Autism Vox

April 24th, 2008

Oh Brother—He’s No Winner

Big Brother contestant Adam Jasinki—who achieved near-universal opprobrium in the autism community for calling autistic children “retards” on the show—-is one of the final two contestants to win the half a million dollar prize. Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer describes him as a “wide-eyed lug with Cherry Hill roots”—-that’s Cherry Hill in South Jersey—-who has “connived his […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 6 comments

February 23rd, 2008

So who is Adam Jasinski and what is the UNIAF?

By now you’ve probably heard about the remarks by Adam Jasinski on CBS’ Big Brother reality TV show in which he referred to autistic children as “retards.” The offensiveness of Jasinski’s remark was all the greater because—-as he said—-he works as the is the PR Manager for the United Autism Foundation (UNIAF) (last September, I […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 10 comments

February 20th, 2008

Offensive

CBS says that Big Brother contestant Adam Jasinski referring to autistic children as “retards” last week on the show is “offensive,” according to K-Lite FM:
CBS says the reason the remark was left in the broadcast was because Jasinski’s housemate Sheila reacted immediately with “shock and condemnation” on screen. During the broadcast, Jasinski defended […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 8 comments

February 15th, 2008

Kids With Autism Are Not Retards

I shouldn’t even have to say that. Period.

Someone did, on CBS’ Big Brother TV show: Adam Jasinski, who is the PR Manager for the United Autism Foundation (UNIAF). Here’s a video clip in which Jasinski talks about taking autistic children to a hair salon for kids with special needs “so the retards can get it […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 77 comments