An Outing at IMFAR

The International Meeting For Autism Research, or IMFAR, is coming up pretty soon. May 12-14, to be precise, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, CA. This will be the eleventh year for the conference, where Autism Spectrum Disorder researchers will gather from around the world. Much like other specialty conferences, IMFAR gives scientists an opportunity to share their ASD findings with colleagues and to promote further research. Researchers submit their abstracts and, if selected, present them to attendees.

One such abstract is scheduled to be presented at 9:00am on Friday, May 13. The presentation is titled Parent Reported Status and Expectations for Their Autistic Student Children: An Analysis of the 2007 National Household Education Survey, presented by M. J. Carey.

[Abstract details temporarily redacted. The abstracts were posted on the IMFAR site in error and are still under embargo. Once they are officially released, I will repost the redacted text.]

But who is this M. J. Carey? A while back, I joined other bloggers in highlighting the rather absurd assertions of one J. B. Handley. Back in November 2010, Handley made the rather silly attempt of claiming that Sullivan, from Left Brain/Right Brain, was none other than Dr. Paul Offit's wife, Bonnie. According to him, Sullivan knew far too much about Dr. Offit and science in general to be just a father of an autistic child. So confident was he that he went so far as to make a very explicit promise (linked to cached version, in case AoA decides to remove the evidence):

Bonnie Offit, or Sullivan for that matter, I have a simple offer:

If you can produce a dad with a child with autism with a remarkable grasp of the medical and scientific literature who blogs under the name Sullivan, a man who has an inordinate grasp of the details of your husband’s patents, lawsuits, published studies, and web habits, I will make sure that the pauloffit.com website is given to you and your husband for good.

In fact, if you can produce this father, I promise to never, ever publicly write about or utter the name “Paul Offit” again.

Well, it's time for Handley to make good, because Sullivan and M. J. Carey are one and the same. Yes, Sullivan is Matt Carey, writer for Left Brain/Right Brain under the pseudonym Sullivan and father of an autistic child.

So, J. B., it's time for you to hand over the domain pauloffit.com to Dr. Paul Offit. It is also time that you never publicly write about or utter the name "Paul Offit" ever again.

Frankly, I won't be holding my breath, but we'll see if Handley has the integrity to keep his word, or if he will instead prove himself a liar. Ball's in your court, Mr. Handley.

Updated here.
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