Guest guest Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Modified to include Research Autism. Is what I've put right? I haven't looked at the site myself Sally We the under-signed members of the autism community wish to repudiate the National Autistic Society and its claim to speak for us and our autistic children. In particular, we demand the withdrawal of the latest leaflet (Think Differently about Autism) calling for public understanding of autism. Hope for people with autism does not lie in public tolerance and a pretence that they are normal but in the torrent of medical research pouring out of the United States. A model of autism as a genetic pre-disposition combined with a precipitating environmental insult is being developed in US with new discoveries almost weekly. These developments offer real hope for those affected by autism. What is the contribution of the NAS at this exciting time? A leaflet with pictures of people who " choose not to speak " and a plea for public understanding. The public should know that the NAS is riven with feuding between those who believe autism is " normal " and those who believe it is a disability which should be treated. One of our number signed this letter en route to a conference run by the National Autistic Association of America whose speakers include a representative from the US-government National Institute of Health speaking on the part played by the environment in the autism epidemic. Only an ocean but a world away from the patronising claptrap put out by the National Autistic Society of the UK. The NAS has a research arm called Research Autism. It has a website. None of this US research gets a mention. People with autism are sometimes said jokingly to be on another planet. It must be the one where the NAS is a well-informed, authoritative campaigning organisation and a powerful voice for change -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.22/1112 - Release Date: 05/11/2007 19:11 No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.22/1112 - Release Date: 05/11/2007 19:11 No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.22/1112 - Release Date: 05/11/2007 19:11 No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.22/1112 - Release Date: 05/11/2007 19:11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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