good common sense from a member of neurodiversity

I was very pleased to see that a member of the neurodiversity movement, Alan Griswold, has shown some good common sense, a rarity for any of them. Alan writes the autistic aphorisms blog. Though I don't agree with a lot of what he says, I find the stuff he writes interesting and I have provided a link to his blog on autism's gadfly.

As those who read autism blogs are well aware, autism speaks has come out with a new and controversial video extolling the negatives of autism. Predictably, those who have a neurodiversity perspective are incensed about the video and are trying to get it removed as they did with the ransom note ad and the kidnapping sign that the York Pennsylvania chapter of the autism society posted along a highway.

Alan has written an open letter to Laurent Mottron urging him to decline receiving further funding from autism speaks. He has not written a similar open letter to Michelle Dawson, however, I left a comment on his blog urging him to do so. This would make good sense as it would seem that the need for funding of research has trumped the moral principles of both Dr. Mottron and his sidekick Michelle Dawson. When I asked Ms. Dawson about why she would not resign from the Mottron group in protest her explanation was "science isn't politics". I have been very curious as to why autism speaks would give Dr. Mottron half a million dollars when he has stated that curing autism is nonsensical and that autism isn't harmful and that autism is not a dysfunction but merely a difference. This certainly is not the point of view of autism speaks, judging by the current video they have made.

Though I disagree with Alan on many topics, I do agree with him that ceasing to accept funding from autism speaks would be the honorable thing for Dr. Mottron to do, as he clearly does not agree with the agenda of this organization. It would also be the honorable and ethical thing for Michelle Dawson to resign from the Mottron group since she has stated that she believes autism speaks wishes a very short future for those with autism. Given the fact that she makes such a big deal about ethics, it would increase her credibility even further if she were to discontinue working with Mottron, Jocelyn Faber, Isabelle Souleries and other AS funded researchers until they cease to get funding from AS. Also Michelle has recently been posting deragatory things about the new controversial video on her TMOB comment board. I won't link to these, but I have a link to her comment board on my blog and the interested reader can link and read what she is saying about the new video.

I am glad Alan has written that open letter and posted the problem with the Mottron group accepting funding from AS. If Dr. Mottron discontinued to accept or receive funding from AS then the money could go to sane scientists who have the common sense to realize that autism is harmful and how much a cure is needed.

I won't hold my breath waiting for either Mottron to quit accepting funding or Michelle to resign though.