Autism Speaks

Autism Speaks is an American nonprofit organization focusing on autism awareness. The organization was founded on February 11, 2005, by Bob and Suzanne Wright and it is the largest autism research organization in the United States.
==History==
Autism Speaks was founded in 2005 by Bob Wright and his wife Suzanne, a year after their grandson Christian was diagnosed with autism.Autism Debate Strains a Family and Its Charity
The organization was established with a $25 million donation from The Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus, who sat on its board of directors for some years. Since its founding, Autism Speaks has merged with three existing autism organizations.
In early 2006, a year after its founding, Autism Speaks merged with the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR). NAAR, founded in 1994, was the first U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting research into causes, treatment, and cures for autism spectrum disorders. The founders comprised a small group of parents, including two psychiatrists, a lawyer and a chemistry professor. In 2007, Autism Speaks completed its merger with Cure Autism Now (CAN).
==Controversies==
Autism Speaks is run almost entirely by non-autistic people.The Autism Speaks Controversy, Explained Many of its goals are at odds with the goals autistic people have voiced for themselves.Op-Ed: Autism Speaks needs to do a lot more listeningA Reporter's Guide to the Autism Speaks Debacle
Autism Speaks pushed anti-vaccine myths long after it became clear that vaccines were not linked to autism. Its choice to continue talking about and spending money on a disproven idea led to several resignations.Resignations Highlight Disagreement On Vaccines in Autism GroupCharity chief quits over autism row It later changed its tune after some disease outbreaks.
Autism Speaks has been criticized for how it treats autism as a disease. The organization has also been criticized for calling autism an “epidemic” and supporting efforts to find a cure, which may mean the selective abortion of autistic fetuses.
Autism Speaks is known for supporting parents at the expense of their children. Its ads and publications often stigmatize autistic people, treating them as burdens that are difficult to love.
*Its "I Am Autism" ad portrayed autism as an intangible monster that destroys parents' lives.Horrific Autism Speaks “I am Autism” ad transcript
*Its "Autism Every Day" film, in which crews showed up early to create distressing situations for autistic children, featured a mother talking about how she considered driving herself and her daughter off a bridge. She said this while her daughter sat in the room.Lien: Autism Speaks Doesn’t Care About Autistic People
*More recently, its 100 Day Kit encourages parents to grieve, blame autism for their problems, ignore their children's requests until they are satisfied with the way the request is made, and avoid accepting autism.A LOOK AT AUTISM SPEAKS’ “100 DAY KIT”
Lee Beaudrot of FSUNews.com has stated "because Autism Speaks focuses on awareness rather than acceptance and puts most of its research funding towards biological indicators rather than quality of life studies, the conversation has been about how to prevent autism rather than how to make life easier and more accessible for autistic people."https://www.fsunews.com/story/opinion/2021/04/11/april-dont-support-autism-speaks/7180467002/
Autism Speaks promotes ABA therapy, a popular form of behavior modification that uses punishment and/or reward to control behavior. Autistic people have long claimed that ABA is often cruel and psychologically damaging; emerging research links it to PTSD traits.“Recalling hidden harms”: autistic experiences of childhood applied behavioural analysis (ABA)Evidence of increased PTSD symptoms in autistics exposed to applied behavior analysisAileen Herlinda Sandoval-Norton, Gary Shkedy & Dalia Shkedy | Jacqueline Ann Rushby (Reviewing editor) (2019) How much compliance is too much compliance: Is long-term ABA therapy abuse?, Cogent Psychology, 6:1, DOI: 10.1080/23311908.2019.1641258Why caregivers discontinue applied behavior analysis (ABA) and choose communication-based autism interventions
Autism Speaks did some rebranding in 2020, recoloring its logo and tweaking its language around autism. Its critics describe these changes as superficial.The biggest autism advocacy group is still failing too many autistic peopleWhy Autistics Don’t Trust Autism Speaks’ Rebranding
==Channel==
The channel was created on June 15, 2007, and the first video was uploaded on February 8, 2008. The channel uploads adverts related to autism awareness and the organization itself.
==References==
Category:Educational YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2007