ASAT
Media Watches
Media Watch (a subcommittee of the Public Relations Committee) has three primary initiatives:
- Educating the public about effective autism treatment through proactive contact with the media;
- Responding to inaccurate information or proposed treatments described by the media (as it relates to scientific findings about their effectiveness); and
- Supporting accurate media depictions of empirically–sound interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
We seek to increase awareness of the scientific underpinnings surrounding autism treatment that can lead to real hope for those touched by this disorder.
Below are some recent letters showcasing our Media Watch efforts.
ASAT Responds to Washington Post story "Lancet Retracts Paper Linking Vaccine to Autism"
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Source http://www.washingtonpost.com/.../AR2010020203480.html
The Lancet can retract the 1998 article authored by Dr. Wakefield. Unfortunately, what cannot be retracted is the impact this article has had on promulgating misinformation about the cause of autism, increasing the number of unvaccinated children…
ASAT Responds to MSNBC.com's "Dark Shadows Loom Over 'Facilitated' Talk"
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Source http://www.msnbc.msn.com/.../health-mental_health
We want to formally extend our appreciation for this story, which highlighted a tragedy far too many families have experienced. This piece described a gut-wrenching experience faced by parents of an individual with autism who, through facilitated communication, falsely accused…
ASAT Responds to Chicago Tribune story "Autism Treatment: Science Hijacked to Support Alternative Therapies"
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Source http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-autism-science-nov23,0,240420.story?page=1
This article correctly informs the reader that physicians are making grossly inaccurate claims about the scientific evidence behind unproven biomedical treatments, as well as about the "recovery†of of children who undergo these treatments…
ASAT Responds to CNN Story "Study: Early Autism Intervention in Toddlers is Effective"
Monday, November 30, 2009
Source http://www.cnn.com/.../index.html
With so many unexamined treatments available for children with autism, it is extremely important that we continue to promote treatments which are science based; thank you for doing this in your article. We are writing today to provide feedback and hopefully some clarification of a few statements that could lead to misunderstandings which may have unfortunate consequences…
ASAT Responds to "Discover Autism '“ A Wide Range of Therapy Programs' Internet Article
Monday, September 28, 2009
Source http://autisticsite.com/discover-autism-a-wide-range-of-therapy-programs
While we appreciate your efforts to raise awareness of treatment of the disorder, the article contains misleading information and suggests that all therapies are equally effective…
ASAT Responds to NY Times story "Regimens: Restrictive Diets May Not Be Appropriate for Children With Autism"
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Source http://www.nytimes.com/.../28autism.html
Rabin's piece correctly informs the reader that gluten-free and casein-free diets have no scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness…
ASAT responds to CBS Ch. 2's Health Watch on Rethink Autism
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Source http://www.rethinkautism.com/AboutUs/IntheMediaStory.aspx?ID=298
In particular, we wanted to commend the piece for highlighting that applied behavior analysis (ABA) is considered a "gold standard"...
ASAT Responds to Discover Magazine article
Friday, March 06, 2009
Source [ http://discovermagazine.com/.../04-can-a-dvd-teach-kids-with-autism-to-understand-emotions
While I am grateful for the attention paid to autism and the focus on Baron-Cohen's promising direction in the field, I wanted to draw your attention to a misleading statement which might be either a typographical error or possible confusion of the author…
ASAT Responds to CNN story 'Family Transformed After Autism Intervention'
Monday, February 16, 2009
Source http://www.cnn.com/.../index.html
Far too often treatments that lack any scientific support are given extensive attention in the media, leading families to pursue a laundry list of interventions with a lot of promises but very little results…
ASAT Responds to NY Times story "Trying Anything and Everything for Autism"
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Source http://www.nytimes.com/.../20brod.html?_r=1&ref=science
Jane Brody's "Trying Anything and Everything for Autism" accurately described behavioral intervention as an effective autism treatment while outlining a family's struggle with repeated attempts at dangerous and unproven "bio-medical" interventions to address their child's autism…
