I believe that as a community, we can stand together against hate speech and discrimination towards individuals with Autism or any other disability.
I own a restaurant in Harriman, NY called An Artistic Taste. I receive reviews on yelp everyday. I am blessed that most of the reviews are great, however, every now and then we get an unhappy customer. It is understandable, cannot please everyone all the time.
However, I recently received a review that went beyond the scope of critiquing my business or even their dining experience.
On Yelp, Raptor 9. writes: "An Artistic Taste? more like autistic taste. The food taste like im a eating rubber shoe marinated in piss." At first I was not sure how to feel about the review. I normally do not care when the critiques are not constructive, however, this review angered me for reasons having nothing to do with the quality of food or service.
This reviewer chose to use a play on words and change my company name into hate rhetoric against a group of people that I hold dear to my heart.
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication.
Autism affects an estimated 1 in 36 children and 1 in 45 adults in the United States today.
Normally I would ignore negative reviews that offer no constructive criticism for me to grow as a business owner or chef, however, I could not let this go.
I would like to create awareness of this disorder that should not be associated with such a negative connotation as exhibited by this prejudiced reviewer.
Please join me in donating whatever you can towards Autism Speaks, a phenomenal organization that is dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan by offering, services, supports, research and innovation, and advances in care for autistic individuals and their families.
I also implore you to reach out to Yelp, who allowed this reviewers hate rhetoric to go public, and implore them to remove this review from my account, better vet the reviews before letting them go public, and make a statement apologizing to the autistic community on behalf of "Raptor 9.", and ban the "reviewer" from Yelp.
Let us spread awareness, understanding, and acceptance for all individuals, regardless of their differences.
Thank you for your support!
