Why do I have “beef” with Autism Speaks? Let me show you, but know that there is a clip in here about a parent discussing KILLING HER AUTISTIC CHILD in this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Al96VCYOgm8
You know what’s great about the internet? Stuff like this lasts FOREVER. How would someone like me, an autistic, feel if they were looking up Autism Speaks and came across this very popular documentary? Did I not convince you? Here’s another extremely ableist commercial from Autism Speaks: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9UgLnWJFGHQ
While the company has taken these down and apologized, many people will still come across this media and not know any better, as the company’s apology is buried under tons of website pages. Regardless, Autism Speaks continues to:
• Only have three #actuallyautistic employees on their payroll, and only ONE on their Board of Directors
• Encourage traumatic practices like Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AIA-08-2017-0016/full/html
• Give about 1% of their TOTAL funding to the autistics and their families that actually need it: https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AutismSpeaksFlyer2020.pdf
• Continue to fund research for mandatory curing of autism (don’t get me wrong; I’m for a cure, but that cure should be up to the autistic receiving it and THEM ALONE. I know plenty of autistics who want a cure for their autism, and I support them because THEY are the ones requesting the cure, not their parents or loved ones).
Autistics are speaking, all right. We are speaking out against companies founded on false stereotypes, false promises, and false advertising. If you want to support autism, find organizations led by people who actually have the neurodivergence. Two of my favorite are below:
• Autism Self Advocacy Network: https://autisticadvocacy.org
• Autistic Women and Non-binary Network: https://awnnetwork.org














