Aspies For Freedom

Three points were decided during the meeting.
Firstly that we will have an email campaign to CAN, asking them questions about their work, expressing our views ion the need and morality of a cure, asking about real consequences of their genetic studies, or whatever question a member may wish to ask. Our aim is for each member to send one email per day to CAN. That is up to each members persoanl discretion and choice. If we make our feelings known to CAN, that adults on the spectrum can speak for ourselves, and we are not helplessly sitting around waiting for them to cure us, then at least we will be educating some of them involved with the charity.
The link to CAN- http://www.canfoundation.org/

The second point is to make a peaceful and informative protest at any of the CAN fundraising walks. This would involve members of AFF making their presence known and handing out leaflets which will be posted on this site and be available to print off. Any members or supporters in the US please post below so that there can be some co-ordination of efforts, also we will post details of times and places of the walks as the information is available.

The third point is that we wish to establish that we are a minority group, and should be given protection against certain treatments, cures, or violations of our rights, in the same way that other minority groups have been helped and protected. In other words we need to be very concerned about our future prospects, with the possibilty of pre natal screening looming before us. If we are a minority group we could have more ability to question such intervention and prevention. Essentially to avoid the prospect of being wiped out in the future. Any pre natal screening would merely detect an autism marker, not whether a child would be severely affected, and parents would be under great pressure to decide the future of that child, its a horrifying thought.

info@cureautismnow.org

just to tell you all where to send your mails to, there are other addresses available too. whois the domain name and get the admin's email address, use the contact form on the site, phone calls if you can (pm me if you wish to arrange free US phone calls and have a high-bandwidth connection)

I still think implicating the "pro life" organisations would be useful, especially if they didn't know we'd instigated the debate. Properly managed, they could end up doing all our work for us?

A few misleading e-mails is all it would take. Suggestions anyone?

The CAN walks are as follows for this year-

Seattle August 21st
Orange County August 29th
Philadelphia October 2nd
San Fransisco October 24th
Houston November 20th

This is a link for more information- http://www.walknow.org/

Gwynfryn, pro life organisations are against pre natal screening and abortion, they are opposed to what is already happening and LIFE has expressed fears that it may happen for autism in the future, a post has been made of this- http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/phpBB2/v...c.php?t=25
As more information is available about the studies of groups like CAN and how they aim to cure or prevent autism, more attention will be given by the pro life groups, the main ones in the UK being LIFE and The Society for Protection of Unborn Children. I am currently contacting both these organisations about AFF and our fears for the future, to try and enlist more support.

Greetings,

Any leaflets handed out at these walks coudl make reference to these CAN funded 'experiments' that resulted in the deaths of autistics that was mentioned.  Try to find out as much as possible about that.

:shock:

Thank you amy! I don't mean to be cynical, but note please that many pro-life groups are really "fascists"! Reasonable people don't bomb people!

i would say that many pro-life groups are a bit extreme in ways, but from their viewpoint it makes sense. they see what they are doing as protecting unborn children.

personally, i am pro-choice and think any attempt to deny a women of the right to abortion is wrong (so long as abortion takes place before detectable brain activity).  however, i am against selective abortion based on certain traits. (i.e eugenics) if an abortion is made simply to avoid a child with certain traits being born, then often the mother will try to get pregnant again in an attempt to get a child without those traits and so the whole point is not to prevent a childbirth but to "engineer" a child. to me this is like genocide. imagine if there was pre-natal screening for blackness or homosexuality or <insert any other trait here>

The pro life groups in the UK have never had any malicious, violent, or abusive action. They work by lobbying politicians and by education and other peaceful methods. We would not work with any other group that used any violent methods.

I didn't get to read everyone's posts here.  I have limited net access...only 1 hour a day at the local library, sometimes I get e-mail where I volunteer.

I'm sorry I missed the discussion.

Monday was the first time that I first saw a post about CAN on this message board.  I went to their website, and felt an immediate reaction to their pleas for money.  A sick to my stomach reaction.

I only had 5 minutes left that day, and in my hurry, I made a few mistakes.  I cut and pasted my post to them, and I think I cut off the first word, "I", at least, I hope I wrote it in the post to them.

Anyway, that was Monday.  Today is Friday, and I've not gotten a response from them.  I even signed up with them so I could type it right in to their box on their website for "contact".  

Here's my post, flubs and all:

am a 43 year old woman who has been recently
been diagnosed with Asperger's.  Your website
scares me.  

It scares me because I have spent the majority of
my life attempting to be "normal", not
understanding what is supposed to be so "wrong"
with me.  When I finally discovered all the
things that are listed as "wrong" with those of
us who find ourselves on the Autistic Spectrum, I
could not believe that, with all of the horrible
things so-callled "normal" persons do, the things
that I do could be considered so "abnormal".

There is probably a reason why there are humans
who are wired differently than others.  If the
biological differences that make up the autistic
spectrum are eradicated from the human gene pool,
human society might lose many of the abilities
that it now has, especially in the creative
areas.

And, I have to ask the question, "WHO is deciding
what is a normal/desirable brain?"

Sincerely,

Ritagail Burleson

Well put, as are the rest of your comments. After all, an implication of normal is "mediocre", as is, "ordinary", "average", and "dull". Normal after all, is only an expression of the capabilities of the majority.

In no way shape or form does it imply "superior" (other than in the minds of the ubiquitous)!

I received this email from CAN after asking for a real response instead of an automated one.
"We have been inundated with e-mails this week, so I apologize if you only received an automated response.  Could you please resend your e-mails to my direct address ekilpatrick@cureautismnow.org and I will respond."

So please send mails to the above email address and someone will actually read it and respond.
Wonder why they've been inundated with emails this week.... :wink:

IF CAN TRYS TO CURE ME I WILL DIAL 911 ON THERE FACE :!:  :!:  :!:  :!:  :!:  :!:  :!:  :!:  :!:  :!:



                         CAN CAN'T

Mine was better (Cure the Unfortunate Neuro-Typicals)

Heh. Well, I used to email Sen. John Kerry (for those of you sleeping under a rock, the Democratic canidate for US President) about EFF issuses such as the PATRIOT Act and P2P. Maybe I could do it agian. I also know a state senator personally, who knows some of the people in Washington.