The images below are fake ransom notes designed to encourage parents to get their children into treatment for autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, asperger syndrome, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (click image to enlarge). They were commissioned by the New York University Child Study Center, but quickly attracted enough outrage that the campaign was abandoned (see a summary of the controversy at Mental Illness Watch). They are interesting to me as a sociologist because of the way they construct mental illness (like a kidnapper who steals your child… so the child you have is not your “real” child), pharmaceuticals (the only way to get your real child back), and parenting (you are a bad parent if you don’t do what the experts tell you). It’s fascinating the way they use threats to “help” (“ignore this and your kid will pay,”this is only the beginning,” and “It’s up to you now”).
Text: We have your son. We will make sure he will not be able to care for himself or interact socially as long as he lives. This is only the beginning. -Autism
Text: We have your daughter. We are making her wash her hands until they are raw, every day. This is only the beginning. -OCD
Text: We have your son. We are destroying his ability for social interaction and driving him into a life of complete isolation. It’s up to you now. -Asperger Syndrome
Text: We are in possession of your son. We are making him squirm and fidget until he is a detriment to himself and those around him. Ignore this and your kid will pay. -ADHD
Comments 4
Kenzie — November 25, 2008
Lawks! A fidgeting child! The world is at an end!
The way these are framed are horribly othering for folks with the disorders.
L. G. — January 21, 2009
Wow... I have Asperger Syndrome.
Strangely, I also have friends who I interact with daily, and a husband I love very much and am comfortable interacting with in an intimate way.
This really pisses me the hell off. I was told quite often, when I was younger, that there was something wrong with me. Psychiatrists tried forcing meds and group therapy on me, my parents forced the psychiatrists on me. None of us got along very well, and I was uncooperative with all of it.
What really helped me integrate into functioning society was simply finding people who didn't know my 'condition' was supposed to be a bad thing, and working from there.
Friends who were willing to be patient when I acted a little different than they expected, and explain to me why. I think the only real reason these "disorders" (the quotes are for mine in particular, since I've experienced it and feel it overall brings more joy than pain to me) are so damaging is that that many children are socialized to treat those different than they are very cruelly. Then they become adults, and continue.
Perhaps it's the "socially normative" people (to use a term from a pro-Aspie site) that need the treatment.
(and p.s. to the creators of these ads: I have beautiful synesthesia. I see, hear, and smell things no one else does, I have a preternatural talent for visualization, I can memorize long strings of numbers at a glance, and count cards. Do you call that disabled, or am I just ultra-abled?)
Basiorana — November 2, 2009
I don't have personal experience with Aspberger's, ADHD, or autism, so I defer to those who actually do, such as L.G., in that regard; however, I will say this about OCD, which my fiance suffers from:
It is a disease. It may be a psychological disease but it is as much an invader as any bacteria or virus. It takes over his mind and forces him to do things he does not want to do, understands he should not do, and is afraid to do. It chains him to our apartment, tortures him, and makes his life a living hell. He himself does not consider the OCD a part of his personality-- he would be horribly insulted to be so narrowly defined, ignoring that he fights the disorder every day and never really feels like himself when he has an outbreak.
This ad campaign perfectly captures the way he feels, and I feel, about his disorder-- it captures him, holds him hostage, must be beaten back with drugs and mental training, and cannot be ignored or forgotten for even a minute lest it return in force. It is NOT him. It is NOT his personality.
I suspect the outrage came primarily from the autistic and Aspberger's communities. I cannot imagine a person who genuinely experiences what my fiance does every day thinking that it is anything but a horrifying, terrifying hell to be trapped in, or god forbid, thinking it was a unique part of their personality. That's like saying your gangrenous toe is a unique part of your body.
I wonder how this would have done if they focused on disorders such as OCD and schizophrenia, which directly cause distress to the victim, rather than autism and Aspberger's, which can be easily managed within a supportive community, and are only societal weaknesses.
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