Wednesday will mark the 10th birthday of Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism advocacy organization. To celebrate, Autism Speaks encouraged its 168,000 Twitter followers and 1.5 million Facebook fans to use the hashtag #AutismSpeaks10 to share "how AS has touched your life."

Instead of heartwarming stories of gratitude, the hashtag has sparked hundreds of angry missives from autistic people and their supporters who say Autism Speaks does not speak for them.

"It really came out of the autistic Twittersphere, which saw this as an opportunity to highlight the fact that Autism Speaks' 10 years of existence have, in fact, made things worse for us, not better," Ari Ne'eman, president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told BuzzFeed News.

Its detractors claim that Autism Speaks portrays autism as a frightening disease in desperate need of a cure. Some are also angry that the organization has no autistic people in positions of senior leadership, and say that it doesn't put enough of its ample resources toward programs that will improve their everyday lives.

This is only the latest scuffle in a long-running controversy among scientists, advocates, and policy makers about the nature of autism, a developmental disorder that is characterized by difficulties in communication and social interactions, as well as repetitive behaviors and sensory sensitivities.

Despite these challenges, many autistic people say that the condition is not a scourge to be eliminated, but rather an integral part of their identity. "We've never felt like there's a conflict between autism as an identity and acknowledging autism as a disability," Ne'eman said.

Autism Speaks declined an interview request from BuzzFeed News.

"We celebrate every person with autism, and every person, even those who are proudly able to advocate for themselves, deserves fairness when it comes to housing, employment and insurance reform," the organization wrote in an emailed statement. "At the same time, our efforts never cease in the support of people in need of an advocate, and the funding of research that will help all those who are struggling with autism."

Autism Speaks has retweeted about a dozen positive messages for #AutismSpeaks10, including one from the actor Ed Asner, who has five family members with autism.