Rush was RUDE today!!!!!!

Rush Limbaugh | 4/29/04 | myself

[pollywog]

I am SO ANGRY at Rush Limbaugh right now!! In his last segment he really bashed and basically made fun of people who have Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. He apparently has not done " his homework" on this one.He read from a article, but I didn't hear who had written it. My granddaughter and husband both suffer from Aspergers.It has been a very difficult journey for our daughter and son in law. Rush will get LOTS of angry emails concerning this!!!

[xsmommy]

well you won't change my mind, either. Because i have a 9 yo daughter who is on meds for ADD. she is not hyper, she is not badly behaved, she just cannot attend. we were advised to try the meds but fought it. found another opinion and tried all sorts of other things. finally we tried the medication and it has made the difference in her being able to concentrate enough to be able to learn.

i get totally aggravated with the knowitall freepers that claim that there is no such thing as ADD and it all comes down to lazy parenting. i know from experience, as someone who was deadset against meds, that that is a load of crap.

[VoiceOfBruck]

...everyone coming up with some syndrome or another to explain why they are the way they are, and then demand some federal subsidy for their "disability".

Like Bruck Syndrome:

receding hairline, bad hair, expanding midsection, impatient with "young adults," never can seem to get enough sleep, ...

Send money please, it's for the children!

[cajungirl]

well, in the olden days, there were not as many syndromes or identified ones anyway. And not as many medicines. And certainly not the amount of knowledge we have today. So that is why they survived without them. I might remind you that they didn't live as long, didn't get treated as well and died or had disability unnecessarily. Aspergers has always been around, the kids were just called odd balls, misfits, etc and were generally scapegoated, treated badly by peers and didn't have the chance to function as well as they were able. Same thing with alot of mental and neurological disorders. But hey, if you want to bring back the olden days I do hope you will give up your personal access to statins, insulin, stent surgery and new methods of treating your cancer,,,get my point?

[cajungirl]

I would think Aspergers and programming would fit nicely.

[petitfour]

I was pretty ticked at Rush when he was so callous, equating shyness with a condition that is very serious for those who have it or for the parents of those who have it. Sure, the article he read was pretty lame-sounding. However, he could have educated himself further on the subject before he opened his big mouth.

You are not alone.

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

The youngest of our three sons is almost grown, but I hear you. The youngest boy's teacher and principal wanted us to put him on Ritalin. We said absolutely not, and when they insisted we took him out of school. This was a well respected parochial school that our older two had already attended. My point being that the crowd that wants to corrupt the minds of our children is not just limited to the public school system. (By the way, diet and exercise can do wonders for improving attitude and behavior.)

My wife is homeschooling him through high school and he enjoys the routine. She enjoys it as well. It's a lot of extra work for her, but she woud tell you that it is worth it. If you're ever interested, check out the net for research data on how homeschooled children routinely score on college entrance exams, SAT, ACT, etc. Lots of good information out there. Fair amount of garbage as well.

Congratulations on your first bambino! Unsolicited advice: Stick close to God. Proverbs 22:6

[cajungirl]

very well said!

[HairOfTheDog]

I think Free Republic is an amazing place... This headline looks like any hyper post over at DU... Headlines about whatever thought just popped out of someone's head and immediately onto the keyboard. I hope to never see a lot of here... but if you read the thread, you get people immediately on thread who know a lot about this disorder and explain it, people who disagree on whether it is even a disorder, people who disagree on whether Rush was rude, people who make a few jokes about it, and you and I talkin' about addictive entertainment.

DU would have had a couple puking smilies and "Yeah what a butt-head" comments, and no meaningful content. They are not equal and opposite, these websites, much as people try to compare them.

[Xenalyte]

RLS is no joke, and to its reality I can testify.

[waverna]

AS sounds like someone highly intelligent and socially awkward. I suppose that could be considered a 'syndrome', like someone with no sense of style or poor hygene or a little OCD. Doesn't seem to require medication though.

[xsmommy]

that is very interesting and informative, thanks for posting it.

[Born Conservative]

In 95+% of cases it doesn't exist, and when it does, it could a)be avoided and b)be handled through nutrition, parenting, etc.

Which scientific evidence do you base these assertions on? Also, what can be done nutritionally to treat ADD/ADHD?

[ambrose]

I'm sorry, but when I read the below list, I can only shake my head and laugh. What they term "Asperger Syndrome" could apply to virtually any computer programmer I have come across. Yes, "nerd" or "geek". Gee, the world's richest man (Bill Gates) suffers from "Asperger Syndrome"...


Below is a list of Asperger Syndrome characteristics:


http://www.aspennj.org/
What are the characteristics of these disorders?


Children with these diagnoses exhibit serious and chronic social, behavioral and communcative impairments. Not every child is the same but some characteristics may be:




socially awkward and clumsy in relations with other children and/or adults

naive and gullible

often unaware of others' feelings

unable to carry on a "give and take" conversation

easily upset by changes in routines and transitions

literal in speech and understanding

overly sensitive to loud sounds, lights or odors

fixated on one subject or object

physically awkward in sports

[MineralMan]

"Even if the kid doesn't have ADHD, wouldnt putting him on a psycotropic drug modify his behaviour anyway?"

Which drug? It all depends. There's no single answer, you see. A kid who actually has ADHD will probably respond well to Ritalin. If there's no response, then something else is probably going on. Is there another drug? There are lots of them. Each does something the others don't do.

Simple behavioral problems, however, do not require medication. They require teaching. That's harder than giving a pill. Sure, you might give an overactive or obnoxious kid a drug that will slow him down, but that's not an answer. Real ADHD, however, does respond to medication, and to nothing else.

As I said before, there's no cause to ridicule, in any case.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Please-do not Rush to judgement.

[RightWhale]

My daughter was diagnosed autistic, but do I take offense every time somebody mentions the word without a passionate disclaimer? There is such a thing as a too tightly defined interest center.

[isrul]

"a list of Asperger Syndrome characteristics."

Looks like the average dope smoking, public school educated teenager.

[Phantom Lord]

Yes, RLS is not a joke. But those who attacked Rush over some comments he made needed to lighten up. And his RLS parody is one of the funniest things I have ever heard.

[cajungirl]

Ditto. ADHD responds well to stimulants and makes a huge difference in a kids life and schooling. Anyone who sees a child who profits from these meds believes it. Freepers are not terribly willing to be knowledgeable about these conditions. They think a stiff upper lip, pulling up one's bootstraps and stifling kids works better. Oh well,,