On Mike Page and his ilk

[Guest guest]

Forget about these idiots. Morons like Page, Maher, and the like are plain flat

never going to get it; neither will their in-bred sycophants. To the

unenlightened, the " unintentionally funny " page smacks of irony only out of

their sheer ignorance. To those of us who live with the daily realities of

autistic behavior, there is no need to explain the utilitarian basis behind the

page.

The energy that could be expended on these Trolodytes is better spent in

extracting some extra measure of joy out of the treasures that have been

entrusted to us. We have a difficult enough challenge educating our own...the

masses have no motivation to become educated.

As I said earlier with respect to Maher, Page is (in the words of Toy Story's

Buzz Lightyear) " a sad, strange little man, and he has my pity. "

[Guest guest]

I have one final thing to say about Mike Page. What angered me about Mike

Page and his website was not that they were making fun of a bad situation but

instead how ignorant the joke and the joker was/is. My husband and I often

use humor to get through our days. I am sure that anyone on the outside

would be horrified to hear the stuff we joke about. We joke, however, to

keep from going crazy and we joke about what we know about. The problem most

people would have with us is not the joke but the situation. For example, my

son's constant masturbation, we refer to as " wiggling his bean. " My husband

will ask, " What was he doing upstairs? " I say, " Wiggling, again. " We have

dealt with this for too long and too often to be horrified anymore. It is our

lives. Instead, we joke. Are we terrible? Probably. My point. If Mike

Page wishes to joke, he should be accurate. First learn something about the

disorder. For those who think that only those in the situation should be

able to joke about it, let me remind you of the Seinfield episode about the

girl in the wheelchair who dated Kramer. Was it poking fun? Yes. Was it

funny? You bet. In fact, that is my brother-in-law's favorite episode. He

is in a wheelchair. I think they were more poking fun at Kramer and the

gang's goofy ways of dealing with this girl than at her handicap. And if you

think about it, that is what is most funny about our kids. It is not what

they do, but the way we and all of society views that behavior. Now that is

funny!!!!! I just wish I had told Mike all of this in my email.

[Guest guest]

> Forget about these idiots

Unfortunately, these " idiots " are in the society at large. I am not

comfortable not expressing myself when I hear someone say something that is

blatantly a stereotype or completely ignorant about autism. I hold a

measure of hope that all can learn, even these idiots. However, I do agree

to not let trying to teach an old dog new tricks take away from our own

family.

Alice