Denis Leary: Kids with autism are ‘just stupid’
October 15th, 2008
From the New York Post‘s Page Six gossip column, Vanity Fair:
A new book by comic/actor Denis Leary includes some choice words about autism that should stir controversy (and maybe book sales). An excerpt:
“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 remark met with criticism from the Autism Society of America.
“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.”
In an interview, Leary says a protest by Jenny McCarthy would help him sell more books.
The book’s title: “Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid.”
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June 12th, 2009 at 11:19 am
He’s talking about people who pathologize everything as autism. I’m not sure how much I believe in this autism spectrum stuff. There are people using it to explain why they didn’t have a date to the prom. There are people tempted and sometimes giving in to the temptation to use the label to explain why their kids are lazy or rude. There are people just plain throwing it at stuff they don’t understand.
I’m talking about this “spectrum” stuff. Autism is a lot clearer. I’ve seen it and it does exist. Leary was speaking of something else.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:59 am
Ignorance breeds ignorance. Unfortunately Mr. Leary doesn’t seem to understand the rammifications his uneducated and misinformed comments have on the ASD community as a whole. We as a community have to fight daily for the little things, most of society as a whole, take for granted.
For my family (we have identical twin boys on the spectrum) just going to the grocery store proves to be an adventure. We have encountered biased anger, hateful comments and looks, ignorant and unknowledgeable advice from “concerned” people.
We have also been faced with bullies at every turn, and not just of those whom are juveniles, but those who are parents themselves. not to mention those in the public school system. We face a barrage of ignorance daily.
What saddens me the most is that while Mr. Leary tries to backtrack his statement he adds that he himself knows of a family that struggles with raising an autistic child. How is it then that he would make it harder on the ASD community by such a sweeping generalization?
Maybe he should ask them about how autism is a spectrum disorder. Not black and not white, sir, but a spectrum. In which it affects every person in a different way. Not to mention sensory and gastro-intestinal issues.
My boys are almost ten and I have yet to call myself an expert, so why is such a novice giving advice to the general public? I feel this is merely to create a media buzz around his book because he has found himself with a floundering career.
Unfortunately for Mr. Leary, he choose the wrong community as a tool. I am making it my personal agenda to boycott Mr. Leary and/or any other persons who utilize the media spotlight to add negative misinformation to an already misunderstood community. I implore you to do the same.
October 18th, 2008 at 1:07 am
If anyone would like, the telephone number for Viking Adult, the publisher of Denis Leary’s hateful new book, is (212) 366-2000. Maybe if enough people call and express sufficient outrage and indignation, and request that the November release of his book be cancelled, MAYBE we can have an impact. The public outcry before OJ Simpson’s book was to be released prevented its ultimate distribution.
This book ranks right up there with memoirs produced by murderers and rapists, etc — situations where those authors are legally banned from making profits off of their illegal behavior.
The conversation with the publisher should perhaps emphasize that given the upswing in the diagnosis of Autism, i.e. one child in every one hundred and fifty or so (need a solid number here), and given even the least publicity along as little as one or two degrees of separation, the magnitude of a boycott by the population being offended may have a significant impact on the publisher’s viability.
This is NOT a “laughing matter” to the community directly experiencing this type of challenge, OR to their friends, relatives, acquaintances, teachers, students, peers, etc.
Again, the telephone number for Viking Adult, the publisher of Denis Leary’s hateful new book, is (212) 366-2000. Call them. Several times. If this is a local call for you, put the number on your speed dialer and call them whenever you happen to think about it. And pass this number along to any other distribution sources you can think of.
If there isn’t occasionally some area of significant overlap between public awareness and coordinated action, then what are blogs like this for?? This idiot should not make one cent of profit from his misguided search for “something funny to say about suffering”.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I wish I could say his comments surprise me, but they don’t. He is just another fathead celeb who thinks they know anything, or everything about everything. I have a son with fragile-x. He is not stupid or lazy. In fact he is the hardest worker I know. He wouldn’t be rude or mean to anyone so what’s up with Leary’s intelligence?
How dumb do you have to be to come off with a remark like that? I am disgusted with him. I would like to say I’ll never watch his show again but the truth is I never watched it. I hope people boycott him and the network he’s on. It’s just time to take out the trash and get back to what is important and that’s our children.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
On my blog, I wrote a “joke rant” using the same style and verbage as Leary uses in his routine only I used firefighters who die when they run into burning buildings. I pointed out how incredibly offensive people would find the reference to firefighters in that manner (and Leary would likely find it as well since he lost a cousin in that manner.) Then I pointed out how his joke was no different.
Most people will lose some respect for Leary over this. The ones that don’t are probably the same level as the person who told me that if they had a “retard for a son” like I do that they “wouldn’t let it out of the house.”
October 15th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I assume by the title of his book he is using the royal “we”.
October 15th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Looks like he wants some attention, doesn’t it? There Leary goes plagiarizing again. Only this time he’s not ripping off comics like Bill Hick or Lewis Ck, he’s stealing material from uninformed medical professionals who were behind the times 30 years ago. Leary once showed comedic potential, but it this is as funny as he gets maybe he should give up the comedy career once and for all and stick to his dramatic series on FX. By spouting this nonsense, Leary shows he’s devolved into little more than an out of touch has-been comedian. There probably is no better poster child to illustrate why why we don’t rely on attention seeking comics for answers to public education or social concerns.