I’m not surprised, that’s all that people care about it seems because those were search results showing the most popular searches. The hardscrabble life of autistics doesn’t seem to interest anyone. Wouldn’t it have been nice if those search links showed: inclusion, opportunity, appropriate educational/vocational services etc.?

However, in the related searches links, they show:

Searches related to: autism
thimerosal preservative karen mccarron
measles awareness michael savage

That said, you prompted me to comment on something that’s been in my inbox.

http://autismlibrary.org/blog/parents-report-possible-therapist-fraud/

http://tinyurl.com/4btude

I’m referencing the same news. There are lots of stories in the major media, but little of it has to do with vaccines.

“On the one hand, the autism discussion is being dominated by the vaccine notion already.”

The above would depend on what you chose to read, not on any specific reality.

“It can be argued that someone has to counter the discussion.” Lots of autistic people are doing just that, but you won’t find that in “False Prophets” or other science related news and blogs. I’m coming out with my own review of False Prophets, and needless to say, its not as glowing as other’s reviews whom are concerned only with vaccines.

“I think people need to have some of the activism of the vaccine crowd–make voices heard.” Perhaps, but I think the vaccine crowd should listen to autistic people first, and very few of us are talking about vaccines. That’s a childhood issue, with little relevance to the lifelong issues faced by autistics.

It is an interesting question of how to balance the discussion–vaccines vs. real issues. One the one hand, the autism discussion is being dominated by the vaccine notion already. It can be argued that someone has to counter the discussion. On the other hand, this takes away from the real issues of autism, and, in some ways, gives more “air time” to the vaccine notion.

I think people need to have some of the activism of the vaccine crowd–make voices heard. I hope people did that with the IACC and with future similar opportunities.

“real news” I guess would depend on your perspective. If you are an adult autistic, you might think the real news is about adults. However, as someone that straddles the line between autistic adult and autistic parent, I can say that real news to me is both about adults and children, with neither more important than the other but equally important.

“I hope that adult issues were prominent in the responses to the IACC. They are a vastly under-explored area.” We could as a collective body (The Autism Hub) change that (vastly under-explored area) if we stop putting so much emphasis on childhood issues like vaccines, couldn’t we?

You are correct. I should have put “news” in quotes or used the word “discussion”.

I don’t think, however, that much of the real news is about adult issues. This is a problem. Autism is seen as a childhood disorder, and too much of the information quoted pretends like there are few or no adults.

I hope that adult issues were prominent in the responses to the IACC. They are a vastly under-explored area. They don’t have the glamor of autism causation and prevention, but they are critically important to what is likely the majority of people with autism.

The above was from your about tab. I don’t agree with this. While it is important to debunk quackery in “autism research”, that is not the main news in the “autism community”. The main news, if you did a google search is the abuse of autistic children in schools, the lack of inclusion and opportunity, the marginalization of autistic adults in employment, housing and life in general. Autism research is not very significant to autistic lives.