Denis Leary Explains His Autism-Slamming Remarks

Wednesday excerpts of Denis Leary's book were published in which the comedian mocks the diagnosis of autism. "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."

Since the release he has tried to explain.

Leary suggests that those critics obviously haven't read the book. "Or if they have," the Emmy-nominated actor said in a statement, "they missed the sections I thought made my feelings about autism very clear: that I not only support the current rational approaches to the diagnoses and treatment of real autism but have witnessed it firsthand while watching very dear old friends raise a functioning autistic child."...

"The point of the chapter is not that autism doesn't exist--it obviously does--and I have nothing but admiration and respect for parents dealing with the issue, including the ones I know," Leary continued in the statement he released today.

"The bulk of the chapter deals with grown men who are either self-diagnosing themselves with low-level offshoots of the disease or wishing they could as a way to explain their failed careers and troublesome progeny.

The book is called "Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid"

Comments

[suzyqtl]

As a mother with two Autistic boys, this was a very hurtful thing to hear. I don't understand what reason (because the one's given are not coherent) he would choose to lash out at families like ours. We have a difficult time as it is trying to get over people in the public, and schools making us feel like "bad parents" or 2nd class citizens. I do support free speech, but with our American rights we should still be expected to respect others. I'd really like to know what "his friends" (as quoted by him as having Autistic kids) really think about his comments. I doubt those "friends" actually exists or if they do, that he spends a great deal of time around them (or their children), or talking about their struggles.

[Big0725]

Always though he was brighter than that.

Oh well, disappointed again!

[wbarley]

Now seriously, as a parent of any autistic child I was a bit miffed by the previous report. I was actually more offended by someone's stupid comment about Special Ed. The fact is, Denis Leary is dang funny and if you're easily offended then I suggest you don't listen to anything he says. Maybe we should actually read the book, or failing that how about the chapter in question before making a judgement? It's not like he popped a cork like Michael Savage, who is a total wanker.

[starboymikey]

Leary is a satirist. Cenk Uyger just played Leary's song "I'm as as*hole." It's utterly hilarious. He is totally politically incorrect, but his aim is to goad the stupid and intellectually lazy. He gives hell to both the extreme right and left.

You may not like his humor, you may find it offensive, but he is part of a tradition that includes guys like Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl and the young George Carlin.

[Zofomofo]

What about old George?

[publanski]

And the late, great Bill HIcks, who had quite a few of his routines ripped off by Leary.

[11907281]

Leary is not fit to shine St Carlin's shoes, he ripped his act from Hicks and now he's pulling a play from Coultergeists play book on how to get free publicity.

[dtrobert]

Leary is a comedian, not a satirist. Satirists tend to be intelligent.

[repugnicansfearme]

Leary is not funny and this remark was cruel. What a stupid guy.

[NewArtz]

Maybe Leary should self diagnose himself with a condition that many comics have: bully jokes at the expense of weaker people. I think it's called Cheapshotbutnotfunnyism. I suffer from this incurable disorder myself. I've found that by making fun of only powerful people, I experience great relief.

[slapdragon]

I think it's funny that his parents were either too lazy or too stupid to spell his name right.

Whattaya say Dennis.

Leave the last N of for Not Funy.

I know I didn't spell funny right... that's a joke son, ya get it?

[usna73]

My son suffers from autism,.... that is brain damage that prevents him from functioning beyond the scope of a 3 year old. Any trivializing of his disability makes it impossible for us as a family to gain any level of respect and compassion from a community and society which goes about "laughing" and amusing itself into decay.

Doesn't anyone have any decency left?

[hypnotoad72]

Such decay is profitable. Don't question it.

[Jetling]

His point was that capable adults try to use autism - and ADD, for that matter - as an excuse when there's no evidence they suffered from it. Those are the people trivializing autism, not Denis Leary. I believe his desire is to out those people so people who do have autism do not become marginalized by the opportunists.

It's also worth pointing out that it's also, like ADD, a condition that is often misdiagnosed by doctors as the symptoms are not exclusive to autism alone. It's not something I would count on a family doctor alone to be able to ascertain. If you have those concerns, be sure t get your child to a specialist, with references if at all possible.

[AmericanFool]

You know what? That's not what is in the book. The language is very clear, and if it's meant to be satire it fails by a wide margin. If he just apologized for a failed attempt at satire I could accept that, but instead he tries to weasel out of it with a lame explanation not supported by his original written comments. I think Dennis owes my son and his fellow sojourners in the Autism community a plain, unvarnished apology. Until I hear that apology, to He11 with him, he won't have any of my spending dollars.

[usna73]

First of all, he didn't make the point that you did. He capitalized, literally, upon the suffering of people who can't speak for or defend themselves. That's not "funny", that's cowardly.

I'm assuming that your last remark is aimed at the populus at large, rather than at me.

If not, for the record, my son is 16 years old, I have researched tens of thousands of pages of medical documents, testified before the Congress and helped found two centers and schools devoted to helping children who suffer autism.

"Autism" is the word I use because our culture of language uses this term from the DSM IV diagnostic. My son's diagnosis comes from years of medical investigation from age 18 months to 5 years, culminating in a full work up at The Cleveland Clinic Depatment of Neurology.

As his parent, I knew all along that he was damaged by his immunizations schedule at age 18 months, but we owed it to him to do everything huimanly possible to mitigate this horrible circumstance. We continue to do so every day.

Is is sorrowful to allow this society to trivialize this and so many other serious but avoidable traumas to be reduced to fodder for a so-called comedian.

As I said earlier: We are amusing ourselves to death in this country.

[tysoph]

Does anyone know what Palin is doing for autism as McCain said last night in debate?

[suzyqtl]

Nothing as far as I can tell. But it's not Palin it's McCain that should have a plan specific to Autism and HE DOESN"T. His healthcare plan, if passed, would most likely make it harder for Autistic individuals to be covered by insurance plans or by an employer-based plan. It made my husband and I (we have two autistic boys) so mad when McCain tried to act like he could speak to this (as in having a plan). Obama has a pretty good, 3-prong approach(more fed. funding, education specifics, and health care plans) specific to helping with families and individuals with Autism. You can go to his website and under the "issues" tab, then "disability" link, then there is a section half way down to open the link for his detailed proposed plan on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

[WriterGuy]

She's doing nothing for autism. Apparently McCain confused Palin's child's actual condition of Down's Syndrome (also known as trisomy 21) with the far more widespread problem of autism.

Whether he did this to try to appeal to a broader audience, or just got confused, isn't clear. After all, this is the same foreign policy expert who repeatedly confused Sunni and Shia earlier this year.

[gwhizz]

He did it because to people like McCain, and Savage, and Leary, one "weird" kid is the same as any other. Down's, Autism, whatever. They don't care.

[dtrobert]

Nada. She cut the budget for special needs children in Alaska, so you could say she's doing less than nothing.

[Chrisallalone]

Just curious . . . if his issue is really with "grown men" who self-diagnose in an attempt to "explain their failed careers," then why does the excerpt from his book say, "inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically"? Maybe I'm a little slow, but when I read something that says, "Yer kid is not autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both," I usually think it's about, y'know, kids. Not adults.

SO tired of these two-faced shock artists who say outrageous stuff to get attention and then say, oh, no, that wasn't what I meant at all.

[dropthedh]

I like him better as Bill Hicks.

[Tzimisce]

Man, if only Bill Hicks were alive today...

[IssyWise]

Worthless gormless gutter dweller can't think of anything funny but disabled people. He'll be a channel turner for me from now on out.

[MoeSart]

Dennis Leary still owes Bill Hicks family royalty checks for stealing Bill Hicks' persona and act.

[MrGiggles]

And, stealing the entire act of Boston based comedian, Tony V.

Tony V. was Dennis' good friend room mate back in his early days and Dennis STOLE Tony's entire act.

[mredder4]

It appears that, beneath the mountain of over-reaction, Leary's comments were to point out that America is becoming a nation of whiners and complainers, looking for any convenient excuse to justify its lack of exercise of its obvious potential. We used to just let kids be kids. Now they've got "ADHD" or "underveloped social skills" or "hyperactive disorder" or [insert affliction-of-the-week here]. And the sad fact is that by clinging to these insane diagnosis, parents are shortchanging their kids by looking for an excusable cause instead of a workable solution. (This is a demonstration of the character of children who were raised by Baby Boomers and are now trying to raise their own kids: selfish to the point of self-destruction)

Either way, many of the comments already here pointing out the true context of Leary's chapter are on target, as are the ones pointing out how effortless (and pointless) it is to let something that a comedian says offend you.

Parents should expect the best from their kids, even if they have some of these questionable problems.

[TEETAAT]

So whiner #1 thinks he should write books about other's whining? Awesome, I'll buy a used copy later...

[houseofglass]

library

[gotmine9]

You are mistaken. By getting a dx, this opens doors to help. Schools must not simply reward the cream of the crop. By labeling kids you are identifying the problem, then looking for solutions. This isn't used as an excuse.

The "in the past, things were better" is simply bull. In the past, teachers could get rid of serious behavior problems, that simply isn' t the case anymore. Just saying that a kid is weird and needs a good '_ss kicking' isn't going to fix any classroom.

I have a son who has autism and a daughter who has asperger's.I have a lot to lose, and so do my kids, if our schools stop providing the services that they need in order to grow into functioning, productive adults. By getting the labels, they have access to getting Individualized Education Plans, or IEPs which outline what 'support' they need to successfully fit into classrooms. It is working, my daughter, instead of growing fearful of life, as often happens with Aspie girls, she is thriving. My son is is learning to talk and how to interact with others. Soon,he can be in a classroom and not be disruptive. All of this is important so they will grow to become independent self-sufficient adults, a contributing member.

[hypnotoad72]

Well said.

It's interesting to note that many like Leary or your average popular morning show jock, when not whining about the state of society then point fingers at people.

And while some people do like to pin failures on this or that, HIS attempt to generalize EVERYONE who does only shows his own petty ignorance and why he should keep his mouth shut.

Undiagnosed until 2005, I had one hell of a childhood regarding - amongst other things - the treatment I got. I'll spare the details for now, but I've worked damn hard to be and remain a contributing member of society and folks like Leary can point and assign labels all THEY want. From personal experience, I spit on their labels and denounce how wrong they are. Indeed, that guy is an actor who likes to dress in womens' clothes if I'm reading that picture correctly. Who's to judge that what I do for a living is less of a contribution than he is, though it honestly doesn't take much to outdo a man who thinks entertainment is dressing up like a woman.

When finally diagnosed with "Asperger's Syndrome", after having taken some tests and meeting others on the Autistic Spectrum, it almost instantly became clear that all the previous diagnoses were so utterly wrong. Even Leary would be leery of some of those quacks...

[Le nombril]

"We used to just let kids be kids."

True, but the results we got for doing this have been inconsistent at best and downright disastrous at worst. If the technology and science now exists to identify and treat childhood disorders I say that we should use it rather that "just let them be" and let turn them into belltower shooters later.

[dtrobert]

I was an autistic kid who was let to be just a kid. I almost died from it. Sorry, but I don't buy that one. The suicide rates amongst people on the Autistic scale is extremely high, mainly because Autism is primarily a social integration disorder. Making fun of that is cruel, at best.

If I had been correctly diagnosed as a child, I might have managed to get through some of my integration issues far sooner, and would have become a far more productive member of society. As it is, I've had to find my own way through life, and have fought far more than most to get where I am. Believe me, I would have LOVED to have been able to understand earlier why I'm so different from those around me.

Some kids are NOT just kids. I certainly wasn't.

[unclesmedley]

If, “America is becoming a nation of whiners and complainers,” then whining and complaining about it seems an unlikely remedy. No? And, assuming the charge is true—why pick on people with real problems? There is nothing “insane” about an autistic diagnosis. Just because it isn’t subject to clinical analysis with a blood test or x-ray, does not make the disorder “questionable.” And taking comedians, talk-show hosts and under-informed yahoos with keyboards to task for spewing ignorance or insensitivity is necessary because, to ignore their moronic remarks is to validate them. And that cannot be allowed.

It’s true, there are too many navel-gazers who try to shortcut their way through parenting. Parents of autistic kids have no time for that luxury. So get your facts straight and go pick on somebody else.

[mredder4]

"Just because it isn"t subject to clinical analysis with a blood test or x-ray, does not make the disorder "questionable." "

Yeah, it kind of does. Admittedly, there might be limited information on the subject now, and much more to learn in the future, but to just call it a disease or affliction based on opinion is NOT science. If you don't know what something is, cramming it into a classification that may or may not fit does it a disservice, nothing more.

I also wasn't "picking on" anyone, save maybe parents who knowingly use ADHD, autism, and other problems as excuses when it's obvious their kids do not have them, so save me from your misguided indignation.

But to fit the mold I'm being labeled with, maybe autism is the evolution of righteous self-importance in some humans. Maybe these children of parents so wrapped up in themselves have evolved the ability to live without being forced to acknowledge that other people exist and have opinions.

[gwhizz]

I have spent the last 11 years looking for a way to help my daughter. People like YOU are why she is still suffering.

[mredder4]

Are you implying that I'm actively sabatoging efforts to find cures for autism? Or that I'm publicly spreading lies about it? It sounds like you are, based on nothing more than your offended sense of self-righteousness. I find it offensive that you would take a comment defending a comedian from overreaction to one of his statements and use it to fuel a baseless statement like this, which is also essentially ANOTHER overreaction. The irony is stunning.

You don't know me, you don't know anything about me. Save your hateful accusations for those you can confront face-to-face.

[brijit]

Huh? A guy writes a book called "Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid" and people take anything he says in it SERIOUSLY???

[dtrobert]

Why not? He actually believes all of this crap. It's not satire, it's his actual beliefs. He IS a wingnut, after all, and has the mental acuity of Michael Savage and Dennis Miller.