Denis Leary has gotten himself in trouble with the Autism Society of America after an excerpt was released from his new book Why We Suck: A Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid. Here’s Denis’ take on the topic via Page Six:
“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.”
Considering I insult Criss Angel any chance I get, it’d be hypocritical of me to fault Denis for making fun of the mentally challenged. In the meantime, he completely redeemed himself, to me anyway, with his following thoughts on Dr. Phil:
“[He says] such thick and exasperating things as, ‘Everybody has their own personal Ground Zero.’ Oh, really? Does that mean someday two large speeding planes will crash into the side of your insipid hairless head? Let’s hope so.”
I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m following that. Denis Leary, everybody!
JACK MEHOFF | October 15, 2008 at 1:09 pm
WHAT A DICK………BUT I LIKE IT
1STTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
kayla | October 15, 2008 at 1:10 pm
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Megs | October 15, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I f*cking love Denis Leary and I am totally picking up this book.
Thank you for not bashing him :).
kayla | October 15, 2008 at 1:10 pm
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lolzwtf | October 15, 2008 at 1:11 pm
FIRST
lolzwtf | October 15, 2008 at 1:11 pm
FIRST
lolzwtf | October 15, 2008 at 1:11 pm
FIRST
lolzwtf | October 15, 2008 at 1:11 pm
FIRST
lolzwtf | October 15, 2008 at 1:11 pm
FIRST
sameshitdifferentyear | October 15, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I forgive this fellow for this comment, because I know for a fact that he cries real tears into his pillow every single night, wishing aloud to the heavens above that he was actually funny. Once.
JM | October 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I park my car in handicapped spaces, while handicapped people, make handicapped faces…
I’m an asshoollleeeooolleooollleoeollle.
Vince Lombardi | October 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm
He is the Billy Shakespeare of the modern age! Fuck cancer and the horse it rode in on!
erica | October 15, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I agree with him. Obviously not on severe cases of autism in which the kid is almost completely incapacitated. But I think Asperger’s for example is one of the most painfully overdiagnosed “syndromes” of the 21st century. As is ADHD.
People – and parents – like to make themselves feel better and feel justified in their suffering and shortcomings by attaching a scientific label to themselves or their children. But oh no, no one can accept that there is natural variation within a population like there is in every single species – like differences in how people learn, concentrate and handle and crave social situations – IT MUST BE AN ILLNESS ZOMG!
Yay for Denis Leary. Let’s hope he doesn’t pussy out and take this back.
erica | October 15, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I agree with him. Obviously not on severe cases of autism in which the kid is almost completely incapacitated. But I think Asperger’s for example is one of the most painfully overdiagnosed “syndromes” of the 21st century. As is ADHD.
People – and parents – like to make themselves feel better and feel justified in their suffering and shortcomings by attaching a scientific label to themselves or their children. But oh no, no one can accept that there is natural variation within a population like there is in every single species – like differences in how people learn, concentrate and handle and crave social situations – IT MUST BE AN ILLNESS ZOMG!
erica | October 15, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I am so sorry for the double post. I’m going to go flog myself now.
brian t | October 15, 2008 at 1:39 pm
The funny thing is: if you actually talk to people with genuine autism-spectrum disorders (including Asperger Syndrome, which is real), you won’t hear them calling what they have an “illness”. Different, Yes; ill, deficient or disabled, No. Many see themselves as better-off, and it’s “normal” people who look retarded. So I think Denis has a point, regarding parents looking for a name for “the problem”, when there might not (really) be any problem at all.
mamadough | October 15, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Denis Leary is the face of autism in america.
Geoff S | October 15, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Its the fluoride in the water. Its making us all stupid !
Nugaloopagus | October 15, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I think there is some truth to what he said. Woman are having kids much later in life which is a problem. Additionally they end up dropping them off here or there for someone else to take care of them. Either way, the kids don’t get the attention and early education they need to be successful let alone average.
kneejerkoff | October 15, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Dennis Leary called it right.
Stupid fucking idiot God-dang parents that can’t handle their kids.
No one needs to be having any more kids anyway in this over populated, enviromentally fucked up cesspool of an orb.
The best thing would be if every kid born would have some horrible disease worse than autism. Then they would die young and never reach adult hood.
We wouldn’t need to embalm them, just chunk them in the clay and let them be fertilizer for the food we need to grow in order to feed everyone in this fucked up overpopulated world.
mike | October 15, 2008 at 1:57 pm
@13 Erica, I myself am suffering from a very little known syndome. It is called asgoat syndrone. My illness is I can keep my hands off my goats ass.
me | October 15, 2008 at 1:59 pm
While many disorders are misdiagnosed and people like Jenny McCarthy are trying to hammer down a particular viewpoint down everyone’s throat, autism is a real thing. We found out our child was autistic at age 3 and it’s been, and will continue to be a long road.
There are few things more heartbreaking than seeing your kid lag behind, and it’s NOT lazy parenting or stupidity on the part of the child – to claim that is ill informed and mean spirited.
I’ve always been a big Denis Leary fan and have a lot of respect for the guy for his charity work as well as his offbeat humor…hearing him basically slam my family for the sake of cheap humor just lost him a fan.
Short bus styled humor loses charm if it’s your kid on the bus.
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veggi | October 15, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Hey linda!!
Break a leg!!
:)
pirhan | October 15, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I agree with him as well. Parent’s lives are too busy now a days to fully commit to their children’s well being.
@ 21 – lol
Alex | October 15, 2008 at 2:21 pm
#14
Couldn’t agree more with you, Erica. Also, don’t apologize for double posts. This shitty ass asp.net setup on this forum doesn’t have the dynamics/bandwidth or both to create post procedures in a timely fashion. And by timely fashion I mean posting 2KB of data within 30 seconds. Someone should be shot for how crappy this post module has become.
MIKE RACKHABBIT | October 15, 2008 at 2:21 pm
i agree with mr. leary. i work at an elementary school. next door to the “autistic” class. those kids are perfectly fine when things are going their way and explode into bone chilling shriek fits when they are being reprimanded. their parents spend 5 minutes here during parent conferences because they are: “too busy to deal with the issue” and “need their EX-Spouse to take more time off to deal with the unwanted bastard. people need to stop having kids to try and fix fucked up relationships, or keep a person around by force…. and if you already have one fucked up kid, STOP HAVING KIDS… DAMMIT
MIKE RACKHABBIT | October 15, 2008 at 2:22 pm
i agree with mr. leary. i work at an elementary school. next door to the “autistic” class. those kids are perfectly fine when things are going their way and explode into bone chilling shriek fits when they are being reprimanded. their parents spend 5 minutes here during parent conferences because they are: “too busy to deal with the issue” and “need their EX-Spouse to take more time off to deal with the unwanted bastard. people need to stop having kids to try and fix fucked up relationships, or keep a person around by force…. and if you already have one fucked up kid, STOP HAVING KIDS… DAMMIT
Justin | October 15, 2008 at 2:27 pm
….I want to be offended by this but it just doesn’t make any sense.
I think maybe he’s trying to talk about ADD and mixed up his disorders…the rest of you clearly don’t know how to think yourselves and have no idea what autism is. Autistic people are very rarely lazy or stupid. They have an entirely different relationship to their senses than normal people and a totally different way of processing information.
Do some fucking research and stop letting misinformed sensationalistic idiots sway you with your nonsense.
Duh | October 15, 2008 at 2:29 pm
#20, since you are so concerned about over population why don’t you make room for someone who has a soul and a brain and off yourself? I doubt you’d be missed.
HuckyDucky | October 15, 2008 at 2:45 pm
#20,
I’m with you. The world is too crowded. Animals and stupid trees everywhere. Cut down the trees, kill the animals, and let’s get some breathing room around here already! And welfare recipients, thanks for playing our game, we’ve got some great parting gifts for you.
yuristache | October 15, 2008 at 3:02 pm
We need to rework our abortion laws. I think that post-birth abortion would be the best avenue … give the kid a chance to fight for his right to live. Any child should be up for abortion subject to parental consent up until high school graduation. Children can exempt themselves by strong academic performance, a good behavioral record and a clean bill of health. This process would allow for population control, but only by eliminating the bottom of our society as opposed to a random sampling. Henceforth, in-womb abortion would be illegalized.
kneejerkoff | October 15, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Hey DUH— #20
FUCK YOU.
Why don’t you go finger your self. I heard you are out of mayonaise.
ASS HAT
kneejerkoff | October 15, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Hey DUH— #20
FUCK YOU.
Why don’t you go finger your self. I heard you are out of mayonaise.
ASS HAT
Balls McCoy | October 15, 2008 at 3:03 pm
While I’m no fan of Dennis Leary, I agree w/ him to an extent on autism. 30 or even 20 years ago we didn’t have this boom since the late 90′s of diagnoses of autism. I do believe there are significant cases of autism but if the diagnosis was indeed factual then we’ve got a full on epidemic of which nobody has addressed. The way I see it, and Dennis, we’ve got a shitload more bad parents looking for an easy way to answer for why their child isn’t better socially developed than a child who’s parents are fully involved w/ their child’s upbringing.
suzanne tremblay | August 10, 2010 at 6:56 pm
This man has proven to me he is what his song suggests, typycal a##hole. He talks about the human condition but heaven forbid should anyone contact his site and disagree. He is gonn get shot someday if he keeps this up but I am sure this is what he wants. To tried to be remembered eternal. Well screw him, I ain’t bidding on any hats as well his crew must be as big idiots as he is for defending him. And autism is not their fault and thank god for my autistic son as he is a godsend to me. Naw, he ain’t gonna bid on his helmets, and guess what Denis, you ain’t the only country whose got the bomb. And comments like yours are probably a contributing factior to 911.
veggi | October 15, 2008 at 3:07 pm
All I know is that Trig and his mom have legitimate brain disorders (mental retardation).
Lydia | October 15, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Is this guy really ignorant? Or is there something seriously wrong with him?
And why the fuck are people on this thread agreeing with him?
Autism is seriously harmful to quality of life. It is a complex, severe genetic disorder that is extremely difficult to treat. It has NOTHING TO DO WITH LAZINESS. It is a real problem, and please believe me when I say parenting an autistic child requires a far different approach and outlook for your child. Imagine yourself as a parent, having to always hear such things about your own parental skills and your loved ones.
Has this asshole any idea how much of a financial hit autism therapy is over the lifetime a child? It is costly, and very, very difficult to treat. Criticizing parents who’ll shell out big $ is mean-spirited in every way.
Why not just tell a parent of a cancer victim their kid is just unhealthy and chemotherapy does nothing?
This asshole needs to go to hell.
Sport | October 15, 2008 at 3:11 pm
brilliant.
erica | October 15, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’m glad to see so many people take a mature, skeptic viewpoint here. Again I doubt Leary is referring to the Leo Dicaprio-in-Gilbert-Grape-type-autism cases, which are pretty neurologically tangible.
But “learning difficulties”, “social ineptitude”? Fuck off. Everyone has varying degrees of these. Where would you even draw the line anyway in Aspergers anyway. Damn psychologists trying to justify their jobs.
Lydia | October 15, 2008 at 3:16 pm
@29: Justin, I doubt it means anything but thank you for being one of the few commentors on this thread who has any idea what your talking about.
Rant | October 15, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Leary is right to a degree. There are legitimate cases of autism. But others do use as a crutch. It is the same with ADD.
Rant | October 15, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Leary is right to a degree. There are legitimate cases of autism. But others do use it as a crutch. It is the same with ADD.
Susan | October 15, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Anybody who weighs in with grave seriousness about “mental disorders” is a weakling who sucks at the fetid teat of psychiatry.
We don’t have an epidemic of psychiatric disorders in America. We have an epidemic of gutlessness.
Turn off the Dr. Phil Show, burn your self-help books, cancel your weekly visit to your psychiatrist or counselor, dry your tears, stop whining, and for once, take personal responsibility for your life. We’re sick of carrying you.
meee | October 15, 2008 at 3:46 pm
i think i’m going to agree. it’s like people who refuse to believe they have an ugly fucking little kid so they show you a shit ton of pictures you don’t want to see.
dennis leary is so angry, i kind of like it.
Obama will lose to Palin | October 15, 2008 at 3:52 pm
#43 Susan, you just described every liberal democrat in America. Everything is someone else’s fault. That is why this Country is in a downward spiral.
People Suck! | October 15, 2008 at 3:53 pm
#20 and #27, I love you both! Misanthropy is fucking awesome!
kneejerkoff | October 15, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Lydia–
shut the fuck up and get off of this page you cunt.
The whole point of this page is mean spirited.
get the hell back to where you came from you fucktard.
self righteous hag.
missywissy | October 15, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I know there are true cases of autism, however, his statement seems partially true. He sounds like an asshole for being over-general, “everyone with autism doesn’t really have it”.
I think our society is trained to put a label on everything because we’re getting worse and worse at handling differences and people and things not in our control. It’s also a great way to get rich if you own a pharmecutical company. He’s partially right, half of these kids just need a switch to their butt and taken off the meds.
can't argue with the facts | October 15, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Eight years of a Republican presidency and six years of a Republican congressional majority is “why this Country is in a downward spiral.”
S | October 15, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Most of you responding to these posts are not parents, huh! Because it is clear from these posts that all of you are still children. DO NOT THROW STONES AT GLASS HOUSES….that goes for Denis Leary too! Oh and don’t talk about something you don’t know anything about…that’s unless you’re a Republican! :)