Autistic genius novelist woos the literary world with novel composed using "Facilitated Communication"

[Darat]

Woody Brown hasn't been attacked by anyone.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

As I said earlier, it is quite likely that between ADA and HIPPA regulations, they had little choice but to accept what the mother claimed and had to go along with the charade to avoid fines or lawsuits or accusations of discrimination.

It was likely that they were a lot more knowledgeable about the truth and cynically decided to ignore it because "college helps autistic man develops his genius" is a lot more lucrative than "college exposes mothe abusing her sutistic son for financial gain".

There is no law, honestly written which will demand that you further a destructive and criminal lie; which is what you're alleging here.

 

[Skeptical Greg]

And now, for something completely different.

 

[theprestige]

But if he was awarded a PhD and appointed as a professor then there is nothing fake about that either. [...]

Woody Brown has a Master's in English from Stanford and now he is doing a Creative Writing doctorate.

In both cases, you keep appealing to their academic credentials as evidence of merit.

Given the circumstances of each of these degrees and appointments, the overall effect is to degrade the reputation and value of the academic credentials, not bolster the reputation of the recipients.

That Columbia awarded a PhD and a professorship to Arday beclowns Columbia. It doesn't elevate Arday.

That Stanford awarded a Master's to Brown similarly beclowns Stanford, without elevating Brown.

Deal with it.

 

[catsmate]

It was likely that they were a lot more knowledgeable about the truth and cynically decided to ignore it because "college helps autistic man develops his genius" is a lot more lucrative than "college exposes mothe abusing her sutistic son for financial gain".

There is no law, honestly written which will demand that you further a destructive and criminal lie; which is what you're alleging here.

I am also rather suspicious of the parents.

 

[Vixen]

I am also rather suspicious of the parents.

Why are you 'suspicious of the parents'?

 

[steenkh]

Why are you 'suspicious of the parents'?

Have you followed this thread at all?

 

[Vixen]

Having stopped to think about the Woody Brown situation, I've come to the conclusion that the problem lies with his mom and with Stanford, not with him or with me. I'm sure if you stop to think about it, you'll reach the same conclusion.

That tells us more about you than about him, Stanford or her.

 

[catsmate]

Fraud is monetary or pecuniary gain by intent to deceive. You don't know whether Arday was ever in a car crash or not. You are just assuming he's lying, and even if he was, it doesn't count as fraud. Before laying into someone because you don't believe their story, perhaps stop to think whether the problem lies with you, not them.

Self-evidently I was not referring to Arday.

 

[catsmate]

Why are you 'suspicious of the parents'?

Sigh. Try and think for yourself.

 

[theprestige]

That tells us more about you than about him, Stanford or her.

What's your problem? You said we should stop to think about the situation. I told you I had done that.

What did you want me to say? That I hadn't thought about the situation? That I'd thought about the situation and reached the conclusion you wanted me to reach? That I'd thought about the situation and reached the conclusion that Woody is the problem?

What's your rationale for asking people to stop and think before reaching a conclusion, and then ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ on people for doing exactly what you've asked them to do?

It seems to me you don't want us to stop and think about the situation at all. It seems to me you want us to stop thinking, and accept your conclusions about the situation. It's exactly because I've stopped to think about the situation, that I have come to disagree with every single one of your conclusions.

Maybe I'm not the one who needs to stop and think, here.

 

[jadebox]

There is no law, honestly written which will demand that you further a destructive and criminal lie; which is what you're alleging here.

Even if that was true, that doesn't mean that the universities wouldn't want to avoid a lawsuit or accusations of discrimination.

 

[Blue Mountain]

I will believe that Woody Brown independently got his university degree and wrote his book only when a series of blinded trials shows definitively his mother is communicating his thoughts and not her own. My understanding is to date his mother has refused to do such testing.

 

[Armitage72]

I will believe that Woody Brown independently got his university degree and wrote his book only when a series of blinded trials shows definitively his mother is communicating his thoughts and not her own. My understanding is to date his mother has refused to do such testing.

One of the Law & Order shows had an autistic teen communicating with facilitated communication through his mother. She ended up being in deep denial, with no malicious intent, desperate to connect with her son, genuinely believing she had a relationship with him, and was emotionally crushed when she was shown otherwise.

"Of course she's upset. We just showed her she's spent the last five years talking to herself."

 

[Vixen]

I am now waiting for the day when Woody Brown gets suicided by society for being a 'flake' as one poster so charmingly labels an autistic person.

 

[zooterkin]

I am now waiting for the day when Woody Brown gets suicided by society for being a 'flake' as one poster so charmingly labels an autistic person.

What bizarre and disturbing fantasies you have.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

I am now waiting for the day when Woody Brown gets suicided by society for being a 'flake' as one poster so charmingly labels an autistic person.

What is 'suicided by society' even supposed to mean?

 

[Vixen]

What is 'suicided by society' even supposed to mean?

It's a philosophical concept by French philosopher Antonin Artaud. You saw what happened to Jason Arday, an example of an autistic child who managed to break through barriers to earn his PhD.

"Van Gogh, The Man Suicided by Society" (Van Gogh le suicidé de la société) is a famous 1947 essay by French writer and artist Antonin Artaud. Artaud argues that painter Vincent Van Gogh was not truly mad, but rather destroyed by a conformist society that rejects anyone who does not fit its norms. [1, 2]

 

[angrysoba]

I am now waiting for the day when Woody Brown gets suicided by society for being a 'flake' as one poster so charmingly labels an autistic person.

The key point here, as it relates to Arday, is that YOU used Arday as an example of someone who overcame non-verbal autism to do great things with the suggestion that if Arday did it then Brown could have done it too.

The problem with your analogy, despite being disanalogous from the start - as was pointed out at the time, was that most of Arday's claims were demonstrably false.

You have not only done nothing to further the claim that Woody Brown probably is a non-verbal genius writer and academic, you have set back your cause by relying on a fraud.

Personally, I think what happened to Arday and Brown is awful, and I am really sorry to hear about Arday's presumed suicide. I think that many of the people making overly elaborate claims either uncritically accepting those by vulnerable people or making them on their behalf are the people who really need to look in the mirror!

By trying to admonish others by saying, "Believe him or he dies!" you are engaging in emotional blackmail.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

One of the Law & Order shows had an autistic teen communicating with facilitated communication through his mother. She ended up being in deep denial, with no malicious intent, desperate to connect with her son, genuinely believing she had a relationship with him, and was emotionally crushed when she was shown otherwise.

"Of course she's upset. We just showed her she's spent the last five years talking to herself."

Probably the only time that show was reality based.