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| Autism Speaks has become involved in ]. | Autism Speaks has become involved in ]. | ||
| Autism Speaks sponsored and distributes the video '']'', produced by ] and Eric Solomon.<ref>{{cite web |title= Autism Every Day |url=http://www.autismspeaks.org/sponsoredevents/autism_every_day.php |date=2006 |publisher= Autism Speaks |accessdate=2007-10-26}}</ref> Thierry has accused Autism Speaks of appropriating her film for their own purposes.<ref name="CivilWar">{{cite news |author= Friedman R |title= Celebrity autism group in civil war |date=] |work=FOX News |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278814,00.html#2 |accessdate=2007-10-09}}</ref> In the video, Alison Tepper Singer, senior vice-president of Autism Speaks, tells within earshot of her autistic daughter that she considered driving off a bridge with the daughter in the car.<ref>{{cite web |title= Alison Tepper Singer and the Rett Girls |url=http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2006/05/alison-tepper-singer-and-rett-girls.html |date=] |accessdate=2007-11-08 |work= Autism Diva}}</ref> Some disability rights leaders fear the video may lead to murder or suicide, by convincing people that raising autistic children is unbearable; for example, on ] ], ], a three-year-old autistic girl, was murdered by her mother.<ref>{{cite news |author= Kendrick D |url=http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/06/04/20060604-B5-02.html |title= Autistic kids fall victim to parents who run amok |work= Columbus Dispatch |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref> Some say Autism Speaks was morally complicit in the murder.<ref>{{cite web |title= ASAN testimony to Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee |author= Ari Ne'eman |url=http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=22 |date=2007-11-30 |accessdate=2008-03-02 |publisher= Autistic Self Advocacy Network}}</ref> | Autism Speaks sponsored and distributes the video '']'', produced by ] and Eric Solomon.<ref>{{cite web |title= Autism Every Day |url=http://www.autismspeaks.org/sponsoredevents/autism_every_day.php |date=2006 |publisher= Autism Speaks |accessdate=2007-10-26}}</ref> Thierry has accused Autism Speaks of appropriating her film for their own purposes.<ref name="CivilWar">{{cite news |author= Friedman R |title= Celebrity autism group in civil war |date=] |work=FOX News |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278814,00.html#2 |accessdate=2007-10-09}}</ref> In the video, Alison Tepper Singer, senior vice-president of Autism Speaks, tells within earshot of her autistic daughter that she considered driving off a bridge with the daughter in the car.<ref>{{cite web |title= Alison Tepper Singer and the Rett Girls |url=http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2006/05/alison-tepper-singer-and-rett-girls.html |date=] |accessdate=2007-11-08 |work= Autism Diva}}</ref> Some disability rights leaders fear the video may lead to murder or suicide, by convincing people that raising autistic children is unbearable; for example, on ] ], ], a three-year-old autistic girl, was murdered by her mother.<ref>{{cite news |author= Kendrick D |url=http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/06/04/20060604-B5-02.html |title= Autistic kids fall victim to parents who run amok |work= Columbus Dispatch |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-11-08}}</ref> Some say Autism Speaks was morally complicit in the murder.<ref>{{cite web |title= ASAN testimony to Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee |author= Ari Ne'eman |url=http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=22 |date=2007-11-30 |accessdate=2008-03-02 |publisher= Autistic Self Advocacy Network}}{{vc}}</ref> | ||
| <ref>{{cite web |title= Katie Miller's testimony to Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee |author= Katie Miller |url=http://www.wrongplanet.net/article364.html |date=2008-3-20 |accessdate=2008-03-20 |publisher= ]}}</ref> | <ref>{{cite web |title= Katie Miller's testimony to Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee |author= Katie Miller |url=http://www.wrongplanet.net/article364.html |date=2008-3-20 |accessdate=2008-03-20 |publisher= ]}}</ref> | ||
Revision as of 14:09, 20 March 2008
Template:Autism cure movement Autism Speaks is a New York City-based advocacy organization, founded in February 2005 by Bob Wright, Vice Chairman of General Electric, and his wife Suzanne, to improve public awareness about autism and to promote autism research. The Wrights founded Autism Speaks to help find a cure for autism spectrum disorders a year after their grandson, Christian, was diagnosed with autism.
Spearheaded by the Wrights, the organization attracted a powerful board of directors, "world-class scientific advisers and celebrity fund-raisers like Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Simon", and became a powerful lobbying voice in Washington. Since its founding, Autism Speaks has merged three existing autism organizations and raised millions of dollars for autism research.
Activities
Walk for Autism Research
The Walk for Autism Research program conducts the annual autism walk on Long Island, New York; the walk attracted 20,000 participants in October 2006 and raised $2 million for funding peer-reviewed autism research.
Raising awareness
Suzanne Wright appeared on NBC's The Today Show to discuss the Ad Council campaign launched by Autism Speaks to raise autism awareness and to highlight the importance of early detection. The Today Show aired a week-long series of stories in February 2005, highlighting autism research and treatment.
Autism Genetic Resource Exchange
Autism Speaks funds the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, a DNA repository and family registry of genotypic and phenotypic information that is available to autism researchers worldwide.
Autism Tissue Program
Autism Speaks funds the Autism Tissue Program, a network of researchers that manages and distributes brain tissues donated for autism research. These donations are rare and are a vital component of research into the causes of autism.
Mergers
Autism Speaks, through a series of mergers, has created a distinct organization combining an advocacy group, an organization devoted to peer-reviewed research into genetic causes, and an organization which championed alternative theories and therapies.
In early 2006, a year after its founding, Autism Speaks joined with the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), an organization promoting high standards for peer reviewed research into genetic causes. NAAR was founded in 1994 to stimulate biomedical research and science-based approaches to understanding, treating, and curing autism spectrum disorders. The founders comprised a small group of parents, including two psychiatrists, a lawyer and a chemistry professor.
NAAR raised money to provide research grants focusing on autism, and had committed an excess of $20 million to over 200 autism research projects, fellowships and collaborative programs—more than any other non-governmental organization. NAAR focused intently on its role in establishing and funding the Autism Tissue Program, a post-mortem brain tissue donation program designed to further autism research studies at the cellular and molecular level. Other major programs included the 'High Risk Baby Sibling Autism Research Project', and the 'NAAR Genome Project'. NAAR also published the NAARRATIVE, a newsletter on autism biomedical research.
On February 5, 2007, Autism Speaks completed a merger with Cure Autism Now (CAN), a 10-year-old organization based in Los Angeles that was primarily involved in autism research fundraising and promotion of unconventional theories and therapies.
Autism Speaks is also allied with Autism Coalition for Research and Education, an advocacy group.
Controversies
Autism Speaks has become involved in controversies in autism.
Autism Speaks sponsored and distributes the video Autism Every Day, produced by Lauren Thierry and Eric Solomon. Thierry has accused Autism Speaks of appropriating her film for their own purposes. In the video, Alison Tepper Singer, senior vice-president of Autism Speaks, tells within earshot of her autistic daughter that she considered driving off a bridge with the daughter in the car. Some disability rights leaders fear the video may lead to murder or suicide, by convincing people that raising autistic children is unbearable; for example, on May 13 2006, Katherine McCarron, a three-year-old autistic girl, was murdered by her mother. Some say Autism Speaks was morally complicit in the murder.
Another copyright-related controversy surfaced in January 2008, after Autism Speaks sent a letter to the developer of a critical parody website. The letter asked the anonymous blogger, who is autistic, to stop using the Autism Speaks name and logo without permission; this resulted in the website being taken down.
Katie Wright, the daughter of Bob and Suzanne Wright and the mother of Christian Hildebrand, is a strong believer in the theory that autism is caused by thiomersal, a preservative that was formerly common in children's vaccines in the U.S.; no major scientific studies have confirmed this hypothesis.
Autism Speaks also has no autistic employees or board members, and refuses to let people with the condition speak at their conferences.
References
- ^ Gross J, Strom S (2007-06-18). "Autism debate strains a family and its charity". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Long Island Walk Holds Enthusiastic 2007 Kick Off". Autism Speaks. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- "Suzanne Wright Discusses New Autism Speaks Awareness Campaign on Today Show, MSNBC". Autism Speaks. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- "NBC Networks to Focus on Autism". Autism Speaks. February 17, 2005. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Geschwind DH, Sowinski J, Lord C; et al. (2001). "The autism genetic resource exchange: a resource for the study of autism and related neuropsychiatric conditions". Am J Hum Genet. 69 (2): 463–6. PMID 11452364.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Haroutunian V, Pickett J (2007). "Autism brain tissue banking". Brain Pathol. 17 (4): 412–21. doi:10.1111/j.1750-3639.2007.00097.x. PMID 17919127.
- "Autism Speaks and The National Alliance for Autism Research Complete Merger" (Press release). Autism Speaks. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- Eric London (November 1997). "A Psychiatrist's Journey from Parent to Founder of Research Advocacy Organization". Psychiatric Times. XIV (11).
- "Autism Speaks and Cure Autism Now Complete Merger" (Press release). Autism Speaks. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- "Autism Every Day". Autism Speaks. 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
- Friedman R (2007-06-07). "Celebrity autism group in civil war". FOX News. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Alison Tepper Singer and the Rett Girls". Autism Diva. 2006-05-19. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Kendrick D (June 04, 2006). "Autistic kids fall victim to parents who run amok". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Ari Ne'eman (2007-11-30). "ASAN testimony to Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee". Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
- Katie Miller (2008-3-20). "Katie Miller's testimony to Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee". Wrong Planet. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Biever C (2008-02-01). "Voices of autism 'silenced' by charity". New Scientist.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - Rudy LJ (2008-01-22). "When is a humorous site not so funny? Autism Speaks has its say". Autism Blog. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- "Ten Myths About Autism-Debunked". Wrong Planet. 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2008-03-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- "Autism Speaks". Retrieved 2007-10-09.
- "Autism Genetic Resource Exchange". Retrieved 2007-10-09.
- "Autism Tissue Program". Retrieved 2007-10-09.
