Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Autism Sunday

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Majorly _{(o rly?)} 10:31, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Autism Sunday

Autism Sunday (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) – (View log)

Contested prod for this non notable prayer day. 31 distinct Google hits[1], and even those aren't all for this day. Seems to have received little attention in 2002 (first time around) and none since (searching for the official name, "International Day of Prayer for Autism", gives only 6 Google hits, none of them by reliable independent sources[http://www.google.be/search?hl=nl&q=%22International+Day+of+Prayer+for+Autism%22&btnG=Zoeken&meta=). From the sources (the BBC One, given in the article and via the google search is the only notable one in my view), it looks as though this yearly event got some (but insufficinet) attention the first year around, and none since then. No multiple reliable independent sources with non-trivial coverage indicates that this event isn't notable enough for Wikipedia (per WP:NOTE). Also WP:COI concerns with author of article. Fram 11:22, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

• Keep I'm not sure what google search you have carried out but here is a reference from

Hansard - http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020109/halltext/20109h02.htm

Wrong Planet - http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=308

TreeHouse (charity) - http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:0Q09ZnVfs3UJ:www.treehouse.org.uk/_download/HYWLFEYX.pdf+%22autism+sunday%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=28

The charities may have a vested interest, but are not directly connected to the organisers. The UK Parliament and the BBC are totally independent of the campaign (and imply more than 'little attention'). In addition there are numerous links and references in blogs and church sites from around the world, which whilst not reliable sources in themselves when considered en masse do imply that the campaign is international. Nuttah68 11:52, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

My Google searches are given in the opening statement of this AfD, so I presume your question was rhetorical and/or sarcastic? Anyway, the first and second link are only passing mentions of Autism Sunday (the subject of this AfD is only Autism Sunday, not the Autism Awareness Campaign or any other Autism related event). (the UK parliament one in full reads "The year's events started this week with Autism Sunday on 6 January."). The third one is a bit longer, but both the second and the third are not by reliable, independent sources as per WP:RS, but by charities / interest groups. The only true source is the BBC one, which I already commented upon. The only source, acceptable or not, for the continuation of Autism Sunday beyond 2002 treats it as if it is a new thing, not the continuation of the earlier one: "Autism is back in focus with February 2006 as the Month of Prayer for Autism - Sunday 12th February was also the first International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. " (again, the full text regarding Autism Sunday). So yes, the prayer day has received very little attention the first time around, and no attention whatsoever since. Fram 12:19, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Hansard reports the debate in the UK Parliament virtually verbatim per day. Autism Sunday was discussed as part of a wider debate, within a days worth of debates. It is not (as no subject ever is) going to be reported seperately. The fact that parliament did not debate it for a whole day does not make it a passing reference. Nuttah68 12:35, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

I know that. But as you can easily see from the site, they discussed Autism Awareness Year for over an hour (yes, this subject was discussed separately), and only one single short sentence is about Autism Sunday. This is the very definion of a passing reference. Fram 12:41, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

OK, you want more. Here is a report to parliament on the service at St Pauls, http://www.baronessuddin.com/en/baroness_uddin/house_of_lords/20020325_autism.htm, a report from the Observer confiming the service, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,647858,00.html. Unfortunately neither mention the name directly. However, on searching there is an article on the related Autism Awareness Campaign UK that I would accept a full merge with if someone wants to sort it out. Although this does lose the international aspect. Nuttah68 13:06, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

• Weak keep per the provided cites, although most do not have Autism Sunday as the central subject. -FisherQueen (Talk) 12:15, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
• Delete. Sorry. You probably don't remember when Ronald Reagan proclaimed March 6 to be "Frozen Food Day", even though the President asked his countrymen "to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies and activities." The parade was nice, but the Republican v. Democrat frozen food fight was a fiasco. The point being that various organizations and worthy causes routinely ask politicians to announce commemorations or celebrations for their business or cause, yet few of these are really truly notable. Not that their cause is not worthy, but yet another of these commemorations orchestrated by an "awareness campaign" does not strike me as all that notable. It may have gotten some minor political attention and was mentioned in the newspapers, but getting that kind of attention was the purpose. - Smerdis of Tlön 15:30, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so that consensus may be reached
 Please add new discussions below this notice. Thanks, Quarl ^(talk) 11:10, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Find sources: books, news, scholar Addhoc 12:11, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

• Weak keep per above searches. Addhoc 12:11, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
• Weak keep per discussion and finds. Post the finds. Now, if somebody would inform me on how I should celebrate Something On A Stick Day, I'd be a very happy camper. =^_^= --Dennisthe2 19:44, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Comment for the last two 'week keep's. Have you checked the searches? Books yields nothing, Scholar yields two results which are not for autism sunday but for "autism. Sunday", and News gives 6 results, of which two are for "Autism. Sunday" as well, one is for a completely unrelated event (in March), one is a "letter to the editor", and we are left with two articles very briefly mentioning the first Autism Sunday (2002), and none for the later ones. So thanks to AddHoc for the searches, but I can't see how these can lead to a keep when they clearly fail WP:NOTE criteria on closer inspection. Fram 21:18, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

• Comment - Hi Fram, I agree the references are less than overwhelming. However, I think the BBC and Hansard links, plus the two genuine results of the various google searches, together, more or less, justify 'weak keep'. Addhoc 21:32, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

Allright, no problem! That's why we try to reach consensus instead of getting robots to do this, because opinions on borderline cases will differ. 21:45, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

• Delete, it appears the "first-ever" celebration of this holiday in 2002 was the only celebration, with only marginal coverage even then. Krimpet 20:19, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.