Well, that’s insulting
August 17, 2007 by Sherry Osborne
Filed under Parenting
Over at The Karianna Spectrum, I was appalled to read about what Parent Magazine did in their September 2007 issue.
They had a small write up called “Autism Update which detailed why they felt a study was reason enough to dismiss concerns about vaccines. Whether that is reassuring or not depends on your own research. The appalling part is not the blurb. It is what lies alongside the photograph of the cute little baby. The caption says, “The child pictured is a model and is unrelated to the issue described in the text.”
Parents Magazine: This Child Does NOT Have Autism
Originally uploaded by Karianna.
Wait. What?! It’s like they’re saying that there’s something really WRONG with autism and that it would be an insult to this baby and his family to imply that he is on the autism spectrum disorder. Instead, they insulted all the families that ARE.
As Kari says in her post, there are countless pictures scattered in all magazines, and yet we don’t see disclaimers for those. I’ve read articles about domestic abuse that feature photos of a man in a threatening stance before a fearful woman. Is there a disclaimer that says, “this man is not really about to hit this woman, they are merely models that are unrelated to this domestic violence issue”. I’ve never seen a disclaimer that said, “this woman is not really a crack addict” alongside a photo accompanying a drug abuse article.
Why are they singling out autism? It’s insensitive and disturbing.
Kari writes:
I cannot find a good reason for the disclaimer. I only know that it is the first of its sort that I have seen, and I find it insulting. The idea of autism or being tangentially related to an issue surrounding autism is so repulsive that there need be a statement to the contrary: “The child pictured is a model and is unrelated to the issue described in the text.”
Well, child, see if you will be “unrelated” to this issue as you meet your peers, some of whom may have special needs. Or if you end up showing symptoms of autistic-like behavior. Or if you end up with a child with autism.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Meanwhile, if you are also bothered by this disclaimer, please feel free to contact Parent Magazine. I can’t wait to hear what their reasoning for it is when they’re inundated with letters to the editor.
(Source)
So, first they say breastfeeding is nothing great and now they’re up to no good here. I’m starting to seriously wonder if the magazine is going under and some pissed off editors are just having some kicks. Honestly, because they keep this %$@& up and they won’t have any subscribers left.
The disclaimer is an insult to families living with autism, but I am more worried about the journalistic standards. Usually, pictures that accompany articles are, in fact, photographs of the people involved in the story, the issue, they are representatives of the experience and the expertise.
I think magazine readers need to examine this disclaimer and other media issues. Do they buy magazines to learn about topics of interest, like autism, or to look at pretty pictures even if they are void of information context?
Obviously, the editor of this issue decided that cute comes before substance.