[newgeezer]

Obviously, Rush is an expert on Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, much the same as he is an expert on wind energy.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Semi Civil Servant]

Rush is brilliant when it comes to politics and I usually enjoy his show. But I always cringe when he starts bloviating on medical matters.

He is generally clueless when it comes to health issues and not wise enough to just keep his mouth shut concerning things about which he knows nothing. I was hoping his own medical problems would make him more sensitive to the health problems of others, but I guess not.

[Your Nightmare]

I didn't see it posted, but here's a link to the article Rush was talking about:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/29/national/29SYND.html

It turns out the the "even though nothing has changed" quote wasn't by the author.

Last July, Steven Miller, a university librarian, came across an article about a set of neurological conditions he had never heard of called autistic spectrum disorders. By the time he finished reading, his face was wet with tears.

"This is me," Mr. Miller remembers thinking in the minutes and months of eager research that followed. "To read about it and feel that I'm not the only one, that maybe it's O.K., maybe it's just a human difference, was extremely emotional. In a way it has changed everything, even though nothing has changed."

[bray]

Your post just begs the question, how did they ever get married?? Thanksgiving must be "interesting"? By the sounds of their symptoms they must be accountants &/or Freepers??? Stop me!!

Pray for W and Our Brave Troops

[ncdrumr]

The key to a diagnosis of Asperger's (as with all clinical diagnoses) is that the disorder causes "clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning" (DSM-IV). Typically, behavioral (or cognitive-behavioral) therapy, along with diligent help from parents and teachers, can greatly improve the situation.

[lawgirl]

Isn't Aspergers what they think Einstein and Warhol had?

[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.)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[philman_36]

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

[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!

[snowstorm12]

If these people are getting help and treatment they need and it is improving peoples lives, who is Rush to judge? If he wants to go through life living in the dark ages so be it, but why judge others who get treatment if it actually works and helps them?

[RightOnline]

Three words:

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

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

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

[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.