R. Kelly"s Autistic Fan"s Family Preparing Lawsuit

R. Kelly royally screwed up his apology for making fun of an autistic fan and that’s why the family’s planning to sue his rude ass. TMZ broke the story … Kelly bullied 27-year-old Lenny Felix into singing “I Believe I Can Fly” and then…

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R. Kelly Accuses Autistic Fan of "Smoking Percocet"

R. Kelly bullied an autistic fan into singing one of his songs, then ridiculed him and accused him of being high on Percocet — now the singer might have a lawsuit on his hands. Lenny Felix was out in Hollywood when he ran into Kelly…

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Katie Price: Maybe I"ll Hire a Prostitute for My Autistic 15-Year-Old!

In a talk show appearance, television personality and former model Katie Price suggested that she"d consider hiring a sex worker for her autistic son, who is currently only fifteen.

There is so much to unpackage here. Because there"s so much wrong, here.

We have the video for you, below, with full context — but no amount of context could make this anything but controversial.

But first, here"s what"s going on.

Katie Price is a television personality these days, but she used to be one of those "top-heavy" models, and she"d model topless.

Essentially, she made millions off of her megaboobs.

She has three children.

Her son, Harvey, is fifteen.

Harvey is on the autistic spectrum.

While there are plenty of autistic folks with basically zero issues in a neurotypical-dominated society, there are some people with autism who need daily assistance to go about their lives.

Harvey, at least for now, needs a fair amount of accommodation, though part of that is because he was born blind.

And Harvey also has Prader-Willi syndrome, which can have a few symptoms such as impaired brain-function — but the primary symptom is an insatiable appetite that can easily lead to massive weight gain.

Katie Price appeared on a talk show, Loose Women, along with a woman who has an adult autistic son and has written a book about her experience as his mother.

The woman"s son also appeared on the show and, honestly, we thought that he did an ample job of speaking for himself and we"d rather have just heard from him.

That woman shared a story about how she"d considered hiring a sex worker for her son when was in his early 20s.

As she tells it, she even drove into what she calls a "red light district," only to get cold feet.

Her son ended up meeting a young woman on his own and dating her — he was just awkward at the time.

(We get the feeling that his mother was panicking that her son would be alone forever, and honestly that whole anecdote is just a huge red flag about the mom)

Katie Price jumps in with her own story, based on Harvey having entered puberty and something that Katie Price"s husband (for now) had suggested:

"Kieran said, ‘Shall we get him a prostitute when he turns 18?’ But I said, ‘But that’s my little Harvey and I don’t want him to do that!’ What do I do? Do I leave it? Or do I let him experience it?"

You"ll see that and the chatter in response in the video below.

This is hardly the first time that Katie Price has made controversial statements on parenting, but still.

But we need to unpack these issues.

Okay, first of all, because this is the most important thing to address:

It"s pretty screwed up that these women seem very content to just talk about autistic folks like they"re wild animals that sometimes end up in people"s houses.

People who have autism are people.

They exist on a very wide and varied spectrum of abilities and experiences.

Television and film tend to portray autistic people as either nonverbal robots "who might be dangerous" or as slightly shy white men who are really, really good at solving crimes.

If you want a better glimpse at some positive and frankly realistic portrayals of an autistic adult, maybe look at Abed Nadir on Community.

Eddie Redmayne"s portrayal of Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was essentially just a male, magical version of Temple Grandin, a famous autistic woman who advocates for livestock welfare and has changed industry standards in the process.

These examples might serve people better than listening to the horror stories of Mommy Bloggers.

Most of the parents in that category are more interested in exploiting their family stories for profit than giving an honest representation of people on the autistic spectrum.

It"s no wonder that this episode proved to be so controversial, right?

A lot of the controversy, however, wasn"t centered upon the weird fetishization of "autism moms."

No, a lot of the Twitter backlash was about the idea of hiring a sex worker.

Not because Harvey is disabled or still a minor or a real person who may or may not want to have sex in a few years, regardless of what his parents assume.

But because there are still people, many of them well-meaning, who believe that sex work is inherently bad.

That"s really no surprise — just think of the ridiculous freakout over Teen Vogue"s anal sex guide.

In this case, though, only some of the people who rail against sex work are just people who are generally tightly wound about sex.

Some people who probably think of themselves as sex-positive act as though all sex work is the same thing as sex trafficking.

Not even a little.

It is absolutely true that sometimes women are kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery in an operation that resembles voluntary sex work.

Except for the voluntary part.

That does not make all sex work involuntary or abusive or anything else.

Like, we know that Qatar has used slave labor in construction.

That does not mean that all construction workers are slaves.

Not all sex workers are desperate to get into a different line of work, either.

Not all porn stars want to be actors and not all escorts dream of a white picket fence.

People who rail against sex work are so often shouting over the voices of actual sex workers.

So a lot of ire was misplaced, basically.

Katie Price, to be fair, is far from the worst offender here.

She only brought this up because the other mom had already shared her story.

But unless it"s something that Harvey actually says that he wants when he"s an adult, she shouldn"t even consider it.

Hopefully the backlash, misguided as much of it might be, will make that clear.

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Rosie O"Donnell Wonders If Barron Trump is Autistic

We have no doubt that Rosie O’Donnell is going through a rough period these days.

Think you’re upset that Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States?

Imagine being O’Donnell, who has feuded endlessly with the real estate mogul and who has often been on the receiving end of his gender-shaming and fat-shaming insults.

It can’t be fun.

But that’s no excuse for the random and inappropriate rant Rosie went last week.

Via Twitter, O’Donnell shared a seven-minute video that was comprised clips from the Presidential debates, the Republican National Convention and Trump’s acceptance speech.

These pieces of footage featured 10-year old Barron exhibiting behaviors that the video noted might be signs of autism.

“Barron Trump Autistic?” Rosie wrote along with the video. “If so – what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic.”

We suppose that would be true, if Barron Trump actually had autism.

But there’s no proof that he does and no real reason to believe that he does…. and it certainly isn’t O’Donnell’s place to wildly wonder in public about such things.

In response to the backlash she understandably received over this video and its affiliated question, O’Donnell wrote a poem.

No, really, that’s how she often rolls. She wrote a poem.

It was shared on her website this past Saturday and it revealed that her three-and-a-half year old daughter, Dakota, was diagnosed with high functioning autism in September.

As a result, Rosie has immersed herself in literature to try to learn more about the condition.

This is what the poem said:

as we try to grab onto / anything to keep us standing / the knowledge we r not alone / there r others living this too. when i saw the anti bullying video / that mentioned barron / it spoke to the symptoms many ASD kids have / it was educational and informational.

O’Donnell went on to emphasize that she had responded to the speculation because she believed that if it were true that Barron suffered from the condition, it “would help so much with the autism epidemic,” adding:

1 in 55 kids is an epidemic / donald and i agree on that / and not much else. i feel he is a clear and present danger / but this autism subject — / had nothing to do with donald / though i admit / he does trigger me in all ways.

He triggers a lot of people in all ways.

But no one else is accusing his son of having a disease. Sheesh, Rosie.

In conclusion, the former View panelists said that she has “no ill will for his children” and that, if anything, her anger remains directed toward President-Elect Trump, who she made a point of calling a “madman who thinks OUR country is his.”

You may agree or disagree with that statement certainly.

But as long as Rosie’s focus is on Donald and not on Barron, O’Donnell won’t get in much more trouble.

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Kate Middleton Comforts Mother of Autistic Boy, Reminds Us That She"s Awesome

The UK doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, as it would be sort of weird to commemorate the day a bunch of religious fanatics fled their shores in a rickety boat just to crash into a rock a few hundred miles north of their destination two months later.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t pout out some gravy for out brother Brits who shan’t be enjoying their own four-day weekend.

And while we’re at it, let’s take some time to offer thanks for the precious gift that is Kate Middleton.

While the rumors that Kate is pregnant with baby number three are almost certainly bogus, she gives us plenty to be grateful for everyday.

Though her actual coronation may still be some time off, she still gives us plenty of reason to shout, “Yaaaaas, queen!”

Take Kate’s actions at a recent children’s charity event in London, for example.

Witnesses say a woman named Ceri Knapton was moved to tears while listening to her 13-year-old son, Ethan, describe how he uses his own struggles with Autism and Asperger Syndrome to raise awareness and educate others.

“I vowed that I wouldn’t cry but was just overcome listening to Ethan,” Knapton told reporters afterward.

“The Duchess just leaned over and said to me ‘I’ve got to give you a hug as a mum.’ I couldn’t believe it. It was such a kind gesture.”

Yes, you might not know this, but the royals don’t have a reputation for being the most sentimental, approachable lot.

But Kate by all accounts, Kate seemed genuinely moved as she embraced the Knaptons and encouraged them to continue sharing their stories.

“It was a very difficult time but my diagnosis helped me to cope with what I was experiencing,” Ethan said.

“I decided that I wanted to speak out about it.There is no point in sitting back. I’d rather stand up and make a difference.”

Sources say Kate even spoke a bit about her own family, informing those in attendance that Prince George is into dinosaurs these days, with the T-rex being his favorite.

Sadly, she didn’t offer any new details about Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan Markle.

Hey, it’s a touching story, but we’re still a gossip site, ya know?

View Slideshow: Kate Middleton: 15 Photos of Iconic Hair Porn

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Travis Rudolph: FSU Star Eats Lunch With Lonely Autistic Student

We have good news.  

Your faith in humanity will be restored immediately upon reading this article.

Florida State University"s football team visited a local middle school on August 30th, and during lunch, wide receiver Travis Rudolph saw one student eating lunch on his own.

Rudolph sat down across from the boy, who has autism, and the two chatted while they enjoyed their lunch together.

The boy"s mother, Leah Paske didn"t know that this viral photo included her son until a friend sent it to her.

Paske shared the photo on Facebook, along with a tearjerker of a message.

"A friend of mine sent this beautiful picture to me today and when I saw it with the caption "Travis Rudolph is eating lunch with your son." I replied "who is that?" He said "FSU football player" then I had tears streaming down my face," she wrote.

"Travis Rudolph, a wide receiver at Florida State, and several other FSU players visited my sons school today.

"I"m not sure what exactly made this incredibly kind man share a lunch table with my son, but I"m happy to say that it will not soon be forgotten." 

Paske said she worries about her son on a daily basis and whether or not he"s eating lunch alone, but yesterday was different.

"This is one day I didn"t have to worry if my sweet boy ate lunch alone, because he sat across from someone who is a hero in many eyes.

"Travis Rudolph thank you so much, you made this momma exceedingly happy, and have made us fans for life!"

Reporters asked Rudolph what prompted him to go sit with the boy, and the West Palm Beach native"s answer was nothing short of endearing.

Rudolph said he saw him sitting there, so he grabbed some pizza and asked if he could sit down.

"He said, "sure, why not,"" Rudolph told reporters.

"I just felt like we had a great conversation.

"I was just a kid not too long ago and I remember what the impact was of guys that played in college and in the NFL coming back to us," he continued.

"So I feel like maybe I can change someone"s life or I can make someone a better person or make someone want to be great or be like me, or even better."

It sounds trite, but it"s pretty incredible what a simple act of kindness can do.  

Only Snow White Can Make This Autistic Boy Smile

It’s easy to become a cynic when you work in the world of celebrity gossip.

So we"d just like to take a moment and give thanks to a two-year old boy named Jackson.

The son of photographer Amanda Coley, this infant has a form of Autism that causes him to be non-verbal and to be very shy around strangers.

Most strangers, that is. 

But not one stranger in particular.

Coley captured footage of Jackson meeting Snow White during a family trip to Walt Disney World in Florida and the video has gone viral due to the child"s amazing reaction to this iconic princess.

Unable to stop smiling while in the presence of this character, Jackson even rests his head on her lap at one point.

It"s enough to turn even the hardest cynic into a giant bowl of mush.

“If he thinks I am leaving him with those strangers he will get very upset and cry,” Coley told The Huffington Post of Jackson, adding of her son:

“Most times he just ignores them and runs away.”

Jackson had a similar reaction to other Disney characters at the park… but not to Snow White.

“He was so at ease. We had never witnessed this before … I missed several photos because my eyes were full of tears,” Coley says.

“It was so amazing to have him react in this way to somebody and to see him smile and gaze at her. I have never seen him do this to anyone outside of his brothers, his dad and myself.”

And you can see here how the woman portraying Snow White understood, at some level, just how special this experience actually was for the child.

“She has no idea how much that actually meant to us that she engaged in that way,” Amanda told the Orlando Sentinel.

“It was like she just had that sense that [Jackson] needed that.”

Amazing. Watch for yourself and prepare to cry in 3… 2… 1…

Adele Sings Duet with Autistic Fan Because She"s Adele

Really, you would like more evidence that Adele may be the greatest person alive?

It wasn"t enough that she recently helped a fan propose to another fan in concert?

Or that she surprised a sick young fan by showing up at her bedside?

Okay, fine. How about the following news item in that case?

Video has gone viral of Adele performing at Manchester Arena earlier this month and inviting a 12-year old named Emily Tammam up on stage with her for a duet of “Someone Like You.”

Emily is Autistic and has made it known that Adele is her favorite artist.

According to the Manchester Evening News, Emily – who also has ADHD, along with a disorder that affects connective tissue – held up a sign at the event that read, “It is my dream to sing with Adele.”

After seeing the poster, the beloved singer brought the 12-year-old up in front of thousands of attendees.

Emily, who actually competed on Britain’s Got Talent in 2014, then brought these same people to their feet after impressively belting out the opening lyrics to her hero"s popular ballad.

Check out the inspiring duet below and don"t try to fight it any longer.

Adele is simply the best. Although Emily Tammam is clearly pretty awesome in her own right…

Sesame Street Introduces First-Ever Autistic Character

A unique new resident has set up shop on Sesame Street.

Are you ready to meet Julia?

Introduced via a digital storybook, Julia is the first-ever Autistic character to be featured on the long-running children’s program.

She’s part of an initiative to bring awareness to the topic of Autism.

In the aforementioned book, whose cover is featured above, Elmo explains to his pal on the playground why their new friend Julia is a little different.

“Elmo’s daddy told Elmo that Julia has autism,” the beloved red critter says.

“So she does things a little differently. Sometimes Elmo talks to Julia using fewer words and says the same thing a few times.”

Sesame Street has partnered with organizations such as Autism Speaks and the Autism Self-Advocacy Network to ensure that the materials presented by the brand are educational, respectful and positive about Autism.

“More than 20 years ago, my beautiful son received the diagnosis of Autism, and my world changed instantly and profoundly,” says author Leslie Kimmelman in a letter.

“I knew nothing about Autism, and it seemed that those around me – even the professionals – didn’t know much either. Today, happily, that has changed.

“There’s greater awareness, and there has been much progress understanding autism. But it’s still a puzzle, and every child is affected differently.

“You’ve probably heard the saying ‘if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.’ So what’s the most important thing for people to know?

“We’re all different in some way or another – that’s what makes the world an interesting place. And equally, all of us in our own way are amazing!”

According to the latest statistics, one out of every 68 children in the United States has a type of of Autism.

Kudos to Sesame Street for bringing attention to this important issue.