BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Autism Spectrum Disorders Paying for Autism Information

Here is an article I wrote on the subject. Feel free to comment here on any of those sites or if you know of other websites that charge a membership/subscription fee to gain access and understanding into autism spectrum disorders.

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Bonnie,

Your article is not only untrue, but libel against me and MoPro Software's reputation.

You first imply that companies that are charging for a service are wrong for doing so. You then go on to accuse of of the companies listed in selling information that can found for free. Not only is that a lie, but you then encourage them to join your crusade to in some way boycot our company.

I quote from your article exactly:

"I share these with you, not to promote them, but to keep all within the autism community aware that these exist and if we bypass them maybe they will stop charging people to learn about autism."

I started PECS PLACE because I have two kids with Autism, that went from non-verbal to verbal using the PECS system. I was so inspired by it that I made a video GAME <I repeat "GAME"> based on the PECS Therapy system to be something FUN for kids with Autism to play and relate to. I am not "taking advantage" of anyone.

Do you have children with Autism?
Do you donate money to charities dealing with Autism?

You claim I am trying to sell information about Autism that can be found anywhere on the internet. That is a flat out lie.

We provide links to multiple Autism Charities that we support, and make no one pay anything for any information. What people pay for is access to the PECS PLACE game. There is a free demo that shows people what it is before they sign up for it.

I love how at the end of your holier than thou article there are links to websites selling information about Autism. Pot Kettle black? You miss, are a hypocrite.

You accuse www.pecsplace.com of something that is not true. Selling information that can be found free on the internet. We only sell access to a game that took me a year to make. you try to ruin our reputation by lending your negative opinion about us and providing false information. Libel by any legal definition. Then you have advertising and links to people selling information.

I highly suggest that you rethink your error, remove the libel content of your article, post an apology if you do not wish legal action against you by my company and the others metioned in your misleading article.

FYI

We have just contacted Minerva Webworks LLC, and BellaOnline.com about this, as well... we have notified the other companies of your libel actions.

I also wanted to add my feelings on the matter, as we are very passionate about our project. This is the response letter I submitted to Bonnie Sayers and Lisa Shea, owner of BellaOnline:

As a mother of two children with autism and a wonderful husband dedicating to help these children, I am deeply offended by your article about paying for autism information. Apparently you have not really looked at the Pecs Place website, because your allegations that Pecs Place makes you pay for autism information is completely UNTRUE. If you look at the site, you can get a brief overview of autism for free as well as links to other sites for more information. The money for subscribing to Pecs Place is for the game itself - did you even play the demo? Pecs Place is a VIDEO GAME that kids can play which is what these people are subscribing to - they are NOT paying for autism information. The Pecs Cards that are included are simply a bonus for signing up, as they are the exact Pecs Cards used in this game. As you are an editor for an already-established online site, obviously you have no idea how much it costs to run a server for this type of game, the costs for creating a Flash program to make the game and continue to improve it. Not only that, if there are any profits which may be made off this game, a portion of those will also go to the charities currently listed on the site. As creators of Pecs Place, we've seen other programs out there that want to charge $50-$100, and we wanted to make this something fun and affordable for children on the spectrum who want to have fun and learn something while playing games online.
As I mentioned earlier, you are misleading your readers into thinking Pecs Place charges for autism information. This is considered libel, as you are publishing an untruth about our site and are damaging our reputation to the autism community. Please remove these statements about Pecs Place from your site and print a retraction immediately.
Sincerely,
Gina Moriarty
Wife of Forest Moriarty, creator of Pecs Place

There are always going to be sites that suck in the unwary, whether its autism, heart failure, Ms or many other diseases and disabilities. The trick is in knowing how to tell the difference when they turn up in a google search!
Having read the about us page for Pecs Place, I can only say I wish it had been in existence 10 years ago when I was step-mum to a boy with autism spectrum! Even then there were people selling snake oil amongst the boards and sites where others were genuinely trying to help each other, and there were precious few on-line resources, which pretty much mirrored the situation off-line. As I lived in a small country town in Australia, resources tended to be what you made yourself!
I have no quarrel with anyone trying to recover costs for software they have written, or a server they are running, particularly when they are not a large international charity with almost inexhaustible pockets. As an ex-programmer I know how much effort goes into even the simplest application these days. People pay to access on-line games servers, or purchase games for use at home, so what is the beef here? Why should an autism spectrum parent be prevented from making an income from the fruits of their own labours?
Reveal the names of the snake oil merchants by all means, but be very careful not to hurt the good guys in the process, and get it checked legally before publication - it stops threads like this one.

Having "worked" with Bonnie here at BellaOnline for a few years now, I can say that she is totally dedicated to helping other parents with kids on the Autism Spectrum.

We came together right away, before either of us were editors here, because of our struggles with children with Autism. We have shared many frustrations and heartaches.

It is hard sifting through all the info out there; knowing what's fact, what's rumor, and what's just "hoping to be real". Bonnie has been a huge help in steering many a parent (including myself) to great resources and assistance.

Perhaps you should advise her to do her research before she makes such irresponsible, and libel statements. I am all about calling scams out on the table into the light - but to be falsely accused of something is infuriating.

www.pecsplace.com is a totally legit site that actually is fun for kids, and helps the Autism community.

Forest Moriarty
Dad of Forest John and Lake Hunter
President of MoPro Software LLC
forestmoriarty@moprosoftware.com

My son has autism.

I read the article and I think Bonnie made many valid points. She was fair and stated why she felt spending money on information was not the best thing to do when it can be gotten for free.

I agree with her. I do not have money to spend on information that I can get myself!

In fact, I have put together a resource website for parents and I would never dream of charging them to see the information I have spent several years collecting. My site is the only site for the area I live in. I am fully aware of the demand for the information I provide and that parents are desperate for information. I think it is wrong to take advantage of them and charge them.

I donate my talents to helping parents.

Keep in mind autism is a small world.

You should fully read the article. You apparently did not do so before posting.

Good for you.

I spent a year and thousands of dollars making a video game based on PECS. This can not be found anywhere on the internet for free. NOTHING like it exists.