Excuse me?

Autism parent Marc Littman, author of the novel Eddie and Me on the Scrap Heap (2005), is quoted in Psychiatry24×7.com as saying: 
“I wrote the book because I was beginning to think my own autistic son was a dud and I needed to burrow into William’s world and discover the truth,” said Littman. “Six years and 63,000 words later, I finally realized my son and others with special needs shouldn’t be defined by their disabilities. They often have remarkable personalities and talents to compensate.”
This dad thought his son was “a dud”?
If his son didn’t a “remarkable personality and talents to …read more

We hear about “combatting autism” (and there’s legislation proposing to do just that). We hear about “making peace with autism.”
We hear (generally from parents) about “curing” and “defeating” autism. We hear (generally from autistic adults) “Don’t Mourn From Us“—and don’t exterminate us.
We hear about how vaccine and mercury poisoning have caused an “epidemic of autism under the auspices of the CDC and doctors who should no better. We hear about the genetic basis for autism.
We hear “I hate ABA” and “ABA has made the difference for my child.”
Each side seems to hear itself pretty well—and not bother to listen …read more

Just received the annual fundraising appeal letter from NAAR, the National Association for Autism Research which is now in partnership with Autism Speaks. The research that NAAR funds is into the “causes, treatment and prevention of this devastating disorder.”
That quotation is from the first paragraph of the letter. As much as I–an autism parent–am in support of research efforts to find out more about autism, I–also as an autism parent–object to how autism is spoken about in the letter, written by NAAR Co-founders, Karen and Eric London.

I object and disagree to the reference to autism as a “devastating disorder,” …read more