Originally posted by MarvelAnn.

Some of you may have already seen it but it's worth posting on this page

Tuesday is World Autism Day. Please take a few minutes to watch a video or read a story about a family or individual who deals with the effects of Autism every day.

If you feel inclined to make a donation, please do so. However, I urge you to NOT make any donations to AutismSpeaks. This organization, while the largest in the US, is not an advocacy group. It is a PR and marketing machine. Less than 5% of their budget actually goes programs to support families or persons with Autism. Additionally, and most alarming in my opinion, AutismSpeaks seeks a cure for Autism. Read that again, a cure. This implies Autism is bad, that something is wrong. People with Autism don't have anything wrong with them at all. Their brains process information differently than typical brains. It's different, not wrong.

Here is a list of better places for your money:
ANY children's hospital
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative
The Organization for Autism Research
The Autism Society of America
The National Autistic Society
The Asperber/Autism Network
MIND Institute at UC Davis

Also, you can sign up at The theautismsite.greatergood.com to receive a daily email reminder to click a link. They have donors who have pledged donations for each click. I do this daily (As well as the theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.org). It takes less than a minute each day.

Thanks for your time.