Posted on May 6 at 2:41 p.m.Suggest removal

I'm afraid I may have succumbed to someone else's attempt to shift the focus here, and I'm sorry about that. Zac's reference to prenatal testing came in a side note, in one short sentence, and was in no way the main thrust of his article.

Yet that one sentence accurately echoed the thoughts and fears of the Autistic Community. Abortion is a well established "solution" to the dilemma of disability. There's no disputing that fact, and proving it is not our burden. Nor do we need to recant the frightening history of the eugenics movement. Our fears are reasonable, and need no justification.

It is we who need assurances. Assurances which have not been forthcoming. Autism Speaks won't even acknowledge our viewpoint, let alone accommodate it. What we have is an organization committed to genetic research, (Autism Speaks is not, as someone else suggested, committed to research into the vaccine hypothesis - that's only a recent, probably token, development). The writing is on the wall, except for those who refuse to see.

To those who think we need to keep discussing this, to those who think we want to hear the same tired, false arguments we've been listening to for at least a decade, we see your noise-making for what it is, and we won't be sidetracked anymore. The time for "valuable discussion" is over, and the time for change is here.

Once again, I apologize for helping to derail the discussion, and hope to return the focus to Zac's brilliant essay, and the many valid points he makes. Again, I thank you Zac, and appreciate what you've done.

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Posted on May 5 at 6:03 p.m.Suggest removal

I don't think I've ever read an article that more eloquently and accurately describes the problem with Autism Speaks. Well done, Zac! As a member of the Autistic Community, I thank you for your advocacy work.

To the other commenter, misinformed and hysterical, it is well known within the Autistic Community that Autism Speaks is aggressively funding research that would enable them to identify and abort Autistic fetuses before they're born. Given that over 90% of Down Syndrome fetuses are currently being aborted, it's highly unlikely that a similar fate is not also being planned for Autistics.

Representatives of Autism Speaks are on record as stating that Autism Speaks is funding such research, with the inevitable result of eugenically exterminating Autistic People. I could look up the source and post it here, but no doubt one of my Autistic peers, who already has the information handy, will provide it in due course.

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