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In reply to the discussion: Autistic People Spark Twitter Fight Against Autism Speaks [View all]proverbialwisdom
(4,959 posts)16. What a backstory.
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1935959,00.html
'I Am Autism': An Advocacy Video Sparks Protest
By Claudia Wallis
Friday, Nov. 06, 2009
Few medical conditions rival autism as a magnet for controversy. Practically everything about the disorder its cause, its treatment, the way it is diagnosed, how it is studied is subject to bitter dispute, sometimes to the point of death threats.
The most impassioned disagreements are propelled by desperate parents of autistic children, but increasingly, people who themselves have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis are speaking up. And their priorities, surprisingly enough, are not always in line with the advocacy groups who seek to represent their interests.
The latest example is the eruption over a video produced for Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism advocacy group. The slickly produced video, written by Grammy-nominated songwriter Billy Mann and directed by Academy Awardwinning director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men), shows a series of images of children with autism, accompanied by an ominous voice-over: "I am Autism ... I know where you live ... I live there too ... I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer and diabetes combined ... And if you are happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails."
<>
Peter Bell, executive vice president of Autism Speaks, said the video got plenty of positive responses from the autism community. "But we realized it did hurt a certain segment of the population, which is why we removed the video link from our website," he said.
The video, Bell said in an interview, is a personal expression by Mann and Cuarón, each of whom has a young child with autism. "They are at that stage of life where they are grieving and unsure what the future holds," he said.
"I Am Autism," which turns hopeful about halfway through its 3 minutes and 44 seconds, was created for a World Focus on Autism event that coincided with the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in September. "It was never intended to have a life beyond that event," Bell said.
<>
'I Am Autism': An Advocacy Video Sparks Protest
By Claudia Wallis
Friday, Nov. 06, 2009
Few medical conditions rival autism as a magnet for controversy. Practically everything about the disorder its cause, its treatment, the way it is diagnosed, how it is studied is subject to bitter dispute, sometimes to the point of death threats.
The most impassioned disagreements are propelled by desperate parents of autistic children, but increasingly, people who themselves have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis are speaking up. And their priorities, surprisingly enough, are not always in line with the advocacy groups who seek to represent their interests.
The latest example is the eruption over a video produced for Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism advocacy group. The slickly produced video, written by Grammy-nominated songwriter Billy Mann and directed by Academy Awardwinning director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men), shows a series of images of children with autism, accompanied by an ominous voice-over: "I am Autism ... I know where you live ... I live there too ... I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer and diabetes combined ... And if you are happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails."
<>
Peter Bell, executive vice president of Autism Speaks, said the video got plenty of positive responses from the autism community. "But we realized it did hurt a certain segment of the population, which is why we removed the video link from our website," he said.
The video, Bell said in an interview, is a personal expression by Mann and Cuarón, each of whom has a young child with autism. "They are at that stage of life where they are grieving and unsure what the future holds," he said.
"I Am Autism," which turns hopeful about halfway through its 3 minutes and 44 seconds, was created for a World Focus on Autism event that coincided with the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in September. "It was never intended to have a life beyond that event," Bell said.
<>
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Autism Speaks: "Every 11 minutes someone receives a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder."
proverbialwisdom
Feb 2015
#4
here is Autism Speaks infamous commerical - try to imagine just how offensive this could be
Douglas Carpenter
Feb 2015
#5
IMO, tremendous latent potential exists in the greater autism community if all the infighting stops.
proverbialwisdom
Feb 2015
#19
Individuals with autism and the parents of children with autism are ALL DIRECT STAKEHOLDERS.
proverbialwisdom
Feb 2015
#24
130 new cases of autism are diagnosed in the US each day. Keep provoking meaningless division.
proverbialwisdom
Mar 2015
#29
The CDC focuses on communicable disease, food borne illness, and the like
Cal Carpenter
Mar 2015
#44
Nope, nah, nah, no, not at all. The CDC studied autism intensively in Brick Township, NJ in 1998.
proverbialwisdom
Mar 2015
#45
Don't like Blaxill's work? Princeton, Harvard MBA, founding partner 3LP, author, autism dad: SOLID.
proverbialwisdom
Mar 2015
#50
Don't like mushrooms? Try spinach and artichoke hearts on your pizza. SOLID.
Cal Carpenter
Mar 2015
#53
They appear to have dumped Aut$peaks in favor of New York Collaborates 4 Autism
KamaAina
Mar 2015
#38
More nuance please! Does the Autism Speaks program below 'help or hurt'?
proverbialwisdom
Mar 2015
#39
I have something serious previously posted for you to check out, in particular, Dr. Insel's remarks.
proverbialwisdom
Mar 2015
#46