To Mr. Leary: Reply to the standard reply from Mr. Leary and his publisher

[Guest guest]

Dear Mr. Leary,

WHY WE SUCK: A FEEL GOOD GUIDE TO STAYING FAT, LOUD, LAZY AND STUPID:

The title of the book proves my point made in reference to the Autism remarks.

That autism is even mentioned in a book with such a title, is infuriating.

It was, and is, terribly irresponsible to use any of those words from that quote, in direct, or inadvertently direct, correlation to autism.

And no, with a book title like that, and the remarks released, I do not intend to help support any profit from buying such a book to, read such a book, to give you the benefit of any doubt about the book.

You lost that chance by the very title of the book, and by the remarks used to promote the book.

To buy it would be to support the further erosion of what is classified as "literature" these days. To buy it would be to support such blatant irresponsibility and to further the infatuation people have these days in demoralizing others for profit - or votes.

Is it your place to even suggest such a link to reasons why people may behave as they do?

You may be referring to adults in that autism context - but clearly most of the adjectives used are directly associated with a child with autism.

"Junior moron", "dumb-ass kid", "yer Kid is NOT Autistic", -- are words referring to a child with autism. Saying that "yer kid" is "stupid" or "lazy" or "both" - is in the context of someone's child with autism.

Quotes and Speeches may be edited out of context or reduced to sound bytes these days -- but you are still responsible for the words edited and reduced to those sound bytes.

But I must have missed where you were upset and outraged that such a quote was used.

Did I indeed miss your outrage at that quote being taken out of context?

Because by your standard reply below, it seems that I didn't miss that you are furthering the promotion of your book, by not apologizing, but instead telling us to buy it and read it.

Parents are not ignorant...

We know that putting a quote out there on how much you respect the family you know who is raising a child with autism - will not raise as much interest from the press about your "dumb-ass crackerjack whack job" book as the quote released did.

We don't need your lame plea to read your book, or excuses about how you were so wronged by the outrage from that quote.

What we need is an apology about such hurtful words being used in association with children with autism.

And we need you to put your concern for the family you know with autism, and your concern for autism - into a fundraiser for Autism...

Generation Rescue

National Autism Association

Talk About Curing Autism

Safe Minds

Are all worthy grass-roots organizations that directly serve parents and who could desparately use your sincere concern for autism.

I run an autism chapter as well - and our scholarship fund could use some replenishing with your concern for autism.

Sincerely,

M. Guppy

President - Northwest Houston Chapter Autism Society of America

NorthwestHoustonChapterASA@...

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Reply from Mr. Leary - via Publisher

Dear ,We appreciate that you've taken the time to contact us, and we'd like to share with you the statement that Denis Leary has issued in response to comments about his new book, WHY WE SUCK: A FEEL GOOD GUIDE TO STAYING FAT, LOUD, LAZY AND STUPID:The people who are criticizing the “Autism Schmautism” chapter in my new book “Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid” clearly have not read it.Or if they have, they missed the sections I thought made my feelings about autism very clear: that I not only support the current rational approaches to the diagnoses and treatment of real autism but have witnessed it firsthand while watching very dear old friends raise a functioning autistic

child.The point of the chapter is not that autism doesn’t exist—it obviously does—and I have nothing but admiration and respect for parents dealing with the issue, including the ones I know.The bulk of the chapter deals with grown men who are either self-diagnosing themselves with low-level offshoots of the disease or wishing they could as a way to explain their failed careers and troublesome progeny.Of course, this entire misunderstanding can be easily avoided simply by doing one thing—reading the book.Taking one or two sentences out of context—especially when it involves an entire chapter devoted to the subject—is unfair and ill-advised.Too often in this country, everything gets reduced to simple sound bites and very very often those sound bites are not truly representative of an author or artist’s point of view.Please give me the benefit of the doubt by reading all of what I wrote before

attacking me.

M. GuppyMy autism journey isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.... Texas Autism Advocacy: www.TexasAutismAdvocacy.org

"There are some aspects of a person's life that we have no right to compromise. We cannot negotiate the size of an institution. No one should live in one. We cannot debate who should get an inclusive education. Everyone should. We cannot determine who does and who does not get the right to make their own choices and forge their own futures. All must."