I can't give away an iPad.....

I am making a heartfelt plea for everyone to go and vote for Deanne Shoyer's blog  http://smallbutkindamighty.com/ over @ Circle of moms. Deanne is a loving mom of 2 autistic lads and a great blogger. Actually I think she goes beyond blogging. I have had the honor to know her since 2011 when she admined the now defunct  A4cwsn Canada site.
For those of you who have only just got to know her through the facebook page A4cwsn Survivors , Deanne has written several brilliant well written blogs concerning A4cwsn and Gary James.


http://smallbutkindamighty.com/2012/01/13/the-first-cut-is-the-deepest/

http://smallbutkindamighty.com/2013/01/09/three-cups-of-deceit-a-timely-book-review-as-we-move-into-a4cwsns-third-year/

So if you have not had a chance to read them, please do. I admire her writing style greatly.
But she hasn't just focused on the corruption surrounding Gary James. She has blogged about her sons, dealing with ASD, the use of the iPad with ASD kids,current affairs and apps etc 

Unlike other pages, I cannot offer up an iPad giveaway should she win or if you vote. If Deanne wins this contest it will be on her own merits. I am appealing from my heart for all of you to go out and VOTE!. Get your neighbors to vote, your kids teachers, your workmates, the guy that collects your trash every week. The guy that sells you your morning coffee! ANYONE! Tell them about this great blogger, give them the links so that they are voting from the heart. <3

Go forth Survivors and do what you do best. Be supportive. And for those who have already voted daily or when you could, I thank you for what you do. xxx

And before I forget...here is the link :)

http://www.circleofmoms.com/blogger/small-kinda-mighty#_

Using a child's image without parental permission

So weeks ago it was brought up on the A4cwsn survivor page that Gary James was still using images without parental permission. Some parents wrote that they had removed any permissions they may have given him over a year ago and he had still not removed the images.
 https://www.facebook.com/A4cwsnSurvivors/posts/489532964442035
But this is Gary James, the man who has an answer for everything and an excuse so it would seem.

This is the link in question containing the childrens images. Maybe by tomorrow the whole link will be gone after this blog?:  http://a4cwsn.com/join-our-sn-community/appmazing-children/

So I am blogging about my own experiences in regards to this problem. I sent him an email in 2011 with a photo attachment of my son Y using  Dexteria.
After learning that my sons image was on the appamazing page I sent him an email revoking his rights to use my sons image. This is the series of emails that followed:

First I will include the email where my sons image was attached to back in 2011. Please note, NO permission was added to the email but he went ahead and put my son's image on his page regardless!


Rivkah Hammer <riv*******@******.com>
7/15/11

to Gary

HI Gary
This is my son Y****He is nearly 6 years old. He has a diagnosis of autism and has a global developmental delay. He is my sunshine :) He doesn't mind trying to pinch the crabs on the Dexteria app. He doesn't have a favourite app...he loves them all. I am sad to say Angry birds may well be his favourite!! (thanks to my older son!)
Keep up the good work.
Be well


Rivkah

 So I sent Mr James an email requesting my son's image be removed. My husband is a webmaster so I  know it is not a hard process to do :)
 Rivkah Hammer <riv*******@******.com>
Feb 10

to Gary

To whom it may concern
please refrain from using any images of my child/ children that were passed onto you by myself in 2011. I am revoking your rights to use such images. If you do not remove such image/images within 48 hours I will be making a formal complaint  with your website host GoDaddy. I will also be adding the illegal use of my childs image to the complaint I have on file with the Attourney general of Connecticut. My husband will be contacting his lawyer in New York to see what action he can take should you refuse to remove my child's/childrens'  images/s. My son is child #44 on your appamazing page.
yours sincerely
  


But apparently, despite being told the # of my child's photo, he decided he needed another copy of the image to find it! Sorry...wasn't prepared to send another image!!
to me
 

Gary James <g***@****.com>
Feb 10
 
Rivkah, all you have to do is ask, please send me a pic of the pic i am to remove
Thanks and hope you have a wonderful day


So I replied thus:


Rivkah Hammer <riv*******@******.com>
Feb 10



to Gary

He is #44 out of 109 in
Our APPmazing Children
page. I will not send you another image of my child.

After 5 days I realized the image was still up on the link I was told about.
So I sent yet another message. I wanted to get the message across that it was quite serious that he was using an image without permission.
By this time I thought it was a good time to CC the email to the AT of CT's investigator.


Rivkah Hammer <riv*******@******.com>

Feb 15



to terence.zehnder, gdj68

Mr James
Once again I ask you to remove my sons photo from ANY of your facebook and Website pages. His father and i are revoking any rights you have when it comes to any images of my children. On the appamazing page my son is #44. As you may have noticed I have forwarded a copy of this email to Mr Terrence Zehnder. As you are well aware it is illegal to use a childs image without permission of the childs parents. This is the second time I have asked you to do as requested. I do not feel I need to send you another image of my child in order for you to find the original image. This is the link to the appamazing page. My son is still on it.
http://a4cwsn.com/join-our-sn-community/appmazing-children/
There have been quite a few parents whose children you have posted without their permission. Some of the other parents have been waiting for over a year for you to remove them. You have 24 hours to remove the image.
Think carefully Mr James
Thank you


Rivkah HammerThank you

Rivkah

Now I thought I was fairly neutral except for adding that if it was not removed I would use my legal right to contact an attorney and add it to my complaint with the attorney general. I even let him know I would be taking that action. I could have just gone on and added it without telling him. I gave him the option of removing the image. Fairly straight forward for most normal business men.... But this is his reply :(


Gary James <g***@****.com>
Feb 15



to me, terence.zehnder

Dear Rivkah,
Your threats need to stop, if you look carefully at the A4 web-site, not your cached link, you will see that the page does not exist that you are pointing to.

If you or other parents feel that the emails you sent me (and we have them al)l asking me to post the attached photo of your children were sent in error, then all you need to do is ask.

However, I have removed the entire page, simply because it is not worth my time to read emails like this.

I have tried to accommodate you as you can clearly see.

If this is not to your satisfaction, please get a lawyer or maybe Terrance would be willing to listen to even more of your BS but please do not contact me via email again as I will consider this harassment.

All the best



At this date the page is still very much up. I have contacted tonight GoDaddy and made a complaint to them. The link is NOT a cached link as he likes to imply. I checked it out on a fairly new Tablet which has never been used to look this link up and low and behold it loaded fairly easily!
To tell me a load of BS in regards to the link is fairly insulting. But I have added another option for him should he wish to continue  using the image. He can license it for a year if he is too lazy to remove it right now. Since I do not want to be accused as blackmail and have him change the email around I am including it in this blog and have forwarded a copy to the AG as well.

Rivkah Hammer <riv*******@******.com>
10:58 PM (0 minutes ago)

to Gary, terence.zehnder

Dear Mr James.
I see that you still have not removed the offending page or my child's image. It is not a cached page by the way. Should you wish to continue using my child's photo on that page only you will need to license the image for a year at a time. My current fees are set @ $10,000 per image. If this is agreeable to you please let me know asap. Otherwise I give you 2 business days  to remove the photo before I refer the matter to my legal counsel.
cheers


Rivkah



So my suggestion to other parents who are still waiting for your child's image to be removed make him the same offer, cc it to the AG. If he refuses make a formal complaint the the AG office: 

Terence Zehnder, Special Investigator, Trade Practices Division

Department of Consumer Protection

terence.zehnder@ct.gov ph. (860) 713-6130 fax (860) 706-1315

Make a complaint with GoDaddy.com the hosting company for A4cwsn.com:

https://supportcenter.godaddy.com/Abuse/SpamReport.aspx?ci=22420#

 

Apps for children with special needs A4cwsn Very Special People VSP Gary James Gary Dominic James Oxford Connecticut  iPad giveaways free ipads special ed special education IEP scam

More lies and mistruths.

 I will divide this up as it can get very confusing!! This week he made the following statements. See below for the screenshots of the claims:

• A4cwsn is about to become an LLC

• A4cwsn was never a business in 2011

• A4cwsn is not a non profit, it never was.

https://www.facebook.com/a4cwsn/posts/459743070759603

A4cwsn as a LLC!  The funny thing is that he was telling the same story back in December of 2011. It was raised in the post where he claimed the Sunsuper grant was a scam.  I guess it takes a long time to organize an LLC just like VSP and the 501(c)(3).  I have posted a screenshot of that particular comment below for your convenience. A lot of you probably cannot remember it or would have forgotten soon after he announced it. This is what he is hoping for. If anyone needs to see the full thread I will post it below next week.

 So now it's time to look at A4cwsn as a company/business in 2011. He had a lot of people confused about this because in many articles  from 2011 you can find him described as a company or a business.
  He goes on and adds a disclaimer at the bottom that it is not his problem that people assumed that he was a business when he wasn't. Very convenient.

This in reference to A4cwsn and N4cwsn  http://autism-light.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/gary-james.html

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/education/oxford-man-promotes-ipad-apps-for-special-needs-students

There is also a mention of A4cwsn as a company formed in January 2011 in the interview by News8. I can guarantee he viewed it before it's release as he has a paranoia about reporters and what they will say about him. Yet he did not correct the mistake. http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/education/oxford-man-promotes-ipad-apps-for-special-needs-students#.UTBINxnfhic

Also read
Washington Daily News Published 1:21am Tuesday, May 10, 2011 
http://www.wdnweb.com/2011/05/10/ipad-comes-to-the-rescue/

From September 2011
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/health&id=8364062

 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57324520/autistic-children-given-a-voice-thanks-to-ipads/ (this link refers to him as both a non profit and a company)

A4cwsn as a non profit

Ok...so what about A4cwsn never being described as a non profit. Sorry caught with your pants down yet again Gary James. Please check out the screenshot below.
It shows Gary James announcing sometime in 2011. I can't date this screenshot but note that timeline does not exist and the Classy awards from around July 2011 and the announcement of the 500 ipads in 100 schools. So my guess this is about July 2011. In it he quite clearly states that A4CWSN is a registered non profit!!

Courtesy of: http://fourmonkeys4me.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/a4cwsn-non-profit-or-not.html

 Also look at:
Roseville Patch  August 15, 2011
http://roseville.patch.com/announcements/ablenet-a-roseville-mn-company-is-working-with-buddy-cruise-and-a4cwsn-to-raise-money-for-the-special-needs-community

 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57324520/autistic-children-given-a-voice-thanks-to-ipads/





 My personal favorite!! Vsp being announced as a non profit in 2011 despite paperwork not being submitted until January 2012 (the CT certificate of charity) and the 501(c)(3) in April 2012( yet to be approved)

http://welcometobuddysworld.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/ypsilanti-michigan-child-wspecial-needs.html

For some people it will never be enough to prove that he is a liar. They cannot see beyond the iPads he is giving out. But if you put that aside and stop believing that his opponents have sour grapes about not receiving iPads from him, you will see what we have beeen saying all along. Something is very wrong over at A4cwsn.

Please check out this blog also:
http://fourmonkeys4me.com/a4cwsn-non-profit-or-not/


 Also look at this blog post:
 http://a4cwsnsurvivor.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-this-was-what-he.html







Apps for children with special needs A4cwsn Very Special People VSP Gary James Gary Dominic James Oxford Connecticut  iPad giveaways free ipads special ed special education IEP scam

Where did the missing money go??

This claim below is from December 2011.

This claim below is from December 2012 in a blogpost as the  #five of mobilitymovers2012. The post has since being removed but the screenshot of the full post can be found here: http://a4cwsnsurvivor.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/always-find-it-disturbing-when-someone.html

Yet in 2011 and up to January 2012 the A4cwsn community had donated around $47,792 that is readily documented. There were many instances where families said they handed him cash or donated directly to him rather than through the fundraisers. That cannot be documented and he has refused anyone to look at his financials since 2011.
He claimed also  that $30,000 was donated by app developers by september 2011. (see http://a4cwsnsurvivor.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/always-find-it-disturbing-when-someone.html for the twitter screenshot and links to the fundraisers.etc)

Over 34+ ipads were donated by app developers/ anonymous donors etc (all these are searchable by looking at the google doc #1 and the corresponding page #2)

So all up you have $77,792 ($47,792 + $30,000)  in donations which could have bought over 155 16gb wifi only ipads.
Then you have the 34 + donated ipads  donated up until January 2012. So that is 189 iPads. 
So why does he claim that just after xmas 2011 he had to donate $30,000 of his own money in order to pay for the 50 ipads for the 50/50/50 tour!

Something does not add up. We have provided the evidence despite what he claims. All you have to do is look up the individual donations on the google documents and the corresponding pages of the A4cwsn posts in the links below to find evidence of each donation.

It is a smack in the face of the special needs community  and the app developers for him to claim that all of the iPads have been paid by him, his wife and his business. The money came out of the pockets of mostly struggling special needs families.


1.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am1oqiAVfB67dGZ0RnV5VzYwYkVzdk9qMWEzZzJ3a0E


2.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B21oqiAVfB67NGVkY2FjMTEtZjMyZS00Y2VmLWJlNzQtNWQ2MjQ3ODY5OTNh

Posting strictly confidential information on the internet.

 SO today Gary James made a spectacle of himself yet again posting the details of what seemed to be a generous donation offer. One of which he would never have been able to pull off since he doesn't provide his financials to anyone. He paints it as a scam providing so called proof in the vimeo video and blames the whole A4cwsn survivor community.

I am not here to prove this Francine Oliver exists or not. Personally I think she is a fake and this is one of the reasons I initially avoided posting on the survivor page, despite being in receipt of the email for one day. It reeked of fake and scam and I honestly thought it was Gary James's handy work. So when he brought it up on A4cwsn I admitted receiving the email which came with the following message:

"Please share this with your followers.  I have spent the past few hours looking at his Facebook page, I am quite relieved that he did not send me the information I requested.  As soon as we get my mother's estate settled, I will be sending money to the other groups.  I know they are true charities and do indeed support children."

 

So whether it is real or not is not what I am focusing on. I have seen Gary James in action before and know what he is capable of. But what worries me is that he has POSTED yet again on facebook someones PERSONAL information. Even if she is responsible for the Francine Oliver donation email, the fact remains he grabbed this information from an iPad application  and displayed it all over facebook. With an address and an ip address anyone can find out where she lives :(

Again, I am having another sense of Déjà vu.

The iPad application plainly says that all information will be confidential which is obviously not the case. So if I was Bea Hall I would be hauling my backside to a lawyer or at least putting in a complaint with the Connecticut Attorney General.

Screenshot of the information from the vimeo  posted on facebook.

https://vimeo.com/60709799

 

The address of Beatrice Hall plastered all over A4cwsn.

Please note that he claims all information will be kept STRICTLY confidential.

From http://a4cwsn.com/join-our-sn-community/ipad2-4u/

Apps for children with special needs A4cwsn Very Special People VSP Gary James Gary Dominic James Oxford Connecticut  iPad giveaways free ipads special ed special education IEP scam

That List!! A snapshot of A4cwsn in December 2011

Back in late December 2011, just after xmas, Gary James decided to post  the names of people in a list, people A4cwsn members should watch out for.  A list of troublemakers and scammers!
Below is a snap shot of the drama that happened on that day! I never thought I would say this but I think I love facebook 's timeline. Remember the bad old days when admin posts and likers posts  were piled one on the top of each other and  the most recent was first?? You need to read the posts screenshotted below from the bottom!! 
The drama starts with Gary James going off about the Sunsuper Dreams Grant contest and how it was a scam and there is no way they will win! A4cwsn's opponents were winning and naturally the haters were pointed out as the villains, somehow rigging the votes! In reality the overseas based charity that was set to benefit from the grant was buying votes in Nepal.
Gary James asked everyone to stop voting and instead sets up a fundraiser which ultimately raises $4080 http://www.giveforward.com/ipads4childrenwithspecialneedsinaustralianewzealand 

This is the fundraiser where he raises $4080 and  donates 6 iPads @$499 each to the Aussie/Nz community = $2994!!

Then he moves on, makes the usual claims, how he family at this point has put in over $30,000 of their own funds to give away iPads. (please read about the financials raised up to this point. This post should include the total of iPads donated to the 50/50/50  campaign and the moneys raised up until January!  http://a4cwsnsurvivor.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/always-find-it-disturbing-when-someone.html.) 


Then in true Gary James style he lists a group of people that all a4cwsn members should avoid! It's a very strange post as clearly it is a list he has written up but seems to imply that it was from an email Tiffany sent out. I should point out that no email exists.

 I love his claims that he has hundreds of PRIVATE messages and emails showing the communication between those on the list! If that is truly the case I would ask how can that be? With claims like this it is certainly understandable why he has been accused of hacking!


But as you read the post I would imagine the average A4cwsn member would be thinking - what a greedy bunch of people!! Wow a Lara and a Jason got 4 iPads!! Again this is where utter BS fails to come anywhere near reality. 

Lara and her husband Jason were behind the iCheer fundraiser which raised around $10,000. The 2 iPads handed to them were because of their involvement. Their daughter is special needs also.

Tammy Hadley...did she ever receive the $200 at that point in December 2011? In her words 
"NO That is what I so called, won... not received. There is a big difference in winning and receiving"

Check out Katie Bryant...she got an iPad as well. She also donated $650 to A4cwsn. One person even suggested she give the iPad back! Sound familiar??

Our dear Lois! Lois donated 3 ipads and around $2500! One of the iPads she donated for struggling special needs parents was given to his lawyer! Later he claimed she owed him as he 'presented' at Lois's child's school. Apparently he charges $600 and hour. But I have seen the email asking him if he could swing by and say hi at the school during the 50/50/50 tour. There was no discussion of money...just a cheery "Lois, you have a deal, it would be my pleasure :)" later he claimed the  lawyer was never given an iPad!

Deanne, Cynthia, Veronika and Teriann...all ex admins who worked off their proverbial backsides making A4cwsn what it was! Check out his thanks here. http://a4cwsnsurvivor.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/there-are-lot-of-new-people-who-have.html

Tiffany received an iPad 1 that was donated by another A4 member and that member paid for the shipping and Tiffany paid the customs into Canada! He had nothing to do with her iPad!

The rest of the names listed were hard core A4cwsn supporters!We donated and spread the word :( If I have missed mentioning other key players and their function from the list I apologize!

Every time on that day when the list disappeared he reposted it!  He wanted it to stay up and be seen. I personally don't remember reporting that particular post myself at the time so he was probably the one making it appear and disappear for the dramatic effect! Admin posts take longer to make disappear. THEY CANNOT BE SPAMMED! After all he already had it ready to paste back up. But if someone remembers complaining to FB at the time please let me know.

Little did he know that most of these women have been watching and collecting the evidence  and passing it onto real authorities ever since ! Never scam a special needs mom or dad!

Gary James of A4cwsn  is a man that thrives on the dramatic! He proved it all through 2011 and again in 2012...2013 has proved to be no different. No doubt he will contact the authorities to get this post removed!

Now remember to read the thread from the bottom to the top. No cheating or it will make absolutely no sense. :) Oh...and he really does care about numbers, A4cwsn never became an LLC, and he never donated the $1,000 to the Australian campaign, no anti A4 emails and PM were ever posted by him either as proof of our misdeeds despite his promise to do so. As we would say in Australia "he is all piss and wind!" !

 

START READING THE POST FROM HERE!!!!!

Why the A4cwsn survivors page was formed Now?

The first round of people blocked and banned happened in late 2011. They were made up of a mixture of Admin and very active A4 members. Back in January 2012 some of us were even publicly named and shamed by Gary James (but more on that later!!) So why now after months of bullying and scamming. Why not stay in the shadows, just writing blogs and sending in the evidence to the Attorney General's investigator?

I am including the post on A4cwsn (which naturally has been deleted) to explain why NOW! Why bring it all out into the open on the A4cwsn survivor page??!

It all started out as a normal day. Then he chose to do a chipin for a poor 'struggling mom' so she could work at home. So very noble. But along the ways he made chiding remarks about people not donating. How about using  a dollar less gas, stop babyTv for a month, eat less etc etc etc. Then he complained about people being here just for the free stuff. On and on it went. People were donating their last $2 yet hardly had any food to put on the table. Gary James has no concept of the word STRUGGLE! He likes you to think he does but you tell me. Those of you who struggle to pay the mortgage each month or pay the rent...how many of you jetset off to the UK or NZ??

How can sensible normal thinking human beings sit back and watch what was going on over at A4cwsn and stay silent? Read the thread from A4cwsn (8th of January...ignore the date on the screenshot) and you be the judge. And ask yourself....is this normal behavior??

u

Look how he reacts when someone publicly calls him out!

But who is this struggling young mother? Again he has no concept of the term struggling! She is the self employed owner of a design company "Fernandez Design specializes in advertising design, educational publishing, and has also worked on national and international branding identities, annual reports and website design. Recent work includes graphic design for theaters, arts organization and non-profits across the United States. Over my career, I have earned more than 30 International Design Awards and recognitions for my graphic design work." http://fernandezdesign.tumblr.com/

http://www.fernandezdesign.net/

When this was all brought up on the survivor page Gary tried explaining away on A4cwsn that she has been struggling since her divorce and subsequent move from Chicago where she was super successful, to Georgia where she is struggling and only earning 10% of what she earnt previously. He made it sound like a recent separation but it is not. She was living in Georgia at least 2 years ago when her youngest was 3. Her child by her own admission is about to turn 5. Yet this struggling mom was able to afford to pay a live in babysitter $150 a week including room and board and the promise of holiday work if interested  when her youngest was 3!! Again, how many of you real and genuinely struggling single moms are able to do that!? (see screenshot below) Also note that the 3 year old child is not even  as having ASD. That is the one thing on a babysitting advertisement  that most parents of special needs children  point out to potential babysitters.

 This is a woman who was responsible for all of Gary James' design work. The more sensible option rather than making the community pay for a state of the art computer via chipin was for him to buy it himself and write it off in taxes or simply pay her for her design work directly!! Yet when the chipin reached 100% he allowed people to still donate. We have no proof that a new computer worth anywhere near the total (plus the $500 Gary James promised to donate directly) because all we saw was a box of a computer.  Please note that rather than have the funds go directly to Gary he has set up the chipin so that all the monies went straight to Gary James's account. I have no doubt he is taking the tax route using donated funds!!

This is what happens when the community realize that Tracy Fernadez is not quite what she seems. And note what she has to say herself concerning her business when people point out that she has a business, employees etc. I have highlighted it for your convenience!

The website is from when she lived in Chicago and has not been updated in years! Well let me tell you that is an outright lie. But don't take my word for it! All you need to do is check out the website itself and you'll see that it was actually copyrighted  in 2012. Some of the samples of work is also from 2012 when she lived in Georgia not Chicago (down the bottom of the screen) I have screenshots so don't bother removing that information Tracy :)

Next comes Gary James' usual tatic when he knows he has been caught out. Paint the detractors as haters and terrible people. Again...nothing ever came of the so called investigations because it probably never ever happened! The contact details in question are easily findable on the contact page of the website which he posted on his own page. Those things that make you go hmmmm!

 

So this is why the survivor page existes today! We say enough is enough! 

 

I am adding this interesting post script here as 'evidence' that our struggling single mom is not as poor as she was made out to be.

One month after having a $2,000 iMac donated by the A4cwsn community Tracy Fernandez  sponsored an iPad giveaway on the Dandelion moms. How many struggling moms can do that?? And don't forget also that this same lady was given an iPad by the A4cwsn community  just before the chipin. And who won the Dandelion Moms iPad ??Her best friend of course. I don't know if this is common knowledge, but it is very easy to manipulate a rafflecopter competition to get the winner you require.

https://www.facebook.com/FernandezDesignGroup/posts/492188990840203