To be massively unimpressed by the Autism Speaks adverts

[CommunistLegoOoOoBloc]

Come on, MN. Why are you displaying adverts from such a hateful, ignorant organisation? One that advocates a cure, eugenics, is hated by so many people on the autism spectrum and fervently believes in the anti-vax movement?

Urgh.

I agree entirely. The advert is terrifying but, actually, I think it should be shown more not less. The more people realise who Autism Speaks actually are, the more they see the revolting ethos behind this disgraceful group, the more people will boycott and challenge and hate them.

They represent nothing of DS1 and his Autism. They represent some frilly eugenics ideas, nothing else.

I can't speak for others, hazeyjane, but I'm upset by the content of the advert, not the fact that you linked to it! I'm actually quite glad that you did - now I know the sort of organisation Autism Speaks is. I had presumed that the criticism of it was for focusing purely on parents of autistic children and not autistic people themselves. The reality is so much worse.

Thank you hazeyjane - I had no idea they were quite that awful!

I'm not entirely sure why everyone is so horrified - I don't follow this organization either, it seems to be USA-based anyway. I don't follow any particular 'autism' organization, just get on as best we can. I'm not sure that 'censoring' a point of view that people don't agree with is helpful and I sense a bit of crowd hysteria going on here.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reporting this thread to us. We're looking into this right now and have flagged it to our Adops team.

In the meantime, it would be enormously helpful if you could let us know where you're seeing these ads - which device and which version of the site you're using. If anyone's able to provide a screenshot too, that would be really useful.

Many thanks

On top of the "curing" autism, they are big advocates of autism being a "male" problem. Hence light it up blue.

What hysteria? I haven't seen any.

Mumsnet shut down threads that "go against the ethos of mumsnet" so why is it so ridiculous to think adverts that go against it should also be stopped? They go totally against the "this is my child" and people with asd find it offensive, not sure what's hysterical about that

Hysteria?

Bloody hell at that advert.

Oh, hysteria. Oops, my womb must be wandering again.

Autism speaks do not speak for me. They do not speak for my children. They never will. Autism speaks are dangerous, disablist and I along with many folk of the spectrum will have nothing to do with them. I am not a burden. I do not need a cure.

Well why is everyone calling it hateful, they're horrified, demanding it's removal, etc? Unless I'm missing something (I always ignore MN ads) I clicked on a link within the post and watched a YT film. Yes it was emotive and I did feel that some of the sentiments were descriptive of our life but I can't see where all the 'snake oil', eugenics, etc took centre-stage. I noticed the work on associated conditions which a PP said she found helpful.

I very much dislike the division into 'factions' when it comes to autism and just get on with life.

I do think the reaction to the film is a bit like 'crowd hysteria' similar to that found at concerts. It's a film, it's emotive, it's supposed to provoke 'feelings', that's all.

Plan, no hysteria from me. I had used the autism speaks logo on my fb page a couple of years ago (their campaigning is pretty international) and several friends (in uk and us) linked to articles and the video I linked to, explaining why they felt autism speaks didn't speak for them or their children. There have been queries into where their funding goes, including the voices of people with autism, their stance on vaccinations....there are many blogs and articles about why people have criticisms.

Thankyou mnhq for looking into this.

Thanks, HQ. Mine was a banner ad at the top of my page, Chrome on iPhone.

To all of those saying that they post helpful stuff - okay, great. But can't you see that this is insidious? That they lure you in with a cheap facade of understanding, and then this somehow creates enough good feeling towards them that when they post the hateful stuff, people don't react as strongly? Because they were once 'helpful'?

Again who has been hysterical? Why is finding something offensive, I'm not finding it awful because other people on the thread are finding it awful. I'm finding it awful because of the content of it. If you can't see why that video is offensive to people with autism, I'm not sure explaining it to you will help

Plan They've been around a long time and those of us with Autism have been fighting for a long time. They consider Autism and those of us with autism to be a burden on both parents and society. They demand cures for us. They demand that we fit into a neurotypical ideal and try to train us to do so. They encourage parents to buy into their 'it's mercury/vaccines/something in the water philosophy. They advocate physical punishments for tics and stims. The one college they were involved in helping with was shut down for abuse. The kids there were wearing electric collars, as far as I recall. As I've said, I don't need a cure. My children don't need a cure and whilst there may be some parents whose children are further along the spectrum than mine, I want choices.

I see no hysteria.

Just opinions & reactions to an organization which is, polarizing and flawed at best. Deeply offensive and fear inducing at worst.

It's belittling and dismissive to label people's heartfelt feelings as 'hysterical'.

Having watched that previous ad, I see exactly why people are so concerned by this organization.

Saying people should ignore their upset and misgivings at such a organisation, and suck it up because 'factions'... well, that's rather shutting the door after the horse has bolted, as it's this organizations strong and upsetting views that create these responses.

Some might say that these responses are in fact necessary and important in the fight to get people with autism valued and carry on the fight for inclusivity, and equality in society.

Sometimes dissent is necessary. And not belittled by that tired old label of 'hysteria'.

The advert is 2009 showed somebody having a meltdown. The video had a voice-over representing "autism," which will, it warns, "bankrupt you," "make your marriage fail," and "rob you of your children and your dreams."
Nice.

This is so disturbing. Autism Speaks has a local chapter in our area and they have been fabulous with helping connect with research teams and therapists. We have been donating considerable funds to them and specific research teams.

I live in the US not the U.K. though. I'm in New Jersey which has a very high rate of autism. Either way I'm going to look into it.

Against Autism Speaks
Is Autism Speaks a hate group
Wanttobe The tip of an extraordinarily large iceberg!