Here you will find various pieces of documentation and evidence relating to the organisation "autism speaks" and why you should not support them. All facts presented here have been verified through reputable sources which would be suitable in the author's view for use within a court of law and none have been published without verification.
On memory and forgetting Estée Klar-Wolfond (offsite)
Former corporate chair of the toronto branch of NAAR (National Alliance for Autism Research, who merged with Cure Autism Now into autism speaks) posting about how she withdrew her support of them following the tragic murder of Katie McCarron and started the autism acceptance project, one of the rare autism charities that has autistic board members.
Autism - the art of compassionate living Wiretap magazine (offsite)
An article discussing the video autism every day, explaining how the parents involved were instructed not to do their hair or vaccum in order to play up the negatives as much as possible, while also defending the statements made by Alison Tepper Singer about her thoughts of murdering her daughter:
Both autistic and typical families have reacted with outrage and disgust to Singer's statement -- calling for her children to be removed from her custody and even drawing a connection between her and Karen McCarron. Thierry responds by calling Singer "gutsy and courageous." She was expecting a call from Singer asking that the footage not be used. But that call never came. "You don't say stuff like that -- camera rolling -- unless you are truly ready to play ball with the entire world," Thierry says.
If most mothers of autistic children, Thierry responds, look hard enough within themselves they will find that they have played out a similar scenario in their minds.
A call for restraint and responsibility in murder coverage Not dead yet (offsite)
A discussion regarding the increase in documented murder cases of disabled children following publicity, such as the increase in parents contemplating and attempting murder following the release of the video "autism every day"
We'd suggest that what has changed is a barrage of irresponsible media coverage and equally irresponsible advocacy. Researcher Dick Sobsey has documented an increase in the murders of children by their parents in Canada in relation to well-publicized and sympathetic coverage of the murders of children with disabilities. Articles about the alleged murder of a person with a disability should not contain more about the disability than about the victim as a person. More space should be devoted to grieving family members than sympathetic friends of the accused killer.
The Autism Society of Illinois and the ANSWERS group should rethink their strategy as well. Mike McCarron, Katie McCarron's grandfather, has written that he feels abandoned and betrayed by "advocates." To him and his family, the parade of "horror stories" about autism are offensive and painful. These groups need to ask just for whom they are supposed to be advocating. Is it the grieving McCarron family? They don't feel supported. Is it children like Katie? Then why do they blame the victim? Or is it Karen McCarron, the alleged killer?
McCarron Trial: Day 1 Central Illinnois proud (offsite)
Autism every day was released on may 9th, on may 13th Katie Mccarron was murdered by her mother, in court her carers testified the mother thought that Katie's condition was getting worse just before the murder.
Two young women took the stand during the last hour of the day. Both were to be full time caregivers for Katie, and both started working at the McCarron home the week before Katie’s death. Both testified McCarron conveyed to them that she thought Katie’s condition was getting worse. Both women said they thought Katie was in a much better condition than other autistic children they knew.
Affidavit filed in the circuit court of the tenth judicial circuit of county of tazewell regarding Lexus Fuller (PDF)
Article about Katie Mccarron and Lexus Fuller Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois (offsite)
This article also mentions how Katie's mother had not lived with her for 20 months roughly before the murder, thus meaning that any cries of "it must have been so difficult and stressful her" are completely flawed.
Little over a month after the murder of Morton, IL toddler Katie McCarron, a nearby mother in Pekin, IL was charged with attempting to kill her four year old daughter. Kellie Warem-burg, 32, was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery on June 22, 2006 for allegedly giving her daughter Lexus Fuller a potentially lethal overdose of medication including Phenobarbital and 100 crushed sleeping pills.
McCarron Trial: Day 5 Central Illinois proud (offsite)
Emphasis added, 3 days before may 13th is may 10th, day after autism every day was released
McCarron reenacted for the prosecution how she put the bag over her Katie’s to kill her. McCarron said she didn't think she was killing her, but instead thought she was freeing Katie of autism. She also admitted she hated autism more than she loved her own daughter. In retrospect she testified it was quote "a sick, sick" choice. She said she had been depressed for months and had gone off her medication just a few weeks before Katie’s death. McCarron even admitted to trying to kill Katie three days before going through with it.
Author's note: To date, nobody at autism speaks has made any formal apology or statement about the autism every day video and have remained silent when some of the less scrupulous journalists took advantage to try and portray more "doom and gloom" messages about autism. Katie McCarron's grandfather has spoken out about this and stated he feels betrayed in the way his granddaughter's memory is being abused. By supporting the organisation that triggered her murderer to finally cross the line, you are disrespecting Katie's memory even more. As a father myself I can deeply symphathise with how Katie's grandfather must feel, even if I have never lost a child. There are more cases that could be documented but at the time of writing I am finding it highly difficult to read more.
Autism speaks cofounders proudly meeting with known white supremacist and eugenics supporter (offsite)
Bob and Suzanne Wright met with Dr James Watson to discuss the latest autism research, Dr Watson being the same man who was suspended from his position at Cold Spring Harbor Lab due to the following racist comments made in a press interview:
"all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really" and "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."
Watson and his co-discoverer Francis Crick failed to mention Franklin in their Nobel Prize acceptance speeches. But then it emerged that they had been given some of Franklin's findings without her permission or knowledge. One of Franklin's colleagues had shown Watson an extraordinary X-ray photograph she had taken which clearly showed the helical structure of DNA. "The instant I saw the picture my mouth fell open and my pulse began to race," Watson admitted much later.
But at the time Franklin went unacknowledged. Worse still, in his book The Double Helix, a gossipy account of the cracking of the code, Watson made derogatory remarks about her physical appearance, and painted her as a frigid, badly dressed and charmless bluestocking. She died four years before the Nobel Prize was awarded – from ovarian cancer at the age of just 37, possibly brought on by the constant radiation from her photography work.
Even now Watson talks of her with a brutal frankness. "She was just awkward," he said. "I think she was partially autistic."
"Autism research focuses on early intervention" MSNBC (offsite)
Dr Joseph Buxbaum of the Autism Genome Project, one of autism speaks' leading researchers, comments on drugs and prenatal tests via genetic research
"Cure Autism Now Genius Award Recipient Discovers a New Role for the Gene Involved in Rett's Syndrome" (offsite, archive.org)
Baylor college of medicine being funded by CAN (whom merged with autism speaks) to find a genetic marker for rett syndrome leading to a prenatal test now used worldwide, BCM are heavily involved in this kind of research and to presume that their finding an accurate test for autism will not lead to abortions as it has for rett's is foolish
Selected dirt from the autism speaks 2006 form 990 Gareth Nelson (PDF)
Where the money goes Autism Diva (offsite)
Form 990 for 2006 (PDF)
Out of the $21,387,799 they made in 2006 roughly $2.7 million went into the pockets of their board of directors via salary, benefits, expenses and dealings with 3rd parties owned by the same directors. Not a penny went towards assisting individuals on the autistic spectrum or families, the rest was spent on marketing, legal services, administration and research.