ASAN's Petition Telling Tony Attwood and Isabelle Hénault to End the Hate

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is asking for your support in telling Dr. Tony Attwood and Dr. Isabelle Hénault, well known clinical psychologists in the field of Autism, to publicly renounce their associations with hate groups that promote the pseudoscientific concept of Cassandra Affective Deprivation Disorder invented by Maxine Aston. Groups such as FAAAS that promote the concept falsely claim that being in a relationship with an Autistic person causes a depressive disorder and that Autistics and people with neurological disabilities are likely to be violent and abusive toward family members. Such stereotypes have resulted in discrimination against people with disabilities who are involved in divorce and child custody cases. Drs. Attwood and Hénault are closely associated with these groups through their membership in FAAAS' Professional Advisory Panel and their history of appearances at conferences promoting the affective deprivation concept.

We hope that you will join us in signing this petition to help secure the rights of all people, regardless of disability, to be treated equally under the law. For those who also wish to e-mail directly, tony@tonyattwood.com.au is the e-mail address for Dr. Attwood and ihenault@internet.uqam.ca is the e-mail address for Dr. Hénault. In addition, ASAN President Ari Ne'eman has issued a statement on the importance of the petition to Dr. Tony Attwood and Dr. Isabelle Hénault. We appreciate your support in ending stereotypes and discrimination against our community.

Update, May 12: This post has been edited to remove a reference to a group that, in response to ASAN's concerns, has taken down an offensive article and has agreed to develop a more realistic and balanced website.