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In their recent Brief Report, Post et al.(2012) described the development of the Stony Brook Guidelines, a document outlining treatment-related ethical and social issues for autistic people, their families and professionals, developed, they claim, through extended discussions between professionals and those primarily ‘‘affected’’. Although we very much welcome efforts by professionals, researchers, and families to consider the social and ethical issues relating to the lives of autistic people, we have serious concerns both with the way in which Post et al.’s discussions took place and the resulting Guidelines. Indeed, we believe that they threaten to send entirely the wrong message to professionals regarding the ‘‘ethics of the care of people with autism and their families’’. The authors claim that their guidelines are ‘‘based not on ‘top-down’imposition of professional expertise but rather on ‘bottom-up’grass roots attention …