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.

Anti-Vaccination Activists, Consider This

People who are against vaccines, consider this. The research published by Andrew Lakefield was a fraud. The data was manipulated to make it look like the MMR vaccine causes autism. Furthermore, further research has found no relationship between vaccines and autism.

Not convinced? Then consider this. What is worse, having a child with a neurological difference, or having a child be exposed to a disease that can result in permanent hearing loss and causes death 1 or 2 out of 1,000 cases?

Autism gives individuals intense interests that eventually make them an expert, a unique perspective, and better self-awareness. It also makes them see things as they are. And how is that worse than getting a disease?

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.

The Myth of Overcoming Disability

In the media, there are often "inspirational" stories about people who have "overcome" their disabilities. However, if a person's disability is permanent, this does not actually happen. These stories hold those disabled people to an impossible standard and perpetuate the belief that disability is bad and should be extinguished.

What can happen, though, is the disability working to the disabled person's advantage or compensation for the person's disability. If the disability is a different neurotype, that person can definitely work with the disability, and they may even be able to compensate for a part of their disability using another part due to how complex neurotypes are.

So, those stories in the media are misinterpretations of what actually happened, which is that someone compensated for or worked with their disability (or they could have been forced to be "normal", but that's a different story).

Things to Think about If You Were Pressured to Be "Normal"

Many neurodivergent individuals have been pressured to be "normal" and have been convinced that the normal way is the right way. If you are one of those people, investigating these questions may help you.

• What evidence, if any, is there showing that the normal way is always the right way? Is there anything people normally do that leads to unfavorable consequences?
• Do all people like normal behavior? Do all people dislike different behavior? Is it possible to please everyone?
• Does doing normal behavior help you or harm you? Are you actually growing if you are using a strategy that is opposed to your neurotype?
• Do you think getting accommodations is a sign of weakness or a refusal to adapt to the world? If so, why? Try coming up with counterarguments to your explanation.

Hopefully, these questions gave you more insight. If you think more questions should be added, post them in the comments.

#JusticeForIssy Autism Acceptance Media Coverage

Finally! Media started recognizing autistic's voices and neurodiversity! http://www.wwmt.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/Autism-support-groups-hoping-Stapleton-case-changes-conversation-49870.shtml#.VDnjqvldXTq

That said, the comments on the news channel's Facebook post about the story show that there is still a need for the message of autism acceptance to be spread (though we are making progress). There are a lot of murder apologists commenting on that post. Hardship in parenting is no excuse to murder your child. Your child is not all about you; even though they depend on you, they have a life of their own.

The attempted murder of Issy was not about a lack of services. Kelli Stapleton was offered services and decided to refuse them. Also, she dehumanized Issy and wanted her to be cured (which is mission impossible). Dehumanizing autistics leads to people believing autistics do not have the same rights as other people, including (in this case) right for life.

So no, the attempted murder of Issy Stapleton was not about a lack of services. There are many parents of autistic children who get by with no services without murdering their child. That act was due to Kelli Stapleton's hatred of autism.

Instead of sympathizing with caregivers who attempted to murder their child, think about the effect it has on the child. There is no reason for a child to have to go through that trauma.

What are neurotypes?

Sometimes people in the neurodiversity movement will refer to "neurotypes". What are they?

Neurotypes are variations in how people's brains work. Since the brain is what makes us able to perceive the world, different neurotypes create different perspectives and experiences of the world.

Oftentimes, neurotypes that are not neurotypical are considered "disorders". The problem with that is that calling other neurotypes "disorders" implies that there is only one right neurotype. Ideas of "right" or "wrong" only exist in our minds, so that term lacks objectivity and may lead to biased views of and misunderstandings about all different kinds neurotypes. If more people referred to "disorders" as well as typical neurology as neurotypes, people would understand them better. Society would no longer consider neurodivergent individuals as inferior and neurotypical individuals as superior.