PRESS RELEASE FROM AUTISTIC SELF-ADVOCATES REGARDING THE COLOR THE SPECTRUM EVENT AND NEXT FOR AUTISM

Autistic Science Person

Color the Spectrum, a livestreaming fundraiser event organized by non-autistic people and involving prominent celebrities, is scheduled for Friday, April 30th 2021. The money collected through this fundraiser is set to go to NEXT for Autism, an organization that awards funding to other nonprofit organizations through a grant application process.

What may seem like a positive event on the surface has caused great distress and outcry in the autistic community. This is why:

1. The non-autistic organizers of this event sought no input from the autistic community and present themselves as voices for our community.

This represents and continues to perpetuate a decades-long history of non-autistic people speaking for and over autistic people.

2. Color the Spectrum is set to potentially raise millions of dollars for an organization that has a history of problematic and outright harmful attitudes and actions.

These include support and allocation of funds to…

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An Open Letter to the Autistic Community Regarding Color the Spectrum

Autistic Science Person

[To see the press release, click here.]

A message to the entire Autistic community:

Last week, an Autistic person became aware of Color the Spectrum, a fundraising event for the nonprofit Next for Autism, and the controversy surrounding it. He recognized that there were people he knew who were involved in the event. He reached out to a friend who helped him begin a conversation about what was happening.

Due to this unique access and privilege, these efforts led to a good faith dialogue with Mark Rober. This conversation was then opened to three other advocates and a fourth was added after the meeting.

During this time, we were asked for and agreed to provide some recommendations that could help make this event less harmful to the Autistic community. When responding, our priorities included the messaging, language, and inclusion during the event itself, as well as allocation of some…

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Boycott Color the Spectrum, Finance the Spectrum Instead

I ask that the other celebrity guests do the same. I also ask that people who are considering donating to Color the Spectrum instead look up the #FinanceTheSpectrum and give directly to one or more of the autistic people who are struggling right now. Through direct giving, you can make a difference in someone’s life today instead of giving it to people who refuse to listen to the people they claim to support.

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