Updated 9:29 pm/ET 11/11/11 for clarity
Today on my WordPress front page, there was a featured post from Autism Speaks blog from a “nerotypical” sibling of someone with autism. Key words, sibling of someone with autism. Right out of the bat, someone else is speaking for someone with autism. Hey, I though the mission of Autism Speaks, was to hand the microphone to the people with autism. Oh wait, that would be basic, common sense logic, right.
The post’s introduction states that the writer is a graduate from Yale University, second offense, a with someone from an Ivy League background. The post features how his older brother can drive (the one with autism) but in between he borders on slander of his feelings about him. (And slander is of course a strong word, but I feel from this perception, he is making such anger towards someone who can’t fend for himself.) The first paragraph describes his younger brother in a the most blunt way as possible.
Here I quote it:
My brother doesn’t like me very much, and I don’t blame him.
But it gets worse:
“The driver’s license was a big one. In east bay suburbia, it’s a given that on your 16th birthday you go to the DMV and take the test. It’s all you talk about when you’re a sophomore in high school, and when Matthew was that age, he probably heard about it every day when he walked alone through the halls.”
How insulting!
“I, the neurotypical one, got my driver’s license on my 16th birthday, when Matthew was 18. According to Matthew, though, I wasn’t allowed to drive. I was younger than he was, so it made no sense for me to have rights that he didn’t.”
and even more salt to the wounds…
“I am very lucky. Matthew knows that I have no trouble making friends, and he knows that I have a girlfriend. He knows that I’m more independent than he is, and that I go to college.
Sometimes I accidentally beat him when we play video games together.”
I cannot imagine jelliousy and whatever else. I don’t have any siblings, but on the Official Autism Speaks WordPress blog, and the way hes writing and talking about his older brother with autism…its like he thinks hes mute and dumb and nieave or whatever you want to describe it.
And I suffer with this disease because my voice is squelched thanks to the ultra blowtoarch group known as Autism Speaks and how they want to silence all autistic and degrade them. I have zero respect to the pretty-faced/arrogant man known as Bob Wright, heartless business man, who has done nothing other than make all people with autism hopeless and powerless. (Never mind causing the collapse at NBC Universal which is now being salvaged by Comcast by all the cost cutting initiates during his tenure.)
And how in the hell can you say in the post “Voices of Autism” when he couldn’t speak for himself. How pathetic! I can speak for myself and I will never, ever in the lifetime ever give a damn penny or join in any fundraiser that sponsors Autism Speaks. They are an obscenely managed organization and they deserve to never get support for anyone who has autism and can literally speak for themselves.
if this post had any example, than this would be it.
Autism Speaks is such a fraud, what have they done to help children like my son who lives with autism? NOTHING, i totally agree with you when you say no one should support their fundraisers, all their doing is filling up their pockets and no help goes to the families suffering.
It’s a shame that more people don;t realize what Autism Speaks is really about, hopefully one day they will and maybe then they will really offer their help to organizations who truly make a difference in people’s life who are living with autism.
I am a mother of a beautiful 5 year old with autism and proudly say I DO NOT SUPPORT AUTISM SPEAKS.
I appreciate your response! I’m glad you had seen through it, especially a mother of a 5 year old that has autism. There are so many mothers of children with ASD and their posts on Web that come off ether really in support of Autism Speaks or they have gotten drunk on the kool-aid. Even if one tries to convince someone that they are fraudulent, you would go nowhere. They need to understand as soon as possible that Autism Speaks will not be there to help them. It was (somewhat) a better world before they came into existence. I applaud you.
The real problem is how they have gotten out of hand with advocating the disorder. the website has gotten out of control to the point I forget their cause. (What’s Autism Speaks U to start – for real? How effective is that campaign?) Its nothing but just a feel-me-good cause organization and not focusing on the actual problem in hand.
We need more voices in order to squelch the agenda from Autism Speaks. We need to somehow get enough “noise” to block their “noise”. Its a shame how they advocate.
I suggest if you haven’t already, to encourage in other venues for a boycott to Autism Speaks. I can say for myself it’s been tricky because I have to deal with naive (and uninformed) people who will believe in everything but what I say.
Again, I appreciate your comment!