I will not light it up blue.
I do not support Autism Speaks in any of its forms. I do support Color the World, since each one of us is unique and individual as the colors we see. I also tacitly support Light it up Gold and Light it up Red. Light it up Gold is for the hearts of gold many autistics display. Light it up Red is directly countering light it up blue as red is perceived as the primary opposite of blue.
- https://www.facebook.com/ColorTheWorldAutism
- https://www.facebook.com/AutisticUnion/timeline
- http://autismthroughoureyes.org/lightitupred/
This was written by my daughter. Please take the time to read and educate yourself before you buy into propaganda. You can find the original at
This is a basic list of things to look into with Autism Speaks:
- There are no autistics on the board of Autism Speaks. The only member who was autistic on the board resigned in November 2013 over the ‘Call to Action’ which was published as an editorial. The motto of the disability community since its inception has been ‘Nothing about us, without us’.
- The ‘Call to Action’ was published as part of ‘Autism Speaks to Washington’, and was written by founder Suzanne Wright. This piece is fear mongering, plain and simple.
- Autism Speaks advertising is fear mongering and actually harmful to autistics because it reinforces that we are ‘evil’.
- ‘Autism Every Day’ was made in 2006. This is the one which included the mother who was talking while her autistic daughter was in the room about driving off a bridge, and that the only thing that stopped her was her neurotypical daughter waiting at home. The mother in question was the vice president of Autism Speaks. The film was accepted at the Sundance Festival in 2007.
- ‘I am Autism’ is a public service announcement. This is fear mongering in essence, and here is a transcript: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/09/horrific-autism-speaks-i-am-autism-ad-transcript/
- Autism Speaks also consistently makes us out to be burdens on our families and menaces to the rest of society in their advertising.
- Autism Speaks video ‘Sounding the Alarm’
- http://autismwomensnetwork.org/film-review-of-documentary-sounding-the-alarm-battling-the-autism-epidemic/
- https://oystersandlife.com/2014/07/20/autism-its-not-an-epidemic/
- Autism Speaks misuses funds given to it. Only 4% goes to family services, while almost 10% goes into salaries. There are other questions regarding their budget as well.
- Autism Speaks spends 44% of its budget on research. Of this, most of it goes into finding a cause, prevention, and a ‘cure’. Prevention at this point is a prenatal test, similar to what is used to test for Down’s syndrome. Eugenics is eugenics, all the time, never mind that I do not wish to be cured.
- Autism Speaks promotes awareness, primarily for children. Awareness is not the same as acceptance. The current number, 1 in 68, is used as a rallying cry for their fundraising. One, we do not ‘grow out’ of being autistic once we hit 18 years. Two, we are not a disease.
- Autism speaks chose a blue puzzle piece as a symbol. One, we are not a puzzle to be solved, we are human beings. The autism awareness ribbon is all colors for a reason. Two, blue is the male color, whereas both men and women are on the spectrum. Three, we are not depressed or anything like that as a whole.
- ‘Light it up blue’ is the Autism Speaks call to action. We are not blue, depressed, or even all male.
- The Judge Rotenburg Center is a ‘school’ in Massachusetts founded in 1971. They employ electronic shock training on their students, who all have disabilities. The Judge Rotenburg Center has been allowed to recruit as a ‘service’ at Autism Speaks events.
- Aut10K is a project to sequence the genomes of 10,000 autistic individuals as they search for a defining genetic cause of Autism sponsored by Autism Speaks. The project has not passed any ethics board, has not defined any privacy constraints, and has not announced a concrete plan for what the findings will be used for.
- http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/06/community-concerns-regarding-the-google-autism-speaks-ten-thousand-genomes-program-aut10k/
- http://autismwomensnetwork.org/dear-google-do-no-harm/
- Autism Speaks has repeatedly denied attempts to legislate inclusion into the services which are provided for Autistics
- http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/06/asan-statement-on-autism-cares-act/
Per DSM-V, I am autistic (even though I disagree with DSM-V). I do not support this organization at all. I do support educating individuals who believe that I should be cured, and about organizations that they choose to support.
Other links to look at (some repeats):
- http://thecaffeinatedautistic.wordpress.com/new-autism-speaks-masterpost-updated-62014/
- http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/01/2013-joint-letter-to-the-sponsors-of-autism-speaks/
- http://autismwomensnetwork.org/is-autism-speaks-a-hate-group/
- http://tomplastow.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/dear-autism-parents-we-dont-want-to-be-cured-2/
- http://www.icaaonline.org/?p=2802
- http://thecaffeinatedautistic.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/why-i-am-against-autism-speaks-and-you-should-be-too-2/
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2013/11/13/why-autism-speaks-doesnt-speak-for-me/
- http://emmashopebook.com/2013/11/13/whats-wrong-with-autism-speaks/
- http://smallbutkindamighty.com/2013/11/12/many-people-mad-autism-speaks-right-now/
- http://catonatrampoline.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/colortheworld/
- http://www.autistichoya.com/2013/01/judge-rotenberg-center-survivors-letter.html
Oysters and Life 