Silberman's Neurotribes a major motion picture?

In the some news is terrible news department, Gadfly has just learned that Steve Silberman's book  Neurotribes will very possibly be made into a motion pictureI'm not sure, but I think (and hope) that this is not definite yet, and the book has been optioned, but a film is still not a done deal. This is a journalist who omitted portions of Kanner's statements that appeared in the primary source to change the meaning. He also stated that Kanner excluded patients who had seizures from an autism diagnosis to make the claim that this was part of the reason of the great rise in autism diagnoses.  This is despite the fact that at least one of Kanner's eleven original cases did in fact have a seizure disorder. This is an individual who has justified the analogy between people who want a cure for autism with eugenicists and nazis.  This is someone who has stated that disability is part of the human experience and we all become  diaper wearers at some point.  He has compared autism with homosexuality.  When asked about people who want to cure autism, he compared it to his parents taking him to a psychotherapist when he came out gay as a teenager to cure him of his homosexuality.

When the ND's bullied William Shatner on twitter a couple of months ago, he lead the pack of people who said that the NDs were the good guys.  These included persons who called Shatner a human shit stain and told him to shut the fuck up, and Ari Ne'eman's dishonest and abusive tweet that Shatner was yelling at autistic people.  He was appalled when Shatner had the temerity and chutzpah to block him on twitter.  Silberman blocked me on twitter when I politely told him and Thomas Armstrong they had never been in special ed and did not know anything about it.  Silberman loves to dish it out but he can't take it.

He has compared the autistic brain to the non-autistic brain to a windows vs. linux operating system.

He claimed Autism Speaks not having board members of the spectrum was like the NAACP not allowing any blacks in.


Though I purchased Silberman's book on kindle and read it, I will not be seeing this movie if it is made.  I urge anyone who cares about autistic people and their families and the suffering they have to endure that this man has made a mockery of to boycott this movie and urge people to do so. 

When journalist Erika Hayasaki wanted to write a profile about me and Newsweek was interested in publishing it, she interviewed neurodiversity activist Nick Walker in order to achieve balance in the article.  Nick Walker broadcast this news to some of the nastiest people in the ND movement and they contacted Erika en masse (and probably Newsweek also) urging them not to publish the article about me.  Fortunately, this was one of the few times the NDs failed at one of their crusades.  However, Newsweek apparently wanted to compromise with the hate mongers.  The headline of the print article was "A hater's guide to self-hating", something many NDs have been labeling me as for the last seventeen years or so.

I'm going to try to possibly return the favor and see if there isn't someone at Paramount that I can contact and see if I can put a stop to this project.  There is now a change.org petition to Paramount Pictures urging them not to produce this movie  
sign here
I guess I will have to try to have a stiff upper lip and not let this ruin, my day, my week, or possibly the next few years that it might take to develop this project to its completion.


Addendum: For anyone interested in contacting Paramount about this movie, their number is (323) 956-5000 and mention the movie and the name Elizabeth Raposo.  They took my name, number, and complaint and said they'd have someone get back to me, but I won't hold my breath.  I also called Lorne Michaels' office at (310) 746-0300 and they said they would tell him, but I doubt they will, but these are the numbers to complain if you're interested in doing so.