Barely Autistic Spokespersons of the Alleged Autism Rights Movement Misrepresent Their Constituency

News & Opinion
Harold L Doherty FACING AUTISM IN NEW BRUNSWICK
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
"Barely Autistic Spokespersons of the Alleged Autism Rights Movement Misrepresent Their Constituency"
"How many of the spokespersons for the alleged Autism Rights Movement are actually autistic? At best it can be said that, to the extent that they share symptoms with persons with severe Autistic Disorder, they are barely autistic, and not representative of those with severe Autistic Disorder and they have no right to speak on their behalf.

There are several disorders on the spectrum of Pervasive Developmental Disorders. As a group these are casually referred to as the Autism Spectrum of Disorders. But they are in fact the PDD spectrum of disorders. The five distinct disorders on the PDD Spectrum are described in the addendum following this comment.

There are similarities, and differences, between the five disorders. Many of the leaders of the so called Autism Rights Movement actually have diagnoses of Aspergers and tend to have far greater abilities to function in the real world then some people with Autistic Disorder. While some of the alleged ARM actually go to college have friends and even intimate relationships, appear in Magazines and on television, and claim that "we autistics" do not want to be cured, NONE of the persons with severe Autistic Disorder are represented by these elites.

The high functioning leaders of the ARM have little in common with the autistic children who wander away from their homes, sometimes to be lost forever in deadly traffic or drowned in neighborhood pools. The high functioning leaders of the ARM have little in common with the adults with severe Autistic Disorder who live in the care of others in group homes or institutional settings. They mispresent the nature of their movement when they pretend to speak on behalf of persons with severe Autistic Disorder."