Ever wish you could give more to charity? Well, here's your chance to contribute to a worthy cause and all it takes is three minutes of your time and the click of a mouse.
The folks at Autism Speaks in conjunction with John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting have banded together in a new campaign to raise funds for Autism Research. Together they have launched Whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com. Here, you can create your own video answering the question 'What kind of world do you want?' as well as view videos created by others.
The true beatuy however is that while you whittle away the hours watching other's created videos, you're earning money for charity. For each video viewed $.49 is donated to Autism Speaks, one of six charities selected by the band. The other charities include Fisher House, Breast Cancer 3 Day: Komen for the Cure, Save the Children, VH1 Save the Music Foundation, and the New York Police and Fire Windows & Children Benefit Fund. All worthy causes, and worth spending five minutes of your time. You see folks, it's that easy. Watch a video and raise 49 cents for a good cause.
So if you have a few minutes to spare, head over to Whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com and give them a click!
Are you thinking 'Man, that was easy! Wish there was something else I could do!'? Well, it's your lucky day, because there is something else, and it's just as simple! What's that you ask? Head over to Autism Speaks once again and email your Senator to ask them to support the EPIAA Act!
The EPIAA Act is new legislation supported by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sentaor Wayne Allard. This new legislation would expand federal funding of life-long services for people with autism. For more details and information follow the link to the Autism Advocay page from Autism Speaks and see how with another simple 5 minutes of your time you can send a pre-drafted letter to your Senator asking them for their support. That's all there is to it! You don't even have to write the letter!
Doesn't get much simpler than that to help people out does it?
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Article comments
1 - alessandro Nicolo
Glad to see autism makes the cut here. I started my own foundation 'Treasured Souls' in an effort to raise funds for the autism clinic here in Montreal. It's been quai-successful but I'm afraid starting something from scratch is so hard when time is limited. It seems our good intentions can't keep up with the reality of life. Hopefully we'll get it together and join forces with org. and groups one day. For now, awareness is good.
2 - Pico
As the father of an autistic child, I'd like to say thanks, Casey, for publicizing this worthy cause.
3 - Casey Criswell
It's a great cause and I'm happy to give it the publicity it deserves! Thank you for giving it a look!
4 - Jen
My submission...
5 - Leslie Feldman
Check out the latest research on paternal age and autism risk. The researchers at UCLA found a dramatic increase in autism offspring of fathers over 30.
Mol Psychiatry. 2007 May;12(5):419-421. Paternal age and autism are associated in a family-based sample. Cantor RM, Yoon JL, Furr J, Lajonchere CM.
[1] 1Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA [2] 2Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA [3] 3AGRE Consortium, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
The paternal age distribution of the AGRE fathers, whose first child is autistic differs significantly from that of the 'control' sample (P=0.005). A 2 goodness-of-fit test with 2 degrees of freedom was conducted using percents in the 'control' group age categories to calculate the expected values in the AGRE sample. The shift toward higher paternal ages in those with an affected first-born is seen most dramatically in the group of AGRE fathers who are 30-39 years inclusive, which is 54.7% of the distribution compared with the 41.9 % that is expected. We interpret this shifted age distribution to provide support for the recently reported finding by Reichenberg and co-workers that autism risk is associated with advancing paternal age.
6 - Alana
There's information floating around the autism-aware blogosphere that Autism Speaks has an unerlying eugenics agenda: Find the genetic markers and then recommend fetal testing and abortion. This bothers me. Please consider, if this is true, offering support to alternative autism support organizations, such as DAN, or TACA. Thank you.
7 - Maddy
There are a great many worthy causes and autism is of course only one of them.
Best wishes
8 - Kathleen
It's beyond ironic that Fighting Five's message is "what kind of world do you want" because if Autism Speaks had their way, autistics would be dead. Does FF feel the same way? Autism Speaks is a joke, considered kooks in the medical community. As an autistic person, I am beyond offended. How does my existence threaten them? I contribute meaningfully to the world; unlike AS, I contribute more than an echo chamber. I boycott any business contributing to their cause. There are much better autism groups to support than Autism Speaks.
[And don't get me started on DAN or TACA, they're not any better. Any "cure-bie" related group is an object of derision among medical experts, objective parents and adult autistics alike. The mission of DAN and TACA are no different than AS but the former two don't like AS because they're competing for the same charity dollars. You know, market competition?]
And btw, there's not a single autistic person on their board nor in any advisory capacity. They refuse to include autistic people so how dare they suggest they "speak" for us? I state emphatically that they do NOT. Arrogance is de rigeur at AS. I'm perfectly articulate, I'd rather they ceased claiming they speak for us, particularly when they won't listen to us in the first place.
9 - jennie
we need to stop vaccinating our babies most kids are fine until the vaccinations. a hidden truith is that the Amish that dont get vaccinated dont get autism....hmmmmm
10 - Bea K.
For: Kathleen,
I also have not been able to find reviews about 'Autism Speaks', and maybe it's just me but this seems a little bit creepy. If anyone can direct me to a board or listing with reviews, I'd be very grateful. Thanks.
11 - Boeke
jennie,
There's no connection between autism and vaccination. Wakefields study was a fraud and he's been barred from practice.