Autism Speaks' Token to Neurodiversity

I decided to indulge my inner Aspie today by taking a couple of bus rides around downtown and familiarizing myself with the routes and the route of the Metro subway just for fun. Sure, it took longer to commute home from work but it was a $3.50 well spent for an MTA day pass.

Now that I'm done rambling, let's just say I found it shocking that Autism Speaks even mentioned the Neurodiversity movement on their website and that is why I came back blogging after a long period of inactivity. This news article that derives from a report on ABC's Good Morning America talks about the Neurodiversity movement. Apparently, Autism Speaks actually finds us to be an actual threat on their radar. Therefore they decide to summarize our position in a link to the one article that at best fails do the position of Neurodiversity justice and at worse portrays the people in the movement as dangerous deluded (I happen to know Ari and I thought he gave very good responses to the interview questions. Professor Chew gave good responses as well. I'm just talking about how the report was actually presented and the matter in which they were quoted in context about the article).

The article doesn't outright call the sanity of people on the spectrum and their allies into question. However, the use of loaded words in the article can subtly influence opinion of people who have never heard of the movement.

[Ari Ne'eman and Kristina Chew] are part of a controversial group hoping to radically change the way others look at autism.

The connotation for controversial means that many people have heard of this movement to have severe doubts about it. I doubt all that many people outside of the Neurodiversity movement have even heard of it, so to call it controversial right off the bat would give the unfamiliar reader an uneasy feeling and a degree of discouragement from even wanting to associate with people who believe in Neurodiversity.

Ne'eman was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a less severe form of autism, as a child.

Can we please stop talking about autism in terms of just the word severity? If I wrote the article, I would have said a Asperger's was a variation of autism that does not include speech delay and ultimately has many different potential outcomes. It really doesn't not matter of Asperger's autistics don't have a significant speech delay and Temple Grandin did. We don't all become Temple Grandins.

Parents like Chew and autistic adults like Ne'eman joined forces several months ago, after seeing an edgy new campaign to fight autism from the New York University Child Study Center that implied children with autism are held hostage by the disorder.

Ne'eman and his supporters protested so loudly, that the ads were cancelled three weeks after they were released.

The ransom note campaign was just very bad. Period. This article made us look like a bunch of buzz kills at a college frat party by putting a positive spin on what the ransom note campaign was. If I wrote the article, I would have stated that Ne'eman and his supporters petitioned courteously/considerately for the withdrawal of ad campaign that will further perpetuate negative stereotypes of people with disabilities.

Although the article did let Ms. Chew have the last word, they article just had to set it up so that Lenny Schafer and Dr. Insel could get the reminder in that there are many people on the spectrum who almost completely lack language and self-care skills. While Ari and Prof. Chew are quoted as saying they wouldn't change the people on their lives who are on the spectrum, this serves is the perfect set-up for a straw man argument that people who want to maintain this condition don't want their loved ones to improve (which is a total fallacy).

Yes I know Ari mentioned on the first page that "anti-cure doesn't mean anti-progress". However, this isn't mentioned on the same page and people might have forgotten the original point by the time they read the "counterargument" of Dr. Insel and Lenny Schafer. And it couldn't have killed the journalist to ask for specific examples of how Neurodiversity isn't "anti-progress" (e.g. necessity to stop self-injurious behavior, key goal of finding best communication method for each person be it speech, sign language, or typing, use of special diets when necessary to alleviate genuine digestive system issues, etc.). They try to make it seem like only "high-functioning" people are involved whereas it is really not the case (e.g. Amanda Baggs is a key example but I think more examples may severely weaken Autism Speaks and their ilk's argument).

Lastly, I know exactly why Autism Speaks picked this one article to represent Neurodiversity. It contains no links. None to ASAN's website, none to the Autism Hub. Both of these sites contain lots of links to other websites written by autistic people. You'd think people would Google these things, but seriously I wouldn't take any chances. Tons of people too lazy to search it up would read only what's on the article and think that's it to Neurodiversity. Seriously, it's much more complex and people need to submerse themselves with other people in the movement to grasp its full complexity. A two-page article does it no justice, and neither does failing to provide direct contact information for groups involved in Neurodiversity.

Another thing in the video but not in the article was Diane Sawyer seeing this movement and thinking it was a "beautiful way of justifying heartbreak". Seriously, is this another dismal attempt at calling our sanity into question? Sorry Ms. Sawyer. We don't need your pity. And don't think, by this token effort of respect that SEEMS difficulty to earn, we're stupid enough that you'll trick us into whitewashing your fence in terms of boosting your treasure cache of a journalism career.

How did this have to with my MTA rides today? Oh yeah, the punchline.

Sorry Autism Speaks. Your token effort is no good to ride the Progressive Metro Express.

What's in YOUR Refrigerator?

Sorry about the delay. I have been quite busy with med school applications.

Anyway, in my anxious wait for interview and acceptances (and I already have one interview invite, yay for me!), I come up with paranoid thoughts about how I will be left forgotten. One has come up to be a very good metaphor for prejudice. I have decided to take a leaf out of ABFH's book and write about it.

The way we interact with people is like how a college student interacts with food in his/her refrigerator. A college student will typically buy all kinds of food he/she thinks about eating. In time, some food gets consumed more often than others. Over time, the college student will purchase more of his/her favorite foods and ignore the ones that they don't notice so much. When it does come time for the student to notice the forgotten food, it will have gotten sour, moldy, and smelly. As a result, the expired food is then thrown in the garbage (believe me, this has happened to me a couple of times).

How does is relate to prejudice, specifically prejudice against autism? The people we interact with is like the food we keep in our refrigerator. Occaisionally we give a nod to those we may not feel most comfortable interacting with, and they lay forgotten while we "consume" opportunities to socialize with people we are more comfortable with. All in the while, our perception of those people we have forgotten are decomposed by stereotypes, misconceptions, and ignorance. It then won't be long before those people are permenantly forgotten or, to use a familiar Autism Speaks phrase, become "a word for the history books".

Our parents have always told us not to be picky about our food. Perhaps they should've told us the same message about people.

Why Autistic Self-Advocacy is NOT About Being a Model Minority

A while ago, Bob Wright was axed from NBC. Now here is another thing to celebrate. Don Imus, the sponsor of terrorism against autistics who featured that horrible "shockumentary" Autism Everyday, was FIRED! CBS terminated Imus for his comment about the women's basketball team at Rutgers, mostly consistent of African-Americans, for calling them "nappy-headed hos". The impact of his statement caused advertisers to leave his program in droves, and the previously popular host is now damaged goods.

Now wait a minute, you say. What does this have to do with the title? Let me get you to think about something. No other ethnic group has been afforded the special treatement that the African-American population gets. Anytime they raise protest over some racial slight, real or perceived, everyone listens. Entire political careers are ruined if a person utters that certain six-lettered racial slur. Just last year at Johns Hopkins University, a student faced suspension for over a year before the decision was overturned. The student, who made a crude, tasteless Facebook invitation for a party called "Halloween in the Hood", was accused by the university Black Student Union for racial harrassment and intimidation even though there was no actual threatening of physical harm to the African-American community.

I felt especially bad for the Draconian punishment over the accused person, as he was an Asian-American just like myself. Unlike me, he was an Asian American who didn't grow up in the peaceful suburbs expecting to sail through life. He grew up in a tough environment because his family moved around a lot since his father was in the military. He didn't have a lot of money, but he was a bright guy and skipped several grades. Now his life was about to be stigmatized permenantly because of a tasteless joke made over the Internet. Now I ask you this.... if the Black Student Union made the same kind of remark about the Asian American community at Johns Hopkins, do you think the University would have cared? It would not have batted an eye because Asians are considered members of the "Model Minority" and have enough self-esteem to withstand anything.

The accused student and I grew up in different environments, but we are both expected to live according to the "Model Minority" stereotype of Asians. We're expected to get good grades and overachieve. Even if we do have problems, nobody will actively listen if we do not speak about them directly because they assume everything is fine. As long as everything looks fine on the surface, people won't give two craps about us.

Asians are known to suffer from poverty, domestic abuse, and unemployment, problems that any other ethnic group faces. However, because of our "Model Minority" status, no one cares if people in the population get hurt from these problems because the overall population seems to be doing fine. Just look at the film "Better Luck Tomorrow". It's about a group of Asian teenagers who fence stolen goods and deal drugs. However, as long as they kept their grades up, everyone including their teachers and their parents thought they were fine. I'm not saying people on the autism spectrum will do similarly, but I am merely pointing out that with certain cases of autism that are not as pronounced appearances can be deceiving, drawing attention away from any genuine problems a person may have.

I have experienced the "Model Minority" stereotype and I do not like it. You are expected to do well automatically, and everyone discounts your problems to be solely your fault in terms of personality and not that of the environment you're born into. When we autistic self-advocates ask to be respected for who we are, we're not asking for you to place us on a pedestal as a "Model Minority". Rather, we are asking to be included as a diverse facet of society. We are asking for a two-way road of communication rather than simply "reverence". We're no better, no worse than anyone else. We're asking for people to recognize the unique needs of every person on the autism spectrum and to learn to listen before making any assumptions about abilities and challenges. Therefore, when Internet trolls make distortions about Neurodiversity being about neglect, I get mad. THAT is why I think any stereotype, even a positive one, can be harmful.

Easter, Jesus, and Autism Awareness Month: Bridging the Gap to Understand Neurodiversity

I am sorry I have not blogged for so long. Life has been very hectic for me, and I've thought a lot about issues that have come up. Nonetheless, I read a very interesting story that I think may be valid in how we convey the message of Neurodiversity to people. It is the story of Don Richardson and the Sawi tribe.

Don Richardson was a Christian missionary who was sent to New Guinea to preach Christianity to the Sawi tribe. However, the basic messages of Christianity consisting of love and forgiveness had no appeal to the Sawi, who held deceit to be of the highest value. In fact, the only story the Sawi found interesting was the story of Judas, who was considered by the tribe to be a hero! Judas successfully used deceit to gain Jesus' trust and betray him.

Richardson had no idea how to get through to the Sawi people, who were violent, cruel, and cannibalistic. After witnessing repeated incidents of war between the Sawi and their enemy the Haenam, Richardson was ready to give up. But one incident convinced him to stay.

The Sawi and the Haenam staged a traditional peace ceremony where both tribes gathered. Everyone was silent except for the Sawi chief's wife. She was sobbing uncontrollably as the chief siezed his own 6-month-old son from her arms and handed the infant to the enemy chief. One of the tribesmembers explained to Richardson the enemy tribe members will rename the baby and raise it as though it were their own. As long as the child lived, no wars can be fought between the tribes.

Suddenly, Richardson had a flash of insight. He had finally found a parallel story in the Sawi culture that he could use as an analogy to teach the tribe about Christianity. He gathered all of the people in the tribe and told them just as their chief handed his own son to enemy tribe to make peace, God sent his son Jesus to die for humanity and be resurrected in order to make peace. God too had sent his son to live amongst the enemy.

Now what does this have to do with autism? It has to do with finding a way to connect with the autism establishment and create positive change in leadership and direction. Most of the parents I've spoken to have indicated a greater desire for a sense of direction in guiding their children rather than a cure for autism per se. All we have to do is steer that flexibility of thinking to our side by creating public awareness campaigns that realistically emphasize the challenges of autism while giving the people on the spectrum dignity.

Of course, not all people can be convinced so easily, including the Wrights, Allison Tepper-Singer, and John Best Jr. However, I believe that most parents and caregivers involved in autism are simply scared and confused. It is because of this lack of direction that they fall prey to the rhetoric of organizations like Autism Speaks, which offers them a place to whine and the potential for a quick solution to their problems. Most of these followers otherwise probably just want their kids to reach their full potentialn and do well in life.

On the other hand, the establishment does raise a valid point in the overall public apathy regarding autism. It is this concern that both groups have in common. However, neurodiversity is a highly nuanced position, and not something that can be explained in a 30 second TV spot. Nonetheless, a commercial I would make about autism would include Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" playing in the background that lists a series of things autistic kids can do followed by a challenge they face (i.e. "In my mind, I can build anything with my imagination. But I need your help with language to express it" This sentence can be used to express language challenges with autism). I would use a finishing message of "Autistic children have many challenges in life. They need your help to reach their potential. But more importantly, they need your respect." Then perhaps the end will show a website people can go to read more about neurodiversity.

This kind of message can realistically emphasize the needs of us and our families and at the same give our population dignity to show we are people who although struggle in many ways are proud of our identity. Please this autism awareness month share the message of neurodiversity in appealing to a parent's desire to help their kid reach the highest potential. This will rouse people's sense of egalitarianism rather than pity. I think it is a much better way of advocating for the autistic population, as it puts autistics on the level of equals rather than simply marginalized people.

I write this entry because I realize that we can't do it alone on blogs. The people in the establishment have most of the attention, money, and media control, which means someday, someone is going to have to confront them head-on about positive changes in autism awareness. Using a transitional message may help us ease our way to the more open-minded members of the autism establishment. Maybe then we can inspire positive change in them so subtly that they may not even notice it.

5 Weird Things

I got the time to do a short thing Autism Diva tagged me for. Let's see, 5 weird things:

1) I memorize movie lines. I ACTUALLY go out of my way to memorize them. I've watched"Gladiator" well over 40 times over the course of several years. I also know two of the most memorable lines in the movie in English, Spanish, and Chinese. I also know lines from Star Wars, The Matrix, Heat, Scarface, etc.

2) I do voice impersonations, usually when I talk to myself for lack of an active social life. I've done characters from Family Guy, like Quagmire, Cleveland, Peter, Brian, Chris.... I can also imitate Starcraft voices, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Eric Cartman, and a whole bunch of others.

3) Somehow, I find the pronunciation of "necrophiliac" funny, although I am well aware of the actual term's meaning and there's nothing funny about THAT.

4)During nights where I stay up late to study, I take multiple short showers.

5)People tell me whenever I talk it sounds like I'm giving a speech. I always have a habit of talking too loudly. I guess that's the last weird thing.

Savage Hypocrisy

Original Post: July 16, 2006

I read up on the Cure Autism Now site that they finally decided to address the issue of neurodiversity. In the FAQ section, there is a question that states:

Q: Why do you talk about "curing" people with autism? Shouldn't we be working on acceptance and support, instead of a cure?

A: All people with autism deserve the acceptance and support of their communities, and an understanding of the challenges they and their loved ones face. When we talk about a cure for autism, it is not meant to belittle people with autism, any more than those seeking a cure for spina bifada or other disabilities are devaluing the lives of people with those particular handicaps. But, for many people with autism and related disorders, life is a constant struggle to understand and be understood. With the advancement of science through our many research projects, we hope to improve the quality of life for all those with autism.

I shake my head and don’t know whether to laugh or cry. You want us to believe you and the rest of the autism establishment care about the dignity of autistic citizens despite years of disparagement because YOU say so in a single paragraph? You expect us to buy that line? Sure autistic people may not be good at social interactions or immediately “getting” underlying messages, but we’re by no means stupid. Let us breaks down this piece of hypocrisy one phrase at a time.

All people with autism deserve the acceptance and support of their communities, and an understanding of the challenges they and their loved ones face.

Sure, if that were the case with you people, why isn’t the job of the CAN organization to dispel stigmatizing views of autism? How is it respectful that autistics are called tragic and the condition is described as “worse than cancer”? Why does CAN not stand for "Celebrate Autism Now"? How is it respectful to call autism a “plague”? Let me remind whoever from CAN is reading this that one of their leaders stated:

“Autism is like this… it’s like somebody sneaks into your house in the middle of the night and takes your precious baby’s mind and personality and leaves their bewildered body behind. If one in every 250 children in America were actually being kidnapped, we would have a national emergency. And we do; it’s called autism.”

Clearly, the kidnapped motif is quite common in the marketing of autism to the public. While your at it, why doesn’t the person who made the above statement join a milk manufacturer and print autistic children on the side of milk cartons. That way parents AND young children can see the missing VICTIMS while eating their Rice Krispy’s every morning with the Autism Speaks awareness information on it.

When we talk about a cure for autism, it is not meant to belittle people with autism, any more than those seeking a cure for spina bifada or other disabilities are devaluing the lives of people with those particular handicaps.

Well, if you really did mean that, watch your language. Sending messages to people that it is wrong to even engage in harmless stims and that it is bad to pursue unusual interests during treatment sessions implies that society finds whom these people are undesirable and defective. Lack of accommodations in making social interactions exacerbates this problem. This is suppose to NOT belittle autistics… HOW?

As for needing greater awareness for autism, I already said that it is necessary. More funding is necessary for a greater understanding of autism. I agree to the point with the current establishment that autism is SEVERELY under-funded as a medical issue, being more common than most childhood medical conditions. We SHOULD be realistic about the challenges those on the autistic spectrum face. However, we should not use such dehumanizing language to describe autism as a condition. The realities of children who can barely speak or care for themselves are just as real as those of J-Mac and other famous autistics who are verbal and can live independently. However, any autistic who brings up any positive awareness for autism instantly has his/her sanity called into question. People demand proof of diagnosis, and make vicious personal attacks. It is this hypocrisy that exemplifies the very things the autism establishment criticizes in autistics.

Disclaimer: The following is a satire.

Let us suppose for instance that the autism is RIGHT about the stereotypes of autistic adults. Autistic self-advocates are what they would call “not really autistic enough”, “misanthropes”, “Borderline Personality Disorder”, “pharma-shills”, and even sociopaths. Oh, and let us throw some blood libel into the mix. Autistic adults are advocating for the COMPLETE neglect of autistic children for only one reason. You see, autistic adults are like vampires. They start out as little children who are robbed of their souls little bit by little bit by autism as they grow up. By the time they grow up, their souls are completely gone. But all of them gain incredible savant powers that they use to do evil, although mostly idiotic, things. The only way to keep this power is the consistent consumption of autistic children’s blood; it is little wonder why they run on a routine too. That’s why autistic adults keep children autistic so that they the children are about 10 years old and plump enough they gas the children, stuff them in the back of vans, take them to the underground lairs, cut their throats, and boil their blood. The only way to prevent such vampirism is to prevent autistic children from becoming autistic adults. Thus, a cure or pre-natal test to destroy all of autism is imperative.

End of Satire

Whoa. Beat THAT John Best Jr.! If I literally meant what I wrote above, I’d give you a good run for your money on the defamation you can create. In all seriousness, even if the above were true about autistic self-advocates, the establishment is sure doing a good job setting a moral example and encouraging others to do the same (not!). You can’t prove your moral superiority even in the circumstances above.

First, if autistic adults were truly rude and misanthropic (which they are not in real life), the “qualified” people who are claiming to speak for autistics won’t be too different either. The message is, “Agree with me or I’ll slander/libel you into oblivion." Yet how come they are morally on top? No one has to question their credentials, yet it is perfectly natural to request private medical information from autistics. Imagine how the parents of the autistic children I work with at the Kennedy Krieger Institute would feel if I made accusations about them as not being the children’s parents and actually being “imposters” or “child kidnappers”. It would not be very fun for me. Yet it would be common protocol if I were to make statements contrary to popular opinions of autism.

Secondly, there is a double standard. If the satire above is true and some autistics are caught for drinking blood from murdered children (that they murdered), they would instantly be condemned. Heck, even I would probably condemn them without being inherently prejudiced against autistic. When William Freund killed those two people, people may become paranoid about Aspies and profiling may become acceptable. I understand now that Freund was misguided in his actions and very wrong indeed, but nothing justifies potential phobia against autistics in general. At the same time for most neurotypicals, it would be seen as “understandable” for a neurotypical mother to smother her autistic daughter to death with a plastic bag. It would be “understandable” for the TWO neurotypical parents of a 19-year-old autistic male to lock him in a burning apartment. All this because of the stress of autism? Isn’t all of murder wrong? This double standard may be no different than the Jim Crow laws from the olden days.

Lastly, the epidemiological statistics on autism are misused. The current establishment’s use of them numbers is as shady as them lawyers the vaccine plaintiffs are hiring. For the establishment knows that any consistency will result in a lose-lose situation. The current 1 out of 166 people being affected by autism in America is used so often I’m surprised it is not a meme like “Peanut Butter Jelly Time”. This statistic includes children and adults, on all levels of functionality. Now here is the tricky part. If the establishment seeks to exclude autistics who can communicate from discourse about autism policy, the epidemiological numbers do not seem so bad. If autism is marketed as a pandemic to the American people, that means the establishment has acknowledged many communicative autistic adults as such and thus allow them to make their own statements in the arena about autism. How the establishment keeps sticking to the “autism epidemic” line while excluding so many autistics from discussion of their own condition is beyond me.

The next time you read any more mainstream autism literature, please challenge any extreme assumption or other ones you have a hunch are wrong. The hypocrisy I would think makes the establishment’s thinking system very suspect at best.

Should There Ever be a Cure for Autism, Don't EVER Talk to me About Choice

Original Post: June 18, 2006

A while ago, I was talking with a person about the possibility of a cure for autism. This person mentioned that it was understood I had a very anti-cure position, but that a cure should be available for those who wanted it.

Not to bash the person who said this to me, but I honestly think that most people who think this way can no longer afford to be so naive. After all, a certain man named Dr. Bauxbaum is developing a prenatal test for autism. He tells us he's creating the test for seeking early intervention. Yet I haven't seen that he has contributed any way to POSITIVE awareness about autism (instead of just reiterating stereotypical traits). Without the follow-up, even if he did not want autistics to die, Dr. Bauxbaum would still be an accessory to one of the largest eugenics movements in history should a pre-natal test for autism follow through. After all, we can use a controlled nuclear reaction to power 100,000 homes. Or we can use the same reaction to build a bomb that destroys that many homes and many more lives. We have to follow-up and ensure that what we create is used responsibly.

SUPPOSE a cure for autism is found. And let us suppose that it is a cure that can be reasonably safely performed on a person. It'd have to be some kind of re-wiring surgery, since autism has to do with neurological wiring. And let us assume that such a procedure can turn an autistic person into a neurologically typical person, COMPLETELY indistinguishable from his/her peers (like Lovaas' dream). And people were offered a choice. Would this be a genuine choice? No more than I can cast spells and make pigs fly.

A cure for autism will give society even more reason to keep the autistic man (or woman for that matter) down. It will only lead to more discrimination against those who even feel the slightest bit of self-acceptance about their condition. Here is why I feel that the possibility for choice in getting the cure is fundamentally flawed:

1) Consent- Autism is a condition that first occurs in childhood and can evolve into a life-long difference. Normally, autism is diagnosed at around age 3 (although many places can do it earlier). Children of such young age are unable to give INFORMED consent on their own about medical conditions. Pediatricians know this, and HAVE to rely on parents as the child's best experts. Do you think parents are going to allow their child to go on an alternative developmental pathway that entails more difficulty? Do you think most parents can shake off the negativity most of what autism marketing has placed in their shoulders? Many parents would probably administer the cure in a heartbeat. How can it be a decision made and confirmed by the person most affected by it, the autistic him/herself?

2) Educational Support- If a cure for autism comes along, do you think schools would need special education services to accomodate different learning needs if a simple procedure can mainstream an autistic kid? With a cure, autism would by definition be pathologized. So many people, especially in the Canadian Autism Societies, have made assumptions that autistics can't learn and will be doomed unless they get drastic alteration. You've probably heard of a case where a young Aspie boy named Charles Rankowski was banned from a school playground simply on the grounds that he was autistic. They school district felt troubled by him and had him followed by a psychologist when he returned. If any other child misbehaved on the playground, they would be banned for just a few days and be able to return later. Even if Charles Rankowski did something typically wrong on the playground, he shouldn't have been singled out and profiled like a ticking time bomb. We've seen such discriminatory acts before. So what's not to prevent the following? What is to prevent schools from adopting more discriminatory measures based on a pathologized autism? Schools already require children be vaccinated for certain infectious agents that are commonly spread. Why not require that children be cure of autism before they go into kindergarten? They're "weirdness" can SERIOUSLY endanger the lives of other children and encourage them to become weird, sociopathic maniacs. And let's eliminate home-schooling as an alternative. Any autistic person not showing a diploma from a registered high school that required them to be cured as a pre-requisite can consider anything they can speak as INVALID and WRONG, even if it is the plain obvious truth. The HS diploma will probably also be the only way to enter college, thus eliminating any alternative path to higher education. Thus, autistics cannot speak about themselves on anything, since nothing they tell counts as the truth because they are un-(standard educated). Oh I'm sorry, uncured autisitics are presumed NOT to speak! Although autism is not contagious, bigotry sure is.

3) The Job Scene- There will be no reason to enact legislation to prevent employment discrimination against neurological minorities. Don't follow a strict set of "typical" behaviors or are a social expert? Don't get the job I offer. You have to memorize every little social detail and double standard that does not makes sense before you enter most jobs. Oh, if you're in the job I offer, you bring it upon yourself when you fellow workers harass you. Just go get the cure or just stop acting so WEIRD! And if you don't stop coming to me about this, YOU'RE FIRED!

4) The Extermination- Autistic citizens will either be forgotten in institutions by their parents or when they grow up for forced to become normal. Or possibly those who refuse to surrender their individuality will not be considered educated and may not be able to get a job. Autistics already have a higher risk of depression, from society's hatred. Maybe others will kill non-conforming autistics even more as a threat, much like the lynchings of African-Americans in the early days after slavery was abolished. In childhood, in institutions, or just out of pure malice in the middle of the street. Many autistic persons may kill themselves to end the life that most people would label a "travesty". Law enforcement will only pay lip service; criminals will get off with a slap on the wrist. Maybe a pre-natal test will be developed too and the extermination will extend to the womb. If either in personality or in flesh and blood, autistic will die because a cure has come along.

What is mostly seen as a victory in public health can also be seen as humanity treating part of itself as less than human. The next time you think about this issue, DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME IF THERE IS SUCH A THING AS CHOICE WHEN IT COMES TO THE AUTISTIC GENOCIDE.

Katie McCarron May We Never Forget

Original Post: June 13, 2006

You remember that little girl I mentioned in my last entry whose mother killed her? This is her just 12 days before the horrible incident. This is Katie. Now by just looking at the picture, do you think she's in pain? Is she living an existence worse than death? Clearly no. Yet she had to die because she was born different from those who make up the neurologically typical majority; she was autistic. This should not have happened. I should have wrote this entry a long time ago.

The last entry I wrote I did so in the context of telling people to stop spreading lies about the autistic existence and how such sensationalism lead to people thinking it is ok to mistreat or even kill autistic persons. While this played a factor in Katie's death, what her mother did to her is unforgivable. Even under such bombardment of negativity, there were other ways the mother could have resolved her issues. Many exemplary parents, like Susan Senator or Kevin Leitch, with children all across the autistic spectrum have had difficulties raising their children and have felt hopeless many times, but have loved their children unconditionally anyway. No difficulty in raising a child makes it ok to kill him/her. Usually in a case like this, the death penalty would be sought for the mother, no questions asked. However, that shady lawyer working for the mother, Karen Maccarron, is seeking to twist the facts in some way that will allow her to get away with it more lightly, if not completely off the hook. Like taking advantage of the fact that people resent autism and blame IT for the mother's "stress" that drove her to "mercy-kill" her daughter. Normally, I'd be opposed to the death penalty. But in some select cases like this, I couldn't care less if Karen McCarron does get the death penalty. It serves her right.

The most ironic thing was that Karen Mccarron was a doctor, a role most people would think is completely incompatible with such an act. I am saddened because there may be people like this in the profession I aspire to join, a couple of rotten apples in the barrel. A doctor is suppose to preserve and improve the quality of life in those under his/her care, and shouldn't give up on his/her patient for better or worse. A doctor should be an active thinker and challenge the wrong assumptions other people make about those in need of medical or other forms of help. These things are not what Karen Mccarron did. Instead, she let her own anger blind her reason and took it out on her own flesh and blood.

Katie will never know the world beyond her first three years of life. Her grandfather, Mike Mccarron, told us of the many fun times she has had and how she loved him and her grandmother, singing and playing. She attended a school and knew an octagon before any of her non-autistic peers. Now in what way is this consistent with the melodramatic tragedy line the autism establishment tries to sell? And how come most of the articles I read never mentioned what Katie was like as a person?

I've never known Katie, but when it comes time for me to practice as a physician, I may get to know many who are like her. It is my job to make sure in all my power that this kind of thing doesn't happen again and to give parents the right idea to love their children unconditionally. Her grandfather is a good man by showing her as a person rather than a "problem" to be fixed. I hope I will be able to develop more of being a good man myself. And I must always remind all readers why these things happen and why we should always remember events like this as a call to action:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men do nothing"

Original Post: May 27, 2006

This Mother's Day weekend of this month took two people's breaths away, and it was not the mothers who were given gifts in appreciation.

This month, there were two major stories of the murders of autistics, both on Mother's day weekend. One was of a little girl named Katie McCarron, smothered to death after her mother placed a plastic bag over her head. The other was a 19-year-old named Christopher DeGroot whose parents locked him in their apartment and set it on fire. Both were "severely affected" individuals. Two more people who had to die because they were born different from those who are in power over the organization that are SUPPOSE to help them, but only in name.
These people were in charge of an organization named "Autism Speaks", which is partnered up with the NAAR and aim to spread "awareness" of autism. They made up a video called "Autism Everyday" that featured parents naming their various experiences with autism. At one point, a mother stated that she seriously contemplated taking her autistic daughter and driving off the George Washington Bridge with her. This video was released on May 9 earlier the same week that these two murders occured. Coincidence? OMG, I think perhaps not.

These things should not happen. These parents should not kill their children anymore than William Freund should have killed those other people. Murder is wrong, and that's that. However, such poisonous attitudes towards autism contribute to such acrimony between parents and children, and autistic adults and neurotypicals everywhere. No matter how strong the mens rea and the actus reus are evident in the liability of the individuals who commit these acts, societal attitudes still played a factor.

When organizations like "Autism Speaks" market such venom that show such a slanted view of autism, they contribute only to further societal hostility towards individuals on the spectrum. The video mentioned earlier started out with so many tantrums, nevermind that these children may have sensory sensitivities and are often upset where there are too many people around (the camerapeople). The video's key moment of the mother saying she wanted to kill her child juxtaposed to the autistic child's sister saying "I wish my sister didn't have autism" is pure exploitation of duress for the sake of a money shot. No one showed what these children liked to do or how they learn. It is all about negativity.

Not me. I use to be all about negativity, but I want to be realistic right now. I want to be a physician because I want to help those on the autistic spectrum and have the aspie/autie mindset to comprehend them. If I were given a chance to introduce autism, I would say:

"Mr. and Mrs. ... I have news for you. After working with your child, I have diagnosed him/her with autism. I understand that the word brings fear to your mind, but I want you to hear me through.... First, I want you to forget everything you think you know about autism. Ok? Listen carefully now to what I have to say. Autism is a neurological condition that results in different brain wiring. However, your autistic child should never be viewed as defective or not capable of developing. Otherwise, you'll never have the time to be just parents for you'll just be searching for a way to get rid of the condition. Your child will have difficulties in social situations and speech development, but I can help you work around these developmental barriers. He/she may have cognitive difficulties, and I will help you advocate for proper educational services. He/she will have many repetitive interests, and I will lend guidance as how to use them constructively. I understand that you may be upset, but much of it stems from lost expectations rather than the autism per se.... Grieving is a natural part of the process, but you need to keep the actual grieving away from the fact of the child. Slowly learn to let go, and turn back to your child. Realize that this is another human being who deserves to be loved and respected, not a set of problems you need to fix. Autism is not a disease, but a lifelong difference that is central to being. And however we need to get on that road to helping your child's development the best way to do it is together."

If only more doctors stopped telling parents about the horrible prospects, perhaps funding can be more efficiently spent on learning how autistic people are rather than eliminating them. They may seek to cure autistics, but autistics ARE the cure to many things: assumptions, ignorance, and prejudice against neurological minorities. The more voices speak this message to better. Then perhaps incidents like the ones involving the murder of autistic children will not happen. Maybe people like William Freund won't driven to kill others.* Maybe we can completely avoid this acrimony altogether.

*Note: Although I talk about societal tension, I realize that it is ultimately an individual's own choice to commit actions, for better or worse.

How much more of this can happen? And how can we assure it will not happen on a grand scale? We let people know the facts of the situation through a blog like this and through active vocalization, so that they may know the hints of a greater evil to come. I will end with a very relavent quote for the new X-men movie:

"No one ever talks about extermination. They just do it. And you go on with your lives, ignoring the signs around you. And then one day, when the air is still and the night is fallen, they come for you. Only then do you realize that while you're talking about organizing and committees, the extermination has already begun.... There is only one question you must answer: Who will you stand with?"
-Erik Lensherr/Magneto

Another Angle on the Pro-Cure Movement: Americans Commiting Acts of Terrorism

*This is not directed towards confused or grieving parents. Grief is a natural emotion to feel after finding out your child's diagnosis. Many of you are trying to help your children, and that is commendable. But think logically before administrating any treatment. Always remember that autism is NOT incompatible with personhood, and that it is not a child-stealing monster. The content of this article is directed primarily toward malicious individuals who hate autism and all autistic people with a passion .

Ever since 9/11, America has engaged in a war on terror where ever it rises. Although I cannot say I agree with everything the current administration has done, I think terrorism has no place in any society and that terrorism will only work if we allow it to work, if we allow it to get to us. Yet there is a different kind of terrorism that comes in the United States. One that has existed before 9/11 and has never taken notice from this particular angle... until now.


Take a look at the new t-shirt design from the unlocking autism website, a pro cure group.


Pretty frightening, huh? Seems that they want to associate autism with the terrorist alert levels, and that we are equivalent to threats of terrorism upon families. Well, two can play at that game. The new form of terrorism involves no foreigners; the victims are Americans and so are the perpetrators. This is the angle that I will explain: that pro-cure groups like CAN, NAAR, Generation Rescue, and Safe Minds engage in acts of terrorism to cause panic and confusion in an environment already hostile towards autistics.

I am not saying ALL actions done constitute acts of terrorism. I do not criticize parents for trying to help their child develop or keeping their child safe from external dangers. It is when such intentions result in actions that border on (or in some cases crosses the line on) the verbal and physical abuse of others that such actions become acts of terrorism designed to induce compliance.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines terrorism as, "a policy intended to strike with terror those against whom it is adopted; the employment of methods of intimidation." In essence, this is what much of the current autism establishment does (I can't say for all, since there are a few places that ethically treat their autistic children). They use words of intimination to force parents into taking any reckless risk of fighting back the child's condition.
That's right. Even if that risk involves death. Let's face it, My Name is Autism by Martha Murphy states:

"I (autism) take away all but their physical life. What I leave behind is almost worse than death."

By that logic, the worse case scenario for a child is death. But hey, death is better than a life with autism. If the child is cured, that's GOOD. If a child dies as a result, it was a better fate anyways. It is too sad many people have this mindset. How can autistic citizens live with dignity free of intimidation with such a societal attitude?

The autism industry basically works by taking advantage of stereotypes, worst case scenarios, and false dichotomies. In marketing campaigns, they parade around miracle stories of children being cured by their products and induce guilt in parents who do not buy. This is a very underhanded and unethical marketing practice. Inducing duress in parents to buy into untested products and procedures that could potentially harm the child is an act of terrorism because it utilizes fear to induce compliance with reckless disregard for the sanctity of life.
Some from the mercury militia, who believe thimerasol is the ONLY cause for the rise in autism prevalence, state:

"Anyone who is not chelating to get rid of the mercury is guilty of child abuse. Every doctor who is not telling their patients to chelate is guilty of malpractice."
-John Best Jr.

This is a threat to all parents who want to think logically about their child's condition before buying into any mumbo jumbo theory. By threatening uninformed parents with recently diagnosed children this way, it creates an environment of fear that will drive parents to do the unthinkable to their children all in the name of "curing" them. We know that just last year chelation killed a 5 year old boy who probably didn't even need it. And let's not forget that some parents still think that autism could mean demonic possession. As for the parts about physicians, as an aspiring pre-med I have to start thinking about these issues. I wouldn't issue an unproven therapy to an adult patient, let alone a small child who has his/her whole life ahead. If a child is GENUINELY poisoned, then I would recommend the appropriate course to get the heavy metals removed. However, you cannot attribute all of autism to mercury poisoning and threaten those who happen to disagree with you. Autism and mercury poisoning are NOT one and the same thing.

And what about instituions? Sadly, a great many adult autistics are still in institutions. There, many of them are beaten for not conforming to "normal", "desirable" behavior. Many are denied food, constrained, and punished for being their natural selves. Fear-inducing aversives like electroshocks and ammonia are used to force them into becoming "indistinguishable from their peers". In a few decades when this generation dies out, what will become of the future? Will the fear induced by the current establishment spawn the mass abortion of millions of autistic fetuses because parents will fear a future of autism? We all know what the answer is, and it is our opportunity to fight back.

If we are truly to fight back terrorism where ever it springs up and set a good example for others, we need to fight this brand of terrorism at home as well as the conventional style abroad. The victims of this form of terrorism may not include victims of a suicide bomber, bioweapon sample, chemical warfare, hijacking, kidnapping, or any other conventional terrorism methods. Instead, the victims come in the abuse of and discrimination against autistic children on our playground by bullies and school systems for being different, the abuse of adults and children in institutions to induce compliance, the abuse in homes of parents who are purposefully malicious or threatened by society, and the poisonous attitudes that lead to any reckless risk being undertaken to make sure autism no longer exists as part of humanity. So stand up to this injustice, and remember....

When an autistic is punished because of harmless idiosyncracies, it is a form of terrorism.

When parent take a reckless risk in forcing a child to become "normal", the parents are engaging in an act of terrorism.

When parents unjustly punish their autistic children and try to shame the normality out of them, they are commiting terrorism.

When a salesperson for the autism industry induces fear in order to force parents to buy the company's products, he/she is utilizing a form of terrorism.

When a doctor uses an unproven and unsafe therapy that results in a death of a child because the autism establishment has threatened him and he obliged, the doctor is guilty of malpractice and child is a victim of terrorism.

When an OBGYN threatens a couple with a worst case scenario and strongly induces the couple to get an abortion of the autistic fetus, this is an act of terrorism.

When schoolyard bullies threaten and abuse autistic children for being different and the school system does nothing, that school system is an accessory to terrorism.

Whenever an autistic person is threatened and put down for expression of opinions contrary to current negative viewpoints of autism, that person is impacted by terrorism.

For so long, America has not understood the brand of terrorism that has been happening in its backyard. For many families with newly diagnosed children, you may not have been involved in the war on terrorism. Well you are about to now. Do not let it get to you. Fight for your child's right to exist with dignity. Do not let threats, abuses, and societal apathy work on you. Remember this quote by Michael Rivero:

"Once a government resorts to terror against its own population to get what it wants, it must keep using terror against its own population to get what it wants. A government that terrorizes its own people can never stop. If such a government ever lets the fear subside and rational thought return to the populace, that government is finished."

The autism establishment does just that, and it relies on fear to survive. We as autistic have the rational thought, and we are showing we are not afraid. But the establishment is still strong.

We need to stand up for ourselves, recruit allies to bolster our ranks, and especially get the apathetic out of their seats to fight this form of terrorism, of evil. And it always comes back to Sir Edmund Burke's quote:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

*This post indeed uses very strong, loaded language and in part satires the sensationalistic message of the current autistic establishment. However, its message about the abuse of autistics is very very real.

New Move!

Hi I just moved here from Xanga. I will post them old posts here, and their dates. Xanga was too limiting in its use, so I decided to come here so that anyone can post on my site and I can bring about greater awareness for a different view of autism.

Why MeridiusMD899?

MeridiusMD stands for my favorite movie character Maximus Decimus Meridius of Gladiator.

MD stands for my aspired profession of doctor.

899 stands for my high education.