Should the phrase "Mad Child Disease" be used to describe autism?
We urge all concerned individuals to add your name to this petition.
On 10 October 2004, Dr. Donald W. Miller offered a response to this petition;
a reply is viewable here.
On October 11, 2004, Boyd E. Haley offered a response to this petition;
a reply is viewable here
On October 11, 2004, Boyd E. Haley offered a second response to this petition;
the reply to that response is viewable here
July 2005 UPDATE
No Excuse for Denigration: Letter to The Lexington Herald-Leader
Petition to Defend the Dignity of Autistic Citizens
We are proud parents of autistic children,
autistic citizens, and allies who seek to preserve the dignity of autistic citizens.
We have recently become aware of a presentation made by Dr. Boyd Haley, Chairman of the Chemistry Department at the University of Kentucky, at the June 2004 meeting of the political organization, Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Drs. Michael A. Glueck and Robert Cihak, in an article published by NewsMax.com on September 13, 2004, reported on Dr. Haley's presentation:
"The audience listened with enthralled attention to a talk about one mad cow from Canada, which caused an investigation costing millions of dollars, observed Dr. Boyd Haley at the July 2004 meeting of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. But the major disaster, he said, is the one that is happening to our children. Psychiatrists call it attention deficit disorder, autism, autism spectrum disorder, or pervasive development disorder. He calls it mad child disease and thinks that its various forms represent different levels of mercury toxicity."
Dr. Donald Miller, Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle, and a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, subsequently published on the Internet on 29 September 2004 an article entitled "Mercury on the Mind". In his article, Dr. Miller repeats Dr. Haley's reference to "Mad Child Disease":
"Much more research needs to be done on the neurotoxicity of mercury and excessive vaccination. Dr. Haley terms autism Mad Child Disease. Finding one cow in the U.S. with Mad Cow Disease, from Canada, prompted the Federal government to spent millions of dollars examining other cows to see if they had contracted it. With regard to Mad Child Disease, however, the government spends $59.00 in research for every case of autism diagnosed in this country."
We abhor Dr. Haley's coinage and use of the phrase "Mad Child Disease" to describe autism. It is offensive, dehumanizing, degrading and stigmatizing to describe autism in such a manner. The doctor's concerns about the neurotoxicity of mercury offer no excuse. Furthermore, we abhor Drs. Glueck, Cihak and Miller's perpetuation of this slur on autistic children in their reportage of Dr. Haley's speech. These writers have cited Dr. Haley's words with no reportorial acknowledgement of their offensiveness, and have used their academic and organizational affiliations to boost their credibility in the public eye. These descriptions remain available to a worldwide audience through their widespread dissemination on the Internet.
We refuse to listen silently as autistic children are described as "mad," and compared to diseased animals, by opportunistic speakers and journalists who seek to inflame public emotions at autistic citizens' expense in their eager pursuit of political agendas and research funding.
Derogatory descriptions of individuals targeted by their race, gender, religion, nation of origin, or disability have no place in civilized society. We urge citizens of all nations to protest this disgraceful offense against autistic citizens' dignity and humanity.
Signed
- Kathleen Seidel & David Seidel, Proprietors, neurodiversity.net
- Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Vilas Research Professor and Sir Frederic C. Bartlett Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
