This is a tumblelog, kinda like a blog but with short-form, mixed-media posts with stuff I like. Scroll down a bit to start reading, or a bit more to read more about me.
So here you go.
Horrific Autism Speaks “I am Autism” ad transcript (this is ridiculously offensive)
Can we really trust Autism Speaks?
Why I am against Autism Speaks
Basically, if the people they claim to be helping hate them with a passion and feel oppressed by them, that should be reason enough.
Call me cynical. But this is NOT a good organization.
Another example. In 1996 Charles-Antoine Blais was drowned by his mother, Danielle. The Quebec Autism Society rallied to her defense, holding demonstrations and protests. Parents, like the ones in yesterday’s awareness campaign, showered Blais with letters of support. About how understandable it was to want to murder your Autistic child, because they’re such a burden, and autism is so terrible.
She got off with community service, and then was hired to work with parents of Autistic kids, because she was such a great role model for parents.
This is what your fearmongering brings, your 1 in 88, your “more children than cancer, AIDS, and diabetes combined.” Your “awareness” of what a terrible epidemic this is, and posturing us as diseased, broken, unwanted burdens. You create this climate that we have to live in.
And you won’t stop no matter how many of us tell you it’s killing us.
(via thebluedream)
Autism Speaks is probably the most well-known charity out there when it comes to autism. Just because they have the most media coverage and celebrity support does not mean they are a good organization.
- Autism Speaks does not have a single autistic member on their board.
- Autism Speaks only spends 4% of their budget on “family services”.
- The majority of Autism Speaks’ money goes toward research, and the majority of that research is to find a way to rid the world of autism, and thus, autistics.
- Autism Speaks produces advertisments, small films, etc. about what a burden autistic people are to society.
- Autism Speaks was responsible for “Autism Every Day”, which featured a member of their board talking about contemplating murder-suicide of her daughter in front of her daughter. This has now be removed from Autism Speaks’ Youtube channel but can still be found elsewhere.
- Autism Speaks is responsible for the atrocity known as “I am Autism”, a short film comparing autism to cancer, AIDS, and blaming autism as the reason why marriages break up.
In short, Autism Speaks makes it much harder for those of us who have autism to be taken seriously. Autism is considered to be a child’s disease (not that it’s even actually a disease at all), and you will often hear people say “where are all the adult autistics?” Well, we’re right here in front of you. We may have been misdiagnosed with learning disorders, mental retardation and other mental illnesses when the diagnoses of autism, PDD-NOS and Asperger’s weren’t as precise (or even existent) as they are now. We vary in where we fall on the spectrum. Don’t make assumptions about us because we can use a computer.
For further reading, here are a few resources about Autism Speaks:
Why Autism Speaks is No Good for Autistics.
Autism Speaks Does Not Speak for Me.
I’m Autistic, But Autism Speaks Doesn’t Speak for Me.
An Autistic Speaks about Autism Speaks.
A Chart Regarding Autism Speaks’ Allocation of Funds
Editing the original post so that I can include which Autism related charities to support. Let me say that besides the first one, all of them are very parent-oriented organizations, meaning that adult autistics may have issues with them. These are ones that I have either heard recommended highly by autistic parents (meaning autistic people who are parents, not “autism parents”) or that I’ve personally interacted with. None of them are perfect, but these are far better places to donate your money if you’re looking for a charity to support.
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
The Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism
The ARC (this is not autism specific, but our local one has a couple of autism-specific events, so was worth including).
I’m not autistic, but I think it’s a good time to remind people of some basic ally rules (longer list here):
- Listen to autistic people, but do not assume one person speaks for everyone.
- Do not make blanket assumptions about autistic people.
- Autism is a spectrum of experiences, which means every person is different and may experience it in different ways. The stereotypes are usually not true at all.
- The “actually autistic” tag on Tumblr and other places is a good way to learn, but DO NOT POST IN THERE unless you are autistic— it’s a specific space that is not meant for ally contribution, and any posts by allistic people will be seen as an intrusion (they actually had to change tags because parents with autistic children came in and overtook the previous space).
- [trigger warning: allism by parents] Speaking of which, there’s a lot of stigma around parents who have autistic kids speaking for their kids or acting as if it is a horrible thing…there have been parents who literally said that it was like their child “died” when they first found out the diagnosis. Yeah. Just be aware that not all allies are great, even the ones who are supposed to be closest and most reliable.
- A lot of autistic people do not like “person first” language and see it as demeaning.
- A lot of autistic people do not see autism as a disability or something to be ashamed of.
- Autism Speaks is generally disliked in the autistic community because they fund programs to find “cures” for autism, essentially eugenics, and portray it as a negative condition that needs to be “fixed”. The way they distribute funds is also very questionable.
1. Light it up ORANGE.
2. “Autism Speaks does not speak for me” is always a thought-provoking statement.
3. Engage in conversation with A$ supporters! Share your perspective as an actual autistic, and explain why A$ is a bad organization.
4. Support the ARC.
5. Denounce puzzle pieces.
6. Be prepared for pushback, and try not to lose it. If you get overwhelmed, leave the conversation for a while and stim. You can return later.
‘Fuck Autism Speaks’, white text on a blue background with a light starfield overlay.
(Specifically designed to work well as a Tumblr profile image. This is our current one for this month.)
~K.
Zoe, from Illusion of Competence, writes:
With April drawing ever nearer, the likelihood that you will be asked to donate money to Autism Speaks approaches one. I encourage you not to give them your money, and this is why:
Very little money donated to Autism Speaks goes toward helping autistic people and families: According to their 2010 annual report, only 4% of Autism Speaks’ budget goes towards the “Family Service” grants that are the organization’s means of funding services.
While 44% of Autism Speaks’ budget goes toward research, only a small percentage of these funds go towards research into improving the quality of life of autistic people. Most of the research which Autism Speaks funds is devoted to issues of causation and “prevention,” including the prospect of prenatal testing.
The post goes on to list several other major issues with Autism Speaks, click through to read it all.
What do you all think of this? This is just a draft; the design will be much less sketchy if I do go through with it. I’m thinking of making “we’re not broken” a larger font, and the whole thing a brighter tone of blue.
(No offense meant towards the original design, by the way. I just think that this might be easier on the eyes.)
I really like this. Also, the theme is always “Light it up blue”, so the fact that this is in blue is good (though whether that will make people associate with A$ is something to think about, too).
![aspiealligator:
[Image description: Background of several pie-style triangles in alternating shades of green with the head of an alligator superimposed over it. Text reads: “Find out Lindt’s supports Autism Speaks; Get depressed over your hate-chocolate”]
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Long story short, I found out they’re a major corporate sponsor of Autism Speaks, and I have a rather large bag of Lindt’s in my apartment…..so, now I’m depressed over this chocolate.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0akg5dt221r1wtn7o1_400.jpg)
[Image description: Background of several pie-style triangles in alternating shades of green with the head of an alligator superimposed over it. Text reads: “Find out Lindt’s supports Autism Speaks; Get depressed over your hate-chocolate”]
————-
Long story short, I found out they’re a major corporate sponsor of Autism Speaks, and I have a rather large bag of Lindt’s in my apartment…..so, now I’m depressed over this chocolate.
Hello, my name is Tracy. I am a white, bisexual, cis woman with Asperger’s syndrome. I live in Colorado with my family. I generally like to fangirl about things I like and rant about things I dislike.
If you’re misogynist, racist, ablest, cissexist, queer bigoted and/or just an uncaring insensitive asshole then please don’t bother following this blog. Thank you.
These are the other sites I go to:
ELLJAY: http://fairy1234.livejournal.com/profile
DEVIANTFART: http://tamatava.deviantart.com/
