According to Dennis Leary, I am an inattentive mother and my child is stupid.
I read about Dennis Leary and his ignorant comment about parents of Autistic children at Autism Vox and also an interesting post in regards to this comment at A Life Less Ordinary by Emily.
Here is Dennis's comment found in his new book...brace yourself.
"There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can’t compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks . . . to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don’t give a [bleep] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you - yer kid is NOT autistic. He’s just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."
Apparently he thinks this is a new, creative or funny idea? Talk of the 'refrigerator mother' in regards to Autism has been around forever. Are people so hard up for comedic writing for books and television that they have to turn on parents who are working hard to raise children who are Autistic?
I suppose it is nothing out of the ordinary. I remember my family putting up with cruel comments or ideas in regards to my sister and her disability when I was a child. The comment above is without a doubt very cruel. It is not funny in context or out of context.
Apparently ignorance continues to be profitable. The rights of children and adults with Autism and other disabilties are always being belittled. Unfortunately, some people have a wide audience in which to share their backwards and unintelligent ideas on subjects they obviously know nothing about.
