April 2 was Autism Awareness Day, when the organization Autism Speaks encourages people to “light it up blue.” You might be familiar with Autism Speaks—they’re the ones who use the puzzle piece as a signifier.

They also use language that specifically refers to people with autism in terms of stereotypes. They dehumanize people with autism, portraying them as burdens to their families and as people who need to be cured. Prior to 2015, they encouraged the notion that vaccines could cause autism and advised parents to take that into consideration before getting their children vaccinated—because obviously autism is worse than letting your child get infected and spread diseases that we know can kill them. They’ve compared autism with AIDS and cancer—false equivalencies, but they’ve made them anyway.

Since Autism Speaks has been around (the organization was created back in 2005), there have been actual people with autism who have spoken out against it: “Autism Speaks Doesn’t Speak For Me” is one such instance, and it’s for a good reason.

You can’t claim to be speaking for a group of people you’re not a part of, especially when there are plenty of people who can speak for themselves. Are some people with autism non-verbal? Sure—but not enough that you can make the claim that the “3 million children” who have autism are essentially missing, which is what Autism Speaks has done in previous Autism Awareness campaigns.

There are countless reasons why you shouldn’t support Autism Speaks (their language speaks heavily of eugenics, for one thing), but if you need one, consider that only 4 percent of the money that they receive goes towards helping improve the day-to-day lives of people with autism. 44 percent goes to research—but most of that research is about preventing autism. For the record, a number of people who have autism don’t want to be cured—and it isn’t fair to refer to them as “missing” or burdens. They’re there—and Autism Speaks isn’t listening to them.

Instead of supporting Autism Speaks during their Autism Awareness Month, think about the Autism Self Advocacy Network’s Autism Acceptance Month. Listen to the voices of actual people with autism rather than groups that have in the past sympathized with violence against them. Take time to educate yourself on what autism is in terms that don’t demean those living with it. Consider donating to an organization like the ASAN or the Autism Women's Network rather than Autism Speaks.

Be respectful, and remember that people with autism are still people.