Autistic Self Advocacy Network-Portland Media Roundup:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philosophography/3959855946/in/photostream/
This page has a photo, write-up and links to ASAN-National and ASAN-Portland. We are also on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/PDXASAN
FOX 12 interview with Elesia and footage of the protest itself 9/26 5pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxIPqE3DYG4
KOIN 6 short spot, edited by Harry Williams to include our photos from the event 9/26 6pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74I5IdzzAPA
KOIN 6 interview with Elesia 9/26 11pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYeZVQu5H3A
KBOO interview with Phoebe 9/28 5pm
Audio: http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/documents/kboo-asan.mp3
Transcript:
Announcer: The group Autism Speaks held a march this weekend in Portland and raised over $50,000, which they say will go to research on autism.
But some people with autism and parents of kids with autism protested the march, saying that it does not represent them. KBOO's Jenka Soderberg spoke with Phoebe Loomis, one of the protest organizers and a member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
Soderberg: Can you tell us about the protest, and why you decided it was important to come out this weekend?
Loomis: There's been a long pattern of Autism Speaks excluding and exploiting autistics in the name of helping us. They always have dehumanizing sort of ad campaigns that portray us as being diseased, or kind of describe having your child diagnosed as autistic as being equivalent to a car wreck or other things that are much farther tragic.
They had a recent ad campaign that was the most bothersome and one of the things that got us feeling we really needed to get out there. It was labeled "I Am Autism," and it had this pretty haunting voiceover describing all of the horrors of autism.
And one of the big issues with Autism Speaks as an organization is they raise a tremendous amount of money: like this walk. I'm sure it raised a lot of money. But they only put four percent of their funds back into services to help actual autistics.
Their top executive makes about I think over $600,000, which is something that you might expect out of a big executive company, you know: AIG, something like that. And I'm sure the walk that they just had didn't even raise that amount. [Laughing]
Soderberg: So does the Autism Speaks organization not include any people with autism in their organizing and in their board?
Loomis: They do not. They have never once in their leadership today or in the past had one autistic individual in their leadership.
Soderberg: And has your organization, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, attempted to join or to be part of Autism Speaks and been excluded?
Loomis: Ari Ne'eman, the president of ASAN has contacted them personally many, many times. I'm not sure what they said back to him, but I know that they have not had any interest of actually having autistics help them other than to be a token character in a commercial it seems.
Soderberg: And I'm assuming that he didn't take them up on being a character in their commercial?
Loomis: No. [Laughing].
Soderberg: So what is it that your group is hoping that real advocacy for people with autism would look like?
Loomis: All right. Well ASAN seeks to advance the idea of neurological diversity, kind of the concept that it can be a world [Sorry...uh...Sorry]...that we can just have the same access rights and opportunities as any other citizen, just inclusion in general.
Soderberg: So, then your main focus is that people with autism should not be excluded, and should be included in all of the aspects of society?
Loomis: Yes, and especially in any sort of legislation that has to do with autism specifically. Because Autism Speaks tries to say they do things in the politics, but I mean they aren't letting any actual autistics involve themselves. So, I don't think they're really trying to help us so much.
Soderberg: And what happened on Saturday?
Loomis: I'm not sure what they were holding. It was a walk for Autism Speaks is what the big banner said. There was quite a big turnout. Lots and lots of booths selling various things and then a small group of us from my group, ASAN. We were there with signs and everything. And we handed out a lot of literature.
Soderberg: I'm sure that a lot of the marchers came out with good intentions. Did you manage to talk to people?
Loomis: Yes, indeed. I just feel like they're really taking advantage of a lot of well-meaning parents, you know? Because my daughter is autistic, and I'm just so glad I never got sucked into that. It's...cause almost any parent they'll do what can to help their child. And if they get fed these lines that they can fix their kid, you know? They're going to try to do it.
They don't realize the harm. There were definitely people speaking with us that were interested and had similar views as us, and some people who actually were working for Autism Speaks that weren't aware of their recent ad campaigns, the "I Am Autism" ad which they found pretty disgusting once they heard about.
Soderberg: Again, I'm speaking with Phoebe Loomis, who is with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: the local chapter here in Portland. This is Jenka Soderberg with KBOO News.
(http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/documents/KBOO-Transcript.doc)
These links are also posted together online at http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/
Check out the article. I urge you to leave a positive to-the-point comment. Go ASAN!
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17878-poetic-autism-film-divides-campaigners.html
P.S. Edited to add the text of the literature we handed out at the Walk For Autism Speaks Saturday:
About.
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement in the world of autism. Drawing on the principles of the cross-disability community on issues such as inclusive education, community living supports and others, ASAN seeks to organize the community of Autistic adults and youth to have our voices heard in the national conversation about us. In addition, ASAN seeks to advance the idea of neurological diversity, putting forward the concept that the goal of autism advocacy should not be a world without Autistic people. Instead, it should be a world in which Autistic people enjoy the same access, rights and opportunities as all other citizens. Working in fields such as public policy, media representation, research and systems change, ASAN hopes to empower Autistic people across the world to take control of their own lives and the future of our common community.
ASAN-Portland seeks to provide opportunities for social and community involvement in and around the greater Portland area.
Contact.
ASAN-Portland web site: http://www.meetup.com/PDX-Autistic-Self-Advocacy-Network/
ASAN-National: http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/
What is neurodiversity?
Neurological diversity is idea that we are all neurologically different-that individuals on the autism spectrum do not have a disease but rather a difference to be recognized. Autistic people have a unique set of characteristics that provide them many rewards and challenges, not unlike their non-autistic peers. Neurodiversity works toward equal rights for those of all neurological configurations-the rights to accommodations and support services so that we all might lead fulfilling and productive lives.
From a member of ASAN-Central Ohio:
Remember, we are all human. We have dreams, feelings, and desires as humans do. We don't want to be cured or eliminated. We just want to be accepted and treated with the respect we deserve and need.
Why Autism Speaks Does Not Speak for Us
Autism Speaks and the organizations that merged into it, including the National Alliance for Autism Research, have provided many grants to fund genetic studies and other autism-related research. In 2005, grant recipient Dr. Joseph Buxbaum predicted a prenatal test within 10 years.[1] Autism Speaks' co-founder Suzanne Wright made the organization's eugenic aims equally plain, to "eradicate autism for the sake of future generations."[2] There is a page on Autism Speaks' website supporting the efforts of James Watson and others "to identify autism susceptibility genes."[3] Watson resigned in disgrace from his position as the Chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory after making grossly racist remarks,[4] and he has long advocated genetically enhancing children and eugenically exterminating people with cognitive disabilities, which he characterizes as "curing stupidity."[5]
Autism Speaks created a video in 2006 entitled Autism Every Day, which the producer admitted was staged to show negative images.[6] In one horrific scene, a mother described her thoughts of murdering her autistic daughter while the child was actually in the room.[7] Soon afterward, two board members of Autism Speaks said in a magazine interview that they sometimes hoped their autistic son would drown in their backyard pond.[8] Television ads by Autism Speaks have compared the odds of a child being autistic to the odds of a child being struck by lightning, [9] or killed in a car wreck, implying none too subtly that a child might as well be dead as autistic.
Two prominent figures at Autism Speaks, communications executive Alison Tepper Singer[10] and scientific advisor Dr. Eric London,[11] resigned in 2009 because they objected to the organization's complicity in perpetuating the groundless urban legend about vaccines and autism, which has led to reduced vaccination rates and tragic deaths of young children from vaccine-preventable diseases.[12] Dr. London warned bluntly in his resignation letter that "[i]f Autism Speaks' misguided stance continues, there will be more deaths…"[13]
Although Autism Speaks claims to speak for autistic people, it does not have-and never has had-even one autistic person on its board of directors or in its leadership. This is far out of line with the mainstream of the disability community, where individuals with disabilities work side by side with family members, professionals, and others to achieve quality of life and equality of opportunity. Autism Speaks' exclusionary attitude toward people with disabilities is clearly shown in a recent video entitled Neighbors,[14] which suggests that autistic children will have no friends unless they are taught to suppress their autistic mannerisms by means of behavioral therapy. The underlying message is that people with disabilities cannot be accepted as they are.
References:
MSNBC, Feb. 23, 2005; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7013251
Parade Magazine, Jan. 27, 2008; http://www.parade.com//articles/editions/2008/edition_01-27-2008/Autism_Changes_Everything
http://www.autismspeaks.org/inthenews/wrights_cold_spring_harbor.php
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fury-at-dna-pioneers-theory-africans-are-less-intelligent-than-westerners-394898.html
Sun-Herald, March 2, 2003; http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/01/1046407801233.html
WireTap Magazine, July 11, 2006; http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/38631
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7NTfZzS9b8
Town & Country Magazine, August 2006; http://www.autismspeaks.org/docs/Town_and_Country.pdf
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1086177/autism_awareness_lightning
Newsweek, Jan. 19, 2009; http://www.newsweek.com/id/179998
Science, July 10, 2009; http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5937/135-a?ijkey=vWdUsXAiJkdCE&keytype=ref&siteid=sci
Discover Magazine, June 2009; http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jun/06-why-does-vaccine-autism-controversy-live-on
http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/ericlondon.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rVX_nSLFtg&feature=channel_page
** written by Meg Evans
P.P.S. Here's my daughter protesting:
This page has a photo, write-up and links to ASAN-National and ASAN-Portland. We are also on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/PDXASAN
FOX 12 interview with Elesia and footage of the protest itself 9/26 5pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxIPqE3DYG4
KOIN 6 short spot, edited by Harry Williams to include our photos from the event 9/26 6pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74I5IdzzAPA
KOIN 6 interview with Elesia 9/26 11pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYeZVQu5H3A
KBOO interview with Phoebe 9/28 5pm
Audio: http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/documents/kboo-asan.mp3
Transcript:
Announcer: The group Autism Speaks held a march this weekend in Portland and raised over $50,000, which they say will go to research on autism.
But some people with autism and parents of kids with autism protested the march, saying that it does not represent them. KBOO's Jenka Soderberg spoke with Phoebe Loomis, one of the protest organizers and a member of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
Soderberg: Can you tell us about the protest, and why you decided it was important to come out this weekend?
Loomis: There's been a long pattern of Autism Speaks excluding and exploiting autistics in the name of helping us. They always have dehumanizing sort of ad campaigns that portray us as being diseased, or kind of describe having your child diagnosed as autistic as being equivalent to a car wreck or other things that are much farther tragic.
They had a recent ad campaign that was the most bothersome and one of the things that got us feeling we really needed to get out there. It was labeled "I Am Autism," and it had this pretty haunting voiceover describing all of the horrors of autism.
And one of the big issues with Autism Speaks as an organization is they raise a tremendous amount of money: like this walk. I'm sure it raised a lot of money. But they only put four percent of their funds back into services to help actual autistics.
Their top executive makes about I think over $600,000, which is something that you might expect out of a big executive company, you know: AIG, something like that. And I'm sure the walk that they just had didn't even raise that amount. [Laughing]
Soderberg: So does the Autism Speaks organization not include any people with autism in their organizing and in their board?
Loomis: They do not. They have never once in their leadership today or in the past had one autistic individual in their leadership.
Soderberg: And has your organization, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, attempted to join or to be part of Autism Speaks and been excluded?
Loomis: Ari Ne'eman, the president of ASAN has contacted them personally many, many times. I'm not sure what they said back to him, but I know that they have not had any interest of actually having autistics help them other than to be a token character in a commercial it seems.
Soderberg: And I'm assuming that he didn't take them up on being a character in their commercial?
Loomis: No. [Laughing].
Soderberg: So what is it that your group is hoping that real advocacy for people with autism would look like?
Loomis: All right. Well ASAN seeks to advance the idea of neurological diversity, kind of the concept that it can be a world [Sorry...uh...Sorry]...that we can just have the same access rights and opportunities as any other citizen, just inclusion in general.
Soderberg: So, then your main focus is that people with autism should not be excluded, and should be included in all of the aspects of society?
Loomis: Yes, and especially in any sort of legislation that has to do with autism specifically. Because Autism Speaks tries to say they do things in the politics, but I mean they aren't letting any actual autistics involve themselves. So, I don't think they're really trying to help us so much.
Soderberg: And what happened on Saturday?
Loomis: I'm not sure what they were holding. It was a walk for Autism Speaks is what the big banner said. There was quite a big turnout. Lots and lots of booths selling various things and then a small group of us from my group, ASAN. We were there with signs and everything. And we handed out a lot of literature.
Soderberg: I'm sure that a lot of the marchers came out with good intentions. Did you manage to talk to people?
Loomis: Yes, indeed. I just feel like they're really taking advantage of a lot of well-meaning parents, you know? Because my daughter is autistic, and I'm just so glad I never got sucked into that. It's...cause almost any parent they'll do what can to help their child. And if they get fed these lines that they can fix their kid, you know? They're going to try to do it.
They don't realize the harm. There were definitely people speaking with us that were interested and had similar views as us, and some people who actually were working for Autism Speaks that weren't aware of their recent ad campaigns, the "I Am Autism" ad which they found pretty disgusting once they heard about.
Soderberg: Again, I'm speaking with Phoebe Loomis, who is with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network: the local chapter here in Portland. This is Jenka Soderberg with KBOO News.
(http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/documents/KBOO-Transcript.doc)
These links are also posted together online at http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/
Check out the article. I urge you to leave a positive to-the-point comment. Go ASAN!
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17878-poetic-autism-film-divides-campaigners.html
P.S. Edited to add the text of the literature we handed out at the Walk For Autism Speaks Saturday:
About.
The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement in the world of autism. Drawing on the principles of the cross-disability community on issues such as inclusive education, community living supports and others, ASAN seeks to organize the community of Autistic adults and youth to have our voices heard in the national conversation about us. In addition, ASAN seeks to advance the idea of neurological diversity, putting forward the concept that the goal of autism advocacy should not be a world without Autistic people. Instead, it should be a world in which Autistic people enjoy the same access, rights and opportunities as all other citizens. Working in fields such as public policy, media representation, research and systems change, ASAN hopes to empower Autistic people across the world to take control of their own lives and the future of our common community.
ASAN-Portland seeks to provide opportunities for social and community involvement in and around the greater Portland area.
Contact.
ASAN-Portland web site: http://www.meetup.com/PDX-Autistic-Self-Advocacy-Network/
ASAN-National: http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/
What is neurodiversity?
Neurological diversity is idea that we are all neurologically different-that individuals on the autism spectrum do not have a disease but rather a difference to be recognized. Autistic people have a unique set of characteristics that provide them many rewards and challenges, not unlike their non-autistic peers. Neurodiversity works toward equal rights for those of all neurological configurations-the rights to accommodations and support services so that we all might lead fulfilling and productive lives.
From a member of ASAN-Central Ohio:
Remember, we are all human. We have dreams, feelings, and desires as humans do. We don't want to be cured or eliminated. We just want to be accepted and treated with the respect we deserve and need.
Why Autism Speaks Does Not Speak for Us
Autism Speaks and the organizations that merged into it, including the National Alliance for Autism Research, have provided many grants to fund genetic studies and other autism-related research. In 2005, grant recipient Dr. Joseph Buxbaum predicted a prenatal test within 10 years.[1] Autism Speaks' co-founder Suzanne Wright made the organization's eugenic aims equally plain, to "eradicate autism for the sake of future generations."[2] There is a page on Autism Speaks' website supporting the efforts of James Watson and others "to identify autism susceptibility genes."[3] Watson resigned in disgrace from his position as the Chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory after making grossly racist remarks,[4] and he has long advocated genetically enhancing children and eugenically exterminating people with cognitive disabilities, which he characterizes as "curing stupidity."[5]
Autism Speaks created a video in 2006 entitled Autism Every Day, which the producer admitted was staged to show negative images.[6] In one horrific scene, a mother described her thoughts of murdering her autistic daughter while the child was actually in the room.[7] Soon afterward, two board members of Autism Speaks said in a magazine interview that they sometimes hoped their autistic son would drown in their backyard pond.[8] Television ads by Autism Speaks have compared the odds of a child being autistic to the odds of a child being struck by lightning, [9] or killed in a car wreck, implying none too subtly that a child might as well be dead as autistic.
Two prominent figures at Autism Speaks, communications executive Alison Tepper Singer[10] and scientific advisor Dr. Eric London,[11] resigned in 2009 because they objected to the organization's complicity in perpetuating the groundless urban legend about vaccines and autism, which has led to reduced vaccination rates and tragic deaths of young children from vaccine-preventable diseases.[12] Dr. London warned bluntly in his resignation letter that "[i]f Autism Speaks' misguided stance continues, there will be more deaths…"[13]
Although Autism Speaks claims to speak for autistic people, it does not have-and never has had-even one autistic person on its board of directors or in its leadership. This is far out of line with the mainstream of the disability community, where individuals with disabilities work side by side with family members, professionals, and others to achieve quality of life and equality of opportunity. Autism Speaks' exclusionary attitude toward people with disabilities is clearly shown in a recent video entitled Neighbors,[14] which suggests that autistic children will have no friends unless they are taught to suppress their autistic mannerisms by means of behavioral therapy. The underlying message is that people with disabilities cannot be accepted as they are.
References:
MSNBC, Feb. 23, 2005; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7013251
Parade Magazine, Jan. 27, 2008; http://www.parade.com//articles/editions/2008/edition_01-27-2008/Autism_Changes_Everything
http://www.autismspeaks.org/inthenews/wrights_cold_spring_harbor.php
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fury-at-dna-pioneers-theory-africans-are-less-intelligent-than-westerners-394898.html
Sun-Herald, March 2, 2003; http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/01/1046407801233.html
WireTap Magazine, July 11, 2006; http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/38631
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7NTfZzS9b8
Town & Country Magazine, August 2006; http://www.autismspeaks.org/docs/Town_and_Country.pdf
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1086177/autism_awareness_lightning
Newsweek, Jan. 19, 2009; http://www.newsweek.com/id/179998
Science, July 10, 2009; http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5937/135-a?ijkey=vWdUsXAiJkdCE&keytype=ref&siteid=sci
Discover Magazine, June 2009; http://discovermagazine.com/2009/jun/06-why-does-vaccine-autism-controversy-live-on
http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/ericlondon.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rVX_nSLFtg&feature=channel_page
** written by Meg Evans
P.P.S. Here's my daughter protesting: