How come and you find Autism Speaks’ income righteous and proper? How come and you accept their “terror” tactics that include videos like the last disgrace called “I am Autism” that is used to spread fear and anquish, or better said, to abuse the existing fear and anquish that parents feel when they are given the autism diagnosis of their child or children, for their organization’s financial benefit?

From the $69 million they made just $27 went to so called research… (to research what? We all now that autism is genetic and has no cure) but where did the rest go??? Where did $42 million go? Huh? Any ideas? My feeling is into private pockets and they were not even private pockets of autistics!

So, how can you support such practices instead of condeming them and demanding that the millions of dollars that Autism Speaks makes be given ALL to families of autistic kids, be given to autistic adults to better their daily lives, be given towards free education in colleges and universities for autistic teenagers and young adults, be given to create work places for autistics…

How can you accept such practices that edge racism and discrimination against autism covered under a cloak of smoke that is called “charity”!!! How can you be so ignorant, so naive, and so brainwashed by such actions which when they were used some 70 years ago in Nazi Germany we called them fascist propaganda!

Wake up people. Truly wake up and see what is going on. Before it is too late for thousands and thousands of autistic children worldwide!

Perla Messina
President
Association of Greek Autistic Adults

Non-profits sit in a place between government programs where salaries are small and fixed and efforts are directed toward all citizens, and private for profit corporations where every activity must be geared toward making money for the owners. These are, in both cases, fiduciary responsibilities. Non-profits receive tax exempt status because they are geared toward the public good – not exclusively for all citizens but that is their general purpose – and all monies go toward publicly minded activities, not toward profits for the people running it.

Most people who work the day to day jobs at non-profits give up getting as good a salary as in for-profit industry with the understanding that they are committed to the cause and money is needed for the cause. But for a big non-profit corporation, it is understandable and common that sometimes to get the best people you need to pay competitive salaries, as long as there is no other conflict of interest, such as officers directing donated funds to their own private corporations or research programs, especially without oversight and transparency.

Autism Speaks has used its funds very effectively to promote treatment programs and to get legislation passed in many states to support Autism treatment. I think there is some brewing concern about the transparency of the specific treatments that they promote, or perhaps the awareness of current research on treatment, as much of the treatment they promote helps a narrow band of behavioral providers and may reduce parent choice and availability of other equally evidence based approaches, e.g., developmental and naturalistic approaches. The explanation is apparently one of ‘let’s get the door opened and then add other choices as appropriate’, however the impact hampers the advancement of treatment. So, does this constitute a conflict of their non-profit charter? Some think so, and if so then perhaps it is worth a look at the connections between Autism Speaks and the entities that stand to benefit from their work.

Autism Speaks clearly leads the US in promoting Autism treatment, and as long as the non-profit is in fact meeting it’s fiduciary responsibility to serve the public without such conflict of interest, then $800,000 in compensation for $20m increase in funding is of little concern.

J Feder MD
Profession and Parent