A LETTER TO A MR. DENNIS LEARY

Imagine my disgust when I had this quote from Dennis Leary pop up in front of me on my computer this afternoon. Apparently he thinks he is well-educated and informed about Autism, as he had this moronic thing to say about the Autism crisis...

"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, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks . . . to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't give a [bleep] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you - yer kid is NOT autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."

Of course I do have something to say in regards to his statement:

Dear Mr. Leary,

Your complete lack of scruples and intelligence would imply that YOU are the one that is just plain stupid, lazy or both. Stupid for saying that inattentive mothers are the reason why children are being diagnosed with Autism. Lazy for not educating yourself on the realities of Autism. And both for the obvious reasons previously stated.

To make such a broad, ridiculous statement only shows that you are nothing more than another uneducated, loud-mouthed, ignorant jack-ass this world doesn't need. Your over-generalization of the trials a parent with an autistic child goes through is nothing short of insulting. You think this crisis is just something we are making up in our heads? You try living a day in my shoes, and then have the balls to tell me to my face that this isn't real and isn't something thousands upon thousands of people are living with every day.

Don't YOU ever tell me the reason my child is diagnosed with Autism is because I'm lazy, or just looking for a label to blame all my child's problems on. YOU weren't there when she lost her speech at the age of 16 months. YOU weren't there when she withdrew into herself. YOU weren't there to experience my child incapable of interacting with her sisters and parents because of a disorder that is REAL and ripped our hearts in two. YOU weren't there through years and years of intensive therapies trying to help my child. Where the hell do you get off minimizing the pain and the hurt that parents go through every day when they hear that their child has a disability they will have to fight against every single day? Children who have to fight against ignorance likes yours, because you are minimizing something that is real, and they have to live with every single day?

YOU are the reason there is so much ignorance is society about Autism. PEOPLE LIKE YOU are the reason that parents have to fight for their children every day to be treated like equals. Children with Autism are NOT dummies, morons, or anything else you so eloquently described. The fact that you aren't even educated in Autism or anything relatively close to it is laughable. You are so full of yourself that you can honestly think you can un-diagnose children living with Autism? The fact that you think you are an authority on the subject tells me the only one here with mental problems is YOU!

Do humanity a favor and stick to acting. Pretending to be someone you aren't is a lot better than you opening your mouth and showing us who you really are.