ASAN-AAPD Guest Blog Post on Talking Justice Blog

[Guest guest]

American Association of People with

Disabilities:<http://www.aapd-dc.org/index.php>The

largest national nonprofit cross-disability member organization in the

United States, dedicated to ensuring economic self-sufficiency and political

empowerment for the more than 56 million Americans with disabilities. AAPD

works in coalition with other disability organizations for the full

implementation and enforcement of disability nondiscrimination laws,

particularly the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973. About Imparato

Imparato is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American

Association of People with Disabilities, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit

membership organization that brings together people with disabilities, their

family members and supporters to be a force for change--socially,

politically and economically. Imparato is a nationally-recognized expert in

disability law and policy, having worked previously as general counsel and

director of policy for the National Council on Disability and as an attorney

with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Senate

Subcommittee on Disability Policy. His perspective is informed by his

personal experience with bipolar disorder.

Phony Ransom Notes Can Have Real Consequences

This month, we asked Ari Ne'eman, President of *The Autistic Self Advocacy

Network <http://www.autisticadvocacy.org/>*, to write about the recent New

York University Child Study Center ad campaign around childhood disabilities

and the disability community's response, led by Ari and his organization.

(Read more about the NYU ad

campaign<http://www.aapd.com/News/children/071214nyt.htm>

).

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* [image: Ari Ne'eman]Phony Ransom Notes Can Have Real Consequences *

By Ari Ne'eman, *President, The Autistic Self Advocacy Network*

* " We are in possession of your son…We have your daughter…We have taken your

son… We are making him squirm and fidget until he is a detriment to himself

and those around him… We are destroying his ability for social interaction

and driving him into a life of complete isolation... It's only going to get

worse…This is only the beginning…Autism…ADHD…Asperger's

Syndrome…OCD…Bulimia…Depression " * –Excerpts from the NYUChildStudyCenter's

" Ransom Notes " Ad Campaign

* " Individuals with disabilities are not replacements for normal children

that are stolen away by the disability in question. They are whole people,

deserving of the same rights, respect, and dignity afforded their peers. " * –An

Open Letter to the NYUChildStudyCenter, December 11th, 2007

The second set of words above comes from a joint statement from twenty-two

disability rights organizations, in response to a new advertising campaign

by the NYU Child Study Center and produced by one of the nation's largest

advertising and public relations firms, BBDO. The ad campaign, entitled

" Ransom Notes, " depicts phony ransom letters signed by six different

disabilities. Each disability is purported to have " kidnapped " a previously

normal child from his or her parents, threatening to turn the child into a

terrible burden unless parents seek the help of the NYU Child Study Center

and similar medical institutions. The ads launched last month, but were

quickly withdrawn after immense outrage from people with disabilities,

family members, professionals and others.

For those of you familiar with the disability community, it is probably not

hard to understand why these ads were viewed as horrendously offensive. The

notes resurrect old and dangerous stereotypes about people with

disabilities; the idea of the child or person with a disability as a

changeling, or a stand-in for a supposedly more " real " or " whole " human

being stands out as a common theme in countless instances of violence and

discrimination. Furthermore, the ads included information that was just

plain inaccurate. Claims that an individual with a disability such as ADHD,

autism, Asperger's Syndrome or others will be a " detriment to himself and

everyone around him' " or live " a life of complete isolation " do not reflect

the reality of people with these disabilities. This type of fear-mongering

sends a dangerous message, increasing stigma and diminishing respect for the

lives of America's millions of citizens with disabilities.

The ads were expected to garner over 700 million impressions over the four

months they were to be up in New York City on kiosks, billboards, magazines

and other locations, before expanding into five major markets across the

United States. Instead, they were withdrawn in their entirety, a mere

sixteen days after the start of the campaign. What caused the change?

The answer begins and ends with the disability community, which showed

remarkable unity in responding to these offensive ads. Twenty-two disability

rights organizations, including AAPD, ADAPT, Not Dead Yet, TASH and my own

organization, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, came together to call for

the ads' withdrawal in an unequivocal joint statement. We didn't stop there,

however. By organizing people with disabilities, family members,

professionals, educators and countless other supporters, we arranged for

thousands of calls, e-mails and letters to be sent to the NYU Child Study

Center and the other supporters of the Ransom Notes ad campaign, calling for

the immediate removal of the ads and an apology to the disability community.

By the time our campaign had concluded, the New York Times, the Washington

Post, the Wall Street Journal Online, the New York Daily News, United Press

International, PR Weekly, Mental Health Weekly, Inclusion Daily News and

many other venues had covered our response. Television and radio stations in

the New York City area, as well as dozens of bloggers, addressed the

controversy, raising greater awareness of the need for respect in

advertising and public discourse about people with disabilities.

Responses like these are important, and not just because they provide an

unrivaled opportunity to showcase the power the disability community can

have when we act in unison. The depiction of people with disabilities as

broken or kidnapped has practical consequences that are terrifyingly real.

" Maybe I could fix her this way, and in heaven she would be complete,''

said Dr. McCarron in a videotape played at the murder trial of her

three-year old autistic daughter, McCarron, this past Thursday. Dr.

McCarron believed that her daughter was broken. To " fix " her, she

asphyxiated with a plastic garbage bag as she struggled to get free.

McCarron saw children with disabilities as less than whole people, and

the atrocity that ensued was the result of that terrifying misconception.

The " Ransom Notes " ads spread similar mischaracterizations of disability.

It is instructive to note that a mere four days before McCarron's

murder, a fundraising video for a group called Autism Speaks premiered. In

the video, entitled *Autism Every Day*, another mother of a child on the

autism spectrum announced how she had " actually contemplated putting Jody

[her autistic daughter] in the car and driving off the

WashingtonBridge. " With Jody in the background of the camera shot, the

woman, an executive Vice President at Autism Speaks, went on to say that

" it's only because of , the fact that I have another child, that I

probably didn't do it. " It is very clear the low value groups like Autism

Speaks place on the lives of children and people with disabilities.

Fortunately, the efforts of disability rights advocates stopped the

NYUChildStudyCenter from continuing on the same ill-conceived path. As the

trial of Dr. McCarron continues, it behooves us to remember both that

stigmatizing advertising has consequences and that we can and must do

something about it.

* Ari Ne'eman is the Founding President of the Autistic Self Advocacy

Network, a non-profit organization of adults and youth on the autism

spectrum that was the primary coordinator of the disability community's

response to the " Ransom Notes " ad campaign. Ari is an Asperger's autistic

and a frequent speaker on autism spectrum and disability politics, special

education, transition, service delivery and other topics relating to the

disability community. He serves on the board of several disability rights

groups and is currently studying Political Science and Economics at the

University of land-Baltimore County as a Sondheim Scholar of Public

Affairs. To find out more about the Autistic Self Advocacy Network or to

find useful information for self-advocates of all kinds, please visit our

website at http://www.autisticadvocacy.org. *

* *

Published Monday, January 14, 2008 10:03 AM by

Imparato<http://communities.justicetalking.org/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=9374>

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