on it self isn't a bad thing, if it leans towards the abovementioned purpose however it is a pretty scary thought that people actually pursue such methods IMO. Prevention is word on the same, or perhaps even higher, scale considering that this will mean that a) the child will have to aborted or b) the parents are so disappointed with the neurological state of mind of their kind that they want to use genetic modification on him (once we'll get to stage somewhere in the future).
As for the cure, well I think that at least the Autistics on this board have reached consensus on this subject.
In the past (and even in this thread) we've concluded that education on Autism is definitely needed. By choosing to go for a cure Autism Speaks has already chosen what the final conclusion of that learning process will be, ignoring the many who prove them wrong every day. Yes, LFA's included.
In this case it is a blessing that most people don't know about autism, taking away potential 'awareness' for these kind of organisations. One of them calls it selfs 'Autism Speaks' and by that logic it is safe for me to conclude that the message 'Autism' spreads is: 'I am a problem and I shouldn't belong in this world?' At least Cure Autism Now's brand name bluntly says what they're all about while they're misleading people (if only temporarily, as any fool can quickly figure out what they stand for).
They've done a good job for themselves collecting all those millions but it should be obvious that I can't ever support an organization which insults me (with their brand name), ignores the likes of me (by pointing out that autism primarily is a problem) and intends to vaporise the part of my personality that I've come to hold so dear in a world full of NT's.......and by this I'm just saying that I'm embracing my diversity where too many people want to adhere to the norm, even beyond the rational.
07-07-2007, 08:21 PM
Ultra Magnus Wrote:
At least Cure Autism Now's brand name bluntly says what they're all about while they're* misleading people (if only temporarily, as any fool can quickly figure out what they stand for).
*They refers to Autism Speaks.