I imagined I’d make an eventual post on my disdain for Autism Speaks eventually.
While all the chants of “Light it up blue” and puzzle pieces surround us as April approaches, I’m already covering my ears.

Surely by now, people are aware of the horrid things Autism Speaks is responsible for. Right?
…apparently not.

If I see another blue puzzle piece, I will scream.

People have made cases against Autism Speaks over and over and over again. It’s fairly well-known that they’re a terrible “charity” at this point. Even a lot of the families that I have worked with locally have expressed how much they detest the organization – especially regarding a lack of supports and how the organization has added to stigma.

Whether it’s because of their poor charity rating, or their support of the Judge Rotenberg Center (a place that literally tortures autistics and has been denounced by the United Nations), their horrifically terrible financial nonsense, or even their direct obvious hatred of autism and autistic people – they’re overall just a terrible organization. (For the record, I’ll put up a page that has all these resources listed at some point).

This organization is one of the reasons I never got diagnosed as a kid – because “autism only affects young boys. This website says so.”

This organization is one of the reasons people think we are tragedies and burdens. The fear and stigma they push is one of the reasons people tell me I should never reproduce or that I shouldn’t even exist. They pushed out the false narrative that we are a fate worse than death. They say we ruin lives, marriages, family outings.

This organization is one of the reasons why the world wants to cure us – to find a prenatal test to literally stop future autistic people from existing.

This organization is one of the leading organizations in the US, yet there’s so little input from actual Autistic people. It’s run by CEOs and business leaders more than anything else.

A lot of us even consider Autism Speaks to be a hate group.

Autism Speaks doesn’t speak for me. It doesn’t speak for my fiance, my brothers, or my friends.

We can speak for ourselves, if you would just listen.
We are begging for people to hear us, listen to our stories as autistic people. Whether through voice, text, signing, or augmentative communication – we are speaking.

So, no – I will not be lighting it up blue. I won’t wear a hint of blue, and they won’t receive a cent from me.

I will go Red Instead.

I’ll ‘Tone It Down’ Taupe.

I’ll do anything except light it up blue this April.

• Autism Acceptance Month
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