The complaint over the White House turning “Blue” for Autism Awareness has more to do with Autism Speaks than the actual issue of those in the Autism community; more awareness – PB/TK
The White House Turned Blue for “Autism Awareness.” That’s Actually Bad for Autistic People. – By Apr. 17, 2017
Earlier this month, the White House was drenched in blue light, a gesture of support for the Autism Speaks campaign for Autism Awareness Month. For the first time since the largest autism advocacy group in the country began persuading public spaces to turn on blue lights in 2010, the White House joined Niagara Falls and the Empire State Building to participate in the campaign.
“We come together in unity to increase understanding and acceptance of children and adults with autism, across the spectrum,” the Autism Speaks campaign writes. “As a nation, we must meet the critical need for increased research and support.”
Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability affecting more than 3.5 million people in the United States, or 1 in 68 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Some advocates believe autism is underdiagnosed in Hispanic, black, and female children.) Those who have it can experience mild to severe difficulty with expressive communication, social interaction, and motor skills. The cause is unknown, but the misconception that common childhood vaccinations can cause autism has been thoroughly disproved. Nonetheless, on the campaign trail, Donald Trump suggested otherwise.
Of all the advocacy and research groups that seek to broaden society’s understanding of autism spectrum disorder, the most prominent and well funded was founded in 2005 by former NBC President and CEO Bob Wright and his wife, Suzanne, after their grandson was diagnosed with autism. The nonprofit received a $25 million donation from Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus to assist in its launch. By 2015, (the most recent numbers available), the group’s yearly budget totaled around $60 million.
Autism Speaks funds research into the causes and treatment of autism, works to increase public awareness about it, and advocates on behalf of people with autism and their families. In the past it also explored the discredited link between childhood vaccinations and autism. Suzanne Wright, who died in 2016, often wrote about the devastation of the developmental disability. “Life is lived moment-to-moment,” she wrote in a blog post before the 2013 Autism Speaks policy summit in Washington. “In anticipation of the child’s next move. In despair. In fear of the future. This is autism.”
Continue to motherjones.com article: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/trumps-autism-awareness-effort-not-show-support-autistic-people
