Friday, September 12, 2008

Adult advocates with autism question direction of Autism Speaks

Cody Boisclair, who has Asperger's, wrote an opinion column for the University of Georgia's Stand Up magazine, which questions the intentions of organizations like Autism Speaks, saying "advocates, despite the clarity of their message, are completely ignored by Autism Speaks. Their mission statement, in fact, openly states that the organization’s goal is 'facilitating global research into the causes, treatments, and an eventual cure for autism' — precisely the sort of thing that autistics, even those on the 'lower-functioning' end of the autism spectrum, are understandably worried about. The issue of cure versus acceptance, however, is not all that concerns autistics about Autism Speaks. Even beyond that particular issue, Autism Speaks seems to show little concern for the opinions of autistics."

Read the rest of the column here.