"Then it seems we need to turn up the volume (of mail).
Is there any way we could generate a lot of mail, or email?"

Hi Clay,

I have pondered this, but e-petitions have been found to produce little, if any, effect on policy, since they can easily be forged. Petitions on paper are harder to ignore but not always likely to succeed in their purpose.

What we need, really, is to find journalists who are sympathetic to our cause, or to get into writing our own op-eds, and the way to do this is clearly outlined on autistics.org, if Amanda would oblige by putting the URL for it here (since I have forgotten it).

I respond to things in the BMJ whenever I can, because that allows rapid responses to go in. I am also associate editor of Good Autism Practice. Maybe that could come in useful.

try:
http://institute.autistics.org/


and:
http://www.press-release-writing.com/

Kiitos Minna.

"ole hyva" (was that really the correct response for 'tahnk you', and why would it really translate to 'be good'? )

mutta,
ei se vaikea ollut.
:)

minna

in response to:

"What we need, really, is to find journalists who are sympathetic to our cause,"

was speaking at a conference in june,
where heard this reported speak...
he does investigative reporting for the toronto star
news paper.
his name is kevin donovan.

we spoke after the conference,
and he said he was interested in learning about Hasit.
(a different issue then this thread, but, that is what we spoke about).


if he is interested in learning about Hasit, and
if he does stories to disclose abuses of developmentally disabled persons...
and did investigating in another matter (one which he reported on eventually, in a "special report" )
to help a woman find her own home, and out of the hospital.
then maybe...
this man is someone who is interested in this also.



will search out his name and info....

minna

ok,
fund something useful (hopefully? maybe?)


these are the names of 6 articles kevin donovan wrote:

it was a series of six articles by the Toronto Star with the title "Nowhere to Go" .

"Oct. 27

Failing Our Most Vulnerable

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe..._pagepath=News/News



Trapped: For 10 years, Arlene Kennedy was forced to call a psychiatric ward home

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe..._pagepath=Life/News



Portraits of courage

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe..._pagepath=News/News

Oct. 28
Adults Beaten in Group Homes

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ws&col=968793972154


Beaten bloody for bed-wetting

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...gepath=News/Ontario

Oct. 29
Parents cajole for dollars



Oct. 30
Better standard of care urged for disabled"



kevin spoke specifically about this article he wrote;

Trapped: For 10 years, Arlene Kennedy was forced to call a psychiatric ward home

to help Arlene get a home.
this is why, thought, he might care.

Kevin Donovan can be reached at 416-869-4425(still looking for email)

minna

Edited by author 07-28-2004 12:14 AM
think this is it.

kevin donovan.
the only reporter that have spoken with
who can have hope that would do a good story,
if anyone did one at all (in large national newspapers).


contact info:
Kevin Donovan can be reached at 416-869-4425

kdonova@thestar.ca


"Most Star staff members, including reporters, editors, columnists and photographers, can be reached by email. In most cases the email address follows this formula (all lower case): first initial + first six letters of last name@thestar.ca. "


also :

"Send your contribution to Letters to the Editor via email to lettertoed@thestar.ca; via fax to 416-869-4322; or by mail to One Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E6. Letters must include full name, address and all phone numbers of sender (daytime, evening and cellphone). Street names and phone numbers will not be published. We reserve the right to edit letters, which typically run 50-300 words. "

minna-done now.
by

*Minna...

> "ole hyva" (was that really the correct response for 'tahnk you', and why would it really translate to 'be good'? )

* It was indeed the correct response... I know that very few keyboards outside of Europe have the "ä/Ä, ö/Ö, å/Å" keys... ;) And as for why the response to "a (unit of) gratitude" would be "be good"... even the Nordic Finns don't know the answer to that one!

> mutta,

* :)

> ei se vaikea ollut.

:D

> :)

* I saw a documentary about the American Finns the other evening.... narrated by Martin Sheen. Very interesting.

>minna

* David

"* I saw a documentary about the American Finns the other evening.... narrated by Martin Sheen. Very interesting."

ooh, here we never get to see those shows.
(strangely).
would have liked to see such a show.

because, when we arrived from Finland, many of these "american finns" used to say silly words...
such as putting 'jammia' on 'toastia'; (jam on toast), and
putting out the 'garpetsia' (which is a bit more difficult to translate, but is those 'canadian finns' way pf pronounciantion of the word garbage, and adding (what they called a) 'finnish ending' to that word....

ofcourse there were many other customs that the 'canadian finns' had, that we never had seen in Finland,
(so, would have liked to see such a show on tv)


do not know anything about the american finns.
if they are like the canadian finns here were when first met them in 1976.


do not even know if they (american Finns) speak Finnish the same way as in Finland.
the canadian finns certainly did not...


learned to speak Finnish in Finland as a child....
before moving to Canada in Sept. 1976 (age 10).

ofcourse, have not had the chance to speak, read or write Finnish for over 24 yrs.

so therefore;
en oikeen hyvin osaa kirjoittaa Suomea, ja varmaan puhun viela huonommin.
mutta voihan se olla myos etta,
jos vain kirjottaisin jonkun kanssa,
voisin vaikka muistaa enemman Suomea kun luulenkaan.

(so therefore:
do not write Finnish well, and certainly speak even worse.
but it is possible also that if just wrote with someone, could remember more Finnish then think)

as for "Nordic Finns", do not know much about the varieties of Finns.
for minna's personal 'lineage' (whatever that means) am Saami (some English speaking people call us Laplanders)and Finnish on the mother's side, and Native on the fathers side.



minna-wonders who is martin sheen?

Edited by author 07-29-2004 09:35 AM
Hi Michelle
The reply from S.Russell to your e-mail to Prime Minister Paul Martin is bitterly disappointing. It reads like the standard reply sent to all correspondence sent to the Prime Minister and makes me wonder if he read your e-mail.
The following sentences by S. Russell :- "Please be assured that the statements you made have been carefully reviewed." and "I am certain that the Ministers will give your views every consideration." need to be translated into their real meanings.

I'm not too happy about this either, Philip, but I'm used to this. Someone might eventually notice that I don't give up. In the meantime, there will continue to be developments.

As far as the form letter is concerned, it is regardless a letter on behalf of the Prime Minister. If it is phony, it is not a reflection on me, and the empty statements made are available to stand as accurate or fall as hypocrisy.

Me...

>Apparently the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.

>In the past they have been very lax in replying to Michelle's letters adequately.

>I'd love not to be cynical.

And when the reply came to Michelle's letter...

I do so wish I didn't have to be cynical. But I have to.

Like you said, Michelle, the fact of the letter's being phony/form/etc is no reflection on you. It IS a reflection on the Government in Canada, though, and it may be for all autistics who can be arsed to maybe write to the Canadian Government (as well as our own national Governments) about the issues raised when society rejects ony given sector within it for any illogical reason.

AAaaah!! 'Consideration' BACK, BACK!

Honestly, it's the worst thing the government can give you.

"The nine most terrifying words in the English langauge are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'."- Ronald Reagan

If I were Canadian this is the letter I would write to the Prime Minister in answer to the reply to Michelle's letter to him.
Dear Prime Minister,
I am writing to you to express my dissatisfaction with the inadequate reply by your Executive Correspondence Officer to Michelle Dawson's letter to you of the 22nd July.
Ms. Dawson took the time and effort to inform you at considerable length about the denigration and exclusion of autistic people in Canada. Cabinet Ministers have replied to her letters with condescension, disrespect and no attempt to seriously address the concerns she raised.
She wrote to you because she wanted you to be aware of the real situation of autistic Canadians. She expected and is entitled to receive a reply from you personally, which genuinely engages with the important issues she has brought to your attention.
She wrote:
"I am waiting for someone in a leadership position to say one positive, accurate word about autistic people and to acknowledge our great contributions to Canada. I am waiting for someone in a leadership position to protest when prejudicial statements are made about autistic people and our worth as autistics is denied. I have been waiting all my life."
Not only is Ms. Dawson still waiting, nor only autistic Canadians, but all Canadians who believe in and are committed to inclusion of all citizens, human rights, justice and truth.
Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely
Philip Ashton
However it may be the convention and practice that correspondence sent to the Prime Minister which raises issues which fall under the jurisdiction of particular cabinet ministers is forwarded to the appropriate minister for reply. But almost all such correspondence would be about matters which concern particular government departments. Also we don't know what Mr. Martin said in any covering notes he sent to the Ministers of Social Development and of Health.
Therefore I am undecided about sending my hypothetical letter to the Prime Minister. I believe he should have replied personally to you,Michelle; but either he may have felt obliged by constitutional convention to forward your letters to letters to the Ministers of Social Development and of Health, or he wanted to avoid answering your letter.

Edited by author 07-30-2004 03:11 PM
That's a great letter, Philip. I hope you send it if you want to.

The Prime Minister can comment on what he wants, within federal jurisdiction--so long as he's made aware of the problem. That is why I used the example of Myriam Bedard. Mr Martin not only commented on Jean Pelletier's inappropriate remarks, Mr Pelletier (who was in charge of a Crown Corporation) was immediately fired. Anyone believing the PM was not behind this would be naive.

That just means that there is latitude, for example, when there is overt misconduct in the government's vicinity.

This was one basis of my appeal to the PM for leadership. There are other precedents also. For example, in the SARS crisis, former Prime Minister Jean Chretien made a point of going to Chinatown in Toronto to have a restaurant meal. This was all over the news. This was to counter the idea that Chinese people were somehow responsible for SARS and must be shunned--a kind of idea which is damaging and dangerous to have sustained in society.

Those were two of the precedents I was thinking of. In both, there was a swift recognition that an absence of leadership from the PM would have serious consequences for the government and society. What's interesting is that the vilification of autistics has had such a huge impact on Canada as a whole, and not just because of the legal cases. And so far, no leadership in sight.

Edited by author 07-31-2004 10:25 AM
Hi Michelle
Thank you for your appreciative comment about my hypothetical letter to the Prime Minister, and for your information about his authority. If I send my letter I will add that I am a British autistic.
The letter from the Executive Correspondence Officer to you states that "the statements you made have been carefully reviewed." I would have been more hopeful if he/she had used the future tense. But I don't know to what extent he/she was writing on his/her own authority or if it is the Prime Minister's exact wording. But I will not waste time trying to interpret what that letter really means.
I am hopeful that the Prime Minister will send you a substantive reply to your letter, although I am less hopeful that he will show the leadership we want.