This is NOT Autism Awareness. Using a child's photo without a mother's permission is wrong.

*Update 3/22/13: Last night, the Facebook page removed the uploaded photo of my son and shared it from my Facebook page. And they apologized. I accept their apology and I am grateful that they did the right thing. Though it's upsetting by what it took to get it. 

And over the last several hours - I've read comments that have really hurt. 

Someone posted that I am the cause of my son's autism because I did drugs. Well, I don't do drugs and um autism isn't caused by drugs. There is no known cause for autism.

Someone posted that I wanted the picture removed because I was scared of immigration. Which was not only insulting but amusing because I was born in New York City. But even if I were born in Puerto Rico - I'd still be an U.S. citizen.

Someone posted that I shouldn't care about being credited and it didn't matter that I didn't give consent, I should just be grateful my son's picture is being shared to raise awareness. 

I've been called petty and argumentative, accused of exploiting my kid and not concerned with raising autism awareness.

I've been told that if it's on Facebook, it's 'fair game' and that if I didn't want anyone sharing my photo then I shouldn't have put it on the internet in the first place.

I have questioned whether or not I have the right to blog about my son. And after this experience, I don't know if I can ever use my son's photo again. 

At the end of the day - a photo of my child was intentionally downloaded and then uploaded to a Facebook business page, Autism Awareness, without my consent and it was captioned, Share to increase Autism Awareness. Even though they failed to share my photo. This page is a for-profit business page however it's buried under links and links of several charity pages. This Facebook page attempted to use a photo of my son for their own financial gain and to drive traffic to their sites. 

I'm a working mom, college student and writer who maintains this blog for free.  I don't have a staff, I'm a one woman operation. 

And I fought back. 

Thank you so much to everyone who helped me! So grateful for your support and encouragement. 

original 3/21/13 post below 

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This afternoon, I logged onto Facebook and saw something the really upset me. (I'm refraining from using the kind of language I really want to use.) 

THIS Facebook page used the above picture of MY SON without my permission and without linking to my own Facebook page. 

And they had the nerve - the nerve! - to caption it: Share to increase Autism Awareness! 

The irony: They didn't share it from my facebook page. They didn't share it from the Parents Magazine Facebook page either. THIS sorry Facebook page uploaded the photo as if it were their own.

What's the big deal? 

Well. The page that stole my photo is a business. 

And on this page...MY photo has been shared more than 12, 000 times. It has more than 35, 000 likes. 

The page itself has over 786 thousand likes. Mine doesn't even have 2, 000. 

This Facebook page is a nameless, faceless business page looking to make money selling t-shirts and bracelets for Autism Awareness.  

But in the process - they stole my a photo of my son and my words without my permission. And they are the ones who will profit. Not me. And not my son.

I don't get paid for writing this blog. This blog has been a labor of love. We're a working class family, struggling to make ends meet. I'm also a student. And while I may get paid to write for Parents.com and Babble.com - I'm not ready to quit my day job. I'm not making Dooce dinero.    

I sent them two private messages. NOTHING.

I posted on their wall. NOTHING.

I tweeted them. NOTHING.

Well I reported them to Facebook for copyright infringement.

Would love your support until they take my photo down or at least tag my AutismWonderland Facebook page.

Let them know it's not okay to steal photos without permission - click HERE.

Let them know the photo belongs to Lisa of AutismWonderland - click HERE.
[crossed out - no longer necessary since, they've removed uploaded photo & shared properly]

I wish I could say this is the first time I've seen a big business Facebook page steal an autism mom's photo but it's not. And it's never okay. 

These are our words. These are our kids. Do not let a business trying to make buck take advantage of the small mom blogger who is trying to raise awareness.  

Are You an #NYC #SpecialNeeds Parent & Fed Up With The Office of Pupil Transportation and Busing?

I am too.

Days before The Boy started school, I got a letter from the Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) with the bus information. It was for the wrong school. 

When I called to inquire, I was given the runaround and everyone was passing the buck. I was told that it could take up to TWO WEEKS before The Boy could be placed on a route. 

The Boy missed his first day of school. I had to take a vacation day from work. But with all the drama of last year, I have used up most of my vacation days. There was no way I could take two weeks off from work to stay home with The Boy because the OPT screwed up.

And more importantly - THE BOY NEEDED TO BE IN SCHOOL. 

I got it fixed. I made calls and sent emails and The Boy was on the bus on the second day of school. (Two weeks my ---!)

Anyway...

New York City special needs kids have been in school for less than 2 weeks and already the OPT has made the papers. 

Have you read THIS  by Ben Chapman of the NY Daily News -  

Five-hour hell ride home from school torments autistic boyTHE FIRST DAY of school was tough enough for little Levi Vidal, a 3-year-old from Brooklyn, but the five-hour bus ride home reduced the autistic boy to crying hysterics. Levi’s trip with disabled classmates from the Gramercy School in midtown became an unbearable hell ride with no water and no relief.

Then my blog pal wrote this post about her 5 year old autistic son being on the bus for THREE HOURS.

And then, my BFF who has a 4 year daughter on the spectrum was sent an email from her daughters school stating this:

 

Citing budgetary reasons, the DOE changed _____'s busing company starting the current school year.  After working with Selby Busing Company for more than a decade, a new bus vendor- Consolidated Bus Service run by Professional Charter Company has been thrust on us.

 

Thus far, Consolidated Bus has proven to be completely ineffective. Only 25% of the families at _____ have been contacted by new bus company and the 75% majority hasn't heard about their kids pickup/droffoff time/driver name etc, despite the fact the school year has already begun.

 

Furthermore, those 25% families who have been contacted (including me) have received multiple bizarre phone calls with conflicting pickup times and driver names and strange buses arriving at their door at 7AM in the morning.

All attempts by _____ and _____ to contact the Consolidated Bus office have been futile as Consolidated Bus officials have been totally unresponsive.

Um....the Consolidated Bus Company is the bus company Chapman mentions in his article.   
Crystal Alfano, the mom behind the FB page New York City Parents Fed Up With Transportation Troubles  posted this update:

If I strap one of my kids to a chair for five hours and deny them access to food, water, the bathroom and make them sit in their own bodily waste, I'm an abusive parent. If I do it to a student, I lose my teaching licenses. If I do it to a child on board a bus, it's completely OK? Why does Stephen Genovese owner of Consolidated, Professional Charter, paratransit, Jodi, Access A Ride, and who knows how many other companies get away with it? How many more kids must he abuse before he is taken off the road. Chancellor Walcott, do the right thing and take away the rest of his contracts.

I've been putting The Boy on a schools since he was 2. 9 years old - he couldn't speak and was still in diapers. So many of our kids have difficulty with speech - they cannot speak up for their rights and as their parents - WE MUST SPEAK UP & FIGHT FOR THEM. 

Crystal is organizing a Bus Rally and Press Conference and parent support - hell, ALL support is crucial.  Here is the info:
When: Wed. Sept 19
Time: 11:00 AM

Where: The Tweed Courthouse, DOE headquarters located at 52 Chambers Street

 

Other ways to support or who to call regarding Transportation issues:

• Sherwin James, the head of Pre-K Special ED bussing - sjames6@schools.nyc.gov
• Contact NYC's Elected official--Bill Deblassio--Public Advocate for the City of New York by phone, email and facebook. URL http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/  AND http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/special-ed Phone

: 212-669-7200 or 212-669-7250;   email: GetHelp@pubadvocate.nyc.gov Also available on Facebook, and Twitter http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/contact-us 

Contact your Borough President and/or City Council Members

Contact the Office of Pupil Transportation

 

 

 

 

We Don't Ride in Helicopters and The Boy Can't Draw the Skyline from Memory Either.

I don't what it was about last week but for some reason this Stephen Wiltshire photo was making the facebook rounds. For those who don't know, Stephen Wiltshire is an autistic savant and The Boy - obviously, hence this blog - is autistic too.

Someone tagged me in this photo. Two or three posted this on my wall. Someone sent it via facebook message. And someone else emailed it to me.

There captions were all pretty much the same: "WOW!" "OMG!" or "AMAZING!"

I know why they sent it. It's sweet, they are thinking of me.  Of us.  

And while I really really really do appreciate the thought, I kind of want to say two things:

1. The Stephen Wiltshire story came out in 2009 (maybe earlier). I've seen it.
2. The Boy is not autistic like Stephen. 

Stephen is a savant. And The Boy is not. And The Boy's art work looks more like this:

"Over the Rainbow" 2011

Norrin's "House" 2011

"Gumballs" 2012

And for me, The Boy's art work is just as WOW worthy as Stephen's.

So thank you to all who shared Stephen's art with me but The Boy's autism is not like Stephen's.  

Check out other autism myths & misconceptions I've heard by clicking HERE, for my lastest Autism Hopes post Parents.com blog post on To The Max. 

“He Doesn’t Look Autistic” and Other Autism Misconceptions