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If you could do anything for the Autism community, what would it be?

Droopy

Droopy

Founder & Former Admin
V.I.P Member
If you were in a position of power (like a Prime Minister) or had a lot of money (like a Billionaire) how would you use that to benefit the Autism / Aspergers community?

Some examples:

Start an awareness campaign
Make / change laws that affect Autism
Build / fund support groups
Build / fund Autism centres
Donate money to Autism charities
Fund research into the causes
Give out free Autism literature to schools

and so-on.

So, what would you do?
 
Well, as prime minister, I'd have to consider all the other minorities & so on. As a billionaire, I could choose one cause, so better go for that option. Have to get some ideas for my supposed money, to spread awareness & educating people, etc. When such money appears, I'll think some more.
 
If I had some clout and money, I'd put together an awareness seminar (for lack of a better term) that would somehow discuss what it's like to have autism and also other conditions which "normal" people might judge or misunderstand. I'd have it given at schools, in some sort of mandatory format (e.g. give it in some class students are already in instead of having it be voluntary) but I'm not sure which age group would be the most receptive to this kind of thing. I can just imagine students thinking, "This is so stupid." It seems to me that teaching people to be more tolerant of others who are not like them should be part of the moral training of students. The problem is that many people (me included) start from a base of intolerance which may be hard to overcome.

Having this kind of thing for young students would be more proactive, but older ones might be able to adopt a mature viewpoint more successfully.

In any case, I don't know if this kind of thing would work. I do feel like people are naturally short on understanding and tolerance, although again I'm notorious for being judgmental - maybe other people are actually better.
 
The first couple of AS-related things I would do as President of the United States would be to expand programs to help people with AS find employment (something I've been having trouble with for a while now) and to institute major reforms of the public school system in order to keep school for being such an ordeal for aspie kids.

Of course, I imagine that being the President of the U.S. (or any other country) would be kind of a nightmare job for most aspies.

I don't know how many aspie billionaries there are (lots of people think that Bill Gates is one, but there are none that I know of who are "out of the closet" about having AS), but it would be nice if one would step up to the plate and put his/her money toward some of the things mentioned here.
 
If I were a billionaire I'd give aspies free rides in my Ferrari.

Seriously, I would seek to sponsor projects where aspies could showcase their talents and their positive differences. I think aspies can be great educators, scientists, thinkers... you name it. They just need the opportunities.
 
What I would like to do is give presentations to employers about ASD's and the challenges that they and their employees with ASD's face. I'd also like to set up a "go-to" resource where people can go when they need help negotiating with social services, unemployment and other bureaucracies. All too often people don't get the help they need because they don't know that it is out there and they don't know how to ask or get past the denials.
 
Intersting replies thus far. Does anyone else have an idea of what they would want to do?
 
I work for disability here in Nevada, and I've noticed that it's not very friendly towards people who are on the spectrum. You pretty much have to be extremely seriously affected to even have a chance to be eligible for the most part. Now I don't know if I really consider Asperger's a disability, but individuals who are fairly severely affected by Asperger's still wouldn't qualify for any sort of benefits for the most part. I know it can be very difficult to find work if you are on the spectrum, even if you aren't as severely affected by it as others. That's especially true with how the economy is right now. So I think if I had the ability, I would try to see if I could get the disability laws changed a bit to make them a little friendlier for people who are on the spectrum. Whether you would want to take advantage of those benefits would be strictly up to you of course, but I'm sure it would be nice to know that it was an option.
 
Actually, I don't need money - I'm already doing it now.

My aim here is to help Aspies in my country blend into society. As it is, probably to teach them how to get around in society. This doesn't require much $$, but it takes lot of time, effort and patience.

The first step is to remove the "AS as crutch" mentality that some have. Some think that "Oh because I have AS I have all these symptoms and therefore I can't do anything about it". Most of you know better.

I'm still devising subsequent steps and I'm learning as I go along.

It helps that I am an AS (or rather, that's why I'm here) because I've gone through almost everything that they have and I know how they feel.

But oh, the idea that someone put up about giving Aspies the opportunity to show their talent is good IMO. Since Aspies tend to be pretty good in their obsessive interests it is a good way to sell themselves. Maybe I'd modify it to "get Aspies to CREATE appropriate opportunities where they can show their talent".
 
I think some people have interesting stories of their lives and i have my story and i want to share my story with making a biography and i hope it would help people with asperger's to not give up in life and achieve their goals, and get over it but still have it! i would definitely donate to support groups and build better educational institutions like that very special and good institution in texas called halo, it was often mentioned in a documentary i saw. And i know some people get delusions about some people with asperger's and teach them and show them what peple with asperger's have achieved.
 
I think many people with ASD's would like jobs and just to have a normal life. But personally, I don't think a normal life is possible with an ASD.

I think I would just aim for one-off things. As depressing as that sounds.

I remember a tv programme, with autistic people singing and one very autistic individual sung the temper trap - sweet disposition.

It was really nice. That for a few weeks, they changed his life and he was performing in front of a lot of people. I'd aim to give as many autistic people similar opportunities. To show the world, if even for a day or a week, that they can do something with some help.
 
Well, I have been thinking of seeing if I could change the beneficiaries of my 401K retirement plan and use it to set up some kind of scholarship/grant for people on the spectrum who might need just a little help to get started. Right now my beneficiaries are my siblings, but we really don't get along, and they are doing all right. I don't know exactly how I would go about doing this. There is a woman in my community who set up a scholarship in her husband's name after he died; it's not very big but it helps. I might talk to her. Before everyone gets all excited about this, I don't make very much and there isn't very much in it right now and who knows if there will be anything in it at all with the way things are going. But as they say you can't take it with you. I'd much rather have it go to help someone who could use the help.
 
Good question!
Create my own organization, organization that focuses on uniqueness of Autistic mind not on some inevitable doom. I would try to provide information about the newest or the most effective therapy methods, nutrition, ways to deal with sensory issues. Information has to be presented in form that's not confusing for anyone.
I would definitely organize an Awareness campaign, but it has to be highly entertaining, active, loud. I would organize various events for different types of people.
Of course I would have various products to sell and raise money that way.
I would create tv shows, that are not depressing and misleading but inspiring and entertaining, I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I would get them running on major channels, and at some point I would have a channel of my own...:) we're dreaming here right? ...ok next
Where the money goes: 1st - what I think is absolutely crucial nowadays - educating health professionals, social workers, teachers etc but most importantly parents of individuals with ASD (Aspergers, Autism etc) in new, the most effective therapy methods and so on. Massive workshops for parents have to be created, I think it is very important.
I would also try to support a research, where focus is on getting adults with autism out of their "shells". I personally believe, therapy can not only work for kids but for some adults as well (I'm talking about more or less low functioning ones right now).
I would try to provide apps for different devices and make them available for individuals with Autism, together with devices themselves. Who knows maybe I could sign a contract with some factory in china or something and make android based tablets and create android apps, so we wouldn't have to spent tons of money on iPads, unless Apple and some other companies would be willing to give discounts.

I could come up with dozens of ideas what I would do. Maybe one day I would be able to make at least a part if it happen... Who knows, it's hard to say at this point. Right now I'm just dreaming.
 
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IContainMultitudes said:
The first couple of AS-related things I would do as President of the United States would be to expand programs to help people with AS find employment (something I've been having trouble with for a while now) and to institute major reforms of the public school system in order to keep school for being such an ordeal for aspie kids.

Of course, I imagine that being the President of the U.S. (or any other country) would be kind of a nightmare job for most aspies.

I don't know how many aspie billionaries there are (lots of people think that Bill Gates is one, but there are none that I know of who are "out of the closet" about having AS), but it would be nice if one would step up to the plate and put his/her money toward some of the things mentioned here.
Click to expand...

Totally agreed, ICM. I'll do exactly the same.

My experiences just tell me that Aspies should explore their talents as what they are. If they compromise with their unique beings, they will also compromise the unique pizazz of their work.

Droopy said:
If you were in a position of power (like a Prime Minister) or had a lot of money (like a Billionaire) how would you use that to benefit the Autism / Aspergers community?
Click to expand...

If I have time, power and money, I'd do this:

Re-engineer autism organizations in the way Aspies Central currently structures, or in a similar fashion (a supportive and diverse community that respects all opinions) And yep, make Droopy, Aillas, ICM and all my homies co-leaders in building a supportive society for autistic people in our wider society.
 
If I could, I would touch the mind of any one in the Asper community and try to influence them to act in the spirit of encouragement.
I would by every thought, word and deed promote the idea that we are strong, vital and productive members of humanity, until my fingers have blisters and start to bleed. Then I would redouble my efforts until my fingers get calluses.
 
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First, promote understanding and acceptance of people on the spectrum.

Second, spend every other cent I have on research that would eliminate the ??gene?? that curses those of us who have AS to have the condition. I wish I had never been born and I certainly wouldn't have chosen to have Autistic children. I'm not saying people on the spectrum who don't want to be cured should be forced to do so--but I don't think it is at all fair to allow the condition to continue to handicap innocent babies. Grandfather those who are affected and don't want a cure, but prevent any further births of Auties and Aspies. It isn't as if geniuses HAVE to be affected so we would still have some NY geniuses.
 
I would make my best to make them accepted (Like homosexual and trans people) Because Autism seems to be rejected like the pest in social situations.
 
If I could do "ANYTHING" give them the power to rule the world. And all of them would get a shiny new pen with a fancy logo maybe a hologram on it. You know a real starwarsy type pen with a laser on it.
 
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