Petition Asking Amazon to Ban Skyhorse Publishing Autism Book an Affront to American Ideals
NOTE: We are not linking the petition demanding that a new book from Skyhorse Publishing never see the light because we refuse to assist these selfish"neurodiversity" community members who think that only their autism (such as it may even be) or their opinion matters. KIM
"I believe that censorship is an insult to true democracy. America needs debate rather than dogma, now more than ever. Whether it's about health or politics, what we need isn't answers to our burning questions. We need the full range of information so that we can weigh the facts, the building blocks of ideas, and then make our own decisions”. Tony Lyons, Publisher, Skyhorse Publishing
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By Dara Berger
Recently a group of people have started a petition on change.org asking Amazon to pull my book and refuse to sell it. I find this interesting considering nobody has read it yet, except my publisher and a few people that were offered to review it. How to Prevent Autism will be released July 4th but is available for pre-order.
Why should anyone be able to decide what another person reads, watches or listens to? Books have become one of the last areas of written material besides blogs that are not censored, which is why they need to be protected. Books are an extension of freedom of speech. You can be offended by what someone says or writes but they still have the right to say it. You can choose not to read a book or purchase it. Readers must be able to decide for themselves what information is important for them to learn about.
Amazon banning my book would be the equivalent of modern day book burning. What would come next after that? I truly hope we never have to find out.
Many of you in the autism community know that I have spent the better part of the last year and a half pouring my heart out about the painful journey my family has had to endure in the hopes that I could help others from experiencing the pain and devastation of an autism diagnosis in their child. My book, How to Prevent Autism doesn’t just tell the story of what happened to my beautiful son. It is a compilation of extensive interviews with experts in all areas of medicine including doctors, scientists, nurses, physician assistant and nutritionists. All these practitioners may have different degrees in healthcare but they are all united in one single concept that the risks of autism can be minimized if not prevented. Each one of them offer helpful strategies to prevent what is a devastating illness to many children, especially the ones that never gain the ability to speak, have self injurious behaviors, lack the social skills to make friends, cannot perform basic self-care skills and are not able to go anywhere without a special aide. Autism is a complex illness and not everyone’s experience is the same, which is exactly why they refer to it as a spectrum disorder.
Dara Berger
Author and Documentary Filmmaker
Dara Berger is the author of the book titled “How to Prevent Autism”. She is also a documentary filmmaker who is currently working on a film about how to prevent chronic illness in children. Dara served as a Board Member and Co-Chair of the Programming Committee for the National Autism Association New York Metro Chapter for six years. She began her career as a news reporter/producer for a local nightly news program, and subsequently founded her own documentary film production company, Say It Out Loud Productions, Inc. to produce films on meaningful issues. She has recently completed the Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s health coach certificate program, which she hopes to use to help other families prevent chronic illness and autism in their children.
I hope your book is not "banned."
I also hope your publisher has paid you what you are worth. Reporting and writing are not valued these days by all too many. We are expected to give it away for free.
Posted by: Barbara Fischkin | May 29, 2017 at 12:24 AM
One can only hope that this will cause even more people to read it. Lest we not forget:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
Dara, you did what they fear most:
"if you want to change the world, pick up a pen and write."- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted by: Mark Wax | May 28, 2017 at 02:11 PM
Although my son is now 22 and has Developmental Coordination Disorder rather than pure ASD, I so look forward to your book! Recently, I have reviewed newer studies on DCD and it speaks to a timeframe of manifestation of the 9 month range. Now, my son had a reaction to his DPT shots at 2 months but I think a real contributing factor is all of the 'stuff' we parents purchase that remove our kiddos from the floor which have them crawl less. I think every baby swing, jolly jumper, bouncer or other contraption that restricts crawling and the development of the CNS should be banned. A baby needs to be on all fours to develop properly. (exceptions include safe travel, bathing, etc
Posted by: Janice Scott | May 28, 2017 at 01:41 PM
"Recently a group of people have started a petition on change.org asking Amazon to pull my book and refuse to sell it. I find this interesting considering nobody has read it yet, except my publisher and a few people that were offered to review it. How to Prevent Autism will be released July 4th but is available for pre-order."
Cheer up Dara when you get flack for no discernible reason it usually means you are over the target. God's speed.
"nobody has read it yet, except my publisher and a few people that were offered to review it."
Well here you are incorrect. NSA has read it and passed it HHS, CDC and god only knows who. I would guess the group organizing this attempted ban has read it and plotted their campaign around it.
Posted by: Lou | May 28, 2017 at 01:49 AM
And it is right next to the petition to demand a veggie burger at In n' Out Burger. Who knew?
Posted by: Wayne Rohde | May 28, 2017 at 01:34 AM
Now I want a copy!
Posted by: Stacey | May 27, 2017 at 06:00 PM
I have changed my position and generally neurodiversity proponents regarding autism are completely misinformed and usually aspects of a political mindset.,
Posted by: Visitor | May 27, 2017 at 04:35 PM
The first book to go though a similar ban attempt ... was the Bible.
As the leaders at the time began to think
that such information might be better off to be just available for the elite...
Posted by: go Trump | May 27, 2017 at 02:27 PM
Hahaha!! What a bunch of petulant idiots. Thanks for the free publicity for the book. I can't think of one thing that makes a book more enticing than having it banned.
Posted by: Kristine | May 27, 2017 at 02:09 PM
I hope it sells well .No doubt the dumber everyone is as in the quote
"“Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.”
Just what Pharma wants!
Pharma for Prison
MMR RIP
Posted by: angusfiles | May 27, 2017 at 01:49 PM
All the most important books have faced being banned! That's something that people who call for the banning of books should maybe Google; may clue them into how backward and behind the times they are. Censorship and propaganda are tools of fascists, so is exploitation. The neurologically diverse may be too socially unaware to realize they are being exploited.
Thank you so much Ms Berger for all you do!
Posted by: annie | May 27, 2017 at 12:32 PM
Haha all the petitions and banning of free speech is just making normal everyday people more suspicious and frustrated. It is destined to fail and it's all symptomatic of why/how Trump won.
Posted by: Reader | May 27, 2017 at 11:36 AM
That petition is destined to fail.
Posted by: Grace Green | May 27, 2017 at 10:48 AM
POSSIBLY the petition was in fact started to get more publicity for the book. I don't know.
But my question is *WHY* do "they" oppose the book?
What does the book *SAY*, that makes folks want to ban it....????....
I haven't yet found the petition on "change.org", but on the Amazon page for the book, it looks like there's several OTHER books that would be more objectionable....
Can somebody explain, please....????....
Thank-you! ~Bill./
Posted by: Bill | May 27, 2017 at 10:00 AM
Congratulations on the upcoming launch of your book -- I'm eager to get my copy of it! And perhaps we should actually be thanking those neurodiversity movement folks for this? They're doing nothing but giving you free publicity with this nonsensical petition of theirs, as if they have the right to choose what the REST of the population can and can't read SMDH . You can't buy this kind of exposure at any price.
Posted by: Double-whammy vaccine-induced autism & type-1 diabetes THANKS FOR EVERYTHING CDC LIARS | May 27, 2017 at 08:42 AM
Congratulations Dara and best of luck with the book's launch in July. Amazon would do best to ignore the petition and support one's freedom to choose what to read. I pre-ordered a while back and expect Amazon to honor my pre-order. So looking forward to reading your book!
Posted by: Norene | May 27, 2017 at 08:11 AM