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!!!

[Poincare]

Aspergers is rather common among us mathmaticians. The suffering is real even in a mild case, but we try to get by. (It is said that a mild case is when the person with A is talking with you and looks at your shoes instead of his own.)

[blackdog]

My youngest has Apraxia of speech. At first because he was soooo smart, yet had no interest in verbal communication, we thought he had autism. He now signs and speaks at the age of four. He prefers signing and we only allow it if he accompanies it with an effort of speech at the same time.

The movie "Rainman" is very good. My son attends school with some children afflicted with various forms of Autism and it requires parents with endless patience and manners in order to work with the child.

My son prefers to read tractor manuals, Haybine manuals, the GMC Turbodiesel manual, and my wife's chemistry periodicals. He loves the molecule chains.

One cannot be too thin skinned when you've got little ones with disabilities. If Rush's comment bothers such people, they are going to feel like they live to be 300 years old, uphill.

[F.J. Mitchell]

"What disease? Do I have a disease?"

LOL! Nothing that deep depression, insanity, arrogance, vanity, thin skin, an inferoity complex, and totally losing your sense of humor, wouldn't cure.

[Rabid Dog]

Nice insight.

Sense of humor is important as well.

We have an Asperger boy and some of the stuff he comes up with is priceless.

[cajungirl]

Oh heck, I was getting all into my "disease" wondering what I could get my husband to do seeing as how he would be all guilty and wondering if he caused it.

[Gypssy]

I am beginning to believe that some people should turn off the radio and do something else. When Rush or any other radio personality gets to you that much, time to turn it off and exercise or something.

[cajungirl]

Just reading this thread reminds me of how much people have in their lives. There is an epidemic of autism spectrum disorders. What used to be rare is now getting so common. I think the incidence is increasing. I think three of four people here have kids with asbergers or autism or another developmental disorder. Something has to be causing this that we just don't know. I wonder if there is a gene that gets "turned on" in utero by something environmental.

[Laserman]

I just heard Rush's comments and he did not speak rudely about folks who have autisim. He read from an article and described the syndromes you mentioned. But he was NOT rude.

[cyborg]

One cannot be too thin skinned when you've got little ones with disabilities.

*** I agree. Also, parents should not be held responsible for their children's disabilities. People can be that way sometimes.

[shhrubbery!]

Before flying off the handle on a topic Rush is going to talk about tomorrow, it might be a good idea to read the article he's talking about before judging: Answer, but No Cure, for a Social Disorder That Isolates Many

I'll bet Rush is going to focus on paragraphs like this:

Carl Pietruszka, 52, said that being found to have Asperger's had been a blow to a long-held fantasy. "It's been my hope for years and years that if I keep working at it, I'll find a strategy that will fix things, that if I practice enough, it'll be O.K.," Mr. Pietruszka said. "Now I know I'm working with Asperger's, which is going to be an ongoing thing. It'll get better, but it's not going to be O.K. That has me seriously bummed out."

That paragraph would make Rush mad!

Here, Mr. Pietruzska was working on his problem -- UNTIL he "learned" from the "experts" that his problem was "incurable." The guy promptly got discouraged and has settled into victim mentality.

If that's what's bugging Rush about this article, then I'm with him.

[AppyPappy]

Sounds like a computer geek to me!

It describes my childhood perfectly and I'm a programmer.

[F.J. Mitchell]

What disease was I "knocking"? You have confused me !!!

The disease of normality, that I described all Cajuns I ever met as being inflicted with.

[doc30]

Or the local Dungeons and Dragons players.

[Rabid Dog]

I think it is genetic. My brother has it (undiagnosed because he was born in the 50's, my nephew has it and I think my dad has it).

It's practically explosive in the Bay Area which has a large population of geeky computer programmer types. (No offense to all the geeky computer programmer types that are also FReepers.)

Maybe there is some kind of evolutionary advantage to it and that's why we are seeing more of them?!?

[philman_36]

Rush was RUDE today!!!!!!
That is irrelevant! Was he entertaining?

[cajungirl]

I saw nothing of victim there. His illness is incurable given what we know and he said it would get better. Sure he is bummed, wouldn't anyone be. He didn't say he was a victim, he said the truth. He is a victim in our eyes but he isn't asking for that status. If there is such a status. And who is Rush, or you, to decide how he should express himself and how he should feel?

[Politicalmom]

I finally allowed my son to be put on meds last June, after more than five years of trying everything else.(Occupational therapy, diet, nutrition, etc) He has been diagnosed as ADHD, but has a lot of Asperger's symptoms as well. This school year he has BLOSSOMED. He is one of the top readers in his school, when he hated reading before. I have been stopped multiple times in the halls by people who wanted to tell me how much happier and outgoing he is.

I got the "He just needs to be spanked more" routine from my father for YEARS. When my mother finally told me she had come to realize he could NOT control his behavior, I sat down and started crying. The judgemental behavior of so many people is devastating for parents trying to find a way to help their children.

[Saundra Duffy]

I have a friend who has a child with this. She gets frustrated with people who don't understand. They think the child is just misbehaving and she's a bad mother because she can't discipline right or something. Rush messed up!

[cajungirl]

Interesting. Autism primarily strikes middle and uppper middle class children. This does exist on a spectrum of severity and disability. Being mildly autistic may confer some advantages in a highly technical world.

[cajungirl]

It is hard when one's mother doesn't understand. I am glad he is doing well,,it is so wonderful to see a kid blossom and be better off thru medication even tho Freepers think it is devil poison. I think it is God's gift in lots of ways.