As an autistic adult, I’m really not sure where to stand on the Autism Speaks controversy. I admit I haven’t studied it extensively. It seems to me that the problem is that Autism Speaks is an advocacy group formed by and for the families of the most profoundly autistic kids, the ones who will never be able to have a normal place in society, and whose care places an enormous financial and emotional burden on their parents and loved ones. Those kids, those families, need advocates, and I can’t criticize Autism Speaks for choosing to focus on that group.
The problem is that they claim to represent the entire autistic spectrum. Yes, I am autistic, and I have struggled with a lot of things that most people take for granted. But I’ve also managed to earn a degree, start a career, support myself comfortably, and find a place in my community. There’s a lot of people like me, and it pisses us off when folks assume that all autistics are Rain Man or say things like “you can’t be, you seem so normal!”
So now here comes this “advocacy” group that has not a single autistic person on their board of directors, that tells us we’re “gravely ill”, a source of misery and despair to our loved ones, in urgent need of a “cure,” and despite years of protest from autistic adults refuses to moderate any of their language or policies…well, people aren’t real happy about that, to say the least.
