Riva Ritvo/Ritvo Clinic

[Squidusa]

@Ink Fish
I get that it's suspicious/weird. I'm happy to tell you whatever you'd need to know about what I'm doing, but it's not more than what I've said.

I am a freelance journalist. I was looking to do a short article about Alan Slifka, who recently died, and stumbled across information about his wife, Riva, falsifying degrees. This was the first thing I found (check out the correction at the bottom: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/style/weddings-celebrations-riva-ritvo-alan-slifka.html) and then discovered that she didn't have a license as a psychologist but was advertising for patients and claimed to have diagnosed and treated patients with autism for over a decade. That's where I am. It's a story that seems interesting/disturbing, and I'm trying to find out more information about the clinic.

Ah freelance journalist , I thought you worked for a magazine or something. 

Well I for one don't know anything and i'm not entirely sure if anyone on here will , how did you find out about us?

[skyblue1]

Have you got a email for Riva, perhaps she may wish to defend herself against your accusations,

We should invite her to respond.  Would only be fair.

[kahns]

@Ink Fish. Freelance journalists cover stories too.     I have worked at 60 Minutes and do know what I'm doing.
Re how I heard about Intensity Squared: I found a post from Riva Ritvo on Wrong Planet (the post is pretty special btw: http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=43232&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45 - see p.5) and submitted posts to Wrong Planet, AFF, and Intensity Squared. It's just luck of the draw that I'm posting on Intensity Squared first.

To sum up what I'm doing:
It's a big deal if somebody's worked for over a decade as a practicing psychologist (as she claims) without having degrees or licensure. It's also a tough story to work on - and to make it happen I would need to communicate with anybody who's dealt with her professionally. I realize that it's awkward to put the request into a public post on a forum....it's just that I need to get in touch with people somehow.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to look at this,
Sam

[kahns]

@skyblue1

I don't have an e-mail. Here's her contact page: http://rivaariellaritvo.net/contactinfo.html

[kahns]

@skyblue1

Just to give you an idea of what this person's about, here is something she posted on Wrong Planet a few years ago. She was looking for volunteers for a diagnostic tool she was developing (the RAADS), was criticized, and responded in two posts:

Post 1:
OK you guys. You may be Aspies, you may have had bad experiences, we all have. Such is life.
1. For you who wants methods and subject selection, if you read the website that dr. Ritvo gave you, you could see in the last page that there were 2 downloads of the pilot studies. Go again : rivaariellaritvo.net and find it. Nothing mysterious and NO NEED FOR RUDENESS even if you are an Aspie.
2. You who was raped, I am truly sorry but we are here TO HELP ALL PEOPLE WITH ASD. You have a choice, participate or not...If you don't feel right about it, pick another thread.
3. Why don't we just stop perseverating and let this thread be what it is: AN INVITATION to participate in a research project. You may or may not choose to do so.
4. Leave Dr. Ed Ritvo alone. Enough already. He is not Eddy! He is professor Ritvo who spent the past 40 years of his life trying to make yours better! Aspie or not--you should know better...If not, may I recommend social skills group...You were living on thsi planet even if it is the wrong one. Make the best of it! I doi every day!!!!!

Post 2 (after somebody called her a jerk):
Well so are you Ticker. We are all Jerks. How do I knwo you are an Aspie and not a
jerk? Do you have any ideas how many fake Aspies walked into my clinic in the past 10
years? Of course not. But you are correct! It is your thread and you can have it! You
can choose to live on WP but don't come to us JUST when you need free advocacy in the
wrong planet out there. I am wealthy. I could spend my days in nail salons or painting
or playing piano but i chose to pursue a fair world for Aspies. I am a jerk, of a major
kind. And BTW, whoever asked about autism societies, we have contacted them and
ARE working through them. In my opinion, that was the way to go. Dr. ed is more daring
and jumped into a definitely wrong planet. Not because of the Aspies but the wanna be
Aspies. You too have frauds among you. As for me, I happily take leave of this forum.
By thread I meant topic! Enjoy slicing each other to threads. You could be much more
helpful if you were supportive of one another. I have visited many Aspies forums, WP is
a place in its own league. I am happy to leave, Way too busy to be doing this, There are
real Aspies out there who really need our assitance! Sorry to have bothered all of you!
Farewell!
Ari Ritvo--THE BIG PRETENDER! Who in heavens would want to pretend to be
me?? Not even me!!!!!

[kahns]

It's hard to read that thread and think that this person has any business being a practicing therapist

[kahns]

Here's the URL for that thread btw, I should have included it earlier: http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=43232&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45

[midlifeaspie]

It's just luck of the draw that I'm posting on Intensity Squared first.

I will save you the time and ask that you not post this stuff over on WP.  It will just get removed unless you can provide credentials.  It sounds to me like you have a personal vendetta for some reason.

[Callaway]

You have a good point, Kahns.  Practicing as a psychologist without any sort of license while lying about her credentials is very fishy.  She claims to have a Ph. D. on the site you linked and if she has seen patients and doesn't actually have a Ph. D. degree, as the New York Times article says, I think that could be a criminal action.

From her website:

||   Riva Ariella Ritvo, PhD.   ||
Comprehensive Diagnostic And Treatment Services For Children And Adults With Autism And Related Developmental Disorders

From the New York Times article:

Editors' Note: March 21, 2004, Sunday A report on Feb. 15 about the wedding of Riva Golan Ritvo and Alan Bruce Slifka included an erroneous account of the bride's education, which she supplied. Ms. Ritvo, a child therapist, did not graduate from the University of Pennsylvania or receive a master's degree in occupational therapy or a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Southern California. Though she attended Penn for a time, her bachelor's degree, in occupational therapy, is from U.S.C. The Times should have corroborated the credentials before publishing the report.

For some reason, the name Ritvo is familiar to me, but I haven't had any professional dealings with her.

["couldbecousin"]

You have a good point, Kahns.  Practicing as a psychologist without any sort of license while lyng about her credentials is very fishy.  She claims to have a Ph. D. on the site you linked and if she has seen patients and doesn't actually have a Ph. D. degree, as the New York Times article says, I think that could be a criminal action.

Editors' Note: March 21, 2004, Sunday A report on Feb. 15 about the wedding of Riva Golan Ritvo and Alan Bruce Slifka included an erroneous account of the bride's education, which she supplied. Ms. Ritvo, a child therapist, did not graduate from the University of Pennsylvania or receive a master's degree in occupational therapy or a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Southern California. Though she attended Penn for a time, her bachelor's degree, in occupational therapy, is from U.S.C. The Times should have corroborated the credentials before publishing the report.

For some reason, the name Ritvo is familiar to me, but I haven't had any professional dealings with her.

If the New York Times  itself published information discrediting Ritvo, why wasn't there more attention paid at the time?
Did anyone pick up on that and run with it?  Maybe not enough people read the corrections? 

[bodie]

I have no idea who it is you are referring too.  Never heard of her.  Sorry can't help.

I don't understand why everyone is so suspicious...your post seems plausable to me, and
if she is the 'fake' you say she is,  she has been earning a fat wedge out of people!  So
i hope you find your answers, whoever you really are

[Semicolon]

I have no idea who it is you are referring too.  Never heard of her.  Sorry can't help.

I don't understand why everyone is so suspicious...your post seems plausable to me, and
if she is the 'fake' you say she is,  she has been earning a fat wedge out of people!  So
i hope you find your answers, whoever you really are

Indeed. It doesn't matter to me whether you are a freelance journalist or a lawyer. The idea of a psychologist practicing without credentials concerns me, and you have provided evidence to back up what you say.

If you want to post this on AFF, make an account there and PM Pikajedi3 or Gareth before you do so. They are administrators, and they like to moderate access to the forum by those with professional (rather than personal) interests in ASDs.

["couldbecousin"]

I have no idea who it is you are referring too.  Never heard of her.  Sorry can't help.

I don't understand why everyone is so suspicious...your post seems plausable to me, and
if she is the 'fake' you say she is,  she has been earning a fat wedge out of people!  So
i hope you find your answers, whoever you really are

Indeed. It doesn't matter to me whether you are a freelance journalist or a lawyer. The idea of a psychologist practicing without credentials concerns me, and you have provided evidence to back up what you say.

If you want to post this on AFF, make an account there and PM Pikajedi3 or Gareth before you do so. They are administrators, and they like to moderate access to the forum by those with professional (rather than personal) interests in ASDs.

       Surveys/requests for members' data on AFF are not appreciated without prior permission having been granted.

[midlifeaspie]

It's just luck of the draw that I'm posting on Intensity Squared first.

I will save you the time and ask that you not post this stuff over on WP.  It will just get removed unless you can provide credentials.  It sounds to me like you have a personal vendetta for some reason.

Send me an email at midlifeaspie@wrongplanet.net and we can discuss a post there.  If it were a little more concise and got to your evidence quicker and didn't sound like a personal grudge we might be able to work something out.  Unless of course this "clinic" has donated funding or something. 

[Semicolon]

It's just luck of the draw that I'm posting on Intensity Squared first.

I will save you the time and ask that you not post this stuff over on WP.  It will just get removed unless you can provide credentials.  It sounds to me like you have a personal vendetta for some reason.

Send me an email at midlifeaspie@wrongplanet.net and we can discuss a post there.  If it were a little more concise and got to your evidence quicker and didn't sound like a personal grudge we might be able to work something out.  Unless of course this "clinic" has donated funding or something.  

for honesty.