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.

Umm, yes...I did. If you need someone to spell it out for you I suppose I can do that.

She says people shouldn't have to pay for things that can be acquired for free - I agree.

She says people should not be "taken advantage" of by scam style websites - I agree.

She gives www.pecsplace.com as an example of a website that supports her point of view. So she is implying that we are essentially trying to scam people to pay for something that can be found for free.

This is a lie.

There - is that more clear now? Or do you need me to explain how the word "Imply" is defined? I think you are the one that didn't comprehend what the article was about.

I just got online and found the emails from you and then realized you have been posting here. I wanted to re-read my article to see if maybe it was misleading and perhaps include your site with the information I will be writing on teachtown.com and autismpro.com after doing their free trials, but based on what you have posted here and seeing my article states the following I really do not see the confusion:

"<i>Forest Moriarty is the father to two children on the spectrum and narrates the about us section of the site. The site is a pecs game and uses software Forest created."</i>

This spells out exactly what your wife said in her email to me.

"<i>Pecs
Place is a VIDEO GAME that kids can play which is what these people are subscribing to"</i>

I decided to add Pecs place to my article that was in process when someone in my yahoo group posted about it trying to get people to check it out and I came across some posts in other groups. So I went and checked it out and posted it is a game.

Two sites are about content, one is about videos and yours is about pecs game. I also mentioned the charities as well and the link to the site and the terms and conditions. People can make up their own mind on whether they want to join or not.

My yahoo group has 400 members and a few posted saying they would not be interested in this site after someone posted about it.

Everyone has an opinion and I shared what mine was based on sites that charge for a service. The title does not really tell the story, the article does.

The links below the article are for the sites to those who are adults on the autism spectrum. I was backing up what I said in the article about them being the true experts and giving a place for readers to find them as they are accessible.

I even mentioned the following in the article -

"<i>These websites tend to have a sample area for guests and visitors to read through before plunking down hard earned cash or input a credit card number"</i>


There are two paragraphs and one sentence on Pecs place and nothing else in the article pertains to your company. Again, it is my opinion based on my visiting the sites and seeing them being promoted in groups and advertisements online.

Here is a QUOTE from your article:"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."

You are telling people to bypass our site because in your opinion, people should not be charged for learning about autism. We agree. Pecs Place is unique and you cannot get the same game for free anywhere, nor are we charging anyone to learn about autism. The site is for children already having speech delay issues due to autism who may benefit from an alternate way to learn communication skills. You are purposefully directing people away from our site and creating a negative opinion based on FALSE assumptions. Stating your opinion is one thing, telling people they should stay away from a product based on false information is something else completely.
Gina Moriarty

The article has two links to your site, is that directing them away? I went to these sites and wrote an article based on my opinion. I specified your site is a game. I did not say anything directly about paying for autism information regarding your site. I urged people to read the terms and conditions of your site and did mention the charities. So actually that is three links to your site.

Does your site have a free trial like teachtown and autismpro? If so, I can do that and write a review of it like I plan to do for the others.

Let me know and I can remove that portion of the article or just include a sentence stating that autism information is free on your site.

Which would you prefer?

Please don't forget, teachtown.com's "free" trial charges you 9.95 for shipping and handling, then 39.95 a month, a far cry from $10 per month. Autismpro is $69.95/month
BUT
these are sold as therapy tools. Pecs Place is intended for fun - and if they learn something, great. There are tons of games online that people pay for monthly, anywhere from $10-up. In no way do we claim this is intended as therapy, and it states as such on www.pecsplace.com
Do we want to advertise and pique people's interest? Sure. This is a labor of love for us and our own children helped us design it. The services used to keep our site running are not free, as you may think.
You cannot hide behind the statement "it is your opinion" because you wrote incorrect information - that is not the same as having an opinion, it is called not doing enough research on the facts.

What exactly does this mean:

"<i>we have notified the other companies of your libel actions"</i>

I reviewed websites that I visited. They do charge a fee and I stated what I found on their sites. I have received emails thanking me for the article.

Some of them were advertising with google adsense, which is how I found them and one is on this site advertising, so I investigated to find out what the autism materials were and still not really sure as I am not going to pay to find out.

I have nothing to do with advertising on the site and wanted to look into the companies that are all over the internet advertising. That is what prompted the article.

I have had people ask me about teachtown so I was going to test it out and review it. I was giving you a sample of other sites that I will be reviewing, not that they would be in the same article. I review books, toys, CDS, software, videos, games, and food items.

The information I posted about pecs place consists of two paragraphs and one sentence. This included three links and a quote from the site. What part of that is incorrect information?

Here is a QUOTE from your article:"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."

This is the incorrect information, telling people we are one of "these" that are "charging people to learn about autism"
This is incorrect information. I'm not sure what is being misunderstood here.

You can't hide behind "it's my opinion" - That simply doesn't work when you are doing two things.

1. Lying or providing false information
2. Presenting information that is trying to ruin our reputation.

Libel Definition:

A False publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.
B. The act of presenting such material to the public.

You have done both and by law you can be held Libel for both.

The premise of the entire article is that there are websites that are taking advantage of families with autism by charging for information that is free.

Your Article:

"There seems to be a trend within the autism community. Have you noticed advertisments through google about autism materials? I was surprised the first time I clicked on a link to find that websites are charging membership fees to gain insights into autism.

I wonder how many newly diagnosed families of a child on the autism spectrum have spent money thinking this is the only way to access data in relation to autism. Who are these people running these sites and who benefits from your membership dollars?

I am a whiz at using google for many odd terms to find information about autism. I have yet to come across any of these so called articles that are on the fee-based sites in any search I have utilized. In fact, there are some interesting terms used on this site's search engine that readers have entered!

food for autistic children
reading about autism
whats the behavior of autism
pecs and pics

I will use these searches on this site as an example to help find material easier. There is a section at this site entitled, food items reviewed. For reading I would suggest looking under book reviews. There is an entire subject devoted to behavior issuesand the same for PECS.

There are keywords that sites use to get into searches and help people find their articles and websites. I would have never considerd these four examples as keywords for any of my articles. When looking for information you will need to be a bit more broad in your wording to find suitable matches.

While it is your money to spend how you please, I really urge families to use google to their advantage to find information that is out there free for all to peruse and benefit from. Take the time to set up a google alert on the subject of autism and get your news and media stories in one daily email to save in a folder for set times to review.

Why should anyone pay for autism resources that can be found online for free in a matter of minutes. Feel free to post in our Forum any questions you may have.

These websites tend to have a sample area for guests and visitors to read through before plunking down hard earned cash or input a credit card number. Please use caution before you consider utilizing a website that has a subscription fee. Remember the autism experts are those who have lived with autism, speak around the world on the subject and study it as well. I classify those people as Temple Grandin, Stephen Shore, Donna Williams, William Stillman, Dawn Prince-Hughes and Jerry Newport. Many of these adults have columns in autism publications and can be seen at autism conferences around the world. They are easily accessible.

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."

Then you list our website as one of the example websites.

You need to remove our website from this list immediately and send an apology for the error. This will satisfy my desire to take any further action.


If you want to review the game, go to the FREE DEMO.

Feel free to post whatever your opinion is, without any false information.

As far as to your opinion on whether or not people should charge for service, information, or products in regards to Autism...

Perhaps you should take all the advertising down surrounding your article and the link where you are selling anything directly. After all you make money off those marketing items don't you? Perhaps that leads then to biased opinions?

First, you are being very rude. Second here is the information from the article about your site



You are very angry. Take a deep breath and look at what she wrote about your site and not the other sites.

Bonnie, it just occurred to me that adults with autism are often ignored or viewed as unworthy of much to say. Many parents do not want to here that there kids can still be someone even if they still have autism.

I love reading sites by and for other adults with autism. Thank you for those links.

My 4 sites cost me about $200 a year. Each sites gets between 20,000 and 50,000 hits a month. None have ads.

Please go price what it would cost to run a HUGE Flash program, database mangement, secure log acounts on a server. A server capable of preventing account hacking and fruad Multiply your website costs in order of magnitude and you will get close to what we pay.

The add in cost to design, code, program, and test a video game is simply not even in the same realm as hosting a website.

We have invested a year and thousands of dollars of our own money to provide a fun game for kids with Autism.

Did you even read the top half of the article and what it is about?

Yes, I am sorry for being upset. However, I am being lied about. We are NOT trying to charge people for something they can get for free.

Our website even has a FREE DEMO for goodness sake!

I am an editor here at Bellaonline, I have read through these posts and read Bonnie's article. In my opinion, the article is a review of websites. Bonnie does not directly say anything misleading or untrue about your site. As and editor, when you review a site that you are not a member of, it is difficult to promote that site, which I believe is why Bonnie said she was not promoting any of the sites. Also, she said she wanted to stop the sites that were charging for information you could get for free, but again in my opinion, she was not referring to your site.

I don't believe that Bonnie did anything wrong. If I were someone looking for autism information, I would appreciate her honesty, and I would probably try your site.

"<i>Perhaps you should take all the advertising down surrounding your article and the link where you are selling anything directly. After all you make money off those marketing items don't you? Perhaps that leads then to biased opinions?"</i>

=====


The owner of BellaOnline.com is in charge of advertising on the sites. I do not benefit from anything and this is a volunteer position. I refer people to amazon and make a small percentage each month of sales. I also wrote an ebook that sells for $3.50. That is the extent of my compensation.

Ok, how many times do I have to say this? She listed our site as one she is encouraging people to by pass. She is telling people to not use our service. Why? Because as she claimed earlier in her article that we are selling information about Autism, that can be found for free.

"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."

IF WE BYPASS THEM MAYBE THEY WILL STOP CHARING PEOPLE TO LEARN ABOUT AUTISM

This is a lie. How can you people not get this? Give me a break. She is telling people to not use our service.

So what, we are supposed to give the service away for free? She herself is selling a book - should I write a review and say her book is only giving out information that could be found for free, even if it is a lie...and then tell people not to buy it?

This is Libel, and if it is not torn down promptly, MoPro Software LLC will be filing a lawsuit next week. I can assure you that Minerva, BellaOnline will be included with Miss Sayers.

I WILL not be lied about, and have people telling people not to buy my service based on complete untruths.

She can use the service, and write a review about what she thinks about our service, even if it is negative, that is fine.

She can not lie to the public about our company or service and expect that I am going to let it be.

This is pretty simple, take us off the list. Or rewrite the article.

I asked my pecs yahoo group to check this all out and got some feedback. People were turned off due to these posts and also thought the three links to your site in the article was sending people there so I deleted the stuff about your site.

Also the information about the charities was a bit vague and the price is only for a subscription at $120 a year and not the software.

I believe people made up their own mind. Oh, by the way I am a single parent to two kids on the autism spectrum, ages 11 (nonverbal) and 12 (HFA).

What is certain is that your site will not be listed as a resource for pecs at all on the autism site here at BellaOnline or at my groups online at various sites.

On behalf of MoPro Software and www.pecsplace.com I thank you for taking us off your ill written article.

If you wish to ACTUALLY review our services with a fair and balanced perspective I would be happy to provide you with a FREE review copy of the game.

Your posts nearly got you hit with a lawsuit for libel. So, I would be more concerned about that then what your friends on a forum think. After all, a judge has far more input than your forum buddies.

As far as being listed on this site I will check with the owners about advertising here. That really isn't up to you.

I'm sorry you and your pals didn't like my reponse to your article. Obviously you've never attacked work that they've done, yet. Perhaps the only good thing that comes of this is you have learned not to lie about people's hard work.

In the end, if we do not earn any of your supporters as customers that will be their kids loss. The game is AWESOME. Just ask all the customers we do have that LOVE IT.

Seriously, we all have kids with Autism and should be finding common ground instead of going OUT of our way to BASH other peoples contributions.

Perhaps I should become an Editor here...

Your posts promoting your company will be deleted at this forum as you are not welcome here. The posts here speak for themselves and people will make up their own minds. I am sure your lawyer would not be happy with the way you presented yourself and your company in this forum.

"<i>As far as being listed on this site I will check with the owners about advertising here. That really isn't up to you.

I'm sorry you and your pals didn't like my reponse to your article. Obviously you've never attacked work that they've done, yet. Perhaps the only good thing that comes of this is you have learned not to lie about people's hard work. </i>"

My yahoo group comprises of 400 people, which includes therapists, teachers, aides, parents and professionals from Mayer-Johnson and Pyramid Products.

Just as I thought. You are not interested in doing an informed, fair, and balanced story. You are simply doing a smear article.

My lawyer advised me to give you the chance to remove the libel statements first, and I did. You were smart enough to realize you made a mistake and removed us from the list.

Your behavior makes me sick. You did something wrong and instead of just simply admitting you were wrong and apologizing... you are throwing a tantrum.

How would you feel if someone trashed your book, lied about it, posted lies about you in public? How would you respond?

Based on your actions I assume this will not be settled until Minerva and BellaOnline are forced to get involved.

Just admit you were wrong and apologize and we can move past this petty bickering.

Hi Pecsplacedad. I just happened on this forum -- it doesn't matter why except in the sense of full disclosure I should mention that I have a 15 year old daughter with HFA. What does matter, to me, I guess -- is that the incredible anger expressed toward the people who run this site and others who have decided to write and either smooth things over or get past the argument seems so hostile from your side that it seems impossible to get to any place of peace. I take no stand other than to to say that it is never a bad idea to warn people who have had their children newly diagnosed to be careful of people touting miraculous cures. It's not a personal attack, I don't think, toward anyone and it sounds like you have tremendous faith in your product, so it should stand on it's own. Anyone who has been in the community for a while knows the pain and heartbreak of spending one's hard earned money on something that may not work for their particular child. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is so much heartache and fear out there right now. Money is being taken away from resource centers and school systems - - parents are told to hire their own lawyers to prove their points and they'll only get reimbursed if they can win their case and it is not getting any better. We need to be kind to each other. We need to help each other as much as possible. Am I telling you to give your product away? No. I asking you to be kind to folks who have dealt with snake oil since the moment the Dr. said 'your child has autism' and to give them a break when they ask the newbies to be careful when they are spending their, sometimes last cent on a therapy, like yours, that you believe in with all of your heart, but -- in all honestly can you provide a money back guarantee if it doesn't work for their child? Again -- I'm not even suggesting that you do that -- rather I am suggesting that when you got the diagnosis and you remembered how frightened you felt, that you consider that folks who feel it important to give folks information about finding information about PECS (not necessarily what you do, but PECS in general) that you cut them some slack. We all have a lot of work to do. The numbers increase daily, as you know. So -- promote your game and if it does what you believe it does -- then lots and lots of kids will get help. The game will end up promoting itself