Amazon is once again at the centre of controversy – this time for selling a book that promotes a pseudoscientific and abusive “treatment” for autism involving bleach enemas. A petition on change.org from Autistic Inclusive Meets (AIM) is calling on the company to remove the book from its marketplace, and the outcry is more than justified.
It is shocking that in 2025, we still need to say this: autism is not a disease, it is not something that needs curing, and subjecting children to chemical abuse is both morally indefensible and medically dangerous.
The pseudoscience of bleach “therapy”
One of the autism books in question on Amazon, Spectrum Harmony Planner 5 Month Organiser, encourages parents to use chlorine dioxide—an industrial bleach—as an enema or oral solution to “treat” autism.
This so-called “Miracle Mineral Solution” (MMS) has been condemned by numerous health authorities, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which states that ingesting it can cause “severe vomiting, severe diarrhea, life-threatening low blood pressure caused by dehydration, and acute liver failure.”
It is horrifying that Amazon, one of the world’s largest and most profitable corporations, continues to sell a book promoting these methods, despite years of warnings and widespread condemnation. By doing so, Amazon not only profits from abuse but also lends legitimacy to pseudoscience that harms autistic children.
AIM previously managed to get several books taken down.
But at the core of this controversy lies a fundamental lie about autism.
Autism is NOT a ‘disease’
Autism is not a disease (paging Amazon, here). It is a neurodevelopmental condition – a natural variation in how people think, perceive, and interact with the world. It is not a disease, nor a tragedy, nor something that needs to be “fixed.” In fact, many autistic people are proud of their identity and reject the notion that they should be “cured.”
Scientific consensus supports this. There is no cure for autism, and importantly, no need for one. The concept of “curing” autism is not only scientifically unfounded but rooted in ableist thinking that views neurodivergency as inherently inferior.
The majority of autistic people are clear—they do not want to be cured. They need acceptance, support, and accommodations that allow them to thrive on their own terms.
Trying to “cure” autism sends a harmful message: that autistic people are broken. But they are not. What is broken is a society that refuses to accept difference and a corporation like Amazon that enables dangerous practices for profit.
Amazon and its ethical failure on autism
Amazon’s decision to continue selling Rivera’s shocking book on autism is a dereliction of its ethical and moral responsibility.
It is unconscionable that a company with such immense resources and reach chooses to ignore the pleas of medical professionals and autistic people. However, it is just the tip of the iceberg.
As Emma Dalmayne from AIM highlights, there are over 30 other books that claim to ‘cure’ autism, or present it as something that needs to be cured:
@autisticinclusive Please come with me to serve my petition to Amazon offices in Shoreditch next Tuesday at 1pm to demand they remove not only Spectrum Harmony Planner but 30 other curist books.
By hosting and profiting from books that promote child abuse, Amazon becomes complicit. So, on Tuesday 20 May at 1pm, AIM and its supporters will deliver their petition to the company’s offices in Shoreditch, London. The Canary will be there supporting them:
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If Amazon wants to be seen as a socially responsible company (a challenge regardless of this one story), it must act immediately to remove the book and issue an apology to autistic communities.
Autism doesn’t need a cure. But Amazon certainly needs a conscience.
Featured image via screengrab
