Action for Children reply to critics
Like many of you I wrote to Gary Day at Action for Children about the Story of Dan ad campaign. Because some of you had already shared your replies I pointed out that I was not interested in their stock response. So they replied with … a stock response. My letter first
Dear Mr Day,
I am writing to express my concerns about the campaign materials featuring Dan, a young man with Aspergers Syndrome. I know from your reply to my colleague Harry Williams that you feel justified in using Dan’s words and drawings to illustrate his difficulties. But in so doing you are reinforcing stereotypical attitudes to autism that are damaging in the extreme.
Dan has learned to see his autism as a monster that consumed him and caused him to behave in unacceptable ways. It is his fault he reacts badly to people who bully and tease him. It is the autism to blame for him being sent away to school. The staff taught him to correct the error of his ways and thanks to them he is a better person.
This may be how Dan sees the situation but the TV ad suggests that this is how Action For Children see it as well. And this is the message that is going out to the general public. Autism makes children behave badly. It is a monster that is taking our children. Action for Children will help your child to trample its autism under foot and become a better person. That is the message that autistic adults and the parents of autistic children are taking from your advert and we reject it utterly.
When I visited your website I was perturbed to read “”Today Headlands – as it is now known – is a very special place. It is a residential and day school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, like autism.” I have been a teacher in special education for 25 years. I can assure you that children with emotional and behavioural difficulties and autistic children are different. The former have had damaging life experiences that cause their problems. The latter are born with a neurological difference that affects the way they process information.
Then I went to “Meet Dan.”
Slide 2 reveals very low self esteem.
“I was loud and obnoxious and generally bad tempered”
Slide 3 describes his fear.
“I was just afraid of what was out there, afraid one day that I’d leave my parents and not be able to survive or anything like that.”
Slide 4 has more self loathing
“I wasn’t a great brother or son.”
Slide 5 The transition to Headlands was not well managed.
“I felt hurt. I felt betrayed by being left there.”
Slide 6 Dan was really miserable.
“I thought no-one really cared. I sat alone in my room alone and just … I was really upset.”
Slide 7 The misery continues
“after a few months, a year of being there I got a bit steadier.” A year?!
Slide 8 Things get better when Dan learns that his problems are his lack of respect and his lack of honesty.
“People have said that Dan you are a lot more respectful, you have been a lot more honest and people have given me their trust.”
Slide 9 Dan expresses his gratitude to his carers and teacher.
Slide 10 Dan expresses his new found confidence, describes his skills and his sense of peace.
For all I know you have done a great job with Dan. You have taught him that because he is autistic he sees the world differently from the neurotypical majority; that their lack of understanding is the root of his problems. But by understanding himself and learning to make allowances for their lack of understanding he can avoid unnecessary confrontations. You have boosted his self esteem by identifying his strengths and giving him success. This gives him a secure base from which to tackle the real problems that he has and also gives him confidence to face the future.
But the evidence of your campaign suggests that you have taken a desperately unhappy, fearful child and taught him that all his problems were internal to himself and that it is up to him to change. Compliance brings its own reward. This may not be your intention, but it is what many of us in the autism community are taking from your campaign.
I note that you have invited people to express their concerns by complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority. I have no interest in seeing a dodgy advert pulled if the attitudes that inform that campaign and, presumably, inform the practise of Action for Children in relation to the care and education of autistic children, continue unchanged. I would much prefer to contibute to a dialogue that contributes to a better understanding of the needs of autistic people.
I am, as previously mentioned, a special needs teacher of 25 years experience. I teach in an all age school for pupils with severe learning difficulties. For 23 years I have parented a son with Aspergers syndrom. I am active in the National Autistic Society. I write and speak on autism and maintain a blog, Action for Autism, which is accessible via my sig file below.
Their stock response
Action for Children’s three new adverts focus on how the charity helps to transform the lives of the most vulnerable children throughout the UK. For 140 years we have been committed to children and young people being at the centre of all our work. Therefore these new adverts tell real stories of young people, told by them, in their own words.In our second advert, Dan chose to name his condition and approved the concept and drawings. These pictures depict how he saw himself and what he felt he needed help with before Action for Children helped Dan and his family for a number of years.Action for Children helped Dan gain control over aspects of his behaviour - this was about helping him feel more at peace with himself, as he states in the advert, and clearly his autism is an intrinsic part of himself. The animation in the advert is a representation of Dan’s own individual feelings of anger and frustration, not of autism.
Action for Children is a major provider of services for disabled children,including some with autism, We have other significant areas of work as well, and are a leading charity working with over 178,000 of the most vulnerable children, young people and their family members.
The advert will be running until the 15th February. If you would like to further your complaint or concernsabout our advertisements then you can do this by contacting the Advertising Standards Authority at www.asa.org.ukThey will look in to your complaint and if your concerns are upheld then we will be instructed to change or remove the advertising.
I wonder if they even read my letter. For the record I am neither upset nor offended by the ad. I am concerned that it perpetuates a stereotypical image of autism that, with its monster imagery, harks back to myths of changelings and demonic possession. These myths still resonate powerfully throughout society to reinforce the new mythology of children trapped inside their autism (There’s a Boy Inside) or stolen. When Suzanne Wright of Autism Speaks says;
here is a beautiful little boy in my family who has been kidnapped by autism … and we are going to get him back.
there is a direct connection to the short lived Ransom Notes campaign. Then NYU’s response to criticism was to issue a form letter. Action for Children repeat the same theme with minor variations on ording. I find the invitation to complain to the ASA significant, along with the fact that complaints are being dealt with by “Supporter Care.”
Action for Children is a charity. It does things for children and often it does them very well. It knows what it is doing and needs no advice from any of us thank you very much. It just wants our money so it can carry on doing good things for children. Hence the advertizing campaign. Those of us who complain are characterized as being upset by the shocking reality it presents to us. But it has no interest in engaging in dialogue. If the ASA decides it was wrong to offend us with its ad the ad will be withdrawn. Never mind that by the time the ASA delivers its judgement the campaign will be over.
But that is no good to me. How many more Dans are being taught to trample on their autism monster in order to become a better person? I am going to persevere with my attempts at dialogue with Action for Children and try to change their minds about autism.
However, if you are going to complain to the ASA, the Let’s stop “Action for Children” from demonising autistic children camqign on Face Book has an excellent discussion on how to do it.
