Perhaps you've already received an email about this, but I thought it couldn't hurt to shamelessly promote such a worthy cause here as well.
Autism Speaks created a music video of the Five for Fighting song, "World", which features images of autistic children and their families. It is a truly moving video and was the work of Bill Shea.
The band is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed - the funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.
To view the video, click here.
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2 comments:
I'm sorry, Ann, but I have to jump on my soapbox for a moment. What I am about to type is in no way done with a perjorative attitude toward you.
I have a wife who teaches children with autism, and she is currently about halfway done with her Ed.D. in that field. I know a fair amount about the "disorder," having worked with children with autism myself, and have come to form my own opinions about it. **Disclaimer: my opinions are not necessarily those of my wife**
Something is inextricably wrong when we label research for autism as a hope for a "cure." Doing so implies that something is "wrong" with these children, adults, friends, family members because they have a diagnosis. What message do we send when we suggest that they need "fixing"?
Most baffling is the fact that, while ostensibly working for the common good of the "afflicted," organizations such as Autism Speaks are not working on or providing funding for research to improve the education of those with autism. A "cure" could be decades away, if we must identify that as the prime objective here. But what on Earth is to come of the hundreds of thousands nationwide who are in schools, who can become productive members of society with a little extra help? Must they wait for a "cure" while suffering in automatonic shells when, with assistance from good teachers who care, they can be reached?
Autism Speaks' "Mission Statement" mentions nothing about the education of children with autism:
We are dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder. We are committed to raising the funds necessary to support these goals.
It's all a farce to me. Once, a long time ago, creatures with opposable thumbs were thought weird too.
Richard-
Wow! Interesting thoughts. While there may be some people out there who think of these children as "weird", it seems to me the whole point of the campaign is, as you pointed out in its mission statement, to raise public awareness as to how it affects everyone who touches the lives of these children. I don't think the message is that we need to "fix" them. The message is that with time and money to dedicate to studying the intricacies of the "disorder", perhaps more can be known about how to prevent, treat, and yes, maybe even "cure" it. It seems to me that "treatments" and "education" are very closely tied to each other and that if nothing else, a little hope is never a bad thing.
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