Held Hostage by Autism, ADHD, etc? I Think Not

Update via Autism Vox, 12/19/07: New York University's Child Study Center has cancelled the campaign. 

Though we meant well, we've come to realize that we unintentionally hurt and offended some people. We’ve read all the emails, both pro and con, listened to phone calls, and have spoken with many parents who are working day and night to get their children the help they need. We have decided to conclude this phase of our campaign today because the debate over the ads is taking away from the pressing day-to-day work we need to do to help children and their families. They are and remain our first concern.

Update: See this post from Club 166, a physician and the father of a child on the spectrum.  He calls the ransom note campaign fraudulent and unethical.  Addressing Harold Koplewicz, M.D.:

the ads going out in your name are full of untruths and are frankly unethical in their demeaning portrayal of those with a variety of conditions.

 

New York University's Child Study Center

http://www.aboutourkids.org/

has launched  a new public awareness campaign about "untreated psychiatric disorders", which are "taking away the children we love."

The campaign is called "Ransom Notes".  You can download a pdf of the Institute's press release by clicking on the link below.

Download ransom_notes_release.pdf

Many persons with autism, and parents of persons with autism, have strong objections to the language and imagery used in the ad campaign.

See, for example, Kristina Chew's response (her son, Charlie, has autism).  You might also want to see the billboard Kristina would put up for autism awareness.

Karoli blogs at Life in Odd Time Signatures.  She and her son have ADHD (see all her writings on ADHD here) and she, too, finds the campaign offensive.

I find all the language, and the general thrust of the campaign, both offensive and ineffective.

If you would like to add your signature to an open letter protesting the campaign, go here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/ransom/petition.html

I have added my signature

More information below the fold.

 

If you'd like to see the ransom note images, please go here

http://www.goodyblog.com/playing_house/2007/12/the- nyu-child-s.html

scroll to the bottom of the post
 

Personally, I also disliked: the childhood depression language and image

We have taken your son. We have imprisoned him in a maze of darkness with no hope of ever getting out. Do nothing and see what happens ...Depression

the ADHD language and image:

We are in possession of your son. We are making him squirm and fidget until he is a detriment to himself and those around him. Ignore this and your kid will pay...ADHD

the OCD language and image:

    We have your daughter. We are making her wash her hands until they are raw, everyday. This is only the beginning...OCD

and the Asperger's language and image:

We have your son. We are destroying his ability for social interaction and driving him into a life of complete isolation. It's up to you now...Asperger's Syndrome

If you would like to comment on this ad campaign, you can go to today's NYT article on the campaign and leave a message

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/business/media/14 adco.html

For your convenience, the text of the letter of protest is reproduced, with permission, below:

We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to you regarding your new ad campaign for the NYU Child Study Center: "Ransom Notes". Our organizations represent people with a wide range of disabilities, including those portrayed in your campaign, as well as family members, professionals and others whose lives are affected by disabilities. As people who live and work with disability, we cannot help but be concerned by the way your campaign depicts individuals with disabilities. By choosing to portray people on the autism spectrum as well as those living with OCD, ADHD and other disabilities as kidnapped or possessed children, you have inadvertently reinforced many of the worst stereotypes that have prevented children and adults with disabilities from gaining inclusion, equality and full access to the services and supports they require.

While the "Ransom Notes" campaign was no doubt a well-intentioned effort to increase awareness and thus support for the disabilities it describes, the means through which it attempts this have the opposite effect. When a child with ADHD is described as "a detriment to himself and those around him," it hurts the efforts of individuals, parents and families to ensure inclusion and equal access throughout society for people with disabilities. When individuals with diagnoses of autism and Asperger's Syndrome are told that their capacities for social interaction and independent living are completely destroyed, it hurts their efforts for respect, inclusion, and necessary supports by spreading misleading and inaccurate information about these neurologies. While it is true that there are many difficulties associated with the disabilities you describe, individuals with those diagnostic categories do succeed ' not necessarily by becoming indistinguishable from their non-disabled peers ' but by finding ways to maximize their unique abilities and potential on their own terms.

The "Ransom Notes" campaign places a stigma on both parents and children, thus discouraging them from pursuing a diagnosis that might be helpful in gaining access to the appropriate services, supports, and educational tools. The autism spectrum should be recognized for what it is: a lifelong neurological condition ' not a kidnapper that steals children in the dead of the night. The devaluation of the lives of people with disabilities has led to public policies and funding decisions that have forced thousands of people with disabilities into nursing homes and other institutions. The unintended consequences of ad campaigns like yours give legitimacy to the taking away of the civil and human rights of people with disabilities.

It is true that diagnoses of ADHD, autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and OCD often accompany great hardships for families. It is true that depression and bulimia are terrible disorders that require treatment. Yet, the way you choose to convey those messages is inappropriate and counterproductive. 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. Too often, the idea that children with disabilities are less than human lies at the heart of horrific crimes committed against them. The recent tragic instances of violence against children and adults on the autism spectrum and with other developmental disabilities are linked to the perception that these people are less than human. We ' the adults, families, professionals and others affected by these conditions - assert that nothing could be further from the truth.

We are also concerned that the negative stereotypes the "Ransom Notes" campaign depicts could make it harder for the many people with disabilities and their family members who are working to ensure that students with disabilities have the right to be included in their home schools while still receiving all necessary services. Federal law mandates that students with disabilities have the right to a "free and appropriate public education" in the "least restrictive environment". Your advertising campaign claims that children with disabilities could be a detriment to those around them and as a result hurts the efforts of parents working to secure the opportunity for their children to be included with their peers.

While we recognize and applaud the good intentions intended by this effort, we must urge you to withdraw this campaign immediately, as it threatens to harm the very people whom it seeks to benefit: people with disabilities, their families, and their supporters. In the press release announcing this campaign, the Center gave as one of its goals "eliminating the stigma of being or having a child with a psychiatric disorder". We are in full agreement with the goal of eliminating stigma against people with disabilities and their families. Yet, this campaign serves to increase that stigma rather than lessen it. We hope that you will heed our concerns and those of many other people with disabilities, family members, professionals, and countless others and end the "Ransom Notes" advertising campaign.

Please do not to hesitate to contact any of the organizations listed as signatories to this letter in order to better solicit the opinions of the disability community prior to your next advertising campaign. We would be more than glad to help the Center to develop better strategies to achieve its excellent goals. The NYU Child Study Center has the potential to do enormous good for children and families affected by disability. By showing that the Center respects the views of people with disabilities, families, and professionals, you can make that aspiration a reality.

Frankly, I found the whole approach someplace between distasteful and appalling.

The

The petition posting open letter protesting the campaign, go here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/ransom/petition.html

Elsewhere, primarily blogs by persons with autism or about autism

• Kristina Chew has an exhaustive list of bloggers protesting the campaign
• Runman (especially the counter-ransom note)
• Whose Planet Is It Anyway?
• Susan Senator
• The Art of Understanding
• The A Word
• The Voyage

Elsewhere, primarily blogs by or about the other conditions named in the ransom notes

• Not Dead Yet
• Special Children at About.com
• The Gimp Parade
• Furious Seasons
• Justice for All
• Redneck Mother
• Wall Street Journal Health Blog
• MomFormation
• PsychCentral
• Patricia E Bauer
• Mental Illness Watch
• Krista's Thoughts

Update: Images

Asperger's Syndrome

ADHD

Autism

Bulimia

Depression

<

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Comments

[Special Needs Mama]

Hi Liz,

FYI, the images are GONE, as of this morning. Hmmm.

[Krista]

Thank you for the link. The more I read, the angrier I get, and the more reasons I find that this campaign is just plain wrong.

[Liz D.]

via a blog-friend

They have not responded to our requests to pull the campaign and I've heard that we are really emboldening Harold Koplewicz and his boss, Robert Grossman, appears to be letting Koplewicz see the campaign through. I found some contacts that are over both of their heads and we need to promote a major emailing, writing and phone calling campaign to Medical Center Board Chairman Kenneth Langone, NYU President John Sexton, and NYU Trustee Chairman Martin Lipton. Here is their contact info; PLEASE help get the word out (I have no idea how to!).

Kenneth Langone, Board Chairman
New York University Medical Center
ken@invemed.com
(212) 421-2500
375 Park Avenue, 22nd Floor
New York, NY 10152

Martin Lipton, Board of Trustee Chairman
New York University
mlipton@wlrk.com
(212) 403-1200
51 West 52nd Street, 29th Floor
New York, NY 10019

John Sexton, President
New York University
john.sexton@nyu.edu
(212) 998-2345
70 Washington Square South, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10012

[Krista]

Liz- I re-posted that info on my blog as well as the video- Thanks!