Author |
Message |
Kalekona
Member
06-12-2005
| Monday, February 18, 2008 - 10:57 pm
I think all this outrage is much ado about little. It was an opportunity to educate viewers who have the same misguided opinion as Adam, instead they kick their feet and demand attention. I've said it before, I have a deaf daughter (Marlee Matlin for the win on DWTS by the way) And the phrase "deaf and dumb" is offensive but is still used by many.. and i think it safe to say that many who are crying foul about Adams comment say Deaf and dumb and think nothing of it. You can't force people to be sensitive by bullying them you have to educate them. {jumping off my soap box now}
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Kiersten_love
Member
08-03-2001
| Monday, February 18, 2008 - 11:20 pm
Link please to Adam's site.
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Sunshyne4u
Member
06-17-2003
| Monday, February 18, 2008 - 11:37 pm
its right above in the 6:07 post
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Mummy35332
Member
09-09-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 1:33 am
Sometimes it takes generations to get rid of offensive terms. Hopefully people have been educated that this term is offensive. What I see is CBS highlighting an offensive term and then showing the person using the term being corrected. The correction wasn't accepted, but that reinforces the need for this term to not be used. Hopefully others can learn from it. Many other terms have gone through this generational learning. Depending on your age, if you used the terms your parents used and what your parents were taught were right......what would happen to you? I'd be beaten to a pulp. My Dad was born in 1920. (He was older, for the times, when I was born.) My youngest daughter is learning disabled.....how many years ago would she have had a negitive lable used by almost everyone? And you know what? Some of her elemantry school classmates still use inapropriate terms for her difficulty. With time, education and generations, outside of uneducated homelife, things change, if the person is open to learn. I learned a lot form TV, even before my daughter. Prejudice against any disablilty still exists. The newest prejudices are against people with food allergies. I haven't heard any objectional terms, but the hate is still there. Hate for something a person can't change, as with any disability. Eat your peanut butter before and after school, you won't die, but your classmate could die if you do eat it at school. Prejudice = hate = anger = fear......fear that it could be you or someone close to you. My belief is that the Autism Foundation should focus thier attention on getting the contributions to Adam's website, since he mentions their 503c license, instead of asking for an apology that will be seen by very few. Get the rights to the sound bites Adam made and the correction he was given and make it into a public service announcement. Use it for good.
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Caprica
Member
02-10-2007
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 5:51 am
The PC police in this country need to give it a rest.People say stuff all the time that insults others.It's part of life and this is the US where we all have free speech.If he had slandered someone that would be different. Stupid comments DO NOT = prejudice,hate or anger. They = DUMBA@@
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Earthmother
Member
07-14-2002
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 6:05 am
Unfortunately the United States is not PC in it's wording of laws or acts. The word "retarded" is listed on IEP and many documents within as a legitimate reason to provide Special Education and services to people who are mentally below a certain level of ability. It is still used as criteria by many medical personnel on case sensitive and confidential documents. The word retarded has taken on a negative spin because it has been used as a way to hurt another rather than what it really means. Any area of disability that falls below a certain degree in the testing process can be designated "retarded". Many, many, autistic people fall into the retarded catagory even though they may have many skills. Just as "Learning Disabled" is a phrase used to get access to services. 90% of people with active IEPs are not learning disabled, but learning different. They fall below average criteria on testing because they learn differently than how they are being taught. The disabilities act use disabled for funding and nothing more.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 7:00 am
<<On that episode, a contestant named Adam, who claims to work for an autism foundation, said he would spend his winnings on a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities "so retards can get it together and get their hair done.">> First of all, children with Autism are not retarded, any more than children with Cerebral Palsy, children with ADD, PDD, etc. Persons with an I.Q. of below 70 (as best I know), are generally considered mentally retarded. This doesn't mean that they are stupid, are dirty, are iccky, or whatever else goes along with the disgusting label of "retard." Many people with I.Q.s of 70 simply do not have the capacity to do well on an I.Q. test, but function just fine in society. Secondly, if Adam had said, "...he would spend his winnings on a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities so retarded children could get their hair done" this would be so much more of a non-issue. Adam and CBS need to apologize (as shallow and meaningless as it would be...IMO) because Adam's use of the word, "retards" instead of saying "retarded children" was offensive. And his categorization of children with Autism as being retarded shows how little he knows about the population he claims to be involved with.
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Webchiq
Member
07-11-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:20 am
Adam strikes me as having Aspergers, which is on the lower end of the spectrum of Autistic disorders. He is socially inept. On the interesting side of autism, I saw a University of Washington study where they took a boy who had autism and worked with him for years in one on one therapy for the study program. Children with autism think things just appear in front of them, out of thin air. They don't make the connection between the person handing it to them and its appearance. (This is just one aspect of autism). So, this child had the one on one therapy with mom and therapists in the study and today, he makes eye contacts, talks, expresses love for his parents, can pick up objects when someone asks him for a color and size and he is completely interacting with those around him. It was a very exciting story because they're now expanding the study. This outcome could push the autism treatment way ahead. No medications required, just dedicated and focused time with education and a great reward system for interactivity. I know quite a bit about Aspergers and I would lay odds on Adam.
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Cheekychops
Member
08-12-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:26 am
I found some information that is interesting regarding Adam and the charity, UNIAF. "OK, I have some info that may clear things up. I received emails from 4 of the United Autism Foundation’s Board of Advisors. They inform me that #1 Adam no longer works for UNIAF and that he didn’t for quite some time prior to his entering the Big Broether house. So, he lied to CBS about his job, etc. #2 He was not a Public Relations manager. He was a sales person working in their call center making cold calls to solicit donations-a glorified telemarketer. He did, however “help out” with some of the foundation’s events. But he never worked WITH autistic kids-Thank God!" and another post that reads, "This foundation (who I have confirmed is registered with the state of Florida as an official non-profit complete with 501(3)(c) tax exemption) has jumped in with both feet to take on a huge project of building a dental facility for special needs individuals. This project, unfortunately, has taken most of their paid employees and volunteers time so they turned the website (their official site is http://www.unitedautismfoundation.org) over to their in-house IT guy who is friends with Adam. This IT guy thought it would be a good fundraiser for the foundation to sell things with Adam’s picture on them. I guess he assumed Adam would be more popular than he has turned out to be. So he used the foundation’s web server (without the permission of the foundation) to set up a BB9/Adam site. I’ve been told that they are in the process of taking this site down. " You can see this information and the posts here: www.autismvox.com/kids-with-autism-are-not-retards/
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Mama2oliviamae
Member
08-16-2006
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:32 am
Well, I come from the lurking shadows for my post for this season. Adam is clearly socially inept but that doesn't exactly mean he has Aspergers, Autism, etc. I believe he is just that - socially inept. I went back on my DVR and watched this issue again and here's the thing; when Adam was having the convo outside, it appeared to me that he was boasting about something (not sure what) and I felt like there was a lot of harm in the sentence, to me, it was malicious. And I also believe he did it for impact. He wanted to shock his fellow HG, producers and viewers. Especially if what is rumored to be true about Robin "holding onto his file" from The Cut. If that's true, then he knows how Reality TV works and he who remains the most outrageous wins (Dick & Jen from BB8, anyone?). As for his "foundation", I don't buy it for one second and hope no one is donating money to the "adam fund" which I believe is funneled directly into his bank account. There is so much awareness, press and discussion about Autism and all of it's surrounding issues these days that it would be so easy and believable for him to choose that. Lastly, in his argument with Shelia about the "retards" comment, he repeated that it was ok for him to say that word because he works with them all day? Why would the PR person interact with the autistic children on a daily basis?? Doesn't make sense to me. I do, however, believe he has an actual background in PR or some experience because during that argument, he appeared very nervous and shifty then his attitude shifted and he started pointing the finger at Shelia, trying to deflect blame on her which is a classic PR move. Anyway, I just think it was all in bad taste and I think the only reason why BB aired it was for us (the viewers) to suspect him. Plus that and free publicity knowing some organization would cry foul. (Ahh. It's good to be back!)
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Amykat
Member
07-24-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:32 am
Found this at tvguide.com: CBS Won't Shutter Big Brother over Autism Slur Big Brother's Adam by Bill Inoshita/CBSThe advocacy group Autism United is calling on CBS to condemn this season's Big Brother house in the wake of comments made on the air last week. In Wednesday's episode, Adam Jasinski shared his dream to "open a hair salon for kids with special needs, so the retards can get it together and get their hair done." Adam's slur was met with a strong, disapproving reaction by housemate Sheila, and that, CBS says, was what allowed the scene to remain in the broadcast. "We certainly find the statements made by Adam to be offensive, but believe they were countered by the... shock and condemnation from Sheila," the Eye says in a statement. In his defense, Adam touts his work with the United Autism Foundation (a nonprofit of apparently questionable stature). "Disabled kids... I can call them whatever I want, OK?" he retorted to Sheila. "I bust my ass to help these special-needs children!" Shades of Matt Dillon in Something About Mary, no? http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-News-Blog/Todays-News/Big-Brothers-Adam/800033633
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Mama2oliviamae
Member
08-16-2006
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:35 am
Cheeky, thanks for that information. Very helpful!!! Clears up a lot!
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:50 am
Webchiq, can you tell me more about aspergers? You can post in my folder directly: ../6402/1066580.html> Recently my son (8 years old) was dx with it. Thanks for whatever insight or info you can give...
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 10:59 am
I wasn't going to mention it but Adam's comments reminded me so much of the sleazy detective in "There's Something About Mary". I think that the key to CBS airing this was Sheila's quick condemnation and refutal of Adam's remarks.
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Webchiq
Member
07-11-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:22 am
Julie, there are so many aspects to Aspergers and there is a full spectrum within another spectrum. Did the physician who diagnosed your son also give you community support resources? I would recommend starting with a community support group to learn more about your specific situation. I am not a physician, or trained to give you advice on what to do, and can't tell you much about diagnosing your son, or knowing what he needs, I just recognize it because of my own family members who have it. I know that understanding what it is and how it operates makes life with someone, who has it, so much easier, so read everything you can and build your empathy that your son can't control all of the things that he's doing and he's not doing them to you, or trying to frustrate you. That is the hardest part. Once you understand that it is beyond their control, you can actually work with them to find ways to help them manage it and make their life easier and yours. Particularly if your son has the nighttime routine issues. Creating a bedtime routine, together, that comforts him and works for you, may make saying goodnight take longer, but you will separate from each other in a peaceful way. My son went from 18 steps of repetition each night and now he's down to only two, by working to eliminate the steps slowly, over time, and to be comforting and supportive.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:24 am
Thanks for the info Cheeky. That sounds more realistic to me. The www.unitedautismfoundation.org web site actually looks more like a "real" foundation web site (albeit with not content beyond the home page). Unlike the site that is obviously Adam's "fan" site. And if someone commandeered the foundation's web servers to "host" a "foundation" site, I think that person needs to be fired. That's actually theft, to some extent. And it really bad taste, no less.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:33 am
Both sites look like quicky setups to me. None of the links work. Releasing a site where so many links don't work is just poor form and poor practices. As far as "working to take the site down", someone who knows what he is doing could have that done in five minutes or less. ETA: Hey ... I just checked and they now have an apology on "Adam's" site.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:38 am
But they are still selling items ... bet they don't get many offers. BB9 Adam T-Shirt Buy the original UNIAF t-shirt Adam was wearing. Email your offer - click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BB9 Adam Keyboard Buy the computer keyboard Adam was always using. Email your offer - click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BB9 Adam Stapler Buy the office stapler Adam was always using. Email your offer - click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BB9 Adam Pen Buy the personal office pen from Adam Jasinski. Email your offer - click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BB9 Adam Phone Buy the original phone headset from Adam. Email your offer - click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BB9 Adam Cup Buy the personal office coffee cup Adam was using. Email your offer - click here
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Nyheat
Member
08-09-2006
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:44 am
Ewww. He's really all set up for self-promotion, isn't he? Who would want that stuff anyway?
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Cheekychops
Member
08-12-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:49 am
You guys are welcome! As a web designer, I have never heard of anyone using a client's hosting account to subhost a personal site especially for personal gain. You are violating a clients trust and putting your integrity into question. And yes, that person should be dismissed and perhaps a police report filed in case there are chances fraud was committed if anyone did "donate" money or purchase items where the money didn't go to the charity. Jimmer is right, it doesn't take more than logging on and deleting files to take a site down. Sadly, a majority of clients don't know how to do this themselves and rely on their webmaster to do it for them. In this case, the webmaster seems to be the person who uploaded those files in the first place.
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Steeltoe
Member
05-19-2007
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:52 am
I have to say that I do not agree with the majority of people who feel that CBS should apologize for Adam's statement. It was not CBS that forced the words to come out of his mouth, he did this on his own. I think that by showing this segment all they were doing was letting the world see that some people will say anything and really do not think before they speak. This is a reality show and in reality people make dumb statements every second of they day only thing is they are not viewed by millions of people. Sheila realized that Adam was making a rude statement and asked that he rethink what he had said. If anyone owes anyone an apology it is ADAM...
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 11:58 am
Not only that, Cheeky, but the apology was only for the comments Adam made, and not for the "fake" Web site!!! In addition, their coding is totally slack (the line breaks in their red apology text are attrocious). And as I said before, why the heck would anyone want to buy the stapler that Adam used to use? Serious case of inflated you-know!
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Cheekychops
Member
08-12-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 2:06 pm
Something ain't right here... if, according to the charity's founder, Adam doesn't work for them anymore and was basically just a telemarketer then why would Adam allow them to use his "notoriety" to sell things? Adam posted just a few weeks ago on an autism website about an upcoming fund raiser for UNIAF and his father was quoted in a newspaper article as saying if Adam wins the $500K he plans on donating some of his winnings to the autism charity he works for. Could it be that with Adam making those disparaging remarks that the charity is now saying he doesn't work for them, down playing his previous employment role (from Sponsorship and Creative Director to mere telemarketer) and saying they had no idea their webmaster, who they say Adam is still friends with, had created a site off their own to sell things used by Adam. The site even had Adam's full name along with the company's phone number if anyone wanted to call in a donation. Something smells fishy...
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Danzdol
Member
04-21-2001
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 2:15 pm
This is what I found on : (it's the one that makes most sense so far)} http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/forums/showthread.php?p=61520 "OK, I have some info that may clear things up. I received emails from 4 of the United Autism Foundation’s Board of Advisors. They inform me that #1 Adam no longer works for UNIAF and that he didn’t for quite some time prior to his entering the Big Broether house. So, he lied to CBS about his job, etc. #2 He was not a Public Relations manager. He was a sales person working in their call center making cold calls to solicit donations-a glorified telemarketer. He did, however “help out” with some of the foundation’s events. But he never worked WITH autistic kids-Thank God! #3 After an email from me and a phone call from another parent, Florida State Senator, Jeremy Ring has stepped down as part of their Board of Advisors. (don’t underestimate the power of a PO’d parent!) Luckily I was advised about this as well…aparantly this is a start-up foundation (less than a year old). Those who have been on the front lines of autism advocacy know what it is like to start a non-profit and know that it is difficult and time consuming. This foundation (who I have confirmed is registered with the state of Florida as an official non-profit complete with 501(3)(c) tax exemption) has jumped in with both feet to take on a huge project of building a dental facility for special needs individuals. This project, unfortunately, has taken most of their paid employees and volunteers time so they turned the website (their official site is http://www.unitedautismfoundation.org) over to their in-house IT guy who is friends with Adam. This IT guy thought it would be a good fundraiser for the foundation to sell things with Adam’s picture on them. I guess he assumed Adam would be more popular than he has turned out to be. So he used the foundation’s web server (without the permission of the foundation) to set up a BB9/Adam site. I’ve been told that they are in the process of taking this site down. As for their official site, I’m told that it is not yet complete as it is taking a back seat to their dental facility project. I did confirm with Senator Ring that the dental facility is an actual project that is in the works and not just a farce as so many on different message boards have suspected. And for the record, no one has made any donations via the UNIAF.org site…go figure! LOL! I don’t know if this helps, but UAF originally went under the name “Trees Are Beings, Inc.” and was formed back in November of 2001. They filed for, and was granted a name change in May of 2007 to United Autism Foundation, Inc.
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Cheekychops
Member
08-12-2005
| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 2:20 pm
Danzdol, I posted those earlier. LOL. Great minds think alike!
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