Why I Am Against Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks is the most prominent autism organization, so many people wonder why so many autistics are against Autism Speaks. This is why I am against Autism Speaks.

First off, Autism Speaks' budget doesn't give autistics much of what they need. Autism Speaks' funds mainly go to awareness and research, with only 4% going to services. Plus, its awareness portrays autism as a tragedy and the research it funds tries to find prevention and cure for autism.

Its awareness often says that autism is a tragedy. It often says that autism has taken away the real child. It tries to portray autistics as burdens by saying things like how much it costs to care for an autistic child. It uses functioning labels, which are inaccurate and often lead to under or over-estimation of an autistics abilities. It also uses the medical model (I have written about its flaws in this post). It spreads many other myths, too, such as autistics being worse at Theory of Mind than neurotypicals and that autism is an epidemic.

Its research into the causes of autism often equates correlation with causation. Doing so is bad science. Also, those studies are often used to scare people into thinking autism is a tragedy.

Also, there are no autistics on its board. This makes the name "Autism Speaks" misleading. In fact, Autism Speaks silences autistics while claiming to speak for them. A more accurate name for Autism Speaks would be "Parents Putting Words in Autistics' Mouths".

Also, Autism Speaks supports ABA. However, ABA, when done in the way it is intended, is abusive. Many autistics have reported getting PTSD from being subjected to ABA.

This is why I am against Autism Speaks. What actually supports autistics are organizations such as the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

What Does Disability Really Mean?

The most common model of disability used is the medical model of disability. The medical model views disability as a deficit, and says that disabilities should be cured or disabled people should pass as normal. Also, it focuses on the individual only. The medical model often results in scientific studies that focus on coming up with a cure (thanks a lot, Autism Speaks) and shoehorns differences observed as deficits (How is that objective? Shouldn't scientific studies minimize bias?). It also can lead to pressure to have the person seem normal, which can lead to problems as disabled people are different in such a way that the normal way of functioning does not help them accomplish a task.

This model can be easily accepted if a person decides to focus on only the disabled individuals or sees differences as being bad. However, if a person looks at the society around them and withholds their typical judgements, they may realize that the social model of disability is more accurate.

The social model is neutral and focuses not just on disabled individuals, but also on the society they live in. Also, it says that disabled people should be accommodated rather than be cured or be encouraged to pass as normal.

Think of it like biological adaptations. They do not help or harm an organism in and of themselves, but the same adaptation can help or hinder an organism in different environments. For example, a species of animal may have a digestive system specialized to process food found in their habitat. However, if it gets whisked out of its natural habitat and into one that has different kinds of food available, it may have trouble digesting it. The cure approach would be to surgically alter its digestive system to process the foods found in its new habitat, which is invasive and may lead to the death of the animal. The "pass as normal" approach would be to have it eat the food found in the new habitat. However, this leads to the animal not being able to function due to improper nutrition. On the other hand, the accommodation approach would be to get the food from its old habitat and let the animal eat it, and to be cooperative when the animal turns its nose up at food that gives it digestive problems. This leads to the animal being able to thrive.

Likewise, abusive treatments used on neurodivergent individuals may result in damage to their body or even death. Making them pass as normal may make them unable to function. However, encouraging them to do things in their natural way and to figure out what works for them and what doesn't will lead to them being able to thrive.