Project: We are Autism and Aspergers; we can speak

Project We are Autism and Aspergers is us speaking with our own voice, telling the world who we are and telling our government how our lives can be better improved, with our own words. When we as a community of people stay silent we are doing an injustice to ourselves. Not all of us are capable of speaking for ourselves, some draw and some have trusted advocates and family members who speak for them and it is time that we stand up and let the world know that we are human beings.This community has had a stigma and portrait painted of them that is completely inaccurate and organizations like Autism Speaks have done nothing but increase the reputation of brokenness and inferiority. Project We are Autism and Aspergers is about changing the face of who we are from tragic disasters to human beings.

What would you tell the world if you spoke out for yourself? What would you say to the government to improve the lives of spectrum people? What is life like for you living as a spectrum person? This is our story to tell and it should be told by the very people who live their lives as Autistic and Asperger people. Our stories and our needs should not come through the voices of an outside organization who views us as a mystery, a puzzle, and a mess. Our stories should come from the reality of who we are by ourselves and the people who love and know us. It is our responsibility to stand up for our own needs and our own lives.

Allowing an organization like Autism Speaks to continue their voice in place of us will only  allow for the on going issues to continue that our community faces daily:

1. Media’s continual use of the word “suffering” as a description of our community
2. Media’s assumption that every school shooting should be blamed on Aspergers
3. We are broken
4. We are medical disaster
5. We are unable of making decisions that are healthy for our community therefore we need to be spoken for.
6. Job discrimination.
7. Assisted and non-assisted living programs for spectrum people.
8. Health care coverage for Autistic related services.
9. Funds for families requiring services for the young ones.
10. Spending more time working with teachers and ABA therapist for those of us higher on the spectrum who can offer valuable information for the ones who are not where we are.

Autism Speaks cannot bring to the table the life experience of a spectrum person and they have no interest in doing so. They are an organization that runs like a corporation utilizing funds in such a questionable fashion and it is our opinion they should be investigated by Congress. We feel that the picture painted by them of our community has made us look less than human and therefore undeserving of equal rights with dignity and respect. Silencing their voice and allowing our own words to ring through the media and the halls of congress is the only way to reverse the years of tainted and dishonest chatter about who we are and what we need. The last thing we need is another awareness campaign, we deserve and are entitled to acceptance for the unique individuals that we are.

Project We are Autism and Aspergers will run for the next 30 days. We invite you to write to us about who you are and what we as a community needs. You can submit photos, drawings, statements and videos. Videos can be done directly from our site using a mobile device www.drlorenabrownlee.com scroll over videos click the human project and record whatever you would like or you can make submissions through lorenabrownlee@gmail.com. It is time to change the face of our community from broken mysteries to human beings.

We will also be running the Project through social media. Feel free to take a photo from below and use it as a banner or icon image to invite other spectrum people to join the movement of changing the face of who we are. Use hashtags #ProjectAutism #ProjectAspergers #WeAreAutism #WeAreAspergers or #Project we are #Autism and #Aspergers and follow us on Twitter @brownlee_dr Facebook Dr. Lorena Brownlee or Google Plus +LorenaBrownleeDr 

 

#AutismSpeaks does not Speak for Me

Autism Speaks in 2013 spent less than 14% of all donations on Autistic people and their families, the rest they pocketed as compensation. See for yourself: Form 990 2013. This compensation is 5x the amount that a public relations person in a non charitable organization would receive as a salary and money that could be used for the principle reason it was donated in the first place, Autism needs. Autism Speaks only gives cents off every dollar to Autism related issues.

Autism Speaks claims to be a voice for the voiceless but their ultimate goal is the continual question asking of why people are born this way instead of investing into the people they serve by therapies that would better the human lives of the Autistic community. Why would anyone want to give money to an organization using the people they “serve” as a meal ticket. We are not taking it anymore, not all Autistic people are nonverbal and we have the ability to speak for ourselves.We are not broken, busted, a puzzle, or disaster we are human beings and your lack of respect for our community both verbally and in actions leads us to ask you to stop. Stop lying to the world that you are advocates for Autism, stop stealing money people who could use that money to feed their own families and doing this in the name of Autism. Stop speaking for us because you don’t.

We do not need awareness as you like to campaign we need acceptance. The picture that you have painted to us in the media describes a group of people that are neither able to care for themselves or are disastrous cases amongst humanity and we are not either one of those things. The spectrum being as wide ranging as it is, requires a person to person look at what the needs of each individual would require to have and maintain a normal life. We are not behaviorally challenged or your project to fix, we are human beings who are entitled to all the human rights declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are entitled to our dignity and respect, we are your fellow human being and demand to be treated as equals.

Your inability to except us yourselves should be an example to the public as to whom you actually serve as an organization, your wallet. From your board member to your blue light campaign (The owner of Home Depot is a Board Member of Autism Speaks and is the seller of the Blue Light) all that money returns to you and you are doing a disservice and injustice to the Autistic community. We estimate that in 2013 $57,000,000 went into the pockets of employees board members, staff and contracted personnel. They grossed $65,992,738.

#AutismSpeaks, I am not a Medical Disaster

Last night I watched the Documentary, Sounding the Alarm, Battling the Autism Epidemic. I as a spectrum person walked away with this one thought, If you are my advocate I am in big trouble. Using statements like Autism is a medical disaster or describing us as troubled, difficult or even ensuing family troubles conveys the statement to people like myself that you do not favor our kind. A lot of us, spectrum people, go on to do many good things such as acting, writing, or activism. The spectrum is so wide ranging that there are even a few of us you do not know about whom have gone onto become Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers. The bottom line is that we are human being and deserve to be referred to as such.

I completely understand the struggle that you as Neurologically Typical people have in understanding us as people in what we think and how we feel. I also understand how difficult it must be for you as Neurologically Typical people to deal with one of our meltdowns or inability to communicate, perhaps adding one of us who are higher functioning to your staff would serve to enlighten your understanding and encourage you to refrain from using such derogatory language to describe what many of us as adults find as an asset to who we are and become. When you speak about us in such a negative fashion you only further the struggle we have with mainstream media and the very intolerable way they describe us as suffering beings.

I am not suffering, nor am I medical disaster or troubled person and many spectrum individuals I know are not either. We will never do things the way you do them nor will we ever be just like you but we are human beings who deserve to be treated with respect and dignity in both speech and actions. We stand in agreement with you that Congress does need to take up our case and Insurance companies do need to serve our families better. However,  if you are going to continue advocating for us and suggesting a governmental office for an Autism Zar, perhaps really taking the time to speak to higher functioning spectrum people and understanding our position in the world from the very different perspective we hold, would serve all far more greater than to assume all things about us from Neurologically Typical standpoint. After all this is about advocating for spectrum people not just the Neurologically Typical family members. .