Kim Stagliano is A Disgrace to Journalism

Kim Stagliano has the title of the managing editor of the online publication billed as "The Daily Newspaper of the Autism Epidemic", Age of Autism (http://www.ageofautism.com/; Ms. Stagliano's posts are listed at http://www.ageofautism.com/kim_stagliano_1/).  She also blogs at http://kimstagliano.blogspot.com/.

The Society of Professional Journalists have a code of ethics.  Ms. Stagliano does not seem to adhere to those principles.  Examples below the fold.

In a December , 2008 post in which J.B. Handley is vulgar about Paul Offit and denegrates about a New York Times journalist, Ms. Stagliano comments:

Pharma advertising is becoming less effective as people are simply bombarded by repetitive ads with happy healthy gorgeous never been sick a day in their life even though they are advertising drugs for horrible diseases with monstrous side effects models. Viva Viagra my ass. I'd like to see the real ads. "I have cancer. I feel like shit. Placebix allows me to get out of my urine soaked bed to vomit near my bathroom." Or "I'm 54 and haven't been able to have an erection for 3 years. We're bankrupt on batteries for my wife's vibrator so now I have to take these pills that make my eyes blurry and give me the shakes so I can service her for 3 minutes and then spend 3 hours hiding in my room until the boner dissipates."

Posted by: Stagmom | December 17, 2008 at 06:38 PM

On a post having to do with raising awareness of autism through a coalition between Autism Speaks and the Advertising Council, Ms. Stagliano berates the idea of "raising awareness" as being useless.

Imagine the same scenario for breast cancer.

"Examine your breasts monthly. If you feel a lump, it could be cancer. Early diagnosis can save your life." All true. So you find a lump, you go to your doctor, he hems and haws and tells you many women have lumps in their breasts. Go home. The lump grows and gets painful. You go back to the doctor. He says many lumps grow and get painful before they fix themselves. Go home. You feel a lump in your throat and your stomach hurts. He go to the doctor. He diagnoses cancer and then tells you, "Now go out an create a treatment plan for yourself and you should probably call a funeral home. There's no cure for your cancer. You'll have to pay for much of the treatment you find yourself. See me again in 6-12 months."

Sound familiar? Awareness? Feh.... TACA, GR, NAA, A1, SM, ARI many local autism groups, whether biomed or educational or both are LIGHTYEARS ahead of mere awareness.

Keep your awareness, we'll provide us action.

Posted by: Stagmom | December 14, 2008 at 01:43 PM

In a February 2008 article in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette,

Nancy Minshew, the director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Excellence in Autism Research, said last week, "I used to think there were more cases [than in past years], but I don't think so any more." She is now convinced that the higher numbers are "not an increase in the number of cases, but are an improvement in recognition."

In past decades, she said, it was often hard to get doctors or schools to diagnose higher-functioning children as having autism. They were often labeled as having "behavior difficulties."

Dr. Shattuck said other epidemiological studies have shown that the rate of severe autism has stayed steady at about one to two children per 1,000, so that the main part of the increase to an estimated six to seven children per 1,000 has come in the milder, higher-functioning forms of the disorder.

That points partly to the broader definition being used for what are called Autism Spectrum Disorders today, he said. "When we talk about autism spectrum disorders," he said, "we're talking about kids who have very different symptoms. Some are severely retarded; some have high IQs; some have pathological shyness; others want to have contact but are socially awkward."

And when people say they don't remember seeing so many autistic children when they were growing up, or ask where all the adults with autism are, there are two possible explanations, Dr. Minshew said. One is that many autistic children in the past were never sent to school. In what she called the "Forrest Gump era, you didn't even go to school, or you went to a totally separate school." The other phenomenon was that some autistic children were labeled as schizophrenic, and many may have ended up in state hospitals or other institutions, she said.

Ms. Stagliano's responses? THE SHAMING OF THE MINSHEW

I am nauseous reading this article.

I have three daughters with autism. No epidemic? Just a genetic blip that happened to hit us?  [snip] The epidemic deniers are now at the highest echelons of the "autism experts." Meanwhile, they rake in the money from the epidemic that doesn't exist. Disgusting.

DR. MINSHEW: TODAY'S AUTISM IS YESTERDAY'S SCHIZOPHRENIA

Does your child, or do you (if you are an adult with autism) appear schizophrenic? Has any doctor or therapist ever uttered the words schizophrenia and autism in the same sentence to you? This declaration of Dr. Minshew's is repulsive and offensive to all people with autism. All people with autism, regardless of what you think of cause or treatment.

In a post reporting on the development of vaccines to be delivered by inhalant, Stagliano wrote:

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/9128 reports that scientists are working on vaccination via the mucus membranes, in this case, the nose. This application makes sense in outlying areas of the globe, given lack of sanitation, refrigeration and potable water. But having watched enough of Scarface to know that sniffing/snorting/spraying stuff into your nose can affect your brain I have to wonder about the ramifications of snortable vaccines. I'm sure FDA will make sure they are perfectly safe though. [snip] When they figure out how to put Gardasil onto tampons, I'm leaving the country.

In response to a profanity-laced post by JB Handley

Could I possibly have three children whose "spontaneous mutation" lead to EXACTLY the same diagnosis?????? Puleeeze. And the tooth fairy lives in my mail box. And yet, this is the new "Company line" to explain away autism. Sudden, spontaneous mutations affecting 1 in 150 children..... Perhaps I'll achieve a sudden spontaneous mutation soon and finally have the 36C chest I've always wanted? A gal can hope, can't she? Not to mention her husband. ;)

Paul Offit's official website

Comments

[Tom T]

It's not a genetic blip that her 3 kids are autistic. It's genetics period. She was told with the 1st one and still had more-she can blame only herself.

[Genni]

I've read Kim's book and also have a child with severe autism. He has a high IQ (133), but functions on a two year old level. He can hardly speak. These are the children that were NOT diagnosed as autistic or schizophrenic years ago.. they were usually labeled mentally retarded and sent away. I think Kim's book was politically left leaning and light hearted.. nothing too scary, it's all opinion and personal experience. She is not a respected journalist, nor does she purport to be one. She is a mother who has strong opinions and uses her free speech to express those opinions. Her book is very poorly written, there are typos galore..including (ironically) the word "disabled" ..
I think we have a lot more learning to do on the topic of autism before we can make sweeping conclusions. We still live in a country where we can express our opinions and feelings. Let's embrace our freedoms as long as we can!

[Lynn]

It's genetics and only genetics? I too have 3 (boys) on the spectrum. Where can I find that scientific data? I haven't seen it anywhere on my news. Last I checked we were still searching for why and how. I have 3 on the spectrum too. Your response to say it's only genetics so it's her fault is like calling someone a refridgerator mom.

[Jim Barber]

If not a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Ms. Stagliano is not bound by their code of ethics, period. Get over it. She's gadfly with energy and educated and interesting opinions. More power to her!
I read her book and thought it was great. If you find her writing intolerable, stop reading it!

[Mrs.]

I agree with Tom T. She bought it upon herself because why did she go and have 3 more children after knowing that her 1st daughter was autistic. She can only blame HERSELF for that! Don't blame SCIENCE!

[Mrs.]

My mistake. She had 2 more after her 1st. Still 2 or 3, whatever the case my be, she still knew and bought it upon herself!

[Ame Watkins]

wow. lots of anger and hatred here. if you'll read her book, you will find that her first 2 children were not diagnosed until just before she became (miraculously, if you ask me) pregnant with her third child. they are all gifts from God...as is her ability to share her experience, and bring humor to the difficulty of raising autistic children. Kim's book has been a great blessing to me. I hope she never stops writing, and fighting for what she care about! and sure, lots of punctuation, grammer and capitalizations errors here. find peace with your editorial hearts!

[Just Another Autism Mom]

I am certainly not a big fan of Kim Stagliano. I find most of her posts more qualified to be rants. I feel like she is the epitome of stereotype that all of us "autism moms" are trying to overcome. She is brash, blunt, and overly callous with her advocacy and attempts to bring people into autism by yelling at them and insulting them. I have two children on the spectrum and everyday is a challenge but Mrs. Stagliano appears to be angry all the time at the entire world. But...in her defense...just because she had one child with autism does not mean she shouldn't have had other children. My oldest and youngest were diagnosed within the same year and they are 11 years apart. For those of you who commented that she knew her first child was autistic and should only blame herself...I would be ashamed. The fact that my two children ages 11 and 18 months were diagnosed within the same year supports the fact that there isn't enough education, testing, and help for our children. Educate yourself before making a completely assanine statement.

[runner]

I find Stagliano to be very immature. She comes off like an 18 year old with her foul language, her love of Howard Stern, her need to talk about booze and sex and her humor that only a twelve year old may find comical. No wonder she idolizes Jenny McCarthy. That no talent zero only climbed to the top by taking off her clothes and having the mouth of a truck driver.

I do feel for her having to manage three pretty severely autistic children but think she will stop at nothing at trying to make a buck off of promoting that fact.

[Maria]

Question for Ame Watkins...why in the world do you think she "miraculously" became pregnant with her third child? I read her book. She writes that she got drunk, had sex and gee, what a miracle, she was pregnant again. One has to wonder about the intelligence level of Stagliano's followers.

Kim Stagliano never answers when asked if she vaccinated her third child. I think because she didn't vaccinate and yet this seems to be her most severely affected child. In her case, having three girls, all autistic (unusual) is genetic.

[Larry Russick]

Kim is a marvelous, upbeat person who advocates for the autistic and their families. It's her very clever and courageous husband who supports her, not the efforts she makes for those similarly afflicted. What would you do if you had an autistic child? Many people have abandoned theirs. We have only one, and for many years we hung on by our fingernails.

Only Aspergers has been shown to be genetic. I assure you that Kim did not want another autistic child; however, she and her husband love those girls dearly and would do anything for them. I believe Kim's advocacy is her proactive way of dealing with the hand she was dealt. She embraces life. I doubt very much whether she wakes up in the morning and thinks, "Oh, God,not another day." More likely it's "Oh Boy, what amazing stuff will happen today?" An outlook that would benefit all of us.

[EML]

Unfortunately I read this book. Luckily I took it out of the library and didn't pay a dime for it. My take away was this: no one in that house can seem to hold a job so KS's answer to this was to completely exploit her three children, who have no say in the matter, in a book detailing every aspect of their autism for money. I find it disgusting when parents do not respect the privacy rights of their autistic children and feel free to put their life on the internet for all to read. How does Kim know if they would want their rights violated like this?

A good way for Stagliano to make a buck. She seems to have no morals whatsoever.

[Cindy Facteau]

I came upon this blog by chance, doing a search for Kim Stagliano's name on Google. I stopped by to read, because I am always intrigued when people use their power of free speech to spread unnecessary negativity (and if this was written by a fellow special needs parent...shame on you - do we not have enough to endure in life without ridiculous infighting, mudslinging, and the spread of toxicity? Seems a bit counterproductive to me).
Unlike many who may come across this blog (perhaps even the author as well), I have had the good fortune to meet Kim Stagliano, and have since spoken with her on several occasions. What I find most refreshing about her is the uncanny ability she possesses to take what most people would find unendurable circumstances, and keep a positive, upbeat perspectve about the cards that she has been dealt.
The "vulgar" humor that has been referenced has, in fact, been one of the things that endears people most to her. She is not a politically correct mouthpiece, regurgitating talking points that will earn her brownie points within the mainstream media. She is a mother of three beautiful, incredible girls that has not retreated into the depths of self pity and complacence...she has put on her boots and waded out into the muck, giving the world a much-needed dose of reality.
Raising one child with special needs is no easy task. Raising 3 is downright grueling. The fact tat she is successfully doing so while championing the rights of our community shows a depth of character that I find truly admirable. If she wants to drop an F-bomb every so often, I think that should be the very least of everyone's concerns...unless we've suddenly become so thin-skinned that we'd allow occasional profanity to cause such widespread distress. We're not exactly a Puritan society folks.
I think the problem with society as a whole is that we tend to dismiss those ideas, beliefs, or life experiences that we do not completely understand. Unless you live in Kim's mind, how can you speak to what her motives (or morals) are?
What would you do if your child were impacted by a devastating disability that there was no known cure for, the only future offered for that child being institutionalzation?
Imagine finding that not only one, but ALL of your children had this future to look forward to...and when you began speaking to other parents, looking for support, you found that they too, shared many of your struggles and experiences.
Let's take Autism out of the equation. We'll use brain cancer as an example (because the "A word" seems to evoke such polarization). Let's say you had three children with brain cancer, and you found that when you tried to get treatment for your children's headache pain, you were shuffled off, told that all children with brain cancer get headaches, and there was no cure for it. They know a solid chemotherapy regimen might have a chance at putting the brain cancer into remission, but insurance does not cover chemo, and if it does, they will only pay for chemo if you have some other type of cancer. You watch your children get sicker and sicker, while the doctors throw their hands in the air and claim they can do nothing.
You begin researching, and find that there may be a genetic component to your children's affliction...maybe your family is more prone to cancer than others...but you also find that you've lived a mile away from a nuclear reactor since your children were born...and that reactor has a slow leak.
The government comes in, does an investigation, and reports that there is nothing to report. The leak couldn't have possibly contributed to your children getting sick...because they had run "safety studies" themselves, year after year.
Then you start talking to your neighbors, and learn that many of their children have brain cancer too. You bring this to the government's attention, and they tell you that people where you live have always had brain cancer...they've just never reported it. Case closed...end of story.
You go home, and try to make your children as comfortable as possible. Maybe try some alternative treatments to stave off the worst of the symptoms.
Then you find out that most children who have never lived by a nuclear reactor never develop brain cancer. Suddenly, you begin to question everything you have been told. And you get angry. VERY angry...because there is a sense that you have been intentionally misled...and your children have paid the ultimate price.
Kim is doing what any good mother would do. She is fighting for her girls. She is also doing what any good HUMAN would do...she is trying to prevent what has happened to her own children (and so many others) from happening to more.
Incidentally, she doesn't claim that all of her children were vaccine injured (you'd know that if you ever read her blog, book, or spoke to her in person). What she does say is that we need to be more careful with what we are doing with regard to our children's health...and that the government should definitely be taking more notice than the passive apathy we've seen thus far.
When Polio reached 1 in 3000 it was declared an epidemic. When the swine flu hit, the government made a huge ordeal over what proved to be "not so huge of an ordeal."
Autism now affects at least 1% of all children being born in the U.S., with rates higher in other countries. There has been no epidemic declared...no emergency bells have been rung. I'd say that some frustation and a modicum of anger is understandable...and Kim manages to pull it off with a sense of humor. As the mother of 2 boys with Autism, I can appreciate that. Some days, humor is all that gets me by.
One more point before I get off of my soap box...there has never been ONE solely genetic based disorder that has seen the sharp increase that we've seen in Autism. Even if you take better diagnostic criteria into consideration, it would still fall flat on that argument. Show me ONE other "genetic-only" developmental disorder that has gone from an incidence of 1 in 10,000 (which published studies from the 1970's report) to 1 in 110 (by conservative CDC figures, taken from studies performed years ago) within the scope of thirty years, and I will take my boys down to the clinic now and get them both up to date on their immunizations.
Kim has never put it out in the universe that she is some high-profile journalist. At her core, she is a mother first...and has a caring and passion for the children in this community that isn't often seen in mainstream society. We take care of our own...and Kim has reached beyond herself and her own life's circumstances to give of herself to others. She IS the change she wants to see in the world.

But I'm sure that may be difficult to see from your Ivory Tower vantage point, wouldn't it?

[Carol]

So Cindy, her vulgar humor is what endears people most to her? Wow. Very impressive. That's sayng a lot about the intelligence of those "people." Probably the same ones who find Howard Stern funny, huh? Get off your 1st grade mentality soap box and get a life. I am all for biomed in treating autism and want the vaccination link researched, but Stagliano's "humor" does nothing but make us all look like fools when we are trying very hard for people to take us and our kids' problems seriously. I thought Stagliano was bad but you win that award Cindy.

[Larry Russick]

That's all you got out of Cindy's eloquent post, Carol? I would like to hear what else you are angry about besides Kim's occasional vulgar remark. There is so much to be angry about these days, especially if you have a lot of challenges. And who, with even only one autistic child, doesn't have challenges.

Your anger is welcome here. But what is it you are really angry about?

[Chris]

Larry, I am angry about Ms. Stagliano continuing to think vaccines are worse than the diseases, even though there is no evidence that they cause autism. Even after her youngest was diagnosed with autism, and has never been vaccinated.

I say this as a mother of a child who had seizures because of a now vaccine preventable disease when he was a bit over a year old. He has a severe speech disorder, and is quite disabled. I know what it is like to have a disabled child, and it was caused by a disease.

Yes, he has been left on the little bus when it went back to the bus barn, had been terrorized on the bus (a deaf brother and sister decided to pull the strings of his jacket hood until he was almost choking), he has been bullied, I spent nights in the hospital next to his bed, I have spent hours in IEP meetings, paid out of pocket thousands of dollars of therapy (private speech, plus psychologist), and other things Ms. Stagliano has said happened to her.

I believe that there would be more children like mine if Ms. Stagliano had her way and removed most vaccines from the pediatric schedule. Do you think I have enough to be angry about her crusade against public health?

[Pat]

It's getting so sad to watch and listen to Ms. Stagliano. She seems so very desperate and looks really awful. I do wonder if she is physically ill. The stress of raising three autistic children must be horrible.

I think there are different causes of autism, just like cancer, and in her case there is no doubt there is a genetic component. Trying to convince people that her three daughters' autism are all a result of vaccine injury, particularly since the youngest one was never vaccinated, is just laughable.

[j]

Before we judge a parent with Autism..Try it. I liked the book, didn't mind the typos which I am committing now. I live that life and enjoyed reading a book that the child is not "cured" by the end. Like her...I wish I didn't have a child who screams all night, break every thing we own, and leave me beat, battered and bruised.

[Kim IS a disgrace IMO]

I wonder what Kim's autism mommy fans would think of her constantly tweeting her obsession and love for Howard Stern and his shows on Sirius XM. I listened for the first time today and Howard had a clearly disabled man on who they ridiculed, laughed at, made fun of and called RETARDED. Really Kim, this is what you do for entertainment? Then she will get on her high horse at AOA and claim to advocate for the disabled. What a complete fake. She is a loser and I feel for her daughters.

[disgrace is an understatement]

And look here we have Kim fabricating a story about her daughters not being invited to a family wedding this year. Wow. Just Wow. She truly does use those girls to get attention doesn't she?

"Dorisan
Re: Call the *waaambulance* my "special needs" kids aren't invited to the wedding
October 07, 2011 Registered: 2 years ago

Well, good, someone from the bride's side finally called her out

Lynn Dalbora-Dowd · New York, New York

The only thing “excluded” from this story by Kim Stagliano are the facts. I know the bride and groom well and felt the need to set the record straight. This work of fiction that has been posted is not the truth. The facts are these:
1. There were no children invited to the wedding, period.
2. The only 4 children who will be at the wedding will be participating in the ceremony as part of the wedding party. They have a special relationship with the bride and groom who felt would enhance the ceremony.
3. Kim’s daughters were not invited.
4. The bride’s brother also has two boys who were not invited. Yet, her brother and his wife are happily coming without their children.
5. There were no children from the groom’s side of the family included or invited.
Yet all those who can attend are coming and none of them wrote and posted a fictional story about children being excluded due to special needs.
It is sad to think that someone who is a published author could put out such a deliberately misleading piece all for the sake of advancing a book and her own personal agenda at the expense of a family member. Shame on you Kim, for using your daughters and Autism this way again all for your own personal gain. Considering how much of the truth was left out of this story makes me wonder how much truth there is in any of your other writings……hmm, I wonder.
Again, shame on you.

(went to the FB comments at the bottom of the article, clicked on the xxx comments and sorted by 'reverse chronological' )

ETA: Seriously? How big of a twunt is this Stagliano? The same author also enlightens us with this factoid

Lynn Dalbora-Dowd · New York, New York

This is another shameful example of how greed clouds good judgement, sensibility, and self respect. Using her own special needs kids for personal gain and slandering a completely innocent family member by omitting information that would set the record straight. This family member even donated money for the very organization that Kim Stagliano is connected to just a few months ago. Short memory, I guess...."

[Rita]

Thanks for this Liz.

I shake my head at the fact that KS wrote extensively about her youngest daughter's abuse on her school bus by an aide, which was horrible, yet instead of driving her daughter to school after that event KS puts her right back on the bus so she can sit on her ass at home, listen to the HS show, which by the way I hope she doesn't have on in the presence of her kids since every other word on that show is f*ck, and spends her day on the internet writing her AOA blog. Clearly she doesn't have a job outside the home and seems to have time so what kind of mother would put their abused daughter right back in the same situation? CT has a lot of abuse of autistic children going on in their districts. Maybe this self proclaimed autism mother expert should get off her computer and get more involved with who is looking after her kid!