Autism Every Day

Criticism and controversy

One interview in the film that drew significant controversy was that of Alison Tepper Singer, who described how she had contemplated driving off a bridge with her autistic daughter Jodie Singer when faced with having to place her in a school for disabled children, saying "It's only because of Lauren, because I have another child, that I didn't do it". Some have drawn a connection between Alison's words in the film and the murder of 3 year old autistic girl Katie McCarron on May 13, 2006, 4 days after the film's debut, by her mother Karen McCarron.

Both the film and Autism Speaks have received heavy condemnation from autistic people and groups advocating for autistics, with complaints about the film including that it portrays autistic people as tragic burdens rather than as actual human beings who happen to be autistic—which most of them do not want to be "cured" of or see it as a bad thing. It is also criticized for the fact that many of these interviews—most of which are about the things the parents can't do and how horrible it is to have a child with autism—are conducted with said child in the room, again without any regard for the fact that their children can hear and understand the parents talking about how horrible it is to have to take care of them. This is especially focused on with the aforementioned case of Alison Singer, who spoke about contemplating murder-suicide with her daughter Jodie in the room.

One of the producers, Lauren Thierry, said that these feelings were not unusual among non-autistic mothers of autistic children. According to the book Battleground: The Media, Thierry instructed the families she interviewed not to do their hair, vacuum or have therapists present, and appeared with her film crew at homes without preliminary preparations, in order to authentically capture the difficulties of life with autistic children, such as autistic children experiencing meltdowns or physically struggling with parents.

In 2009, Singer responded by claiming that she made this comment because the New York State Department of Health recommended that her autistic daughter be placed in a school with very poor conditions, and did not want her daughter to suffer there. However, she deeply regretted phrasing her concerns in that manner.

References

References

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2. (2006-05-09). "Autism Speaks, Get Involved, Our Events, Upcoming Events, A New Decade for Autism: Changing the Future Together". Autismspeaks.org.
3. "Short Feature Hits Home for Parents of Autistic Children". Autism.about.com.
4. (2007-01-02). "Autism Speaks, Press Updates, Autism Every Day Selected as Special Screening Film at 2007 Sundance Film Festival". Autismspeaks.org.
5. "Autism Speaks, Get Involved, Our Events, Autism Every Day". Autismspeaks.org.
6. "Documenting Truth About Autism". ABC News.
7. (2006-08-08). "Film Documents Families Coping With Autism". ABC News.
8. (June 23, 2021). "YouTube is Making a Change to Unlisted Videos, Adding New Detailed Info for Policy Violations".
9. (February 2022). "Autism Every Day - 7 minute version". [[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link.
10. (2006-06-04). "Uses of Disenchantment: TV Anchor-Mom Fights Autism and Films It". The New York Observer.
11. Andersen, Robin and Jonathan Gray. (2008). "Battleground: the media".
12. Murray, Stuart. (2008). "Representing Autism: Culture, Narrative, Fascination". Liverpool University Press.
13. (January 6, 2014). "2014 Joint Letter to the Sponsors of Autism Speaks".
14. "An Autistic Speaks About Autism Speaks".
15. Liss J. (2006-07-11). "Autism: the art of compassionate living". WireTap.
16. (9 September 2009). "Speaking Out About 'Autism Every Day'".