Focus on Autism Acceptance Ignores Individuals and Threatens Research
Note: Thanks to Wayne Rohde for sharing this opinion piece (below my intro) from the Star Tribune in Minnesota. I never thought I'd miss "awareness." But today, as schools are drowning under the weight of special education, and adult programs are turning away the autistic, and those who don't qualify for programs are simply set adrift, awareness of the problems is more urgent than ever. I want you to read this heartbreaking, honest anonymous post from a parent of a child with "high functioning" autism, and multiply by tens of thousands of families. Then read the opinion piece below.
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Why the governor's proclamation on autism made me wince
The new focus on acceptance, rather than on awareness, ignores those with a debilitating disorder and threatens research.
By Dawn Kovacovich
Autism is a neurological and developmental disorder that can cause difficulty with communication and repetitive behavior.
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We recently received a newsletter from the Autism Society of Minnesota (AUSM) explaining its rationale for switching terminology from the previously used "Autism Awareness Month" to "Autism Acceptance Month." I was dismayed to read the statement made by the governor:
"Minnesota acknowledges the limits of asking for awareness and promotes and celebrates the acceptance and appreciation of people with autism as the next step beyond awareness," said Gov. Tim Walz in his proclamation. "Minnesota acknowledges that although this celebration of autistic culture and community provides a starting point, that there remains significant room for progress towards equitable access and inclusion for all Minnesotans with autism."
His statement reflects a clear lack of understanding and dismissiveness toward the approximately 50% of individuals (and their families) who suffer with what can be an extremely debilitating developmental disorder. Many longtime AUSM members do not share their current position and philosophy regarding autism "acceptance."
By stating that "you shouldn't try to fix people who aren't broken," AUSM is not acknowledging that for 40-50% of autistic people, autism is a very serious, devastating condition. These individuals are left out of the conversation because they cannot typically speak for themselves and their family members are discounted if they speak on behalf of them. The flawed logic is like saying we should "accept" blindness or deafness or any other disability because there is no cure and many of these people live very fulfilling lives if they are simply accepted.
The fact remains that blindness, deafness and autism are still disabilities. Thousands of autistic people are born with serious cognitive, sensory and/or neurological dysfunction. Whether these traits are referred to as "comorbidities" or recognized as part of the autism diagnosis for many people is irrelevant. They are still living with a disability.
We adore our autistic daughter exactly as she is. But that doesn't mean we would wish on anyone the heartache, frustrations and limitations she lives with on a daily basis as a result of her condition. She often says she "wishes there were a cure for OCD and autism." Could there be a cure for the neurological dysfunction that causes her brain to cycle in circles and short-circuit into violent tantrums? Maybe there could be. We might never know if funding for autism research is stymied because a certain subset of autistic individuals do not wish to acknowledge it as a disability.
The staggering increase of autism should be great cause for alarm. Research, prevention and programming are seriously affecting by the dismissive tone that AUSM has adopted toward the seriousness of this condition. I am, quite frankly, disgusted by this attitude. AUSM is no longer advocating for half of the very people it claims to serve. While we accept our daughter, we will never "accept" autism — or any other developmental disability.
The National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA) recognizes this. It is long past time to separate the diagnosis of mildly autistic people, whose brain structures more closely resemble ADHD, with those who have been born with profound autism. It is time to recognize that one size does not fit all.
Dawn Kovacovich, of Bemidji, Minn., is a retired special-education teacher.
I think autism acceptance week or month or whatever is absurd. We need proper treatment and care for those with autism. I like ALUT model even though I could never visit the program because it is thousands of kilometers away in Israel. ALUT makes use of trained and vetted long term volunteers along with paid staff for the benefit of those with autism in areas such as care and education and vocational.
Posted by: Bill | April 24, 2023 at 10:49 AM
This 23 year old "extremely high functioning" autistic woman does not seem to have autism anymore at all (more like Sensory Processing Disorder/ADHD) and yet her mom (Devon Alley, I believe) has duped her into supporting "neurodiversity" since she was a young child. She acts socially normal and does not seem to be massively socially or cognitively impaired as so many of our children/loved ones at AOA are: https://www.deviantart.com/charmeleonwarrior/about
Aisling Alley represents a very small "slice" of the childhood vaccine damage spectrum that's being celebrated and normalized around the globe. She can even drive a car and tolerate being in public "school" classrooms which those with serious, real/regressive autism cannot without massive supports and accommodations/"legal" drugs. Her autism is idiopathic according to her mom, the kind Autism $peaks loves focusing on and celebrating. Her mom also praised childhood vaccines and such crap, if nothing's wrong with a "neurodiverse" person, why spend tonnes of money on autism therapies for her, let alone millions of children with a small, supposed "1 in 36" rate?
CharmeleonWarrior is not autistic in my opinion. What she has is much more like SPD/ADHD than autism but she wears that stupid ASD label like an honour badge.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 23, 2023 at 09:38 PM
There are a few more things.
These adults never become independent.
I know others: They might get a job, but they live at home, or in a building close to their parents, or a home that their parents have provided. They won't clean up unless - well it takes work to get them clean, and it seems to me they can get more crumbs and trash on the floor than ordinary people.
My poor brother-in-law had moved his autistic son that married a girl with autism into his deceased mother's home. After a constant struggle to make them keep the air conditioner at a normal temperature and keeping a cat in the house with out ever cleaning out the litter box; he moved them back into a small trailer that he had built them a few years back.
Now he is allowing his twin brother also with autism to move in with his new wife, who has two kids, neither one of them is his, and both have autism . Thier real father died of heart failure brought on by covid. Not the vaccine but covid. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law lost their second son to covid in August of 2020. His heart.
I am pretty sure the vaccines as a child had him with all kinds of problems and yet he did not have autism. Oh, he had ADHD said what he thought, depressed, highly anxious, but not autism.
At any rate; Mississippi is not short of autism, and my poor family down there is eat up with all kinds of health problems. Good news though! Mississippi now, finally after two generations has a religious exemption clause from taking vaccines.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 23, 2023 at 12:03 PM
There is something to that salad and raw veggie .
You would think that eating a big salad very day would make one regular and not just really constipated.
Dr. Mercola suggested endives and radicchio. I had no idea what those were.
I looked endives on in a seed company- well, it was Johnny's seed company. They seem to be the only ones that sell them, so far as I know.
Endives are just the prettiest flat things. I don't think I mind them in my lettuce/herb garden close to the house at all.
The radicchio; was a problem at first. I ordered Italian dandelion. Italian dandelion is what grows wild in our pastures, with blue blooms that we call chicory or cornflowers. That stuff took over my Dad's hayfield for a couple of years. Yeah, I fooled myself on those. I should have looked at the scientific name.
However; I reordered and bought Leonardo radicchio and another kind as well. Those are the little red cabbage head forming ones.
So we had huge lettuce/endive salads and I made my own salad dressing last yar.
We ate them every day.
And these salads just sat there in the colon. Sigh.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 23, 2023 at 11:33 AM
Yes 4bobby. The "1 in 36" likely only includes idiopathic ASD cases of environmental/vaccine in utero causation. ASD adults need much more serious occupational therapy (not just music therapy/SLP/preschool OT which produces nothing, but driving skills, cooking skills, craftsmanship, and many more ADULT skills) and biomedical treatments, not endless meaningless acceptance campaigns or poor quality therapy services by corporate clinics.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 22, 2023 at 06:11 PM
No mention of Weston A. Price's principles anywhere here on this "active and healthy lifestyle" page for "ASD" (profound childhood vaxx damage) victims. The "healthy" Mediterranean diet includes a lot of gluten/phytic acid (from un-germinated/un-fermented grains, nuts and seeds) and casein/dairy/lactose and most ASD individuals cannot tolerate eating salads or fresh vegetables/have serious gut issues this "healthy diet" and other fad diets would only worsen. Ignore A.S.'s unhelpful advice and seek Weston A. Price/Nourishing Traditions instead. https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/expert-qa-tips-active-and-healthy-lifestyle
What will happen to the workforce with a huge unemployable "1 in 36" ASD/chronic illness adult population? https://rumble.com/v2ihwug-a.i.-robots-and-the-new-world-order-takeover.html
Why are almost all ASD young adults I see, seem to only want jobs about entertainment/arts but nothing outside it? https://www.autismspeaks.org/profile/meet-shayne-m
Posted by: Anonymous | April 22, 2023 at 04:31 PM
@Laura Hayes
Thank you for pointing that out. No most aren’t BORN with autism… and that is key to ever making progress…
Posted by: 4Bobby | April 22, 2023 at 10:51 AM
Ten things to NOT love about, for "neurodiverse" ASD sufferers whose hyperfocus/extreme obsessions/extreme loneliness and "sensory differences" has ruined and destroyed (and still do) the lives of them and their caregivers.
https://neuroclastic.com/ten-things-we-love-about-being-autistic/
"We can feel contentment with solitude. While I enjoy socializing, I’m perfectly content with solitude. I enjoy my own company. Some people sink into depression when they feel alone or isolated, but I just feel like I can freely be myself."
Another ASD public schooling victim learns to become a lover of self/a narcissist: https://www.autismspeaks.org/life-spectrum/how-i-learned-accept-my-autism-and-love-myself
The disgusting portrayal of autism as a mere, quirky personality difference on full display: https://www.autismspeaks.org/?utm_source=autismspeaks.org&utm_medium=text-link&utm_campaign=global-nav&utm_term=autismspeaks
Posted by: Anonymous | April 21, 2023 at 11:05 PM
Emma, the authorities took out biblical creationist education back in the "wholesome" 1960's. Bill Nye the Science Guy/Magic School Bus also taught Darwinism/evolutionism to kids back in the "good old" days. Taught to see humans - the crown of Yahweh's creation, meant to serve him and each other - as mere eating, sleeping, and urinating/defecating machines that originated by "evolving from ape-like creatures" to become more and more advanced with all manners of hyper-technological "advancements" such as graphene oxide/ the gene "therapy" MOTB poisons we refuse. Nothing new under the sun.
The pandemic drastically increased severe internet addiction/"hikikomori" lifestyles around the world, especially in kids and teens/young adults, and with it loss of academic abilities similar to alzheimers/dementia I believe - but in very young people, instead of the very old. But Gen Z has been internet addicted since they could walk/be potty trained, with Adobe Flash games and virtual worlds "plugging" them into extreme internet addiction starting in early childhood. Now it's Ipads/similar devices, and everything's being digitalised.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 21, 2023 at 03:18 PM
Coroner Rules AstraZeneca Jab Should Be Added To Death Certificate Of Previously ‘Fit & Healthy’ 32 Yr Old
https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/coroner-rules-astrazeneca-jab-should-be-added-to-death-certificate-of-previously-fit-healthy-32-yr-old/
America’s Teens Are Dumber Than They’ve Been In 100 Years
"The study notes a phenomenon that philosopher and intelligence researcher James Flynn, who died in 2020, first noted: “starting in 1932, average IQ scores increased roughly three to five points per decade. In other words, ‘younger generations are expected to have higher IQ scores than the previous cohort.’” However, after a generation and more of Leftist dominance of the education industry, there is now “a reverse Flynn effect.” The study shows that between 2006 and 2018, there were general declines in IQ scores. Campus Reform adds that “overall declines held true across age groups after controlling for educational attainment and gender, but the study shows that the loss in cognitive abilities is steeper for younger participants.”"
https://pjmedia.com/culture/robert-spencer/2023/03/13/americas-teens-are-dumber-than-theyve-been-in-100-years-n1677818
This seems to track with the explosion of autism diagnoses after the passage of the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act which gave pharma liability protection. From 1/ over 10,000 before 1986 to 1/35 in 2023.
Posted by: Emmaphiladelphia | April 21, 2023 at 11:17 AM
It's official:
Covid 19 jabs can and do cause myocarditis
"U.S. compensates people injured by COVID vaccines for 1st time
1 patient with myocarditis received $1,582"
"One person who suffered heart inflammation, or myocarditis, received $1,582. Another who suffered myocarditis received $1,032.
The manufacturer of the vaccines was not made public. Information about the people who received the payments has also not been made public."
https://www.wnd.com/2023/04/u-s-compensates-people-injured-covid-vaccines-1st-time/
The payouts are a little over 10,000 DIMES.
Does this set the level of the 1986 law vaccine court future payouts?
What about clots and death?
Posted by: Emmaphiladelphia | April 20, 2023 at 06:17 PM
Childhood Vaccine Injury Cover-up Acceptance Month - "You ain't gett'n a DIME!"
There. Fixed it. Look for the new "March of CBDC's" fund raiser.......
Posted by: Emmaphiladelphia | April 20, 2023 at 02:02 PM
Dawn Kovacovich wrote:
“…those who have been born with profound autism.”
Many (most?) parents report their children were not born with “autism”, but rather, their children lost skills, developed strange behaviors, and became acutely and/or chronically ill following “routine” vaccinations at their child’s “well baby” appointments.
The numbers continue to increase at an alarming rate not because children are born with autism, but because children are being poisoned and harmed via vaccinations (and a host of additional environmental assaults, also approved by government regulatory agencies), resulting in a vast array of injuries, disabilities, illnesses, and deaths. A needed caveat is that babies in the womb are also no doubt negatively impacted by the vaccine damage their parents have sustained, and by the vaccines now routinely given to pregnant women, which tragically impact the baby in development, too.
Why are vaccines even legal, a thinking person must ask. To that end, I gave the following presentation, which is available in both video and written form:
“Why Is This Legal?”
https://www.ageofautism.com/2018/11/why-is-this-legal-presentation-on-vaccines-by-laura-hayes.html
We must not accept “autism” (an intentional misnomer to direct focus and blame away from vaccines, and from those who manufacture, administer, approve, recommend, mandate, promote, and profit from them), and we must not accept the continued use of that which causes this profound disability in children.
To that end, awareness as an end goal is not acceptable, either. Immediate action to end the “autism” epidemic (in reality, the vaccine injury epidemic) is what is required, without compromise or delay. Immediate action steps are needed, outlined in this 2017 article of mine, which was rerun on AoA yesterday:
https://www.ageofautism.com/2023/04/to-the-american-president-improving-health-reducing-costs.html
Posted by: Laura Hayes | April 20, 2023 at 10:10 AM
I've seen so many "high functioning" autistics who can drive cars and make lengthy internet posts about their special interests, yet cannot tolerate eating a salad/fresh greens/anything that isn't canned or processed to death. Really sad and strange... what happened to the American diet?
Since aluminum and graphene oxide are the new mercury, get pure bentonite clay/charcoal soaps to detox it out of the nervous system - while you can still get them.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 20, 2023 at 09:23 AM
Please chelate these children for mercury. You have nothing to lose and MUCH to gain. If I can donate my time in some way I will be happy to do that.
Posted by: Rebecca R Lee | April 20, 2023 at 08:30 AM
Autism acceptance is an injustice to all the families living with the autism condition. Autism should not be accepted as normal because we have gone from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 36 today! Families are all struggling to cope while trying to live with and suffer from the daily extreme hardships of this debilitating condition. Not everyone is a Temple Grandin who has managed to lead a nearly normal life. We whose children/adults that are not nearly on that level don't need acceptance, but RESEARCH from qualified pharmaceutical companies who realize that this is urgently needed NOW to find the real medications that can actually CURE and correct the autism condition. There are companies doing these clinical trials and we hope that they are successful while we as parents are still here to care for our children/adults who have been so tragically affected.
Posted by: Gayle Vizioli | April 20, 2023 at 08:16 AM
Autism acceptance is an injustice to all the families living with the autism condition. Autism should not be accepted as normal because we have gone from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 36 today! Families are all struggling to cope while trying to live with and suffer from the daily extreme hardships of this debilitating condition. Not everyone is a Temple Grandin who has managed to lead a nearly normal life. We whose children/adults that are not nearly on that level don't need acceptance, but RESEARCH from qualified pharmaceutical companies who realize that this is urgently needed NOW to find the real medications that can actually CURE and correct the autism condition. There are companies doing these clinical trials and we hope that they are successful while we as parents are still here to care for our children/adults who have been so tragically affected.
Posted by: Gayle | April 20, 2023 at 08:16 AM