It appears that Denis Leary is just begging for hate mail from the parents of kids diagnosed with autism.
Check out what the so-called comedian has to say about the brain disorder in his new book, Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid.
“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.”
The Autism Society of America responded with:
“For Mr. Leary to suggest that families or doctors conspire to falsely diagnose autism is ridiculous . . . [His] remarks reflect the same misconceptions of autism being caused by bad or unemotional parenting that were held over 50 years ago.”
On the bright side, Denis has not been relevant in over a decade and is about as funny as the cigarettes he chainsmokes.
28 Comments
His comments show his ignorance about autism and his overall stupidity. Autism is such a serious and detremental diagnosis for families. To make light of that and explain it away as a problem with the parents is disgusting. Way to go Dennis!
I am torn on this…..
I mean you have parents that “dope” normal children up because they dont want to deal with it, then they name it ADD……………Seen it TO MANY TIMES.
As far as Autism goes - - I have no clue.
But, it seems like to many parents DO NOT WANT to deal with a normal child-they just push dope down them.
Stupid Dennis. He meant to make fun of ADHD. THAT’s the “disease” of inattentive parenting!
exactly just askin’…I think he got his childhood diseases mixed up. He was probably going for ADD and thought autism instead…surprised nobody caught that. Denis Leary is actually quite funny and relevant. Rescue Me is one of the best shows on tv and incredibly well written.
This was just what I needed as I got up today … before my coffee .. but after I woke up my 15 year old son .. changed his diaper … bathed him .. fed him .. gave him the medication he needs to calm his anxiety enough to get through a doorway .. walked him out the door on the way to the bus (where he joyously snuck tree sap from the pine trees onto his slinky .. at least he arrive at school smelling pine fresh).
Since he can only speak a half dozen words he will never be able to tell me what he went through today. I will wager that he will conquer more today than you, Mr. Leary, will in your lifetime .. despite the overly inattentive and competitive parenting of my wife and I.
Mr. Leary you don’t have to punish my son anymore for what you perceive as his laziness and stupidity. He punches himself with force enough to bruise whenever he cannot deal with a situation. It is the rationalized ugliness you represent in our society that makes me fear for what my child will have to endure once we are unable to care for him.
I have 3 children, 1 has autism. I parent them all the same. My autistic son is extremely intelligent, he just has trouble verbally expressing himself. This makes him seems strange to most people which in turns makes it hard for him to make friends. If you watch “Big Bang Theory” my son is most like “Sheldon”. As young children, autistic kids express themselves in tantrums, which leads to the misconception that they are misbehaving. Dennis’ ignorance is showing in his comments.
My older son is autistic and an intelligent, gifted child, although he struggles with so many day to day things that others see as “odd.”
It has broken my heart to wonder what happened, to make him different than other children, all his life, and to see him struggle with so much…to know him is to love him but he is not ugly or stupid.
Dennis Leary, your comments made me cry and fear for the ignorance still yet to come in my son’s life.
How dare you.
Another regular poster with a child on the spectrum here (I have 3, my middle one is affected)
First Amanda Peete calling parents who choose not to vaccinate “parasites” and now this…?
I don’t even know what to say.
What a fucking moron.
Oh and for the record we have tried everything available (holistics, therapies, diet) and will continue to use every alternative to pharmaceuticals with our son. So far he’s doing fantastic. Should there come a time where he needs them we would certainly be open to it, but it will be a last resort. Most families we know with children mildly to moderately affected do the same.
I posted this “rant” on my blog because it’s the same as Leary’s rant on autism in terms of structure and content:
““There is a huge boom right now in fund-raising events for firefighters that die when burning buildings fall down on them. Why? Because these guys didn’t have the common sense God gave a cat or dog? What the [profanity deleted] does a dog do when a house is burning? It leaves the [profanity deleted] house! So now you see celebrities running around hosting fund-raisers talking about the brave men and how they paid the ultimate price. They didn’t pay any price. They just were too stupid to realize what fire does to a steak on a grill it can also do to their ignorant [profanity deleted].—
Would any of us sit by and say a “joke” like that is acceptable? Of course not. Yet there’s no difference between that joke and the one that Leary put into his book. Sometimes subjects are just unacceptable for mockery and this is one of them.
Stupid pale faced red head ass****
Kudo’s Jason
He’s quite correct
GO DENIS
And irrelevant? Perhaps you’ve forgotten about his critically acclaimed show Rescue Me. You’re not Perez, leave the snarky comments to the commenters.
Elizabeth Robillard-you can go fuck yourself.
What do you know about life with autisic kids.
I can only hope that if someone in your life is affected with this that others show you more compassion than you do for the mothers here.
You make me sick.
Of course there are many kids who are really autistic but I suspect there are many more who really are not; same with ADD. So Denis does have a point–in many cases parents just shift the blame to one of the popular ailments. I feel very sorry for those parents who’s kids really do have either of these illnesses; it”s got to be a tough row to hoe…..
Mike C.: You have NO IDEA what you are talking about. I’ve seen autism, ADD and ADHD on SPECT scans and brain maps. They are quite real, thank you very much, and exceedingly common.
Incidentally, it’s the *schools* who label kids with ADD/ADHD and insist on medication, not the parents.
Anonymous (at 9:41 pm) is a short-bus riding, window licking, pants pissing, moron. To say that he’s “seen” ADD and ADHD on SPECTs and “brain maps” is absurd. Autism is real, and it exists in a wide range, but ADD (what Leary should’ve poked fun at) is complete nonsense. I’ve known several idiot children who got put on ritalin to “cure” their “disease”. What a freaking joke.
So here is what I am posting:
Perhaps Mr. Leary needs to think about what makes parents of autistic children cry. Oh yes, we often cry at the thought of what might never be. But as we work with teachers and therapists and help our children grow we cry at things that come naturally to other children. Here are some of the moments that made me cry for joy.
The first time my son ran to hug someone rather than run away.
The first time a Mom at the playground said to me, “Really he is autistic? I couldn’t tell.”
The first time Peter wrote his homework assignments all by himself.
The first time he said, “I can do it all by myself.”
The first time he read me a story.
The first time he asked me to play a boardgame.
The first time he asked someone to watch him play because he did not want to be alone.
Mr. Leary needs to spend some time with these incredible children.
Denis-
My nephew has autism, you shit eater. He is 16 and cannot feed himself, bathe himself, and he is still in diapers. Even though he cannot communicate very well, he has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met and can guarantee that everyone who has met him has given pause and become a slightly better thinking and open minded person. This disorder is very real. So, here’s my diagnosis for you- Asshole Spectrum Disorder with a severe case of “I haven’t had a real job in 20 years and this is all I can do to get back on the map!” Here is the treatment-die of lung cancer or OD on alcohol and pillls-whichever one hurts you and your family more in the same way you have hurt ours, you worthless waste of space.
Denis is very close to career decline. He is a parent I guess and obviously has kids who are ok. He was a flash in the 90’s and to some degree entertaining. He seemed genuinely supportive of NYFD which I found admirable. This whole mess just shows he is desperate to revitalize his faltering career and look he can not even do it on his own merits. He has to trash other celebrities who would make him look like a welfare case and that’s ok they can take it and some even embrace it. The Autistic? The parents of the Autistic? He intended to cause a stir and was fully aware that this type of stuff would rile people, get their interest to buy his shitty books just to see what he has to say. This guy is either very ill advised by his promo people or a complete piece of trash. His mediocre talent has slipped and the young kids up and coming will send him into the blackhole of the obscure. My autistic child brings happiness to me everyday, does your kids?
its true that some autistic children truely are autistic, but more and more people are just using that as an excuse because there kid frankly is stupid. its not like he wanted to make fun of that, but just a message for all the parents that just think there kid is autistic so they don’t have to face facts. its nothin a good slap wont fix!
Here’s another relevant quote by Denis Leary: “The point of the chapter is not that autism doesn’t exist - it obviously does - and I have nothing but admiration and respect for parents dealing with the issue, including the ones I know.
The bulk of the chapter deals with grown men who are either self-diagnosing themselves with low-level offshoots of the disease or wishing they could as a way to explain their failed careers and troublesome progeny.”
Wow! Whoever wrote this article totally did not read the rest of that chapter.
What Denis really said is that:
1) Autism Is Real
2)Those who have autism, and their caretakers deserve our sympathy and respect
3) A select group of parents are attempting to devalue those people by trying to get their kids diagnosed with mild autism. And this is an INSULT
Any of you who have a REAL autistic child (and a brain in their head) should commend Leary for pointing out the people who FAKE it to cover up other issues. If I had a child with any sort of disorder, I would be pretty upset with others who faked it to get attention, not the person who pointed them out to me. Anyone who is angry with Denis Leary is either 1) misinformed by the spin that the media put on his comments and never actually read the book, 2) read the book and isn’t smart enough to understand it, or 3) is one of the people pretending to have an autistic child and mad that they were exposed. Those of you who get it, get it. Those of you who don’t, will go on fighting battles every time someone looks at you wrong for the rest of your lives, I’m afraid.
I have listened to Denis Leary’s book on audio CD, and have been very angered by a big bit on his comments
regarding children and brain disorders like autism.
Yes, I know there are lazy parents out there who don’t bother to discipline either because they are self indulgent or absent, then come waffling in and out of their kids’ lives-then manage to just cover their love in material gifts as opposed to ‘I Love You’s” and hugs and sincere praise, not to mention parents who treat their kids like “trophies” to company or the general public, then dis them in private-that, too, creates angry kids who end up belligerent and willful.
In “Why We Suck,” Leary not only talks about threatening “Special Men to take you to Iraq” to kids melting down at airports, grocery stores, etc., He also puts down non-meltdown kids as well, saying “They won’t leave their mark on the world, unless they are like Mother Theresa or Jeffery Dahmer” and that the parents are the only ones who think their child is great-all families think the junior members are great, Leary!!
Whether or not any parent makes excuses for their child’s poor behavior, and that Denis knows there real autistic people out there, brain disorders are NOTHING to mock and neither are the Doctors who diagnose them.
Ryan Leaf, I have every right to be angry at these types of “jokes” and using them to make a point doesn’t ok it. I do have a sense of humor, but I am watchful about it.
and, Denis Leary, Go Fuck yourself!!! I feel sorry for your family. Nice going! probably embarrassed your kids to death!!
Autonomy can and should be celebrated often. I do fuck myself in every way imaginable, it’s called learning (as well as good and bad sex) Something my severe learning disabled child won’t be able to do (12 years of zero progress with ABA has not helped so far) as he is misdiagnosed with a label that has no foundation. . Autism is a group of behaviours, you can suffer from it or not, it (3 behaviours) is usually called autism as genetic tests are too expensive. Check http://www.rarechromo.org - autistic behaviour exists - some genetic causes of autism are known (see Angelmans Syndrome, Isodicentric 15 etc) - often on the genes 7 and 15. It’s ignorance about it that makes ME sick.
We never had any problems with children until the 60s Baby Boomers decided that materialism is the god that feeds them. All that dope smoking came back at ya didn’t it. Parents that have to work to provide cars, TVs, computers, Game boxes, etc. instead of doing real parenting make me sick. Go ahead ya’ll make up some more excuses. No wonder this country is in the mess that it is in. Thank you very much and have a good day
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