No More Monstrous Messages

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-01-30 09:48:00 UTC
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black and white line drawing of a monster with a speech bubble with the word ouch in itThe British charity Action for Children has launched an ad campaign that portrays autism as a monster that controls children. This derogatory media is immediately reminiscent of the ransom notes campaign from NYU in 2007, when children with a variety of disabilities were portrayed as having been "kidnapped" by their disability. Swift, united action by twenty two disability rights organizations, the autistic community (including some of you reading this now), and lead by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, resulted in the offensive campaign being pulled.

While we were victorious with NYU, our work is still on going.

It's time to unite and take action again against harmful mischaracterization of autism, disability, and children with disabilities in the media. Here are two immediate ways you can make a difference:

1. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network has started an action alert and petition to the Fundraising Standards Board, Hilary Armstrong (British Parliament) and Gary Day (Action for Children) that can be found here. (Special note to non-US users--we're aware of the issue with international access and should have that corrected soon. Until then you can still send the letter by following these instructions 1) Select "AL" from states list, 2) enter your actual country and county in the "City & State" box, 3) enter only the first 5 characters of your post code for the zip code)

2. Make a complaint directly to the Advertising Standards Committee, here's a link to the form for that. For tips on what to say to ASA, plus to let everyone know you've contacted ASA, use the action alert Tell ASA No More Monstrous Messages.

Elsewhere on the Internet:

The New Republic has a fantastic (I dare say better written than mine) blog post with a considerable amount of additional information. Head over to there to learn more about the situation and how you can help.

Apparently Tony Attwood has made a statement against this unethical campaign.

For Facebook junkies, join the group Let's stop "Action for Children" demonising autistic children.

If you prefer or enjoy a scathing video satire and commentary (which is captioned but requires literacy) see Dan's Story Part 2 - After the Goldrush.

Dora Raymaker

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