A4A co-founder Anne Borden King recently spoke with TVO’s Big If True science program about the problem of autism pseudoscience. Also interviewed: Autism pseudoscience expert Melissa Eaton!
Also, check out the related article, a further deep-dive into autism scams by investigative journalist Bethany Lindsay.
King’s new book, which covers autism pseudoscience and parenting, is available for pre-order from Indigo Books.
Every year in the first week of March, people gather worldwide to honour and remember people who were murdered by their parents or other caregivers. This year, Autistics for Autistics will be observing the Disability Day of Mourning on March 2nd. We will gather virtually for a Zoom presentation that will include brief remarks, followed by the reading of the names and remembering of the victims of disability filicide, with a group discussion afterwards.
Unfortunately, the legal system has typically been more lenient towards parents who kill their disabled children, blaming the disability for the murder. As well, copycat murders often happen in the wake of a parent killing their disabled child.
The Disability Day of Mourning is a way to stand up for the victims of these murders, as we continue to pressure our legal system for true justice and the right to life, safety and care for all disabled people. It is also our way of saying to victims and their loved ones: “we honour you, we remember you, and you had the right to live.”
More information on how to register for the event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/s/disability-day-of-mourning-202/1491360298995539/
We were recently asked to contribute to the United Nations Association in Canada Toronto Region Branch World Autism Day report. While we observe Autistic Pride Day in June (not World Autism Day), we hope that World Autism Day can be an opportunity for the conversation about autistic rights and neurodiversity to advance. Following is our statement in response to their questions.
Autistics for Autistics provides support and advocacy for autistic people in Canada through activities and online social groups for autistic adults, as well as education in the broader community about autism and inclusion, and advocacy for better policies for autistics of all ages (on the city, provincial and national level).
Our organization does not rely on autism agencies, social workers or any bureaucratic structures. We are funded only by individuals’ donations. Our services are all administered by autistic Canadians from our leadership team.
We advocate for humane autism services for children–e.g., neuro-affirming speech & occupational therapy and accessibility/inclusion in classrooms and all aspects of social life. We are opposed to ABA and behaviourism in any form, for any age.
We provide education to hospitals, medical schools and employers on making their spaces accessible for autistic people (for example, through the Autistic Health Access Project).
We advocate against abusive group homes/congregate settings and sheltered workshops and we work for policy changes to open up supportive independent living for intellectually disabled adults, where they have choices in housing and recreational activities as well as fair wages for employment.
We also advocate for public funding so that autistic people can work part time or full time and have appropriate workplace accommodations, so that they can be economically independent and retain employment.
Structural barriers exist for all autistic Canadians, and it is wrong to state that autistic children “get more services than adults,” when in reality the majority of “services” for autistic children in Canada are based on behaviourist special education/therapy practices that are extremely traumatic and harmful.
The City and all of Canada need to immediately BAN SECLUSION ROOMS and install cameras in all special education settings to document and end the human rights abuses that are endemic in many special education classrooms. We need education programs, such as those led by the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint, to give special education professionals the skills they need to manage their classrooms in a trauma-informed, peaceful way.
We also need Communication Access for all non-speaking or partially-speaking people—children and adults. There should be no delay, and no limits on access to Alternative and Augmentative tools, such as AAC devices, so that children and adults can communicate their needs, thoughts and feelings. Communication is a human right.
In Toronto, autistic adults need work opportunities that accommodate our disability (for example, health benefits for people who can only work part time, and sensory options in the office such as quiet space for work). We also need more education for employers on hiring and retaining autistic employees.
Finally, we need to end the infantilization of autistic people by many autism services professionals and replace it with an attitude of true support and confidence that we can do things like work, live independently, have families and be leaders.
Diagnostic barriers are threefold. First, many people have to wait a long time to get a publicly-funded assessment, because our health care system is underfunded. Second, a private assessment (available more quickly) is cost-prohibitive for the majority of autistic people. Third, while some autism assessors promise that an assessment will lead to an easier life/services/disability accommodations, we actually do not have the right to any of these in Canadian law.
Stigma at school, work and in health care is a daily reality for autistic people, and a diagnosis does not fix that. The only way to fix that is to fix policy by finally ensuring that autistic people included in disability rights legislation in Canada. We are advocating for this!
Autistics for Autistics follows a disability rights model based on the principles of the disability rights movement, including: “Nothing about us without us”. Through the disability rights movement, people with physical disabilities achieved a major shift in society with the concept of adaptations and accessibility legislation, legally guaranteeing them the right to access public spaces, education and employment and make their own decisions about their support. In Canada, autistic people are not included in disability rights legislation—and we should be.
Parents and families are our allies in working towards inclusion, access, opportunities and the freedom to make our own choices, with supports, whether we are intellectually disabled, non-speaking or have any other disability.
There are many ways to support autistic people in Canada.
Our next event is the annual Disability Day of Mourning on March 2, an online event that’s part of an international series of vigils against filicide, organized by the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. We gather to remember disabled children and adults who were murdered by their parents/relatives. We remember that these victims were made in the image of God, their lives had meaning and they deserved to have lives filled with joy and kindness, not be treated as burdens and murdered.
We have a lot of hope for the future, because many more families are getting involved in advocacy around the human rights issues affecting autistic people. Historically, when we look at the great strides made by people with other disabilities and their families, we can see a model for change—the social model of disability—that can challenge the discrimination and stigmatization autistic people face today.
Autistic people are unique, and have unique communication and disability access needs, but we have more in common with non-autistics than we have differences. Autistic people are not otherworldly, or other at all. We’re part of the human family. By working together to end stereotypes about autistic people, to stop abuse in special education and group homes, and to ensure access to employment, health care and cultural spaces, we are shifting the landscape, so that autistic people can be valued and welcomed throughout the community.
We will continue to educate and advocate for our rights until we reach that goal.
By Anne Borden King
In a blast of irony, RFK’s claim that Tylenol causes autism has given a lot of autistic people a headache. Because we know this is only the beginning of another avalanche of autism pseudoscience.
In his statement, the US President enigmatically said, “I think we found an answer to autism. We won’t let it happen anymore.” But as CBC reporter Natalie Stechyson notes, “Medical experts have pushed back, saying there’s no causal evidence linking fetal development and acetaminophen.”
Unfortunately, science will not deter the scammers. I can already imagine the boldface ads on Facebook: “If your child was autismed by Tylenol, enrol in our detox program TODAY!”
In fact, this week Dr. Mehmet Oz is doing a media circuit, promoting a branded vitamin supplement that he claims may treat autism–a supplement that was recently been approved by the FDA. Go figure, eh.
The vitamin itself has been touted on Facebook by countless companies, with no clinical evidence of benefit. This is something Dr. Oz himself seemed to acknowledge in an interview with the TMZ guys, who patiently explained correlation/causation to the audience (as this week’s announcement seems to have completely abandoned the concept).
Meanwhile, our members in parent Facebook groups are already seeing underground sellers claiming their bogus products (like fake supplements & bleach products) can detox kids from Tylen-autism.
It’s all part of the big scheme to fleece parents of their cash while contributing nothing to improving quality of life for autistic people and our families. The pseudoscience industry makes its billions by exploiting the concept of a toxic world—the idea that danger lurks in everything we ingest, breathe or experience.
I know this because I ran a campaign to expose autism scammers. I did a deep dive on social media, wrote features and reported scammers, eventually writing a book about it all. What I learned is that the grifters’ key marketing tool is social media algorithms that force messages of fear and outrage at people 24 hours a day.
In fact, online grifters have warped many people’s perception about risk to the point where some are physically endangering their children while “detoxing” them with stem cells infusions, chelation and even bleach, spending tens of thousands of dollars on bogus products.
The emotional costs are also massive. Suicide rates are much higher in our population compared to others. Just imagine your parents are telling you (and all their friends!) that you were a toxic accident. This happens to autistic people whose parents have gone down the social media rabbit hole of “severe autism” communities that promote useless vitamins and tinctures, all which detract from real therapies and inclusion initiatives.
Families cannot connect if one child is always viewed as a broken version of normal.
The old joke in our community is: Sex causes autism. It’s funny because it’s true! We don’t know (and can’t control) most of what we experience. But we can control how we react to the unexpected. Amazing things happen when you say no to the fear mongering, put down the phone and pick up your life. Snake oil salesmen will come and go…but acceptance, love and family will always endure.
By Autistics for Autistics
As Canada’s autistic-led advocacy group and an international affiliate of the Autistic Self Advocacy Organization, we are relieved that Autism Speaks Canada will be shutting down in January of 2025.
Autism Speaks Canada has long sponsored a pseudoscientific “autism gene” project that collected 10,000 Canadian autistic children’s DNA, without their consent, for use in a shared database by scam artists around the world to develop genetics-related products–including prenatal tests that do not truly detect autism and that lead to the termination of healthy, planned pregnancies. Their DNA boondoggle has never found an autism gene (surprised-NOT), but it has certainly promoted the idea that we don’t deserve to be born.
As well, Autism Speaks Canada held back progress on Canadian inclusion and disability access by lobbying for a National Autism Strategy that would allocate the lion’s share of federal autism funding to a consortium of less than 5 autism orgs through sole-source contracting, without any opportunity for groups to apply. This left autistic-led groups and other local agencies without a seat at the policy table, unlike the US, who include autistic groups in their policy meetings.
Shockingly, in its farewell message Autism Speaks Canada actually highlighted those two projects as their major achievements. It perhaos reveals the real reason they failed: They were never able to focus donor dollars–or energy–on the needs and ideas of the community because they were caught up in “curing” autism & keeping control of funding dollars.
Harmon Pope, chair of ANLFO, an Ottawa-based rights group, has been monitoring & leading protest actions against Autism Speaks for the past 5 years. “I’d been noticing their local team in Ottawa slowly losing influence,” said Harmon, who emphasized the need to challenge other autism organizations in Canada that have similar policy positions to Autism Speaks.
This is an opportunity for autistics and our families to collaborate locally to build new, neuro-affirming spaces and projects. If you are interested in this, or in helping advocate to the federal and provincial governments, please contact us here. We also welcome donations of any size, here.
As A4A Board Member Gaby put it: “It’s a Christmas miracle, Charlie Brown!” Let’s take this opportunity to undo the damage Autism Speaks has done in our community, and create something better.
–The Autistics for Autistics Board of Directors
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