My twelve year old son, Mac--who lives with Asperger's Syndrome, and I would like to add our voices in disdain for the "I Am Autism" video which is a product of Autism Speaks. In our opinion, the video vilifies autistic people.
Autism Speaks does not speak for us.
Attitudes create and perpetuate stigmatizing of all who live on the Autistic Spectrum.
Attitudes stigmatize all who live with differences.
I once wrote...
Am I trying to write a book of their lives rather than read the book that has been written? I believe children come to us with a definite purpose for their lives, and we must love them, study them, and decode their strengths in order to help them fulfill their purpose. I do not believe we are to mold them into clones of ourselves or others. Children often spend their entire lives trying to overcome what we make of them. I do not want that for my sons.I stand by those words.
Take a higher view of life.
My son accepts your difference.
Won't you accept his?
