Wow, unless these parents are taking their kids to one unqualified shrink I'm pretty sure they are not being misdiagnosed as autistic. ADD or ADHD maybe but not autism. Actors trying to talk about serious issues are just flat out funny most of the time.
I cant speak to autism, but my mother is a Behavioral Specialist for the School District of Lee County and was a teacher for 30 years. She used to complain all the time how kids are misdiagnosed for ADD. That the parents use the medicine as a cop-out for teaching their kids to behave. As far as autism goes, that seems a bit harsh.
I'm not going to rush to judgment on this statement b/c my understanding is that it was made in the context of a whole chapter in a book. I haven't read that book or that chapter so I don't know what the context is. Now I do believe that there has been a rise in autism which may be caused by the mercury in vaccines. I also believe that we have a culture that looks for excuses or somebody or something else to blame. I also know that there is no medical test for diagnosing autism. I believe that ADD and ADHD which also have no medical tests for diagnosis are over-diagnosed. I have little experience with autism so I don't know if it is being similarly over-diagnosed but I can't dismiss it as an impossibility.
ADD being largely bogus goes without saying. Not the affliction, but rather the sheer volume of people diagnosed. Autism? I really have no idea if that is a diagnosis that is serially abused or not.
Not trying to defend Denis Leary, however the symptoms of autism have been greatly expanded from say 20 years ago. I cannot say if that is what Mr. Leary had in mind or not though.
