Time magazine has an article online today, ‘I Am Autism’: An Advocacy Video Sparks Protest. The article notes the protests staged in response to the I Am Autism video. (I have made my own position clear on the video Autism Speaks media campaign…I am autism, Why I don’t like “I am Autism”, I am autism video removed from Autism Speaks’ website…or is it?, The Autism Speaks bait and switch with I am Autism, and ASAN ’s Letter in Response to Autism Speaks’ Exploitative Practices.)
Time starts out with the controversies in the autism communities:
Few medical conditions rival autism as a magnet for controversy. Practically everything about the disorder — its cause, its treatment, the way it is diagnosed, how it is studied — is subject to bitter dispute, sometimes to the point of death threats.
Time has comments from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s Ari Ne’eman.
Some autistic “self advocates” are furious over the tone of the video. “We don’t want to be portrayed as burdens or objects of fear and pity,” insists Ari Ne’eman, president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, a 15-chapter group he built while attending college at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “Apparently, should my parents divorce, it’s all my fault,” says Ne’eman, who received a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, a relatively mild form of autism, at age 12.
Also, they quote Peter Bell of Autism Speaks:
“I Am Autism,” which turns hopeful about halfway through its 3 minutes and 44 seconds, was created for a World Focus on Autism event that coincided with the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in September. “It was never intended to have a life beyond that event,” Bell said. Bell admitted that Autism Speaks does not have any individuals with autism currently serving on its board. “We are looking at adding individuals with autism to various advisory committees,” he said. The group is also initiating a better outreach to adults with autism.
I would welcome (to put it mildly) Autism Speaks getting some autistic representation in their organization. I think “advisory committees” sounds a bit weaker than the sort of representation I’d want to see, but it is a start.
As an aside, can someone explain this part of the article to me?
He notes that other disability groups have moved away from using fear and pity in their media campaigns. ( See the best and worst Super Bowl commercials of 2009. )
OK…I’ll grant you that Super Bowl Commercials are not big on Pity and Fear, but it just doesn’t seem to fit the story.
Time has linked to protest videos “ I am socks ” and “ I am Autism Speaks ”
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Time magazine has an article online today, ‘I Am Autism’: An Advocacy Video Sparks Protest. The article notes the protests staged in response to the I Am Autism video. (I have made my own position clear on the video Autism Speaks media campaign…I am autism, Why I don’t like “I am Autism”, I am autism video removed from Autism Speaks’ website…or is it?, The Autism Speaks bait and switch with I am Autism, and ASAN ’s Letter in Response to Autism Speaks’ Exploitative Practices.)
Time starts out with the controversies in the autism communities:
Time has comments from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s Ari Ne’eman.
Also, they quote Peter Bell of Autism Speaks:
I would welcome (to put it mildly) Autism Speaks getting some autistic representation in their organization. I think “advisory committees” sounds a bit weaker than the sort of representation I’d want to see, but it is a start.
As an aside, can someone explain this part of the article to me?
OK…I’ll grant you that Super Bowl Commercials are not big on Pity and Fear, but it just doesn’t seem to fit the story.
Time has linked to protest videos “ I am socks ” and “ I am Autism Speaks ”