You Have No Voice

It's been a while since I've written about something I've read over at the Age of Autism blog. Frankly, I haven't frequented it nearly as much lately, partly because they have steadily drifted more and more into the fringe, with posts that simply boggle the mind. I will readily admit that I do admire the passion that they bring to the table, but that is no justification for the vitriol, misinformation and outright quackery they frequently promote. What drew me over there this morning was learning that an autistic adult, writing under the 'nym Autistic Lurker, had made some comments there and, as is usual with the AoA crowd, getting piled on, criticised and accused of not being who they said they were. This was on a post by Dan "I can't find the Amish autists" Olmstead titled The IACC (I Am Completely Clueless) Meets Again . The post basically amounts to a diatribe about how the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee is a horrible bureaucracy (granted) that is wasting its time and money following scientific evidence rather than, as all the folks at AoA just know is true, doing research proving that vaccines did it.

If you're interested in a long, long wall of text that amounts to, "Why won't you do what a very small portion of the autism community wants you to do!?", click on the link above and take a gander. I'm not going to go into detail about it. Rather, I'm going to talk about one of the comments on the post. It's a comment that, when I read it, I was, quite literally, stunned. For several moments, I could do nothing but stare at my monitor. This was followed in quick succession by feelings of disbelief, disgust and outrage. The comment encapsulates the derogatory view that, it seems, many in the AoA echo chamber have of disabilities in general and autism in particular.

Censored on Chicago Tribune Protecting Consumers Against Natural Supplement (Again)

If you have made comments on the Age of Autism article Chicago Tribune Protecting Consumers Against Natural Supplement (Again), please copy your comment here, including the date and time you posted at AoA.