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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hiQYurSJCQ
Why does everybody with a song to sing or a video to link claim it's for "autism awareness"? I'm sure by now we're all aware of autism. (Or maybe not. This video goes on about kids not being able to talk, but then uses the 1 in 150 stat. If you're using that statistic, most of those kids can talk. This isn't to disparage people who do have difficulty speaking, but I can only hope this person is ignorant because otherwise they're deliberately equivocating here.)
So anyway, at around 3:10 they bring up ye olde autism-cancer comparison. Gosh, I haven't seen that in a while. (YOUR KID IS MORE LIKELY TO BE AUTISTIC THAN TO GET AIDS, CANCER, OR DIABETES!!! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!) I gave links to the person who gave this to me to explain *why* the cancer comparison is not a very good one, but I know she'll bounce back and say that since this person didn't explicitly *say* "Yup, autism - it's like a deadly disease!" it's not offensive AT ALL.
Except that with the history and the context (especially in Canada, which is where the money from airing this song on the radio is supposed to go) it is offensive. I mean, if they want a shorthand way to say "this is more common than your worst fears" why not say "Hey, it's something that happens a lot more often than kids getting abducted by strangers"? (Oh wait. We did that. It was offensive.) Well, then, why not say it's something more common than... I don't know, something else that affects less than 1% of the population? (Try googling for just "1 in 150"! Yup, I really think we all are aware of autism by now!)
I almost turned off the video right then and there, but I persevered and - hey, in the end there's a plea to nag your local radio station to air the song! Royalties go to "fight autism".
Well, what does that even *mean*? They don't even tell me WHO the royalties go to! I had to dig around and click around and finally I was able to find out that the royalties are going to... build residential centers. Run by an organization nobody's ever heard of yet, so who knows what's going to happen?
Yeah. I know they have their kids' best interests at heart, but I've heard enough about institutions, no matter how well-conceived, that I think I can firmly say I'll pass.
But you know, here's another link, much niftier. Go check it out!
Why does everybody with a song to sing or a video to link claim it's for "autism awareness"? I'm sure by now we're all aware of autism. (Or maybe not. This video goes on about kids not being able to talk, but then uses the 1 in 150 stat. If you're using that statistic, most of those kids can talk. This isn't to disparage people who do have difficulty speaking, but I can only hope this person is ignorant because otherwise they're deliberately equivocating here.)
So anyway, at around 3:10 they bring up ye olde autism-cancer comparison. Gosh, I haven't seen that in a while. (YOUR KID IS MORE LIKELY TO BE AUTISTIC THAN TO GET AIDS, CANCER, OR DIABETES!!! TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!!) I gave links to the person who gave this to me to explain *why* the cancer comparison is not a very good one, but I know she'll bounce back and say that since this person didn't explicitly *say* "Yup, autism - it's like a deadly disease!" it's not offensive AT ALL.
Except that with the history and the context (especially in Canada, which is where the money from airing this song on the radio is supposed to go) it is offensive. I mean, if they want a shorthand way to say "this is more common than your worst fears" why not say "Hey, it's something that happens a lot more often than kids getting abducted by strangers"? (Oh wait. We did that. It was offensive.) Well, then, why not say it's something more common than... I don't know, something else that affects less than 1% of the population? (Try googling for just "1 in 150"! Yup, I really think we all are aware of autism by now!)
I almost turned off the video right then and there, but I persevered and - hey, in the end there's a plea to nag your local radio station to air the song! Royalties go to "fight autism".
Well, what does that even *mean*? They don't even tell me WHO the royalties go to! I had to dig around and click around and finally I was able to find out that the royalties are going to... build residential centers. Run by an organization nobody's ever heard of yet, so who knows what's going to happen?
Yeah. I know they have their kids' best interests at heart, but I've heard enough about institutions, no matter how well-conceived, that I think I can firmly say I'll pass.
But you know, here's another link, much niftier. Go check it out!
