Denis Leary apologizes for autism comments

His publicist must have released this item in order to get attention, because certainly no one has read his book! Denis Leary is a has-been comedian whose thoughts on any subject would be valueless even if wrapped in money. Why would anyone pay attention to anything he tries to say?

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So if he has friends that have a child with autism, how can he even say something like he did in the first place? Denis Leary is very funny guy and he is an exceptional actor in his show, Rescue Me. But, seriously, people should think before making comments like he did. Then follows up with what he just said above. He has "good friends of his and their struggles they have to raise a child with autism". For that alone he shouldn't have said that.

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I have a grandchild that has autism, he gets the best teaching from his parents and schooling. How dare he say that they are lazy and bad I agree with the mother that said he should spend one hour with them he is very lucky that his children are well. All my children's prayers are that my grandchild can write a check and work when they are not here. I have heard him make jokes on religion and Autism I used to watch his show but not anymore.

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Quite clearly Dennis Leary has identified himself as an ignorant ,self absorbed,insensitive ha ha (aka ah)

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Who's Denis Leary? Who gives a crap what he thinks??

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shrinks and the pharmeceutical companies have created diseases for the drugging of our children. if a child is bored in class because she/he is stuck with a incompetent teacher, and he becomes restless THEY GIVE HIM DRUGS. Ritalin is speed! and then we tell our children to just say no to drugs. and the drugs that women use during labor can be harmful to the developing child. how many people know that the epidural medication used during labor is a derivative of cocaine and predeposes the child to drug addition later on in life. childen who are induced also, that drug also has consequences for children later on in their lives.

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I think he is just sorry about the flack he is taking for being ignorant ( not STUPID, look it up ) Why don't you ask Jim Carey if kids labeled autistic are just stupid and lazy - you know his girl friend, Jenny McCarthy's son was diagnosed with ASD. I would love to see and hear his reaction ! The lengths some people won't go to for a little attention, HUH ? I think you knew exactly what you were saying - didn't a radio personality do the same thing just a few months ago ? Ya, your sorry alright but not in the apologetic meaning of the word - again look it up !

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Thank you Dennis.

Your comments really hurt me...but I'm glad you at least kind of apologized, because you were my favorite comedian. And now I can watch you again without having a panic attack.

Love,

Aspie

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I am Dennis Leary's biggest fan but he made me unhappy when I read that remark. On the plus side, any publicity is good publicity. Hopefully, this will make the public more aware of the autism and autism spectrum challenge faced by countless children today.

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Until I read the book (not that I'm automatically going to), I'm not sure how to comment. But considering who his ex is, I think anything he says will be criticized.

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His comment was taken out of context. What he was trying to say is that there are a lot of parents who will let their children run around in public, yelling and screaming, causing a scene, and instead of interverning or disciplining the child, the parent will just stand there and say, "Oh, he's autistic." I work in a toy store and I see it all the time. I am also the mother of a four year old who is autistic, and I can tell you that although it is very hard at times, I would never let my son misbehave in public. Instead of standing there making excuses, I will correct him, or simply leave. Why should I subject the other people in the store, restaurant, etc. to my son's meltdown?

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OMG. The ranges and complexities of Autism are so complex, how dare anyone comment on it who hasn't experienced it. Autism is NOT ADHD or ADD and kids with Autism are frequently misdiagnosed with things such as ADHD and often medicated for the wrong thing, Autism is not a figment of our imagination or a "behavior" problem. Take a look back to the mid 60's and forward to find a steadily rising number of children with Autism and ADHD. Preservatives and food coloring, as well as childhood immunizations are only a few of the culprits suspected to cause Autism. You can only feed the human body so much foreign junk especially in developing bodies, until it breaks down and stops functioning normally.

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the autism support website says that 2/3 of children with autism are mentally retarded. how can this have anything at all to do with lazy or inattentive parenting? and "stupid" is a term that nowadays we can only apply to people of normal intelligence. retarded people are not stupid.

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Apologies mean nothing. This man is running scared and only thinking of his career. If he is truly sorry, he will become involved and help raise awareness that the lay person is not able to do. While the label can't be reversed, research is critical, and we all know that can't be done with the proper resources - money!

As a Teacher of Special Education and the grandmother of a three year old who has the label of PDD (which Mr. Leary, is on the spectrum of autism,) I will be the advisor and assistant to Mr. Leary.

Mr. Leary........email me. I will help you. Please know you can "learn" from your mistake!

Peggy

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Dennis Leary is a bastard that needs to double his smoking so that we can finally rid this earth of another SOB.

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I read the book (yeah I have a copy. I like Denis Leary). Since I read the book, I can tell you that Denis was NOT talking about kids who actually are austistic. Apparently, the parents of correctly diagnosed kids either can't read or weren't paying full attention.

He's talking about kids who are run to a shrink at the first sign of disinterest to be diagnosed as autustic because the PARENTS want a label for their kid(s) so they can openly be upset with their kids who don't measure up. He's talking about the kids who's parents want a quick and politically correct excuse for their kids' public behavior (little terrors: the screamers, tantrum throwers, etc) because they're too chickenchit to teach the kids manners at home or discipline them at all.

P.S. to the person who said Retalin is speed: You are incorrect. Retalin is the child sized version of the adult drug Valium. Any parent who gives their kid(s) this medication for ANY reason should be shot where they stand and charged with child abuse.

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I watched a news show about a girl with autism and I thought she was misdiagnosed. Her problem, seemed to me, revolved around avoiding eye contact. It was a psychosis, not autism. This girl was of normal intelligence, but could not function normally because of this weird problem of hers. It was so bad that she had to use a motorized wheelchair to get around because she was terrified of looking up and making eye contact with someone. The wheelchair put her at a level where she could see where she was going and avoid that possibility. She was not physically handicapped.

This poor girl is really suffering from autism, not the actual disorder, but rather, the misdiagnosis. So Leary's rant did have some validity.

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