Image description… This is a form letter with handwritten notes all over it, and complex to describe. I transcribed and formatted the form letter as closely as I could to the way it appeared, with descriptions of formatting I can’t get Tumblr to render enclosed in [square brackets].
Positioning of the handwritten notes is indicated by numbers within asterisks, e.g. *7* or *13*; descriptions of the notes each number denotes appear inline within the transcribed form letter, enclosed in (parentheses) to further distinguish them from the text of the letter, while the text of each note is set off by *asterisks* within the parenthetical description.
There are no [square brackets], *asterisks* or (parentheses) used in the original form letter. The letter did use bolding, italics, underlines, and changes in text size and color, so I wanted to avoid using any of those to indicate descriptions of any of the image’s elements.
I’m reasonably sure this will still be a somewhat confusing image description, but I couldn’t figure out any alternatives that would be less confusing. Suggestions and/or edits are welcome! :)
Finally, instead of following the usual Tumblr-image-description convention and enclosing the entirety of the description text in [square brackets] – since I used those to signify something else – I have instead set it off with HTML horizontal-rule lines above and below, and also added ALL-CAPS textual markers for those whose screen-readers may not recognize the hr tag, like so:
BEGIN IMAGE DESCRIPTION
Dear Dana Commandatore,
It really is shocking; *1* (the word “shocking” is circled; a line connects it to an upper margin note: *Why is it shocking?*) As I type this letter, one more set of parents will learn that their son or daughter has autism. And their lives will be forever altered.
*2* (a line connects “We” to a left-margin note: *It is genetics.*) We have to find out why. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis. We do not know its cause and there is no known cure. *3* (a short line connects “cure” to a note written beneath: *So, stop searching for one.*)
And that’s why I’ve written you today.
My name is Elizabeth Feld, and I am the President of Autism Speaks – the nation’s leading autism science and advocacy organization. *4* (a short line connects this sentence to a note written beneath: *So, why don’t you listen to autistic people?*)
Did you know that the diagnosis of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade? In fact, 1 in 88 children will be affected by some form of autism. That is over one million children.
I am asking you to help – to help someone with autism.
We really need your support… autism receives less than 5% of the government’s research funding available for many childhood diseases. *5* (a short line connects this sentence to a note beside it: *It is NOT a disease.*)
That makes your support all-the-more important. We cannot wait for public funding to come to us – we rely on caring friends like you. *6* (a short line connects this sentence to a note beside it: *I’m not your friend.*)
You allow us to forge ahead with great urgency. *7* (a short line connects this sentence to a note beside it: *I will do all I can to stop you.*)
*8* (a long line goes from the word “We” down the left margin to a note written in the extra-wide space between the sentence ending “make a difference now” and the huge blue “Yes!”: *except you leave autistic people out of the conversation*) We recruit the most brilliant scientific minds to answer autism’s baffling questions.
We focus on finding the causes of autism and developing medicines that will target autism’s core symptoms in ways that reduce disabilities and improve learning abilities.
Your donation today – no matter the amount – will have great meaning to individuals and families living with autism. *9* (a short line connects this sentence to a note beside it: *It will go towards funding a cure – and there is no cure, so it will go towards promoting more fear of autism.*)
Because when you give to autism speaks, you are contributing to our advocacy and research efforts that make a difference now. *10* (a short line connects the word “now” to a note in the extra-large space beneath: *You are contributing to ignorance.*)
*11* (see *8*) *12* (see *10*)
[begin blue text] [begin huge text]Yes![end huge text] I am proud to ease the burden of people and families with autism. [end blue text]
[begin small text] Please accept my tax deductible contribution of $_____
Please make your check payable to: AUTISM SPEAKS and return it along with this card in the envelope provided.
For credit card payments, please see other side. [end small text]
[Recipient’s name and address, with the address marked out with pen to redact everything except “CA” for California, and what looks like “Los Angeles” semi-legible under less-dense scribbles] *13* (a note is written in the space between the recipient-address block on the left and the AS identity block on the right: *Don’t ever send me anything again unless it is an apology to my son.*) [Autism Speaks logo with AUTISM SPEAKS underneath, followed by the hypocritical slogan “It’s time to listen.” and their website address.]
END IMAGE DESCRIPTION
This is the best thing I’ve seen this week.
I love how many notes this has gotten.
Rose, you are magnificent.
<3
Frankly, I’m baffled. I want to yell “where are you all coming from???”
Because my anti-A$ post has jumped about 500 notes as well in the past 72 hours or so.
“ease the burden of people and families living with autism”
Bringing this back again.
This is incredible. Thank you for posting this. This damn near made me cry
As someone with an autism spectrum disorder, this disgusts me so much I just want to throw up.
This needs to stop.
As a person who has a relative who is autistic, I will say that the comments made me laugh, but this entire letter made me want to punch someone in the face. How can someone be an advocate for Autism if they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about?
I started composing a brief answer to the question above, but it turned into a long-ish rant, so I turned it into a separate post: Autism Speaks does NOT advocate for people with autism, and it never has. I’d intended to reblog this with the link to my rant shortly after I posted my rant yesterday; adding the image description for the original letter wound up taking a while.
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