Earth to Denis Leary, There’s More to Autism than Rain Man
Shame on Denis Leary, who still claims his autism related comments were taken out of context and who obviously just wants to sell books. I don’t really know why I care that some celebrity turns out to be a jerk to the Nth degree, but I always liked Denis. Now he reminds me of a politician who will say whatever it takes, knowing that most people won’t look into a matter further when he says his comments were taken out of context. Denis is pretty ignorant on autism if he thinks all kids with autism are like Rain Man, who is an autistic savant.
I know a person with autism. If your kid really has autism, he would behave very similarly to Rain Man. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t have autism, and you’re a bad parent.
Earth to Denis Leary: Not all savants are autistic, and not all autistic persons are savants. Between 0.5 and 1% of people on the autistic spectrum have savant skills. [See Myths and Facts about Autism]
Denis hurt and disappointed a lot of people by continuing full steam ahead with his book. He had a chance to do the right thing, but instead pushes this out of context crap, which anyone who reads the chapter on autism can see is B.S. Denis had a chance to man-up and do the right thing, but instead he just wants to sell more books.
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Filed under: Ignorant About Autism
