Ableism Is Bad, Mmm’kay?
Why Autism Speaks Is Bad
This organization actually harms autistic people.
Autism Speaks (A$ from here on), brands themselves as a charity organization that dedicates themselves to the promotion of “solutions” for people “with” autism and their families.
At first glance, that sounds wonderful.
Take a second glance. Ask some questions.
What do they mean by “solutions”?
In the past, “solutions” was a sparkling label slapped on an entire underbelly of atrocious human rights violations that have included:
- the support of torturing autistic people in the name of attempting to “cure” us
- supporting eugenics or genetic “cleansing” not unlike Adolf Hitler (complete with Neo Nazi support)
- misappropriating donation funds
- and the list goes on.
These days, they’re a little more subtle, but a tiger doesn’t actually change its stripes.
What does their own website say?
Their goals are four-fold.
- Map out the different subtypes of autism and connect the associated genes (that’s what eugenics looks like in real life, in the 21st century).
- Allow children under 2 years old to get diagnosed as autistic (I honestly don’t see how that would be accurate).
- “Expand services across the lifespan” (that is truly fascinating, as I don’t know of any of us on the spectrum who have received any “services” from A$).
- Support medical treatment of our associated health conditions (which they go on to list several common physical or mental conditions that commonly occur in autistic people, but also in the general population, too).
This is merely a polished version, refitted for the 2020s, of old, twisted ideas and desires. Their history is pretty checkered.
A$’s rap sheet
The list of various projects they have been involved in is fairly eerie. Some of these may appear innocent enough, but they’re more likely not. This list is probably not anywhere near complete.
- They fund the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE), which is a “DNA repository and family registry” of both genotypes (what your genes are) and phenotypes (how those genes express themselves). (Yep, there’s yet another database. And this one includes the rest of the family, too…)
- They support something called the Clinical Trials Network, which is primarily focused on treating autistic people with drugs. (So….if Johnny/Janie can’t assimilate or stop flapping his/her hands, we’ll just shove pills down their throats…)
- The goal of the whole Google project is to use 23andMe genome testing to create the “largest database of sequenced genome information of autism”, hosted on Google’s cloud-based genome database (Google Genomics). The name of the project itself? “Mssng”, pronounced “missing”. (As if that didn’t sound just a bit offensive…)
- The WHO (World “Health” Organization) has adopted some of A$’s approaches (which is more than a little alarming for those of us on the spectrum; nobody in the world would be free of A$’s influence…)
- As mentioned above, A$ swallowed the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), whose board was made up entirely of neurotypical people: a small group of parents that included a lawyer, a chemistry professor, and two psychiatrists (this also smacks of pharmaceutical use).
- NAAR’s stated goals were to support research that investigated causes, treatments, and cures for autism. They also headed up an initiative known as the “High-Risk Baby Sibling Autism Project” and its own genomic NAAR Genome Project. (Yep, cures for autism, and yet more, more, more on those genetics… The eugenics truth is taking shape…)
- The group A$ swallowed in 2007, the Cure Autism Now (CAN), was founded by the father of an autistic son who actually wrote a book called “Strange Son”; excerpts from this book are in themselves worth their own Potential Trigger Alert: “There is a small group of people in this world to whom an event so devastating has occurred that they may have even stopped believing in God” and “maybe, just maybe, you could bring someone back from the dead.” These were the words of a father referring to his teenaged autistic son who did not speak, but wrote his own autobiography of poetry.
- CAN, like NAAR, included a bunch of parents, doctors, and scientists devoted to the prevention, treatment, and cure of autism. (There. They said it: PREVENTION. The eugenic agenda is official, in case there was ever any doubt.)
Digging into their primary founder
This “charity organization” was founded by Bob and Suzanne Wright, grandparents of an autistic child (who later grew up to become an autistic adult, as autistic children tend to do).
I did a little digging into Bob Wright himself and found the following information:
- He became CEO of NBC Broadcasting when General Electric (GE) took them over. (So if you want to make a documentary, movie, or commercial about autism that promotes acceptance and dignity, don’t approach NBC with it.)
- He launched A$ in 2005, as its chairman. Immediately, A$ merged with Autism Coalition for Research and Education, followed by National Alliance for Autism Research in 2006 and Cure Autism Now in 2007. (Sounds rosy, eh?)
- During its first nine years, the “advocacy” group donated a half-billion dollars toward “scientific research”. (Makes me wonder just exactly who they’re “advocating” for! It certainly isn’t actually-autistic people.)
- As if that wasn’t enough, they also strong-armed the United States federal government into spending “billions” on autism research; apparently, as of 2014, the total was $3 billion USD, supposedly for “research and ‘monitoring’”. (I’m starting to wonder if there’s a registry or database somewhere…)
- On Wright’s watch, A$ teamed shook hands with Google on a project that would sequence a database of autism genomes. (So there is a registry after all….)
- He resigned his chair position in 2015, but as of the beginning of 2016, he’s still heavily involved as a member of its executive committee.
- In mid-2016, he founded the Suzanne Wright Foundation, who proposed the establishment of HARPA, a “biomedical research agency” with Orwellian potential.
What to do instead
Become a true ally, by supporting genuine self-advocacy groups such as the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) and others.
Stay out of the databases. Do not submit your genetic information to any organization; if you do, do so under a pseudonym. This includes 23andMe.
Arm yourself with information about the various human rights violations that have occurred or are occurring around the world against autistic people.
Educate others, even if just one person at a time. Dispel myths, share information, and teach truths. Bust the stereotypes.
Ask us, the real-life autistic people. Too often, non-autistic people make assumptions about us (our needs, wants, traits, our experience, and others) without asking us. Ask us: how we feel, what we want, what it’s like, what we need, and so on.
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Thank you so much for reading! ❤