Journalist – Historian – Speaker
@jonlovett @chrislhayes @autismspeaks You might read @autselfadvocacy statement on “Light it up Blue,” and see why many autistic folks are furious. https://t.co/EXQDJ0HA2K — David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) April 3, 2017 I am struck by how often the conventional wisdom of the disability rights movement does not extend into broader cultural areas, including quite progressive ones. …
Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes, has won the Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction, a prestigious U.K. award. It’s the latest of many prizes, glowing reviews, and appearances high on best-seller lists for this magnificent work on the history and meaning of autism. It directly challenges all the pity and tragedy narratives, without erasing lived experiences …
In April 2014, Sesame Street announced a partnership with Autism Speaks. Autistic indivduals and their allies quickly organized to push Sesame Street to do better, and not listen solely to a group dedicated to perpetuating the worst stereotypes about autism. The results are pretty good. From an LA Times article on the process: Children with …
I have a new piece up at Al Jazeera America this morning on Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is the mega-charity of the autism world. Founded in 2005, it has an annual budget of $60 million, is known for its ubiquitous awareness walks and has a handsome array of celebrity backers. In some quarters of the disability …
I wrote about Autism Speaks a few weeks ago, and my email box has been lively with parents telling me to “check my facts” or sorrowfully wanting correct my “”unsound and terribly flawed” information. One of the issues with Autism Speaks is that they define Autism as tragedy. Then, when confronted by autistics who are …