Toys R Us supports Autism Speaks, wtf

Friday I had little man in Vancouver.  We had stopped at the mall to check out the toystore.
As a side note I told the clerk we should cure stupidity first...

1-800-Toysrus (1-800-869-7787).
Email us at customer-Service@toysrus.ca

Dear Sir(s) and Madame(s),

My name is Angela XXXXX.  On friday, April the 9th, my son and I purchased some items from the Toys R Us store in Metrotown Mall in Vancouver, BC.
As we were paying for our items, the clerk asked if I would like to donate $1 to support research for a cure for autism.My son, who happens to be autistic, was crushed.  He does not understand how people-who are supposedly better at social understanding than he is, can say such hurtful things.
Autism is not contagious, not a disease and not curable. To say it is devalues him as an individual.

Entering your website to obtain this email address and seeing the 'Autism Speaks" logo was dissapointing to say the least.

The general consensus in the Autistic Community (North America wide at least) is that Autism Speaks does NOT speak for autistics. 

Autism is not a curable disease. Straight from ACT ( Autism Community Training, a Canadian resource found at http://www.actcommunity.net/AI/FAQ.htm#Sec1Autism )
(begin quote)
----------------------------------------
What is Autism?
Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three
years of life. It is a neurobiological disorder that affects about 1 out of 500
individuals. Individuals with autism demonstrate characteristics in three areas:

. Difficulty forming social relationships
. Impaired understanding and use of language
. Restricted patterns of activities and interests

Although all three features must be present for a diagnosis of autism, the specific
behaviours exhibited can vary widely from person to person. Autism is considered a
spectrum disorder because the symptoms and characteristics can be present in
different combinations and at different levels of severity.

The disorders on the autism spectrum are:

. Autistic Disorder
. Asperger’s Disorder
. Rett’s Disorder
. Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
. Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).
--------------------------------
(end quote)

Autism speaks recently released a video that had Canada and USA Autistics and their families in an uproar.
The video itself gave autism its own entity that can sneak up and steal your child.  In it Autism Speaks insinuates that Autistics are 'lost' 'shadows' in need of curing -completely devaluing them as individuals.

Here is the transcript of Autism Speaks Video Release "I am Autism"

I am autism.

I’m visible in your children, but if I can help it, I am invisible to you until it’s too late.

I know where you live, and guess what? I live there too. I hover around all of you.

I know no color barrier, no religion, no morality, no currency. I speak your language fluently, and with every voice I take away, I acquire yet another language.

I work very quickly. I work faster than pediatric AIDS, cancer, and diabetes combined.

And if you are happily married, I will make sure that your marriage fails. Your money will fall into my hands, and I will bankrupt you for my own self-gain.

I don’t sleep, so I make sure you don’t either. I will make it virtually impossible for your family to easily attend a temple, a birthday party, a public park, without a struggle, without embarrassment, without pain.

You have no cure for me. Your scientists don’t have the resources, and I relish their desperation.

Your neighbors are happier to pretend that I don’t exist, of course, until it’s their child. I am autism.

I have no interest in right or wrong. I derive great pleasure out of your loneliness. I will fight to take away your hope. I will plot to rob you of your children and your dreams.

I will make sure that every day you wake up, you will cry, wondering ‘who will take care of my child after I die?’ And the truth is, I am still winning, and you are scared, and you should be.

I am autism.

You ignored me.

That was a mistake.

Talk to your own local autism community-do some research, please. 

As for myself and my son who mistakenly shopped at your store-we will be unable to patronize your business for as long as you are supportive of such a group.



I am also taking my screenshot of your website with its Autism Speaks Logo to my own autism websites and local community. 
For the purpose of disclosure, a copy of this email is also being posted online as well as printed and shared with my local community.
If you require contact information aside from email, let me know.
Sincerely,
Angela XXXXX

Some online Resources demonstrating how autistics feel about Autism Speaks

http://counteringageofautism.blogspot.com/2009/09/autism-speaks-should-learn-when-to-shut.html
http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthread.php?tid=15482
http://www.change.org/autisticadvocacy
http://autisticbfh.blogspot.com/2006/07/autism-speaks-poisonous-ideas.html
http://autisticamoeba.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/why-autism-speaks-doesnt-speak-for-me/
http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/autistic-people-protest-autism-speaks-walk-osu-columbus-oh
http://www.squidoo.com/autistics-speak-for-themselves
http://www.bonbongazette.com/2010/04/why-autism-speaks-doesnt-speak-for-me.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/19/223159/715
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=22231492801
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/09/autism-speaks-media-campaigni-am-autism/