I couldn’t sleep last night so I did that dreaded late night hobby. TV Channel Hoping. Normally a channel has about 20 seconds to catch my attention before I’ve moved on to the next televisual experience. Well one channel caught my attention for all the wrong reasons.

An American news channel which happened to be talking about Autism. Basically a so called expert was talking about curing people on the spectrum. The magic bullet was a combination of new drugs and intensive psychotherapy. That way apparently individuals can fit better into society by being cured.

Read that as Reprogramming and squeezing individuals into socially acceptable moulds.

I’m not going to get into the details of this crap but one thing did strike me about the expert. The expert kept talking about those on the spectrum having no empathy and no sense of humour.

Ok…..

Randomly I would like to list some of Hawklads favourite movies and shows. Ones which make him laugh and giggle.

Monty Python and The Holy Grail

Monty Python and The Life of Brian

Fawlty Towers

Red Dwarf

Deadpool 2

Airplane

Ghostbusters 1 and 2

All the Men in Black movies

ScoobyDoo

Penguins of Madagascar

Ice Age

Ant Man

Guardians of the Galaxy

Groundhog Day

Scrooged

Bill and Ted

Any Pink Panther movie

Dumb and Dumber

The Naked Gun

Horrible Histories

Black Adder

Gravity Falls

The Simpsons

Sponge Bob

Johnny English

Any Will Ferrell movie

Ace Ventura

Wayne’s World

The new Jumanji movies

Twins

Kindergarten Cop

Mall Cop

Bill

Yonderland

So many more…. Anyway apparently no sense of humour…..

66 thoughts on “Fake news”

  3. Ugh. I hate when they want to cure us. I don’t want to be cured. And I mean, cured of what? We do not have a desease. Who would I even be if I “got cured?” I feel like so much of the good in me, so many of my hobbies and my charming whimsical ways stems from my autism, so who would I be if I didn’t have it? Would I even have a personality without it? And when will they learn that there is a difference between not having empathy and knowing HOW TO SHOW IT. We have it. It’s just hard to express sometimes. Also, I got humor in spades, I think I’m pretty hilarious and I find lots of things funny… so I really don’t know what that “expert” is talking about.

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  4. It blows my mind that people still think that way and still get put on the air dispelling such nonsense. Misconceptions are out there, it is sad. To be safe, I did reach out to Declan’s new teacher to let her know that if Declan sees a child that is upset or frustrated, Declan will not understand the 6 feet apart rule and try to help the distressed child. He DOES see emotion and it hurts him to see others hurting. I agree – gotta squash those misunderstandings about autism!

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  5. OH how frustrating as a parent! Yes, there is no debate that your son has a great sense of humor. From the comments that you share in your posts and from all those movies. That show was Fake news for sure! You didn’t take a sledgehammer to the TV, did you? Its still locked away? 🙂

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  9. OMG!!! Just wrong… so BoJoTrumpZoom wrong! Sorry for swearing🙊
    Why don’t we “cure” people of blue eyes… most people have brown, so blue must be inferior.

    Ben enjoys physical, slapstick humor, but he has a sense of humor. And he definitely has empathy. I think most autistic folks get overwhelmed with empathy and don’t know how to deal with it. Better than fake empathy most people display.

    I hope you did kick the TV and hurt your foot, or throw a pillow at it & injure your rotator cuff. No injuries, right? 😉

    I’m sorry you’re not sleeping, Gary. I wish your doctor would give you something to help.
    I’m glad you used a sky photo (TOTALLY ENVIOUS!) reminds us to look at the sky! No clouds here… the clouds make it so much more dramatic. I love it!
    Hope you’re resting better tonight!💌💌💌

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  10. It is so scary that such people can present themselves a experts and present so much ignorance. Your explanation of Hawklad’s life as an Asperger’s person a while back when your girl cat died was so clear. Everything you said so exactly described one of our eccentric family members that we now know why he is the way he is. He is almost 40 now and will never go to anyone who can correctly diagnose him, but at least we know he is not going to develop empathy or close social connections. And his mother can just let go go of her unhappiness in her dealings with him. This is what he is, and will continue to be. Maybe one day his father will start the same process. Thank you for your very lucid and interesting posts.

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  15. I only got to the word cure on the second paragraph and I am so upset, angry, fuming even at the thought that some arse hole is given airspace/talk time/an audience… (now I can’t think of the correct word damn it!) Geez WTF I’m spitting feathers! but anyways, I will finish my coffee looking at the wildflower info on knapweed I started looking at earlier, then read the rest of your blog when I’ve calmed down. Expect another comment.

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    2. The only expert on an individual, is the individual. We are all different, some are more different than other and that is all good. Tell you what type of humour I have and that is to laugh in the face of such an expert on being an ignoramus! Laughter is such a blessing, but not everyone can, but that doesn’t mean their insides are wired wrong, just differently. Bless us all on this wonderful blue marble called Earth and let’s hope we can be compassionate towards the bellends who think they’re the “Experts”.

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  18. yup….thats what we live with over here, more so in the last 4 years if you get my drift…and most likely another 4. I mean , what can you expect from a leader that makes fun of the mentally or physically impaired right on TV and laughs about it? very sad…

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  20. This is the age of willful ignorance and inexpert experts. (Who determines who is an expert anyway? Is it just someone with a degree in something or other or someone who has lived through an experience that lead to an epiphany? Someone who knows nothing about something who meets someone who knows something about nothing, so that person must be an expert?) That list is pretty convincing evidence of your position!

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  21. Things like this make me crazy…..!!! I taught kids on the spectrum for three decades. I’m still in touch with several who are now adults. Fun, charming, caring and hilarious adults. One created his own comic book in the third grade and is now a software engineer who designs online games. Sheesh. I think we know who really lacks empathy….

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  22. Oh, nothing drives me crazy like the “cure culture”! In fact, that is a large piece of why I exited social media and couldn’t stomach trying to sell my book any longer. I dared to highlight the joys of my children on the spectrum and, where I did have some positive interactions, I also got a litany of angry rebukes for not crusading for a cure or bemoaning my fate. I despise the stereotypes that are born of misinformation. My kids are beautiful, compassionate, extraordinary people. And Hawklad is such a bright interesting fellow. I feel as if I know him with all the wonderful things you share. And what excellent taste in movies! I see many we share in common! 😊

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