Riva Ritvo/Ritvo Clinic

[Psychophant]

Something smells about this whole thread! 

[Semicolon]

Something smells about this whole thread! 

I think that this makes sense.

[odeon]

Not sure if it is more convincing but it's certainly longer.

Here's why I find it dodgy: ASDs are not in the public eye and a freelance hack whose main body of work is in other areas seems like an unlikely person to expose this kind of fraud. What was the information that led him down the path he is taking now? How did he know enough about ASDs to start with?

I don't know how much a freelance writer makes in the US these days but here it's not nearly enough. Frankly I don't see why this would be  rewarding enough. Surely there are faster routes for someone who's been doing work for 60 minutes?

[Semicolon]

Not sure if it is more convincing but it's certainly longer.

Here's why I find it dodgy: ASDs are not in the public eye and a freelance hack whose main body of work is in other areas seems like an unlikely person to expose this kind of fraud. What was the information that led him down the path he is taking now? How did he know enough about ASDs to start with?

I don't know how much a freelance writer makes in the US these days but here it's not nearly enough. Frankly I don't see why this would be  rewarding enough. Surely there are faster routes for someone who's been doing work for 60 minutes?

He could be generating publicity for himself by being the one to break the story.

[skyblue1]

they are both people trying to make money and reputation off Autists

[Semicolon]

they are both people trying to make money and reputation off Autists

So? It is beneficial to us if unlicensed therapists are exposed instead of treating autistics.

[midlifeaspie]

Not sure if it is more convincing but it's certainly longer.

Here's why I find it dodgy: ASDs are not in the public eye and a freelance hack whose main body of work is in other areas seems like an unlikely person to expose this kind of fraud. What was the information that led him down the path he is taking now? How did he know enough about ASDs to start with?

I don't know how much a freelance writer makes in the US these days but here it's not nearly enough. Frankly I don't see why this would be  rewarding enough. Surely there are faster routes for someone who's been doing work for 60 minutes?

He could be generating publicity for himself by being the one to break the story.

That was my assumption.  He thinks he has a big story and wants to follow it.  I don't think anyone at WP will be able to help him, nor do I think it likely that he actually has a story (especially considering the NY Times declined to follow up their own leads) but I saw no harm in letting him ask so long as he didn't sound like he was on a vendetta.

[kahns]

I want to be really clear about who I am and why I'm interested in this:

I'm a young journalist (25). I got started at 60 Minutes and have worked since then mainly in international news. A friend of mine suggested I do a story about Alan Slifka, who was a major philanthropist and a big donor to Yale, my alma mater. While researching Slifka, I got interested in his wife's practice. It was one thing that she was falsifying her credentials, but the real problem was that Riva Ritvo was advertising very aggressively for her clinic, claiming to have 20 years' experience in 'diagnosing and treating individuals with autism spectrum disorders.' If that's true, that means she'd probably treated a lot of patients without having the degrees or the licensure she said she had, and that's worth writing about. If it turns out, though, that she was saying she was a Ph.D and had a clinic in order to impress her friends and didn't really have an active clinic, then I'll probably drop the story.

I don't necessarily think this is a big story, but it's worth pursuing if she really ran a clinic for two decades with a falsified resume. She also recently came into hundreds of millions of dollars, and gives the story a little more weight and urgency. I don't have any hidden agenda or any vendetta against Ritvo. From where I am now, it seems like it might be a good article (and it can't hurt anybody if she turns out to be practicing fraudulently and is exposed as such), but if Riva Ritvo hasn't done anything really wrong, then I'll drop it.

Thank you for bearing with me on this. I realize that Intensity Squared isn't intended for a thread like this, and I am sorry to be taking up your time with this.

- Sam

[kahns]

But once again, if you know of anybody who has come across Riva Ritvo or the Ritvo Clinic professionally (she also works as a consultant for the Help Group and as a clinical instructor at Yale), please contact me at samkahn1@gmail.com or call me at 917-622-2538.

Thanks again,
Sam

[odeon]

Not sure if it is more convincing but it's certainly longer.

Here's why I find it dodgy: ASDs are not in the public eye and a freelance hack whose main body of work is in other areas seems like an unlikely person to expose this kind of fraud. What was the information that led him down the path he is taking now? How did he know enough about ASDs to start with?

I don't know how much a freelance writer makes in the US these days but here it's not nearly enough. Frankly I don't see why this would be  rewarding enough. Surely there are faster routes for someone who's been doing work for 60 minutes?

He could be generating publicity for himself by being the one to break the story.

That was my assumption.  He thinks he has a big story and wants to follow it.  I don't think anyone at WP will be able to help him, nor do I think it likely that he actually has a story (especially considering the NY Times declined to follow up their own leads) but I saw no harm in letting him ask so long as he didn't sound like he was on a vendetta.

I'm pretty sure no harm will come out of it, I just find that there is something dodgy with the whole thing. 

But then again, maybe we'll end up being featured on 60 minutes.

[Squidusa]

I'm pretty sure no harm will come out of it, I just find that there is something dodgy with the whole thing. 

But then again, maybe we'll end up being featured on 60 minutes.

Just don't let pig boy near the camera. 

[odeon]

 

Now that was uncalled for.

[Squidusa]

Now that was uncalled for.

As in against Judy or you having to see it? 

Either have some and forget it. 

[odeon]

As in it's just wrong. Wrong, I tell you.

[Squidusa]

As in it's just wrong. Wrong, I tell you.

I'll bribe you with beer to look away.