Category Archives: Judith Newman

Guest Review of To Siri With Love

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This is a guest review of controversial work, “To Siri With Love” previously covered on MHN here [1], [2] and [3]. The review below is reprinted from Amazon with kind permission of its author, Dr Elena Chandler Ph.D. Revealing that this is a senior professional and academic not a basement dwelling troll helps to make demonstrate how improper it is for Judith Newman to try to have adverse reviews removed. Chandler has also posted frequently in the #BoycottToSiri Twitter hashtag.

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Dr Elena Chandler. (Picture via Dr Chandler).

To Siri With Love is a highly contentious book that has sparked significant public conflict between the author and the autistic community. I will review the book here and detail some of the reception of the book, which speaks volumes about the issues that have been raised about the book itself.

Before examining the content in detail, however, I would like to start by immediately addressing the most significant issue with the book, and it is an issue that effectively renders all other criticism moot: the author, Judith Newman, has written a tell-all about her 13 year old son. It includes intimate details about his masturbatory habits, a long litany of what Newman sees as intractable impairments, his humiliations and a great deal of, sadly often inaccurate, interpretation of his behaviors by Newman. Her son was/is not of an age, when he could understand the implications of this book or give his consent.

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Judith Newman, Psychologist Dr Dean Parker and Amazon Reviews

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Over the last two days, I have covered a number of issues with the book, “To Siri With Love” and Judith Newman its New York based author. There are a number of concerns with the book, which mostly deals with her son Gus Newman and which are set out elsewhere, in my first article as well as by third party authors [1], [2] and [3]. Now it has been revealed that Newman has enlisted her friends in writing positive reviews and reporting negative ones to have them deleted, apparently contrary to Amazon rules.

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Amazon – has a detailed “Anti-Manipulation Policy for Customer Reviews” and a zero tolerance approach.

After the controversy erupted, a whistleblower approached a disability rights website, “International Badass Activists” with alleged screenshots of discussions  (archive) between Newman and her friends.

In the discussion, Newman seems to engage in getting her friends to write reviews and asking them to report adverse reviews.

It seems that to some extent her concerns are legitimate. As a customer I expect reviewers to have read the book and it is reasonable and proportionate that Amazon restrict reviews to purchasers. Whilst that will exclude some people who might have read the book elsewhere, it will certainly exclude abusive reviews by people who have not even read the book.

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One of the screenshots shows and individual claiming to be a clinical psychologist. This concerned me.

I decided to see if I could verify the comments. One thing that concerned me was this screenshot. A person called Dean Parker claimed that they were a clinical psychologist and had used that title in representations to Amazon. I decided to see if the allegations were true.

Tracing Dr Parker did not take long. He is a New York State licensed psychologist, number 008022. (confirmed here). I asked him if the statement was accurate. He responded (amongst other things), “[…] She gave permission for my commentary on the page […]”. So the context appears to be correct.

At no time during our correspondence did he deny that the screenshot was real, although he did at one point threaten that he has no less than two licensed attorneys he is related to willing to sue me. The reason I was concerned though, was the content of the book he was endorsing and the appropriateness of a licensed professional doing so.

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Child Abuse Controversy Author Judith Newman Shares Tweet About Bombing Israeli Donald Trump Train Station

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Controversial Harper Collins Author Judith Newman is presently embroiled in a storm over alleged abuse of her son. Now she has invited further outrage by sharing a tweet about potential bombing of an Israeli train station if it is named after Donald Trump.

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Judith Newman in 2013. This woman literally uses her repeated re-reading of a lurid passage from paedophile molestation story “Lolita”, her admitted “favorite” 20th century novel, as an analogy to her son’s interest in escalators. Source – Wikipedia commons. CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Judith Newman was first covered by MHN yesterday in relation to her book, which discusses her underage children in excruciating detail including detailed comment one son’s penis and foreskin and both of their porn viewing habits. She also announces she intends to obtain power of attorney over her autistic son Gus for the purpose of having him sterilised. Newman also states that her “favorite” 20th century novel is infamous tale of pedophile obsession and abuse, “Lolita”.

Predictably, the book’s disturbing content has led to criticism of Newman, executives at Harper Collins and numerous negative reviews even with Amazon restricting them to verified purchasers. Details of email contact details for complaints are included in my last article. This is well worth reading for newcomers as it deals in more detail with the sexual concerns.

Another group of people who may wish to complain are Trump supporters, about this tweet (archive) –

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Doubling down, Judith Newman shared this troubling tweet. Click for full size.

The tweet is capable of multiple interpretations, all of them problematic. At its most benevolent it could be taken as meaning that in the febrile environs of the Middle East naming a station after a divisive leader could make it a target. Unfortunately, unstable individuals and members of violent extremist groups like Antifa could interpret it as encouraging violence. More generally the use of excessive hyperbole is one of many contributors to our current highly polarised society. Continue reading →

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Brian Murray, CEO of Harper Collins, Author Judith Newman and the Horrific Child Abuse of Newman’s Son #BoycottToSIRI

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Brian Murray CEO of Harper Collins bears moral responsibility for this horrific emotional abuse of Gus Newman and abrogation of his privacy and dignity. Picture via Flickr – CC BY-SA 2.0 by ActuaLitté. Picture slightly cropped.

For the last two years, MHN has been campaigning for the closure of Kiwi Farms, a website that stalks the disabled, tricks them or hacks their accounts for intimate revelations. The abuse is recounted in Margaret Pless’ detailed and well sourced article for New York Magazine as well as many articles here.

So it is unsurprising that when previously respectable publisher Harper Collins released a book by author Judith Newman, “To Siri With Love” behaving in a similarly intrusive way towards her own son, that there would be widespread condemnation and a campaign to #BoycottToSiri. The book is a horrific invasion of privacy in which Newman shares private sexual and medical information and announces her intent to have her son sterilised. It is obviously capable of great harm to her child. On this occasion Harper Collins CEO Brian Murray and Publisher Michael Morrison took their eyes of the ball. They need to lose their jobs for it. Contact details for writing to them to ask them to withdraw the book are below.

We all remember our teenage years. The little ways our parents would embarrass us. The need for privacy to explore developing sexual feelings and to make mistakes without the world looking after our shoulders. These things are difficult enough for those of us without serious disabilities. Of course, for those suffering from emotional problems or serious conditions like autism the quest for dignity and autonomy can be far more complex and difficult.

Now, imagine your vile and emotionally abusive mother decides to –

  • disclose to the world that you have a stigmatised disability – autism
  • discuss your potty training (chapter 1)
  • admit her favourite 20th century novel is the world’s most infamous paedophile novel (chapter 3)
  • mock your sexuality – claiming she envisages it with a “Benny Hill” soundtrack (chapter 8)
  • discusses your crushes and intimate relationships in detail (throughout)
  • discussed your porn browsing habits and indeed your sibling’s (chapter 13)
  • publicly states she intends to obtain power of attorney over you and have you sterilised (chapter 13)

For extra horror points, imagine a multinational corporation decides to help your mother distribute this worldwide in a book. That is the situation faced by Gus Newman at the hands of his mother Judith Newman, Harper Collins CEO Brian Murray and President Michael Morrison.

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