The Issue With Autism Speaks
Look up anything along the lines of “autism organization donation” and the Autism Speaks website is the first link that comes up.
Autism Speaks is the largest autism research organization in the United States. Its logo, a singular puzzle piece, has become the most widely recognized symbol for autism. Many autistic people do not endorse what the puzzle piece truly symbolizes, yet despite their vehement opposition, the symbol still endures.
The puzzle piece has an ableist history as it has been used to stigmatize and dehumanize autistic people for decades. Its origin stems from Gerald Gasson, a board member of the National Autistic Society in the UK. He and the other board members believed that autistic people suffered from a “puzzling” condition, so they adopted the puzzle piece logo alongside a weeping child, which served to illustrate that having autism was a tragedy. Many members in the autism community believe that the puzzle piece implies that autism was a riddle to be solved or that autistic people were incomplete in some way.
Aside from promoting a symbol with a negative connotation, Autism Speaks was originally founded with the goal of finding a cure for autism, which autistic people do not want or need. The idea that autism is some terrible disease that warrants a search for a cure further perpetuates the stigma surrounding autism. Autism Speaks encourages various techniques to cure autism, such as unhealthy diets and a fatal treatment for heavy metal poisoning called chelation. Worst of all is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which is essentially conversion therapy that teaches children to repress their autism through abusive and dehumanizing techniques, leading to high PTSD rates and a susceptibility to abuse.
Autism Speaks is nothing but an anti-autism hate group masquerading as a charity. Only about 4% of the non-profit’s budget actually goes toward helping autistic people. The rest goes to “research and prevention”, which is eugenics, and “administrative costs”, or making the leaders of the organization extremely wealthy. The co-founder, Suzanne Wright, has grabbed an autistic child’s face and forced them to look at her; many autistic people have difficulty making eye contact and should not be physically forced to do so. Suzanne Wright is not the only problem on the board. Out of the thirty-ish members, not a single one is autistic. Is it really autism that’s doing the speaking?
Autism Speaks is responsible for horrific anti-autism hate messages, a notable one being their ad titled “I am Autism”. This PSA depicts autistic people as useless burdens destroying their families and society, even comparing autism to cancer. Here’s a link to the transcript if you want to check it out, but disclaimer for disturbing content: https://autisticadvocacy.org/2009/09/horrific-autism-speaks-i-am-autism-ad-transcript/
Autism Speaks also sponsored a 2006 film documentary titled Autism Every Day. This documentary features autistic children being filmed while they have breakdowns while their parents complain about what a burden they are right to their faces. One mother of an autistic child discusses how she contemplated staging a murder-suicide by driving herself and her autistic kid off a bridge, but she only chose not to for the sake of not abandoning her “normal” child. The documentary spreads an awful message about autism by highlighting the difficulties of life with autistic children and how exhausting it is for their poor parents to deal with them. Just imagine how guilty and unwanted the autistic children who watched this documentary felt. Instead of celebrating the differences that make us unique, Autism Every Day shamed them.
Autism speaks, but Autism Speaks only silences its voice. Support and donate to autistic-run organizations instead, such as ASAN or AWN.
