The Big Pharma Conspiracy: Part Three

It is absurd to think that we supposedly have generations of people going to their graves with undocumented and unverifiable wealth hidden somewhere that has gone unnoticed by the IRS or any other revenue authority in any country.  

It is ridiculous to think that all these people would have the knowledge not only to participate in this conspiracy without friends, family members, acquaintances, lovers, et al remaining clueless about what’s going on, as well as to have a working knowledge of all tax laws, the most efficient methods for successful money laundering, and more.
 
Could any of you do it?
 
How much effort would it take to accomplish it if you did?  How much time in your life would it consume? How could you enjoy the enormous wealth you would gain from this when you had to outwardly maintain a plethora of public appearances, keep a position at work and/or government, and spend your off hours continuing to work to manifest the illusion that you are an average everyday Joe with accountable income?
 
You would have to go to meetings among your fellow conspiracy theorists to make it work even at the most base levels of the conspiracy.  You would have to be in constant communication with the world’s highest government officials.
 
It takes a lifetime of effort for anyone to get where they are.   Yes, in some cases people are born into money.  But that’s the exception, not the rule.
 
We have conspiracy theorists who are born poor and we have conspiracy theorists who are born rich. Why have none of these conspiracy theorists infiltrated the conspiracy and exposed everything?  Just one is all it would take.

Why doesn’t Jenny McCarthy along with her current partner, Jim Carrey, take a few thousand dollars and pay to have one autistic – or  tens of thousands of dollars to have a few busloads of autistics – tested for alien DNA since she has been quoted as stating her son is a Crystal Child and she is an Indigo Mom (a mom who started off life as an Indigo Child) ?
 
Conspiracy theorists could just pool their money and pay one person — an 18 year old college student – to  intern at Big Pharma.

Instead we have been hearing for years that there is the iron-clad, iron-curtain Berlin Wall-style perimeter that cannot be penetrated.   Guess what? You can dig under such walls or blast through them.  People have been doing that in repressed countries for years.

For Big Pharma to pull off such the conspiracy that conspiracy theorists allege they are pulling off would mean that all government health officials, all government oversight agencies, all Congressmen, all doctors, all nurses, all nurse practitioners, all interns, all researchers, all autism specialists, and all forms of media in every country in the world would be complicit in this conspiracy.

Do conspiracy theorists mean to suggest that all the countries in the world are in collusion?  Do they truly believe that the United States –even as it bombs Afghanistan and Iraq, even as it sanctions Cuba, even as it squabbles with North Korea, even as it tries to negotiate some sort of peace between Israelis and Palestinians – has somehow managed to work out secret deals with the leaders of all of these political entities for the express purpose of infecting people with autism?

Do conspiracy theorists mean to suggest that capitalistic democracies have struck deals with communist countries, fascist countries, nationalist countries, monarchies, anarchies, etc. on the autism conspiracy?

There are wars going on all over the world.  As much as we hate to admit it, there are countries drawing up war plans on other countries.  Are we to believe that all these countries are somehow peacefully supporting each other in order to make the vaccine conspiracy work?

At a time when people are dying of famine or  simply disappear in repressive countries, why would countries that are alleged to be deliberately subjugating their people want to take such an artificial and ineffective measure to do what nature and evil are already doing so well? And why would they want to force these governments create a situation in which many people would be placed in need of government services even as many governments work hard to make people less dependent on government services?

(to be continued)

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

The Big Pharma Conspiracy: Part Two

Conspiracy theorists would have you believe my decades of research into autism and my deep circulation within the autism community count for nothing. 

Somehow, these people would have me believe, in all the years I have been researching autism, and I have managed to miss this conspiracy.

As these conspiracy theorists would have it, it is sheer luck on my part that I have not accidentally run into someone involved in the actual conspiracy or been inducted into or else they would have me believe that it is sheer stupidity on my part that I have not seen this conspiracy in all the places where others have seen it. To these conspiracy theorists, I am a sort of Inspector Clouseau, who manages to solve cases by luck rather than any real aptitude of achievement.

There are a few things I’ve managed to notice about conspiracy theorists over the years though.

1)      Conspiracy theorists seem to have plenty of money to spend on all sorts of ineffective, disproved, and dangerous quack treatments, and they are willing to bankrupt themselves to acquire these treatments; and

2)      They cannot collaboratively pool together  a few thousand dollars to to fund a DNA test which will show that alien DNA exists, or to infiltrate the government or “Big Pharma” and find out just who it is that is behind this conspiracy in order to unveil this secret identity to the world.

There are PETA activists who are 18 years old college students in debt up to their ears with student loans who have been able to infiltrate slaughter houses and expose the atrocities within via video, or via documentation they’ve managed to get from supposedly secure computer records,  but not one person in the vaccines-cause-autism camp has been able to produce a video of a secret meeting where government officials and Big Pharma collude against the public, nor have they produced a document that says that any conspiracy theories are actually in operation. 

Not one memo.

Not one transcript of a taped phone conversation.

Not one account book which tracks the secret dispersals of money.

Not one grave where a dead informer lies buried.
 
Conspiracy theorists would have you believe that government workers and Big Pharma employees are a bunch of mindless drones.

If conspiracy theorists deem themselves to be intelligent people, how is it that none of these conspiracy theorists have managed to get a job in the appropriate government and Big Pharma positions and worked their way up to access the highest levels of this alleged conspiracy?

The whole drone-theory doesn’t work anyway.  The smarter of the drones would certainly cotton on to what is allegedly happening and be just dying to move up the ladder to get their fair share of the wealth.  Or else they would try to get ‘hush’ money for their continued silence on the matter, and while the more radical elements of the conspiracy theorists will postulate that the government and Big Pharma are somehow killing whistle blowers and potential whistle blowers, that does not ring true for a number of reasons.

1)      There are no piles of corpses anywhere. (You’d think they’d be stacked up like cordwood.);

2)      Even if the corpses are being burned up in furnaces as the Illuminati Conspiracy theorists would have you believe, how would the families of the deceased by quieted? Or if the families have been gotten rid of, then how would the extended families be kept quite? And the neighbors? And the people who employ all of these dead people? And the lovers of all these dead people? Would a school and other school children become suspicious when three or four students — in some cases, all from the same family – suddenly disappeared without explanation? And what would the school administrators think?  Wouldn’t they send out truancy officers – since schools still lay truancy charges in cases where a student misses a set number of days of school – to find these kids? And wouldn’t banks and credit agencies, and insurance companies come looking for these missing people, too?  OF course they would!

Let’s take a look at all these supposed bribed government officials and big Pharma execs.

(to be continued)

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

The Big Pharma Conspiracy: Part One

In recent weeks, I have been involved in discussions about whether vaccines cause autism and whether certain treatments for autism are “quack” treatments and therapies.

For the record, I do not believe vaccines cause autism, nor do I believe in many of the other conspiracy theories surrounding autism. And I believe a significant number of autism therapies and treatments are indeed “quack” therapies and “quack” treatments.

“Big money” and/or ”Big Pharma” and/or whoever else is allegedly involved always seem to be the culprit in these conspiracy theories.   As if, when a person or company or group of them crosses an arbitrary financial line or exceed a certain profit margin, they have suddenly changed camps or are required to do so by some unspoken law of duplicity.
 
For one thing, it makes more sense for “Big Pharma” profiteers to develop an ongoing treatment that will keep autistics hooked for life than to infect them with a few vaccines that they only have to pay for every once in a while. For another, it seems that the entities which do offer autism treatments for life are “quack” in nature.

Existing research suggests that vaccines do not cause autism: Genetics do. 137 scientists in 50 locations in 9 countries around the world did a study in which the genome of 1,600 families with autism was mapped.  Common genes were found which are believed to cause autism.  Peer-review of these studies has made the initial results valid. An autism genome database exists for anyone who cares to look at it, and hardly a month goes by when additional research identifying the genes which cause autism is not published. 

I notice that no group of conspiracy theorists ever pools their money to pay an independent researcher to do an objective study that actually yields results contrary to the published and peer-reviewed findings of all the existing research studies to date.
 
I notice that even when independent researchers produce results which say that vaccines do not cause autism, or that environmental toxins do not cause autism, then we have a gaggle of conspiracy theorists proclaiming that someone has gotten to those independent researchers.
 
I notice that when Andrew Wakefield or others produce results which suggest that autism is caused by vaccines or something else, that no other researcher can produce identical results, even when these researchers are independent. And invariably, those independent researchers who cannot verify the Wakefield research or the “environmental toxin” research are accused by conspiracy theorists of being gotten to by “Big Pharma” and/or their sympathizers.
 
This holds true all around the world.  No matter what country conspiracy theorists live in, no matter what political ideology resides in the country, no matter whether or not the country in question has a pharmaceutical industry or not, Big Pharma, and also World Governments/Big Brother, is always implicated in the conspiracy theory.

Even countries which have no pharmaceutical industry are somehow accused of being complicit in this conspiracy.
 
Never can it be that the multitude of research which is commonly accepted by the majority of the public be true.

During my time as an autism advocate, I have heard all kinds of theories. I have heard that it is the Big Pharma’s doing. I have heard that it is a joint Big Pharma/World Governments collusion.  I have heard that it is the Illuminati. I have heard that autistics are really Indigo Children — a sort of alien/human hybrid.  I have heard that autism is simply demon possession.
 
But the one thing I notice is that when you say to people, “No documentation can be produced to prove anything you allege. Show me the documentation. Show me the video of the secret meetings.  Produce evidence that the Illuminati is involved. Let’s see this alien DNA you’re talking about,” what you get in return is not proof, but accusations veiled in smoke-and-mirrors rhetoric. 

I have been accused of being a Big Pharma shill.  I have been accused of being in the employ of  WOrld Governments and Big Brother.  I have been accused of being an uneducated, ignorant fool.

(to be continued)

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

Would You Rather

Recently, I was introduced to a party game called “Would You Rather.”  The idea is to juxtapose two very different situations and ask the other players which they would rather have, say or do. 

I thought it would be an interesting game to bring to the MIC blog and so I crafted some strong questions to consider. 

1.  Would you rather have progressive deterioration of the myelin sheaths in the central and peripheral nervous systems resulting in degenerating motor control and loss of sensation?

Or

Get vaccinated for diphtheria?

2.  Would you rather endure prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers?

Or

Get vaccinated for tetanus?

3.  Would you rather have coughing which develops into uncontrollable fits where you struggle to breathe and also risk complications  such as pneumonia, encephalopathy, earache, and seizures?

Or

Get vaccinated for pertussis?

4.  Would you rather destroy your motor neurons and experience permanent muscle weakness and paralysis for the rest of your life?

Or

Get vaccinated for polio?

5.   Would you rather have four of five days of fevers, coughs, runny noses, red eyes, an itchy rash, with possible complications of  diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis scarring of the cornea and possible death?

Or

Get vaccinated for measles?

6.  Would you rather have massive swelling of the salivary glands and possible infertility?

Or

Get vaccinated for mumps?

7.  Would you rather have a rash with swollen glands and lymph nodes, have a miscarriage or still born baby, or have a newborn be compromised with prematurity, low birth weight, anaemia,  hepatitis, severe heart disorders, blindness, deafness, or other life threatening organ disorders?

Or

Get vaccinated for rubella?

8.  Would you rather experience scarring of the liver?

Or

Get vaccinated for hepatitis?

9.  Would you rather have bacteria in the blood, pneumonia, swelling of the membranes surrounding your brain, swelling of connective tissue in your body, bone infections, and joint infections?

Or

Get vaccinated for haemophilus influenzae type B?

10.  Would you rather have a rash and flu-like with the possibility of developing serious bacterial infections involving the skin, lungs, bones, joints, and brain and also –- later in life — shingles ?

Or

Get vaccinated for chickenpox?

Given these choices, what would you rather?  Feel free to play along and add your comments.  I look forward to reading our subscribers’ points of view.

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

If It Quacks Like a Duck

Here are the top ten signs you may be subjecting your autistic to any number of quack treatments.

10. Your treatment center of choice goes bust, owing creditors $1 million dollars.

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23881717-948,00.html

9. Your treatment center of choice closes their doors permanently, even though you’ve already paid in advance for $9,000.00 of treatment never rendered.

http://www.masslive.com/hampfrank/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1222764788243000.xml&coll=1

8. The organization to which you take your autistic child for treatment is the subject of a news article entitled “The great autism rip-off …  How a huge industry feeds on parents desperate to cure their children”

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-1023351/The-great-autism-rip—How-huge-industry-feeds-parents-desperate-cure-children.html

7.   Your doctor of choice has had their medical license suspended.

http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/carley1.html

6.  Your your board certified behavior analyst isn’t board certified and is facing theft charges.

http://www.poac-nova.org/newsmanager/news_article.cgi?news_id=397&submit_action=print_article

5.   The following is written about your therapy of choice:

http://blogs.sage.edu/education/2008/11/10/applied-behavior-analysis-and-autism-new-online-program/

First published in… Entitled “Ethical Considerations When Asked to Collaborate with ABA “Therapists.”

http://oregonspeechandhearing.org/Archives/Ethical1.asp

“the area of ABA is loosely structured and poorly regulated. Board certification has been slow to catch on and essentially anyone can hang a shingle proclaiming expertise in Applied Behavioral Analysis. In the State of Oregon there are only two “board certified” analysts (BCABA).  Parents pay between $75 and $150 per hour for the services of the analyst who provides diagnostic services and designs treatment plans.”

4.    State or federal funding for your therapy of choice “is being dropped because it was not producing enough solid results for the money.”

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090916/bc_autism_funding_090916/20090916/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

3.   The Mayo Clinic says “Parents Urged To Reject Restrictive Diets For Autism.”

http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/Parents-Urged-To-Reject-Restrictive-Diets-For-Autism.aspx?googleid=267826

2.   Your autism therapy of choice doesn’t care which sex it kills:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/Autism/1616

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=10003567&nav=menu374_2_2

1.   Your treatment of choice blows up with you in it, killing you.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7014993135

Listen people. If there was anything that actually worked to treat or cure autism, don’t you think doctors worldwide would be using it and giving it away dirt cheap?  Get with the program, people, and wise up to quack treatments. 

And while we’re on the subject of all things health-related, get the flu shot!

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

The Company You Keep

Social Network Sites such as MySpace, Friendster, Twitter, Windows Live Spaces, YouTube, Xanga, Bebo and Facebook were designed to be widely accessible to those with computers and Internet connectivity.  They were launched in the hopes that droves of people would arrive at their virtual doorsteps and become part of their digital world. 

But the idea of social networks isn’t new.  It isn’t something that surfaced with increased computer accessibility and Internet connectivity.

People have used the idea of social networks for over a century.  The term is meant to describe complex sets of relationships between members of social systems on any number of levels, from interpersonal to international.

J. A. Barnes started using the term systematically in 1954 to denote patterns that encompassed concepts traditionally used by the public as well as social scientists.  There were bounded groups such as tribes and families and social categories such as gender,  ethnicity and causes.  It’s all right there in Barnes’ book entitled “Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish.”

In the decades that the term social networking has been used, it’s not uncommon to find groups segregating themselves by nationality, age, educational level, or other factors that typically segment society including causes such as Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Recently, I have been at the center of attacks by a handful of people on a social network who object to the fact that I am culling my friend list based on specific criteria.  I have been accused of being a Nazi by one individual and accused by two others of culling the list so I can speak disparagingly about them without fear of repercussions.

So let me explain the how and why of this culling to help you understand the real reasons behind my actions.

Let’s say that a handful of social network friends claim repeatedly that ice cream causes drowning.  The reasoning they use is that the number of people who drown during hot months increases dramatically just as the consumption of ice cream begins to increase.  In fact, they have ‘proof’ that there is a rise in drownings at the same time that there is an increase in ice cream consumption.

Then let’s say that I point out that while it’s true that ice cream consumption increases over the same months that there is a rise in the number of drownings, it has been repeatedly disproven that the two incidents are related to each other past a passing parallel in time.

If the handful of people who choose to believe otherwise persist with their insistence that they are correct and that all the correct and corroborated scientific evidence in the world is wrong, then I must come to the conclusion that this ’social network’ relationship is not a positive interaction for all involved.

It makes sense to weed those people out since they will not add anything to the social network experience other than the repetition of personal opinion that is known to be seriously flawed and wrong.  Weeding them out of my social network has nothing to do with hiding out so I can bash them without being reported to the Administrators of a social network.

It has everything to do with choosing to interact in positive ways with people who add to my social network experience and who feel that I add to their social network experience.

There’s an old saying that states, “You’re known by the company you keep.”  In the long run, it will be to one’s disadvantage to try to pacify those who insist that they must be kept on as social network friends when there is no reason to continue the connection.

And as far as I know,  there’s no rule anywhere in this world that says you must keep someone in your circle of friends if there’s no common ground between the two of you.

What are your views on social networks and culling lists?

Elyse Bruce
Founder and Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

A Perplexing Problem

Oftentimes we believe that if we go to a book or a parenting magazine or the Internet, that we can find simple solutions to difficult problems. We like to believe that life’s difficulties can be summarized and resolved within the context of a few published words.

But there are some problems that are less easily solved, and I am about to discuss one of them here.

The problem?

Hypothetically speaking, what if you have a special needs kid in a class who is being picked on by another special needs kid? What would you do to resolve the situation?

Wait!

Before you answer…  What would your solution be if you found out that the “bully” had the exact same diagnosis, but was lower functioning than the person he was picking on?

Wait!

Before you answer… Add this to the mix: What would you do if the classroom instructor believed that the problem could be resolved by having the two parties – that is to say, the antagonizer and the antagonized – become best of friends?

Wait!

Before you answer…. What would you do if the antagonized person didn’t want to become friends, ever mind best of friends, with his antagonizer?

Wait!

To me, the solution is simple: Simply insist that the classroom instructor keep the two children away from one another and make sure that there are no adversarial interactions between the two.

But if the instructor is not open to this idea, as a parent, what would you do?

I look forward to your answers. Please respond to this blog entry.

In the meantime, I’d just like to ask a secondary question: Why is it necessary that everyone be friends in a class? Isn’t part of learning how to be social learning to reject unacceptable peers as potential friends from time to time?

I don’t mean reject in the mean sense but rather the use one’s own judgment as to whether a peer is a good fit as a friend or merely someone who is an acquaintance with whom you interact respectfully?

After all, when we become adults, not only do we chose our friends, our partners, our jobs (and, by proxy, our coworkers), our churches (and, by proxy, everyone in the church’s congregation) with deliberate care, but we also reject people for any number of reasons.

We may block any of the aforementioned people from becoming a part of our lives because they are not of our social class, do not have our morals,  do not hold our political views, have not achieved our level of education, do not believe in the same God as we do, are too tall, too short, too fat, too thin, too pretty, too ugly, don’t dress as we do, don’t like the same foods as we do, don’t like the same TV shows, don’t like the same sports teams.

Practically our entire adolescence is spent forming, disbursing, and re-forming cliques in which the most tenuous common traits are cause enough both for social bonding and social dissolution, and though this process becomes less extreme as we age, it persists throughout our lifetimes.

If society deems this social and anti-social behavior acceptable, then why can’t a classroom instructor accept it when it’s suggested that two kids  — who have already demonstrated that they cannot get along with each other –  be kept apart from one another before the situation explodes into a confrontation?

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

Three Strikes And You’re Out

I have a lot of connections in the autism world and some of the bonds that I have established are fraying.

Three separate people in the autism community, one of them a leading blogger, and two of them executives in very large autism organizations, have told me that the reason they post and discuss the vaccines-cause-autism theory is because even though they know the information has been scientifically disproved, they still believe people need to determine for themselves whether or not they believe vaccines cause autism.

I don’t buy that explanation.

I think the blogger just wants a lot of activity on her blog and the two autism organizations in question want to keep the donations flowing in.

Nicolaus Copernicus was a mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1473 to 1543.   He realized that the stars, the sun and the moon did not move as Aristotle postulated.  In fact, the earth was not the center of the universe; the sun was the center of our universe. 

As he put forth his heliocentric cosmology based on sound scientific research and methods, he was attacked by the majority of society for daring to provide facts to back up his claim.  In fact, Copernicus was subjected to a great deal of abuse for his work but he persisted despite the fact that he was persecuted for doing so.

Bravery is when you tell the truth and present the facts and risk the consequences.

If you post on your blog: “Vaccines don’t cause autism and here is the research to prove it”, a consequence is that you will lose the vaccines-cause-autism peanut gallery. And in addition to that, more likely than not, they will throw the discredited Andrew Wakefield unproven hypothesis in your face and spam your blog with anger and bad language.

If your organization says  “Vaccines don’t cause autism and here is the research to prove it”,  you need to accept the fact that the vaccines-cause-autism crowd is going to withdraw their funding and put it elsewhere.

But here is another consequence of telling the truth: You properly inform people of the facts so that they can make informed decisions.

If you know that all credible research points to the fact that vaccines do not cause autism, then you won’t subject the autistics you care for to United States Food and Drug Administration  unapproved-for-autism-chelation-therapy and a host of other scientifically disproved quack cures. Additionally, you won’t waste valuable money on these quack cures but will instead spend it on good and proper education and vocational assistance for the autistic you care for.

Isn’t it morally correct, and just plain better to do that than to confuse people with misinformation so that you can keep people reading your blog or keep people contributing money to your organization?

Your comments are welcomed.

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

Physician, Heal Thyself

This Saturday, Elyse, Lewis, and I went to the Whetung Ojibwa Art Gallery on the Curve Lake Native American Reserve in Ontario, Canada.

I am continually impressed with the quality artwork there and I can assure you that all the artists who exhibit in the gallery are very talented individuals.  More importantly, their artwork says something and it speaks loudly.  It expresses what the artists think, how they feel, what they see, how they see it, what they wish to impart, and so much more.

I have been to the Whetung Ojibwa Art Gallery on many occasions and have on a few of those had the good fortune of meeting Freddy Taylor.

Taylor is a survivor of a bleak time in Canadian — and North American - - history. On the Whetung Website, you can see a synopsis of his life which is better and more succinct than I could write here:

He “spent ten unhappy years at the Mohawk Institute, a Native Residential School, in Brantford, Ontario. He suffered the loss of his native language along with memories of family and background. The cultural differences he found upon returning to Curve Lake at the age of sixteen were too extreme and he remained at odds with his people, the law and himself for years.  But when he turned his attention to the art of his people, Freddy Taylor discovered a talent that even years of Residential School had not managed to extinguish. Over time, the angry images into which he poured his outrage and hurt evolved to depict a journey of healing and hope. Now the animals you see in his paintings bring peace and strength to this once-troubled artist.”

Taylor also makes it a point to speak out about the repression he endured during those bad times.  He takes the time to speak to school kids about his healing process after years of abuse in the residential school system.

“Some of these kids don’t know what the residential schools were,” Taylor said. “So I explain to them my artwork, how the different animals give me strength. I tell them how the colours cover up the pain.”

Taylor serves as inspiration for anyone who has been stymied by a roadblock in their life.  The success he has had with his artwork also serves as a particular reminder to anyone – including autistics — who may have been told that their futures are limited by virtue of birth, circumstances or anything else.

You are only limited in life by what you are willing to believe limits you for the rest of your life.

Autism is a blessing, not a curse, and there is no reason why any Autistic who has been subjected to prejudice, quack cures, bullying, abusive treatments, over-medication, or bad schooling should feel that their life ends with the bad.   Freddy Taylor has shown that out of bad can come good and Autistics can find that goodness within themselves.

Know thyself.  Embrace thyself.  Be a teacher and an inspiration for others.  True acceptance begins with self-acceptance and true knowledge comes from self-knowledge. 

Freddy Taylor is one of the most knowledgeable, accepting people I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO

Autistics Speak For Themselves

I read in Disability Scoop that Autism Speaks finally pulled its video entitled “I Am Autism” off their website after being heavily criticized by a coalition of more than two dozen disability organizations.  Of course, the video is still available for viewing on the Autism Speaks Vids channel on YouTube among other places.

The article reports that “the video includes an eerie voice-over declaring that autism will ensure that your marriage fails, bankrupt you and make it virtually impossible to go out in public without experiencing embarrassment or pain.”

Most people on the autism spectrum do not believe Autism Speaks speaks for them – a valid point of view given that Autism Speaks reportedly does not have a single autistic person on their large board of directors. 

It is outstanding to see the autistic community come together to state clearly and proudly that Autism Speaks does not speak for them. With that said, people on the spectrum must keep in mind that speaking up just once, or even every now and then, is not enough.

Speaking up here and there instead of all the time is what allows organizations who do not have autistics’ interests at heart to run roughshod over them.

Many on the spectrum try to avoid embroiling themselves in causes and controversies, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but they do so to their detriment sometimes.

People need to remember that advocacy means not just advocating for one’s self but for others, too.

I could conclude this blog entry by saying “Thank goodness for autism rights organizations!”  

What’s needed is not just for a few organizations to spearhead advocacy campaings for change, but for all autistics to speak up and out on their own behalf.

Only then will Autism really Speak.

Thomas D. Taylor
Co-Creator
MIDNIGHT IN CHICAGO