The CBS ‘Big Brother’ TV Show has angered parents, carers and people with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome around the world. A ‘Big Brother’ contestant called Adam who supposedly works for a US autism organisation said on ‘Big Brother’ that 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.”
Another contestant on ‘Big Brother’ Sheila, told him: “Don’t call them that.”Adam responded on the show: “Disabled kids. I can call them whatever I want. I work with them all day, OK?”
Now a US Autism group is demanding an apology from CBS. Autism United has called for Big Brother to be axed on their website:
Autism United has asked people to forward this message to friends and family.
If you would like to write to Mr. Moonves and Sumner here is their contact information
Mr. Leslie Moonves
Chief Executive Officer
CBS Corporation
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019-6188
Phone: 212-975-4321
Mr. Sumner Redstone
Executive Chairman
CBS Corporation
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY
10019-6188
Phone: 212-975-4321
The text of Autism United’s letters to Mr. Moonves and Mr. Sumner is below and also appears on their website:
We are writing to express our dismay and disgust at comments that were made by Adam Jasinski during the broadcast of “Big Brother” program. In episode 2, Jasinsiki describes his plans to open a hair styling business catering to people with autism who he refers to as “retards.”
Just as we are confident that CBS would not tolerate the use derogatory epithets regarding race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation we hope that the use of derogatory terms for people with disabilities in also unacceptable in your programming.
We believe Jasinski should be terminated immediately, and we believe that the show should be cancelled. Further, we expect an apology to people with autism, developmental disabilities and their families from Jasinski, Big Brother, CBS and National Amusements. While Jasinski displayed gross ignorance, the producers of the show chose to use his comments to forward the show’s storyline. This displays a conscious choice on their part to demean and hurt a large group of people to further their own commercial goals.
While a large number of people with autism do have mental retardation, a very large portion do not and they are perfectly capable of understanding that they have been denigrated in an extremely demeaning way by a program broadcast for profit by CBS.
Family members of people with autism, especially parents, are constantly challenged by the great deal of misinformation surrounding autism. Broadcasts such as Big Brother makes caring for a family member with autism all that more difficult.
It is appropriate I believe to note that the Holocaust began with the extermination of developmental disabled children in a secret program called Aktion T-4. The techniques, organization and personnel for Aktion T-4 went directly to run the extermination camps at Treblinka, Sobibor and others. All extermination campaigns begin with the de-humanization of the target group. And referring to developmental disabled people and people with autism as “retards” indeed fails to recognize the humanity of people with these disorders.
We have also contacted advertisers on Big Brother, including Saturn, Pfizer, Geico, Bertoli, Lowe’s, Theraflu, and Taco Bell and have asked them if they want their products associated with language that demeans people with autism and other disabilities.
Thank you for your time and consideration and we look forward to your response.
For further information please see:
http://www.autismunited.org/
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7 users commented in " CBS ‘Big Brother’ owes the Autism World an Apology "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackSorry but I don’t agree with this. I saw that episode and the person who made the comment was BLASTED by all the other contestants and was made to look like a fool for making the remark. CBS owes no apology and is not responsible for the idiot who made the remark. It is the person who made the remark that owes the apology. I think your time would be better spent working to find ways to help autistic kids than wasting it on one stupid remark. Do you know what that person does for a living? He helps autistic and mentally challenged children.
My beautiful daughter is a 31 yr old severely autistic non verbal,etc individual. She functions as an infant in many respects and I’m totally emotionally and physically active in her life, involved with organizations that promote the lives of mentally challenged people, and know “stuff” that other people have no clue about.
I can call her a retard and not mean it in any derogatory way. It’s kind of an inner slang that means something to people who are connected with mentally challenged individuals. BUT ……when as an educator in a middle school, every kid uses the retard word and I always tell them that it’s uncool to use that word as no one wants to be retarded, and then I tell them about my daughter, and I know they walk away with more sensetivity and when I see them as grown-ups they all ask about my daughter and remember term as
So I didn’t watch the show as i don’t watch too much tv. Whoever the guy was who works with autistic individuals was not cool in using the retard term in this situation—but might have been using the retard word in a different sense
Mark…I too am a parent of an autistic child. I also work for a charter school in Ohio that offers inclusion classrooms for autistic students and their typically developing peers. I would NEVER use that word to describe my child or the children I work with. My son began using words only 2 years ago. I recall a visit to Chuck E. Cheese where he was playing beside a couple older children. I saw the other children trying to interact with my son and stepped in to intervene. Later that day, my son said the word “retard” and I knew it was because he heard the other children calling him that. Here is this boy who is just beginning to communicate with words and one of the first things he said is retard. It was like a knife through my heart. I honestly cannot believe that any parent or advocate for autistic individuals would use that word. For one, it is important that most people realize and understand that Autism is not the same as mental retardation. So therefore there would be no reason for them to be linked together. I’m sorry, but I am just floored by your comment that you can call your non-verbal autistic daughter a retard and not mean “anything derogatory by it”. Every minute of every day of my life touches upon autism, whether it be professional or personal and I have NEVER heard that word used as part of an “inner slang”.
as i myself am autistic ,formally diagnosed ,
i would like to say i much prefer to be called a retard by those who think this , than have people force all kinds of so called “help ” eg therapies , “treatment ” , and otherwise intervene me , and treat my identity as a pathology .
Both are saying exactly the same thing , that i am not good enough as i am , a retard , in fact ,but the people , including parents , and the autism industry , who have sanitised the “retard ” word to ” victim ” or “helpee” to be “treated ” hide the exact same thought beneath the respectability of ” benevolence ” ….. their hypocrisy sickens me .
how dare people have a go at the guy who thinks and therefore said it like he thought it , accurately or not , when their own actions clearly reveal the same idea ,that we are retarded in our NATURAL way of being , hence we need to be gloriously saved and turned into a mirror image of neuro typical ( and sociable ) GLORY !!
. Til sociery stops this hypocrisy and addresses that it itself treats us as retards , i support all persons who do think this way to at least be honest with temselves and others , as was
I have a mate who cant walk straight due to a deformity .
I call him spastic , in the legs , whereas i am spastic in the head , because my co ordination problems are neurological , his are mechanical in his limbs .
I think people who think being called a retard is wrong ,need to consider what may be behind their own need to not have people say it like this .. is it a fear its true .
i simply dont care , because i realise that the way the world is trying to fix us , clearly and hypocritically says it considers ups ” retards “.
ps .. i am officially a retard ,with post graduate university qualifications ( autism related).i wish to clarify that retardation of intelligence has never , that i know of , been part of the diagnostic criteria ( DSM)
PS i just forgot to add that as far as extermination campaigns , these are being done in every country , now , to autistic people , in the name of ” cure “therapy ” “treatment” , genetic research ( to prevent our being born ) campaigns calling us a ” plagfue , etc , all HYPOCRISY !!!!
I have friends who have lost their ” specialist ” field of fascination passion and savant skills ,
due to the xenophobic , anal need to turn autistics into generalist neuro typicals , like their parents , employers , doctors , teachers , partners, socities/ cultures.
Hence , please people , its not the words you use that matters , its what you
are thinking , as that results in the ” doings ” to us i have spoken of .
Censor not the mouth , but the wickedness of your own hearts and minds please.
mirra from australia.
I have a son who has a diagnosis of Autism and feel that this comment is based upon ignorance of the disorder. While I do not agree with the comment, I do not feel that he should be fired for acting as he would in real life. This is a reality t.v. show afterall. Asking him to apologize for a statemet that he believes to be true woud be no less logicall than asking him to be vegitarian so that he apeals to vegitarians watching the show.
While I hope that this will cause him to choose to rethink his opinion, an apology is not needed.
We can’t ask the world to treat our kids as equals if we attempt to separate what can be said or done.
In the reality of the real word there are varying opinions on race, religion, disablities as well as any other subgroup.
GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!!! it was a stupid remark, made out of dumb humor on adam, NOT BIG BROTHER! lot’s of things that spewed ot of adam’s mouth wre inappropriate, everyone slips, regrets it, and as far as i remember adam was apologetic soon as he said it. the guy was fired, got a bad rap, and it was only crude humor on adam’s part. doesn’t mean the guy’s life should be ruined because he wasn’t using his best judgement on a t.v show where every word out of your mouth is taped. i happen to think it was RETARDE that adam was fired!!!!!!!!! and yes ALOT of people use that word, it’s SLANG people!!!!!
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