Fwd: [ASANDiscussion] Please Distribute: Letter to the Sponsors, Donors and Supporters of Autism Speaks

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Date: Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 8:55 AMSubject: [ASANDiscussion] Please Distribute: Letter to the Sponsors, Donors and Supporters of Autism SpeaksTo: autisticselfadvocacynetwork <autisticselfadvocacynetwork >, ASAN <asandiscussion >, ASANTeens <ASANTeens >, asan_au <ASAN_AU >, autadvo <AutAdvo >, autisticspectrumtreehouse <AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse >, mc-asperger-parent-support-group <MC-Asperger-Parent-Support-Group >, md-as-support

 

This morning, the following letter from over 60 disability rights

organizations was sent to numerous national sponsors of Autism Speaks.Individual signatories can show their support by signing the petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/AutismSpeaks/. Please feel free to distribute this to your networks.

To the Sponsors, Donors and Supporters of Autism Speaks:

We, the undersigned organizations representing self advocates, parents,

professionals and allies in the Autism, Autistic and Disability Communities,

are writing to you to express our concern about the recent actions of Autism

Speaks. Our work is about helping empower and support people with disabilities

of all kinds, including adults and youth on the autism spectrum, and we

recognize that there are a wide variety of means towards accomplishing this

goal. Yet, Autism Speaks’ recent choice to use fear, stigma, misinformation and

prejudice against Autistic people as a fundraising tool does real damage to

people with disabilities everywhere. The most recent example of this lack of

ethics can be found in Autism Speaks’ new “I am Autism” campaign which states, “I

am autism...I know where you live...I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer

and diabetes combined. And if you're happily married, I will make sure that

your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands and I will bankrupt you

for my own self-gain...I will make it virtually impossible for your family to

easily attend a temple, birthday party, or public park without a struggle,

without embarrassment, without pain...I am autism. I have no interest in right

or wrong. I derive great pleasure out of your loneliness. "

Not only does this campaign rely on offensive stereotypes and inaccurate

information (research indicates that parents of Autistic children are not more

likely to divorce than parents of non-Autistic children), but it also does real

damage to the cause of disability rights. By choosing to portray Autistic

people as husks of real people, stolen out of our own bodies, Autism Speaks

reinforces stereotypes and prejudice against people with disabilities that have

existed for centuries and have been the source of pain, segregation and

violence.

We are calling on you to end your support for Autism Speaks and to find new

ways to show your support for Autistic people and others with disabilities. As

the result of a pattern of unethical behavior and irresponsible governance,

outlined below, we believe that Autism Speaks as an organization no longer

deserves your time, energy, money and support.

Autism Speaks uses damaging and offensive fundraising tactics which rely

on fear, stereotypes and devaluing the lives of people on the autism spectrum: Autism

Speaks’ unethical fundraising tactics are not limited to the new “I am Autism”

video. Its television Public Service Announcements compare having a child on

the autism spectrum to having a child caught in a fatal car accident or struck

by lightning. In fact, the idea of autism as a fate worse than death is a

frequent theme in their fundraising and awareness efforts, going back to their

“Autism Every Day” film in 2005. Indeed, throughout Autism Speaks’ fundraising

is a consistent and unfortunate theme of fear, pity and prejudice, presenting

Autistic adults and children not as full human beings but as burdens on society

that must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Very little money donated to Autism Speaks goes toward helping Autistic

people and families: According to their 2008 annual report, only 4% of

Autism Speaks’ budget goes towards the “Family Service” grants that are the

organization’s means of funding services. Given the huge sums of money Autism

Speaks raises from local communities as compared to the miniscule sums it gives

back, it is not an exaggeration to say that Autism Speaks is a tremendous drain

on the ability of communities to fund autism service-provision and education

initiatives Furthermore, while the bulk of Autism Speaks’ budget (65%) goes

toward genetic and biomedical research, only a small minority of Autism Speaks’

research budget goes towards research oriented around improving services,

supports, treatments and educational methodologies, with most funding going

towards basic research oriented around causation and genetic research,

including the prospect of prenatal testing. Although Autism Speaks has not

prioritized services with a practical impact for families and individuals in

its budget, its rates of executive pay are the highest in the autism world,

with annual salaries as high as $600,000 a year.

Autism Speaks excludes the people it pretends to represent: Autism

Speaks is one of an increasingly few number of major disability advocacy

organizations that refuse to include any individual with the disability they

purport to serve on their board of directors or at any point in their

leadership and decision-making processes. In large part due to Autism Speaks’

public relations strategy of presenting Autistic people as silent burdens on

society rather than human beings with thoughts, feelings and opinions, Autism

Speaks’ governance policies are deeply unrepresentative and out of step with

the mainstream of the disability non-profit community.

Contrary to the “I am Autism” video, which equates autism with AIDS and

Cancer, autism is not a terminal disease. It is a disability, one that comes

with significant challenges in a wide variety of realms. Yet the answer to

those challenges is not to create a world in which people are afraid of people

on the autism spectrum. The answer is not to create a world in which the word

autism is met with terror, hatred and prejudice. It is to work to create a

society that recognizes the civil rights of Autistic people and others with

disabilities. It is to work to create a world in which people with disabilities

can benefit from the supports, the services and the educational tools necessary

to empower them to be full citizens in society.

We are Autism’s true voice – Autistic people and those with other

disabilities ourselves, and our allies, family members, friends and supporters.

Autism Speaks does not speak for us. We are not stolen – we are right here. Our

lives may be difficult – but they are worth living. Autism Speaks Does Not

Speak For Us and we will not work with an organization that relies on damaging

and offensive stereotypes to advance an agenda out of step with those they

purport to represent. We call upon you to recognize this and find better

avenues for your admirable desire to support Autistic people and our families.

We call upon you to end your support for Autism Speaks.

National

and International Organizations:

 

The

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Self-Advocates

Becoming Empowered (SABE)

The

National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)

ADAPT

TASH

The

Arc of the United States

Disability

Rights and Education Defense Fund (DREDF)

The

National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN)

Autism

Network International (ANI)

The

Autism National Committee

Little

People of America (LPA)

Not

Dead Yet

The

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

National

Coalition for Disability Rights/ADA Watch

The

Autistic Spectrum Partnership In Research and Education (AASPIRE)

Mothers

From Hell 2

The

Center for Self-Determination

Disability

Rights Advocates

Kids

As Self-Advocates (KASA)

Service

Dog Central

MHONA

International

The

National Empowerment Center

Disabled

Youth Collective (DYP)

The

National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations

Feminist

Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA)

The

ICORS Asperger’s Listserv

 

International:

 

Autistic

Self-Advocacy Network-Australia

Autism

Rights Group Highland (in Scotland, United Kingdom)

The

Autistic Community of Israel

Autreach

IT in the United Kingdom

The

Southwest Autistic Rights Movement (SWARM) in the United Kingdom

The

London Autistic Rights Movement (LARM)

The

Aspergers Network in the United Kingdom

 

Local,

State, and Regional Organizations:

 

ADAPT-Montana

The

Center for Disability Rights in Rochester, NY

The

Regional Center for Independent Living in Rochester, NY

The

Michigan Disability Rights Coalition

The

Institute for Disability Access in Austin, Texas

The

land Coalition for Inclusive Education

The

Paraquad Center for Independent Living in St. Louis, Missouri

The

Lonesome Doves in Pennsylvania

TASH-New

England

Together

Enhancing Autism Awareness in Mississippi (TEAAM)

Wesleyan

Students for Disability Rights at Wesleyan University in Connecticut

Tangram

in Indianapolis, Indiana

The

Disability Activists Work Group (DAWG) in Oregon

APSE-Oklahoma

North

Carolina Disability Action Network

Access

Living of Metropolitan Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

Topeka

Independent Living Resource Center in Topeka, Kansas

Disabilityworks

in Chicago, Illinois

Ardinger

Consultants & Associates in land

Statewide

Parent Advocacy Network of New Jersey

Wisconsin

Family Assistance Center for Education, Training and Support

Aspergers

Young Adults of North Alabama (AYANA)

Access

to Independence of Cortland County, Cortland, New York

Youth

Power, New York

The

New York Association on Independent Living

Self-Advocates

As Leaders (SAAL) in Oregon

Green

Country Independent Living Resource Center

Elementary

Inclusive Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University

Beyond

Compliance Coordinating Committee at Syracuse University

Green

Mountain Self-Advocates in Vermont

Advance

Youth Leadership Power in Chicago, Illinois-- Ari Ne'emanPresidentThe Autistic Self Advocacy Networkhttp://www.autisticadvocacy.org

info@...------------------------------------------------Take a look at our innovative new Public Service Announcement produced with the Dan Marino Foundation at http://www.nomyths.org

If you like what we do, help support the Autistic Self Advocacy Network by making a donation at: https://www.change.org/donation/create?charity_id=211198

-- Lydia Glider-Broward County Special Needs Parents Examinerwww.examiner.com<3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3

WE CAN DO THIShttp://www.nopom.info<3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3Hear the REAL Voices of Autism:www.iamautism.org

<3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3  <3 " First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. " ~~Mahatma Gandhi