KuraiGaka Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Actually, Rillion12 made a good point but let me elaborate- People who are born deaf may not really want a cure simply because they are used to their society and used to how they percieve the world. Now, if I suddenly became deaf, I would be devistated because I'm used to hearing noises. A cure for deafness would be complicated- the government might just force it on every deaf person because they couldn't be bothered with their society and their rights. Isn't that outragous?
aware4autism Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Yeah, but Bill didn't seem like he was buying it all, especially when he questioned J-Macs ability!
godzghoti Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Pretty terrible video, I must say. You used one statement from Alison Singer and one circumstance involving Laura Thierry to discredit them. Given that, I think your argument fails to guarantee your conclusion that Autism Speaks is not a good organization (which is, what I assume the phrase "Autism Speaks does not speak for me" is supposed to mean). You can't just take a personal experience of Ms. Singer and say, "Well, since that doesn't fit my situation, I don't support this organization."
martialdrake Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - I remember being disgusted the first time I watched "autism every day"; Singer's words have not lost there effect."Autism Speaks" certainly does not Speak for me.
christschool Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - I don't follow your logic godzghoti. The whole video they did was offensive. I didn't discredit these two, they did it themselves. Every major charity outside of autism has board members of the disorder on their boards. If an autistic had been on the board of Autism Speaks, this video would never have been produced.
godzghoti Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Admittedly, I can't say I'm an expert on the subject. I am an ABA consultant, but only just a few short weeks ago became familiar with the Autism Speaks organization. All I'm saying is that just from the argument you posed in this video, and as someone who isn't familiar with the organization itself, there isn't a whole lot of information in this video for me to agree with you. Plus, as someone already said, you quoted her statement out of context.
lessordxtz Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - This is a wonderful video, so much needed. Autism Speaks is a horrible protrayal of parents and kids with autism, and very damaging. Thanks for this work.
godzghoti Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - For some reason my last reply wasn't posted. What I said was that I am an ABA Consultant, but only learned of Autism Speaks a short time ago, and am not too familiar with them or their politics. My logic is that you discredited the whole foundation based mostly on the personal experience of one woman (albeit she was misquoted in the process). As someone who has no opinion on whether Autism Speaks is "good" or "bad" I meant your argument doesn't convince me that it is a "bad" organization.
christschool Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Ok, what was the argument I posed in this video? First off, you should know, I am an autistic person, and a quite successful one at that, and no ABA either. Care to prove I quoted the statement out of context? Go to their website and review the entire video yourself and then tell me how it was out of context. Please justify her telling the world in front of her daughter that she contemplated murdering her.
christschool Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - I replied to your first post, youtube sometimes takes a long time. Hopefully that reply will appear. Also, I noticed on your channel that you are 20 years old. If that's true, are you really a college kid doing ABA under a board certified consultant or are you marketing yourself as a consultant without board certification? Just curious.
godzghoti Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Yeah, I'm learning that youtube takes a while to post the comments. But yes, I'm 20-years-old and I'm working on my Child Development major and am going to get a ECSE certificate. Sorry, I didn't mean to lead you on to think that I'm some higher-up type person. I'm an ABA technician who works in the classroom with the kids.
godzghoti Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - And just for the record, christschool, I don't mean any disrespect to you. I'm in the process of watching the rest of your videos and I do enjoy them. You're very outspoken and I do think Junior is a very sweet boy, and I'm glad to see he has a lot of love in his life. I'm glad there are people like you on a popular internet site such as this trying to clear up people's misconceptions about autism!
christschool Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Thank you. Good luck with the ECSE cert.
drmaier Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Holy CRAP! You recieved alot of heat for making this video. I posted it in an online autism support group, the vid was removed and I wad kicked out of the group. Who knew autism politics could be so complex?
mdeleon03 Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - I am pretty sure she is saying "I don't want anyone to MAKE FUN OF HER" not "I dont want anyone to meet her." and the first part where the mom says she was going to drive off the bridge she was contemplating killing herself too. I think it is awful that she would have that thought and say it in front of her child but she is trying to express how frustrated she was.
christschool Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Yeah, she was telling the "whole world" wasn't she. Nice legacy to leave her family and Jodie.
ralpheadsuz Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - To answer your question, "Does Autism Speaks, Speak for You?" NO! And let me tell you, "anti-cure" parents like me are challenged by the professionals in our kids' lives to the point of self-doubt. Thank you for helping others understand that my son's existence is not tragic.
xXxSoundlessWordsXxX Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - FUCK AUTISIM SPEAKS!!!
xXxSoundlessWordsXxX Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - That crap doesn't speak for me...
xXxSoundlessWordsXxX Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - That little kid at the end is really cute...:)
kassiane Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - So do those blessings vanish when we turn 18 and start speaking for ourselves and say "THIS IS WRONG?"telling people not to judge IS JUDGING. People judge all the time, then tell others not to judge when they don't want to flat out say "i agree with the person you disagree with". Even I know that. We all judge. Telling people not to is pretty hypocritical, no?
therealhockey4ever Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - I don't feel as judgmental over this woman as many of those that commented here. Our daughter's autism diagnosis has just devastated our family. Not enough space here to explain exactly how, but don't know if I will ever get over it.
melliehart Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Do you think that maybe she wanted to leave it in because she wanted to connect with other parents who might have felt hopeless that they couldn't help their children. I think that she was just deeply grieved. IT NEVER HAPPENED!!! She just said that she contemplated it. It's not pretty but it was truthful and that is what a horrible dx can do.
christschool Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Mellie, I'm not sure. I can tell you this though, shortly after that video was made public, 6 autistic children were killed by their parents. Is there a connection? I don't know and we'll never really know.
christschool Says:
Oct 11, 2008 - Yep, just goes to show, that despite one's income, one can still be ignorant of the facts. Thanks.