Autism Speaks is probably the most notorious and the most prominent Autism "charity". It has a lot of celebrity endorsements, but does that make them a good organization to support? Not necessarily.
For one thing, Autism Speaks uses fearful, hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric to try and get people to donate to their organization. They've compared being diagnosed with Autism to being struck by lightning, being diagnosed with cancer and AIDS among other things. They believe that a person is better off dead than being Autistic. Perhaps their most infamous PSA is I Am Autism in which they say that Autism breaks up marriages, causes embarrassment and shame to families and prevents your child from making friends - all of which is most certainly not true.
Plus, Autism Speaks has very little actual Autistic representation in their leadership positions. Only 2 out of 31 people on their Board of Directors are Autistic, while 12 of those 31 members are from major corporations, such as Viacom, CBS, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, etc. If you're going to have an Autism organization, the vast majority of your board members have to be Autistic. It's as simple as that - and they have to be from more diverse backgrounds, with different races, genders, sexualities, etc.
Only about 4% of Autism Speaks' funds goes to their "Family Service" grants, which is designed to help Autistic people and their families. In 2014, Autism Speaks' budget comprised of 35% of research funds (and most of that research was for prevention and cures for Autism, not actually helping Autistic people.), while 33% of that money went to media, "awareness" campaigns and lobbying, 23% of those funds came from fundraising, 5% went to management, while an abysmal 4% went to "Family Services".
If you really want to support Autistic people, here are some better alternatives:
Autistic Self Advocacy Network - run entirely by and for Autistics, ASAN does advocacy and policy work to ensure that Autistic people can life their life to the fullest.
Autism Women's Network - aims to help Autistic women and girls. It is trans and nonbinary-inclusive, too.
Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) - empowers self-advocates with disabilities, as the website implies.
And if there's any other helpful organizations/charities I missed, let me know in the comments.
Sources:
Boycott Autism Speaks
Before You Donate to Autism Speaks, Consider the Facts (PDF)
Nothing About Us Without Us!
Showing posts with label autism acceptance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autism acceptance. Show all posts
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Friday, April 1, 2016
Autism Acceptance Month
content warning: Autism Speaks, early intervention, ABA, some swearing
Today is April 1st, which means it's the beginning of Autism Acceptance month, but to many it's known as Autism Awareness month. I'd like to change that. Here's why:
Most of the "awareness" that is spread around is dehumanizing, pity-inducing, hateful rhetoric that Autism Speaks and other pro-cure organizations perpetuate. They see us as tragedies, broken, missing and lesser than neurotypical people. The reason why they portray us like this is because they want to make profits from other people. They don't really care about autistics.
Acceptance, on the other hand, means seeing others as equals, and embracing their autistic traits. This means allowing an autistic person to stim (that is, allowing them to jump, rock heir bodies, flap their hands or anything else that comes naturally to them.), not forcing them to make eye contact (it's very hard for many autistics to make eye contact with others when tallking to them because we have to process auditory and visual stimuli at the same time, which is difficult), and actually listening to an autistic person when they're trying to communicate with you.
When a child is diagnosed with autism at a young age, one of the first things doctors suggests is early intervention. Early intervention often involves "therapies" designed to make autistics indistinguishable from their neurotypical peers. These "therapies" are known as applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, and they're very harmful because they not only use exhausting and stressful tactics (such as forcing a child to make eye contact, or they won't get to play with their favorite toy), but they teach the child that their God-given neurology is "bad", and the child begins to feel that way, and as a result, may develop low-self esteem, anxiety and even PTSD from all the stress.
I am speaking this from experience. I was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old and I was placed in early intervention. I was placed in special education all my life, from preschool all the way through 12th grade, and I've had some shitty things done to me there. I developed low self-esteem, and PTSD as a result, but God helped me get through it, and now I'm speaking out so people will be more accepting of autistics.
If you truly want to support autistics, wear red to show your support. Don't light it up blue! Blue is the color of Autism Speaks, which supports early intervention and ABA.
Support organizations that truly have autistics' best interests at heart, like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. They are run by and for autistics, so you know that they are good advocates for the autistic community.
Also, the Autism Women's Network is a good choice because they are majority autistic-led as well, and they help autistic women and girls.
Nothing About Us Without Us!
Today is April 1st, which means it's the beginning of Autism Acceptance month, but to many it's known as Autism Awareness month. I'd like to change that. Here's why:
Most of the "awareness" that is spread around is dehumanizing, pity-inducing, hateful rhetoric that Autism Speaks and other pro-cure organizations perpetuate. They see us as tragedies, broken, missing and lesser than neurotypical people. The reason why they portray us like this is because they want to make profits from other people. They don't really care about autistics.
Acceptance, on the other hand, means seeing others as equals, and embracing their autistic traits. This means allowing an autistic person to stim (that is, allowing them to jump, rock heir bodies, flap their hands or anything else that comes naturally to them.), not forcing them to make eye contact (it's very hard for many autistics to make eye contact with others when tallking to them because we have to process auditory and visual stimuli at the same time, which is difficult), and actually listening to an autistic person when they're trying to communicate with you.
When a child is diagnosed with autism at a young age, one of the first things doctors suggests is early intervention. Early intervention often involves "therapies" designed to make autistics indistinguishable from their neurotypical peers. These "therapies" are known as applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, and they're very harmful because they not only use exhausting and stressful tactics (such as forcing a child to make eye contact, or they won't get to play with their favorite toy), but they teach the child that their God-given neurology is "bad", and the child begins to feel that way, and as a result, may develop low-self esteem, anxiety and even PTSD from all the stress.
I am speaking this from experience. I was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old and I was placed in early intervention. I was placed in special education all my life, from preschool all the way through 12th grade, and I've had some shitty things done to me there. I developed low self-esteem, and PTSD as a result, but God helped me get through it, and now I'm speaking out so people will be more accepting of autistics.
If you truly want to support autistics, wear red to show your support. Don't light it up blue! Blue is the color of Autism Speaks, which supports early intervention and ABA.
Support organizations that truly have autistics' best interests at heart, like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. They are run by and for autistics, so you know that they are good advocates for the autistic community.
Also, the Autism Women's Network is a good choice because they are majority autistic-led as well, and they help autistic women and girls.
Nothing About Us Without Us!
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