Autism Speaks Executive to Chair Defense Department’s Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Program Integration Panel
(April 10, 2007 – Washington, DC) Autism Speaks‘ Executive Vice President Peter Bell will serve as Chair of the Integration Panel of the Department of Defense FY07 Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Program. The announcement was made at the first meeting of the panel last week.
The Integration Panel was constituted to assist in implementing the Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Program (ASDRP), which is administered as one of the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. The ASDRP has been created as a result of a direct appropriation of $7.5 million for autism research in the Fiscal 2007 Department of Defense Appropriation bill.
The Integration Panel plays a critical role in the implementation of the ASDRP. The IP recommends the program focus, assists in the program’s policy development, recommends a research investment strategy, programmatically evaluates submitted research proposals, and provides input for dissemination of information on the program.
“What’s unique about the ASDRP is that it will actively include the consumer advocates to make its funding decisions” said Bell. “Our goal is to fund innovative research that will provide hope and lead to a cure for autism as rapidly as possible.”
Other members of the panel include Dr. Gary Goldstein, Kennedy Krieger Institute – Alternate Chair; Dr. Linda Brzustowicz, Rutgers University; Dr. Stephen Dagar, University of Washington; Dr. Emanuel DiCicco-Bloom, UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Mr. Lee Grossman, Autism Society of America; Dr. Susan Hyman, University of Rochester; Dr. Alice Kau, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Ms. Lyn Redwood, NAA/SafeMinds; Ms. Shelley Hendrix Reynolds, Unlocking Autism; and Dr. Carole Samango-Sprouse, George Washington University.
Peter Bell is Executive Vice President for programs and services at Autism Speaks. He oversees the foundation’s research, government affairs and family services activities. Prior to his role at Autism Speaks, Bell was president and CEO of Cure Autism Now, which merged with Autism Speaks in February 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. Bell and his wife, Liz, reside in Los Angeles, Calif. with their three children. Their eldest son, Tyler, has autism.
ABOUT AUTISM
Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges. Autism Spectrum Disorders are diagnosed in one in 150 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The diagnosis of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.
ABOUT AUTISM SPEAKS
Autism Speaks is dedicated to increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders, to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and cure for autism, and to advocating for the needs of affected families. It was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Bob Wright is Vice Chairman and Executive Officer, General Electric, and Chairman, NBC Universal. Autism Speaks has merged with both the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) and Cure Autism Now (CAN), bringing together the nation’s three leading autism advocacy organizations. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.autismspeaks.org.
Note/Warning:
Autistic people have fought the inclusion of ABA in therapy for us since before Autism Speaks, and other non-Autistic-led autism organizations, started lobbying legislation to get it covered by insurances and Medicaid.
ABA is a myth originally sold to parents that it would keep their Autistic child out of an institution. Today, parents are told that with early intervention therapy their child will either be less Autistic or no longer Autistic by elementary school, and can be mainstreamed in typical education classes. ABA is very expensive to pay out of pocket. Essentially, Autism Speaks has justified the big price tag up front will offset the overall burden on resources for an Autistic’s lifetime. The recommendation for this therapy is 40 hours a week for children and toddlers.
The original study that showed the success rate of ABA to be at 50% has never been replicated. In fact, the study of ABA by United States Department of Defense was denounced as a failure. Not just once, but multiple times. Simply stated: ABA doesn’t work. In study after repeated study: ABA (conversion therapy) doesn’t work.
What more recent studies do show: Autistics who experienced ABA therapy are at high risk to develop PTSD and other lifelong trauma-related conditions. Historically, the autism organizations promoting ABA as a cure or solution have silenced Autistic advocates’ opposition. ABA is also known as gay conversion therapy.
The ‘cure’ for Autistics not born yet is the prevention of birth.
The ‘cure’ is a choice to terminate a pregnancy based on ‘autism risk.’ The cure is abortion. This is the same ‘cure’ society has for Down Syndrome.
This is eugenics 2021. Instead of killing Autistics and disabled children in gas chambers or ‘mercy killings’ like in Aktion T4, it’ll happen at the doctor’s office, quietly, one Autistic baby at a time. Different approaches yes, but still eugenics and the extinction of an entire minority group of people.
Fact: You can’t cure Autistics from being Autistic.
Fact: You can’t recover an Autistic from being Autistic.
Fact: You can groom an Autistic to mask and hide their traits. Somewhat. … however, this comes at the expense of the Autistic child, promotes Autistic Burnout (this should not be confused with typical burnout, Autistic Burnout can kill Autistics), and places the Autistic child at high risk for PTSD and other lifelong trauma-related conditions.
[Note: Autism is NOT a disease, but a neurodevelopmental difference and disability.]
Fact: Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism.
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