Jacqueline Laurita from the television series, Real Housewives of New Jersey (RHONJ) recently posted an open letter onto the website, the Real Mr. Housewife, after the following remark was made on Facebook.
“Why do people give birth to autistic kids? Waste of society’s resources.”
Ms Laurita’s youngest son has autism. Her open letter begins as follows:
Dear Jane W(r)ong,
When your appalling and uneducated post appeared on the Facebook wall of the Autism Behavioral Services page, I couldn’t believe that a human being could have such a lack of compassion and empathy for others by having the audacity to say something so vile, and so publicly, about the life of another human being. I thought to myself, ”What a hateful, hurtful and ignorant thing to say!” For a moment, I found your comment extremely offensive and I felt anger towards you.
She concludes the letter by stating that she hopes the sender will consider how her insensitive words may have affected families who care for a child with autism.
“Raising a child on the Autism spectrum is a joy and challenge every single day, and we appreciate any information, resources and support we can get from others. I hope in the future, you choose empathy over your lack of compassion.”
The entire open letter can be read on the the Real Mr. Housewife website. http://realmrhousewife.com/2015/03/27/jacqueline-laurita-open-letter-jane-wong/