'Big Brother' bonehead's autism group apologizes for 'ret...

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'Big Brother' bonehead's autism group apologizes for 'ret*ds' comment (New York Daily News)

By RICHARD HUFF and JORDAN LITE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERs

Wednesday, February 20th 2008, 4:00 AM

The president of a Florida nonprofit apologized Tuesday for a cast member on CBS' "Big Brother" reality show who referred to autistic children as "ret*ds."

Adam Jasinski's comments were "irresponsible, misleading and unprofessional," United Autism Foundation President Olaf Hampel said in an e-mail. A similar apology was posted on the foundation's Web site.

The site includes almost no information about autism, but plenty of photos of Jasinski, apparently an employee of the nonprofit.

more...

He doesn't mean to hut peoples feelings??? well, maybe he should think before he opens his mouth....Oh, wait, he can't! he doesn't have a brain!

I tried to look into the United Autism Foundation of Florida, but didn't find much except a blurb here and there referring to the foundations decision to focus its efforts primarily on fund-raising...

I did find an interesting Myspace page that purports to be owned by the group... I was impressed by the number of celebrities that appear as myspace friends... UNIAF Myspace Page

I think it would be fun to write to some of those celebrities and ask them if they agree with this association's assesment of people with autism as 'ret*ds'

Here is a telling excerpt from the Myspace page:

Of course he's ignorant - he's never actually met an autistic child. He lied to Big Brother's producers.

why is he part of an autistic group if he has no knowledge of it?
what a moron.

The individual in question was not just a member or employee of this association, he is the public relations director, the person responsible for conducting negotiations between the association and the public at large. He speaks for the group. His words, thoughts and attitudes are indicative of those of the entire association.

As for them distancing themselves from him, I don't see that. They made an apology for what he said, but they have yet to make any statement whatsoever regarding his continued employment with the group. As far as I can see, he is still officially the public relations director of the association.

His Myspace page still shows that he acts in this capacity, even though the incident in question happened months ago and is only coming to light now. His own family has stated that he often says "boneheaded' things like this, so I find it highly unlikely that the association was surprised that these are his sentiments.

This is the way he feels, and they are Ok with it. They say they are sorry, but they are only sorry that his attitudes are now known to the public.

"Hampel did not explain Jasinski's role with the group."

I'm sorry, I believe you jr', but I still don't know where you're getting this stuff.

I found this comment posted below the article.

"Look at some of the details of the 'organization'. New website, only the donation part works. Other research leads me to believe the 'organization' is a shell. Something for Big Brother, something to rip people off -- my friends and I have been digging around and it doesn't add up. It's a ruse for TV at best, a scam to rip people off, at worst. With autism in the news so much lately, we think he found a way to get easy cash."

It is possible that all this is another ruse or hoax. After all, this originated from a so-called "reality" show. If so, offensiveness aside, the whole incident, including the way people have responded to it, has further raised awareness of issues important to us.

The organization is real.

It's just that the guy has never worked for them.

Ever.

They've done a few things around Florida in the past. The website the poster referred to, www.autismfoundation.org, is incomplete and only has a donation link available. The group's other website, www.uniaf.org, has taken Adam off the website and replaced it with their half-hearted apology. However, they forgot to change their meta-tags, which read:

Quote:
Go inside yourself. Image you cannot see, hear, smell and feel. Stay in your own world for
just 10 seconds. (Production Director - short pause)
How does it feel? - Well, this is autism.
Did you know that 1 out of 150 children have autism? The United Autism Foundation is
making dramatic changes in your local community today, in order to create an amazing
future for our society tomorrow.
Pick up the phone and make a donation


Note to UNIAF- I am autistic. I can see, hear, smell, and feel very well thank you. I have been on vacation, and I go to restaurants to eat regularly, often by myself, but more often with one or two close friends. I am not a ret*d. Your assumptions about me offend me deeply

yeah me too.