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!!!

[RightOnline]

Three words:

sense...............of..............humor

[oh8eleven]

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.

ROFLMAO!

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

I think you are overreacting a little bit just relax only 21 more minutes to Wapner

[luckystarmom]

I disagree with you. Both of my daughters would not be alive 30 years ago. Thank God for modern medicine.

One was on a ventilator for a month, and the other was on a ventilator for a week. Unfortunately, one (the one on the vent for a week) did suffer brain damage. The other is gifted.

I'm just happy both of them are alive.

There are many other children like them. There are preemie babies that wouldn't be alive if it weren't for modern medicine.

We also vaccinate more than we did 100 years ago. We still don't know the side affects of vaccination. Some think that is causing autism, but there isn't direct proof either way.

Doctor's are also able to diagnose problems easier. Most of my daughter's doctors thought she was okay. At 3, I made them give her an MRI. That's what showed severe brain damage. Fifty years ago, the medical community would have thought it was just bad parenting.

[Incorrigible]

Yep. Read that after I posted. (I missed the article he was talking about until it was linked on this thread)

That's why I gave the all knowing, all benevolent, El Rushbo the benefit of the doubt!

[ArrogantBustard]

I believe it was in US News and World Report, not some quack journal

Bwahahahaha!!!!! The US Booze & Girls Report is a quack journal, same as Slime Magazine, Newspeak, and the Washington Pest. And trying to "diagnose" the dead, whether in order to draft them into the ranks of the fashionable Mental Illness Du Jour or into the ranks of sexual perversion, is definitely junk science. The ADHD crowd has been trying this for at least 10 years. They've a list of famous (dead) folks whe were allegedly ADHD sufferers; the "evidence" they present is laughable. I'm disgusted, but not surprised, that the Autism crowd is pulling the same stunt. If you want to come up with Heroes to uplift and encourage the poor folks who've been (mis)diagnosed with whatever mental illness you're flacking, please at least have the common decency and intellectual honesty to restrict yourself to live folks whose condition (ill or whole) can actually be determined.

[JakeSladder]

My girlfriend came into the room and said she lost 5 lbs. I said if she would turn and look at her butt, she would find it again. (She didn't find the humor, either) hehe..

[hummingbird]

I heard Rush, too, and was kind of surprised by the lack of empathy. That's the way I took it anyway.

Rush, if you're lurking, I'm just gonna chalk it up to your being very tired today. I know you've walked in some tough shoes lately; don't forget that others do, too.

[ApesForEvolution]

That was a classic...one I'll never forget.

[hummingbird]

ambrose, I know someone just like this. He is so difficult and now I'm feeling a little ashamed...maybe he really doesn't mean to be like this. Thank you for the info...it might help clear up a lot of bad feelings and make for some positive adjustments.

[hummingbird]

has what they call a ghosting of the same symptoms....

This subject is very intriguing. What is meant by "ghosting of the same symptoms?" Thanks!

[DaGman]

"what can be done nutritionally to treat ADD/ADHD?"

To add to what's been mentioned previously, keep the kiddo away from anything with red dye, large amounts of sugar, and especially minimize or eliminate their caffein if they're on medication.

However, if they're not on medication, caffein may actually help them by slowing them down some. I talked to someone who said his daughter drank a lot of coffee because it soothed her. This was before ADD/ADHD was a diagnosis.

[norton]

"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 ... hysically awkward in sports..."

Sure you aren't just in love?

Seriously, I thought asthma was a joke (as in 'tommy can't take gym classes/go to the party/go to camp/wipe his nose because he has asthma'). It seems to be about as common as warts and raises less sympathy. Then, of course, someone close got nailed and it's a real thing.

Maybe if the poster would present a more reasoned position people could be educated instead of irritated.

[C'mon...'Rush was rude'? Of Course Rush was rude, Rush is an entertainer who has made a career out of firing people up - AND he was reading someone else's material.]

Wearing your heart, lungs, or sensibilities on your sleeve can be a handicap in debate and in TV viewing/Radio listening/Celebrety assessing. [well, less so in the latter case]

[SLB]

Terry Minors did a piece once about children with speech defects. Totally uncalled for. One of my daughters has went through years of therapy, oral surgery and braces (insurance pays for zip) so the majority of people can now understand her. I sent him both a snail mail and email on it. He sent me back the most insensitive letter I could imagine. Two years ago he was the grand marshall at the Heartland Festival parade here in E'town. He got resounding BOO from me. Many around me looked bewildered, but I simply walked away. I do not have to sink as low as he does.

[blackdog]

My son is almost four. We had thought that he was just going to be a late talker. Upon testing him, he's got all the traits. Weak and slow lateral tounge strength & movement, falls back on tonal wale song type expressions using mostly vowels. Single consonants can be repeated if cued with an example, but creating a word with them is limited.

Funny though, he's never had any difficulty communicating his rether complex needs and exhibits no frustration when he's not being understood. He is very persistant and patient with us. Almost like we are the ones not processing right.

I think that my mom's passing from Lou Gherig's Disease(ALS) which was the type that took her speech and swallowing very quickly prepared me for non-verbal communication. Funny the way all things have an ultimate purpose. The symptoms with Apraxia of speech follow the ALS symptoms in the middle stages of the disease, of course the Apraxia of speech outlook is a whole lot brighter.........

Good luck with your little girl. My son's catalog of words without signing are Uh-oh, Oh-well, Yeah, Pop, Oh(means no), Bye,...........and that's about it. What inventory of words does your daughter have on her go-to list?

[luckystarmom]

At 4, Jenny wasn't doing well. She didn't talk much. At 4 1/2, she finally said "I want" and could add a few things.

Now, she can say pretty much all single syllable words. She is working on multi-syllable words. Some are okay, and some aren't. The longer the word, the harder it is for her to say.

She's doing well with reading, and it helps her speech. She really needs that visual cue that reading gives her. It also slows her down, so she can say the words.

She's having lots of trouble with word retrieval, even on words she can say like "mustard". If you ask her what she wants on a hamburger she'll say something like "Oh, you know. It's my favorite. It's yellow." She's good at talking around words.

I do know that in 10 years, most people will not be able to tell that she had/has a speech problem. She'll probably never be a great speaker, but she'll be able to manage in the world okay.

Good luck with your son!!!!

[blackdog]

Talking around, or expressing around a word..........

Man, you pegged it!

[MIhomeschooler]

Ambrose,

Thank you so much for posting this excerpt from ASPEN's website. They are a very informative site and helped me a great deal when my son (now 16) was diagnosed. I am in full agreement with those who feel that every few years the medical/psychiatric society comes up with the diagnosis du jour, and they among others use it to explain virtually everything. However, I must say, upon my son's dx, that's exactly how I felt. He was previously labelled ADHD (surprise, surprise) and although he definitely had quite a few of the tell-tale characteristics of that disorder, there were definitely other things that just weren't explained by ADHD alone. I am all for trying everything else before using medication, but left with no other alternatives, we put my son on Ritalin from 2nd through 6th grade. I am 100% certain that he would not have learned even 1/10th of what he did during those years had he not been on it. When he exhibited the ability to concentrate and focus adequetly without it, we pulled him off.

Although the excerpt you posted is an excellent read on Asperger's, too many people do take most of the material out there on the subject and come away with the idea that it IS simply a matter of shyness or awkwardness in social situations. While this is a major part of the disorder, and one of it's defining characteristics, most AS people have several other autisticly related issues. (DUH, it's on the autistic spectrum for a reason) If you've seen the movie Rainman or observed the way autistics react to being touched, you know they don't react like normal people. This is called tactile defensiveness, and can affect more senses than just touch. Sight, smells, sounds and tatses as well as touch can be perceived by the afflicted person as pain. This is true in AS individuals, although to a somewhat lesser degree. Discomfort or aversion is more akin to what someone with Asperger's might describe it as. My son has several issues with touch- won't wear long sleeves, is forever hot, yet takes scalding showers and has a very high tolerance for pain. He also cannot stand food smells and will leave the table in a restaurant upon us receiving our meals.

But the social aspect of his disorder (or what ever term you prefer) is the most outward sign that he is not normal. He could talk for hours on end about nothing but movies. Typical for a teenage boy, you say? Not to this degree. He can tell you everyone in a given movie, what they've played in previously, what they're doing next, who produced, wrote and directed the thing, and on, and on.... I'd love to just have a normal conversation about life occasionally, but he's just not having it! If you were so unlucky as to unknowingly show an interest in hearing about his movie trivia and were pulled in by his tractor beam and sat there rolling your eyes in complete boredom, he wouldn't pick up on that most obvious sign in a hundred years. (Poor you) Sarcasm is a waste of good breath, and when giving instructions, spell out exactly what you expect of him or you'll be walking him through it later.

For all of his faults, (can you really call them faults when they're not his fault?) I wouldn't trade him for a "normal" teenager for all the world. This young man will get you cold drinks, wet washcloths, thermometers, and fever medications when you're feeling under the weather; will tirelessly watch younger kids for you, making certain nothing ill befalls them; come up and give you a hug just when you thought you were at the end of your rope; and makes my life as complete a joy as could ever be!

There is so much more information out there on this problem than there was when my son was first diagnosed and it is more widely recognized by the general public. Yet for every mainstream media article or show on it, I feel as though it's being simplified, and the more disturbing and autistic aspects are being gleaned over to leave most people to come away with the impression that Rush seems to have adopted: It's a shyness problem. The only problem I had when I heard Rush report on this was that if he truly has never heard of this (and wasn't just being absurd) then he might have done better to do a little research before introducing this article. From my perspective, he sounded like an ill-informed person, and this was disappointing to me.

[pollywog]

MIhomeschooler,our granddaughter is obsessed with " SPirit and Rain" from the movie , Spirit. It used to be Lilo and STitch. She talks horses, takes toy horses with her everywhere she goes,looks at the world through the eyes of a horse. She also used to get upset if our 12 year old daughter( yes we are raising a teen foster daughter too) didn't order the identical food that she did.) Her knife, fork and spoon have to be moved to a different postition, and in general it is difficult to take her out to eat.*sigh*
When she comes to visit, she moves my chairs all in a different setting. If shades are up, she pulls them down, if they are down she pulls them up, just basically reversing everything. You can tell her not to do it, and it seems to be such a compulsive need, that overpowers her. We definitely choose our battles with her.

[pollywog]

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.

Yes, this is the big question that continually is discussed in parent / support groups for Autism/Apsergers. The epidemic that everyone sees, but nobody seems to know why. There is much speculation and research going on right now. MMR shots, diet deficiencies,etc. The state with the biggest increase is California.