We have tried to do fundraising and raise money to donate to local organizations that contribute to autism. Unfortunately where I live there are not many local anythings. And we could not get much money raised at all, so we dropped it.
Now we are focusing on Autism Speaks and I have been reading a lot of things where people are against this organization. Everything I am reading just makes no sense. I mean why do people want to nit pick everything and cause drama over the smallest things. I even received a message from someone warning me against Autism Speaks on my facebook page, Natural Beautisms and Flappings in Life, but yet I was unable to respond.
So I will address some of the concerns people have against Autism Speaks
1) No one on the committee is autistic- Frankly this does not bother me one bit! Why would it bother anyone else? Are people who work in schools and the therapists that help our children autistic? Probably not. I am sure the people on the committee who are NOT autistic do have experience with autistic individuals, isn't that what matters?
2) Autism Speaks pulls money away from local communities- Well there are hardly any local anything where I live. We have a few things such as Community Connections, Arkansas Autism Resource and Outreach Center. When these local communities hold an event for fundraising we will do the same for them as we do Autism Speaks. Its not Autism Speaks fault that some people focus on raising funds for them than other organizations.
3) Only 4% of money raised goes to blah blah blah--Honestly how can we tell? And if this was the case wouldnt this be fraud of some sort? I have not done a lot of research on this but I will eventually. I know a lot of goes towards research and I am grateful for that!
There are other accusations that I do not agree with. Autism Speaks’ advertising depends on offensive and outdated rhetoric of fear and pity, presenting the lives of autistic people as tragic burdens on our families and society. In its advertising, Autism Speaks has compared being autistic to being kidnapped, dying of a natural disaster, having a fatal disease, and countless other inappropriate analogies.
I mean come on! I have never had these thoughts cross my mind when I watch any video on autism speaks. They show the reality of autism, how it effects lives. And no this is not held true to all autistic children. None of the people are the same. What is wrong with showing the ugly side of autism? Nothing, hence the purpose of fundraising to raise awareness and donate money for research. So far I have NOTHING against autism speaks. It has been full of information that has helped me and my family learn and cope with my sons diagnoses and help us learn ways to teach him.
So with this being said there is an event coming up October 18th that we have signed up for. Arkansas Walk Now for Autism Speaks. We have never done a walk before so this is the first and we have never tried to raise money for Autism Speaks so this is the first time for that. I am asking for donations to support us in our walk for Autism. Even Logan will be walking!! Please find it in your hearts to overlook all this controversy about Autism Speaks and donate. Our goal is to raise $500 by October 18th. If you get right down to it, every organization has controversy.
Here is the link to our donation team, Logans Sidekicks! Please share this and donate!! I am thinking to everyone who donates I will send them a complimentary autism awareness para-cord bracelet.
I WALK FOR LOGAN