In response to the Autism Speaks/Pennsylvania Autism Insurance Bill fiasco - the following email was sent from PA Speaker O’Brien.

AN OPEN LETTER TO AUTISM SPEAKS FROM SPEAKER O’BRIEN
July 12, 2008

Mr. Robert C. Wright
Co-Founder, Autism Speaks
2 Park Avenue
11th Floor
New York, NY 10016

Dear Bob:

We have a collective mission to create a world in which persons with autism have every opportunity to participate fully in society, to live meaningful and independent lives, to receive the respect they deserve and to have the supports necessary for them to reach the innate potential we know them to have. It’s never been an easy mission, and it doesn’t often permit us the luxury of a pause in the action to reflect on success.
(more…)

Now that Adam Jasinski has officially been declared the winner of Big Brother 9, more controversy is starting to brew. This time it is between supporters and fans of Adam Jasinski and those that were offended by the statement he made - calling the autistic children he works with retards.

One of the blogs to first discuss the original Adam Jasinski controversy was Mutterings of a Mindless Mommy. Adam Jasinski supporters have made their way to her blog post United Autism Foundation Apology from Olaf Hampel to share their opinions of the man who was just crowned as the winner of Big Brother season 9.

The blog owner has politely posted a rebuttal of a few of the supporters’ statements. It will be interesting to see how this conversation continues as more fans come out in support of Jasinski.

April 2, 2008 has been declared World Autism Awareness Day by the United Nations.  In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, CNN has scheduled several autism specials to be aired on 4/2.  You will need to check your local listings for channel and time information.

9:00 am Eastern - “We Have Autism”

6:00 pm Eastern - Larry King Live will focus on the autism/vaccine debate

9:00 pm Eastern - Anderson Cooper 360 will focus on Life as an Adult with Autism

In addition to the above shows, CNN.com also has a special site dedicated to autism spectrum disorders.

St. Anthony’s School in Northvale, New Jersey which has an unusually high percentage of teachers giving birth to autistic children, will not receive the $50,000 in funding needed to look at this increased rate of autism.  From an article posted on NorthJersey.com

St. Anthony’s has housed a Northern Valley District program for children diagnosed with autism and other disorders for the last 30 years. The Walnut Street building is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.

According to a WCBStv.com report, the first study done to look at the rates of autism and other developmental concerns that children of St. Anthony’s staff face concluded that of the

24 current or former school employees who had children either while they worked at the school or since then. Their 42 offspring included 24 with developmental disorders — 10 with autism.

The school’s air quality has been tested and the classes have been moved from the main building but nothing conclusive has been determined.  This increased rate of autism spectrum disorders has given some boost to the environmental factors hypothesis that researchers are looking at when helping to determine the causes of autism.

Sources:

NorthJersey.com

WCBStv.com

A CBS-affiliate station in Florida has reported that the Florida Attorney General is investigating the United Autism Foundation.  The United Autism Foundation was a relatively unknown organization until Adam Jasinski, a contestant on Big Brother 9, called the autistic children he works with “retards.”  The use of this derogatory descriptor has autism organizations up in arms demanding action.  Lowe’s is the first big-name company to step up to the plate as described in Lowe’s Pulls Advertisements From Big Brother After Jasinski Comment.

The following statement was released by Autism United in response to the controversy surrounding Big Brother contestant Adam Jasinski’s reference to autistic children as “retards”.

Autism United has received a statement from the Lowe’s Companies that they will be no longer advertise with the CBS program Big Brother in response to a broadcast last week that referred to people with autism as “retards.”

Karen Cobb, a spokeperson for Lowe’s, said in a statement:

“Lowe’s has strict guidelines that govern the placement of our advertising. Our company advertises primarily in national, network prime-time television programs and on a variety of cable outlets.

Lowe’s constantly reviews advertising buys to make certain they are consistent with its policy guidelines. Lowe’s doesn’t routinely advertise on the show “Big Brother” and has taken steps to ensure that our advertising isn’t appearing on future shows.”

Lowe’s is the second largest home improvement retailer in the US.

CBS has not apologized for the incident nor have they taken responsibility for the content of their own broadcast. Autism United and a nationwide coalition of autism and developmental disability groups will be mobilizing families affected by autism to call upon advertisers with Big Brother, including Taco Bell, Saturn, Geico, and others to follow the leadership shown by Lowe’s Companies and withdraw their support for Big Brother. Details of the campaign will be released later today.

John Gilmore
Executive Director
Autism United
www.autismunited.org
(516) 933-4050

If you have been hiding under a rock these past few days then you haven’t heard about Adam Jasinski, a contestant on Big Brother 9, and his comment calling people with autism “retards.”  This has created an absolute media storm, as well as it should have.  It is likely that the contestant, Jasinski, is in the dark about what is going on out here in the “real world.”  Big Brother is a real-time show and as of today Jasinski is still in the house.  Contestants are completely sheltered from any and all news/media while in the house. 

Here are some interesting posts on the topic:

Adam Jasinski From Big Brother Sticks His Foot in His Mouth

More on Adam Jasinski and the United Autism Foundation

United Autism Foundation Apology by Olaf Hampel

A new article has been published on the website Suite101 detailing Autism and Intelligence Levels.  Perhaps this article should be high on Jasinski’s “to-read” list upon his eviction from the house.