NBC and Kathie Lee Gifford make fun of Autistic Kid...

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Well more reasons where the Media like NBC continue to make fun of Autism like if it is the Plegue, and this makes you wonder why the Autism community is still being called Racist by NTs,

http://thautcast.com/drupal5/content/ka ... rn-attacks

In the end, Howard Stern becomes the godsen and defends the child by cussing his buts out at NBC and Kathie Lee Gifford, I am sure Fox News is going to catch on with this.

You can be certain that something is horribly, horribly wrong when Howard Stern has to be the one to step in and be the voice of reason.

Having watched both clips, I can honestly say, I agree with Stern's assessment, that what Kathie Lee did to this kid was "wrong on fifty different levels"-- not the least of which was, this segment was completely pointless, and someone among the participants should have seen it as such. Friendships aren't supposed to be about being lauded on TV for being a good Samaritan-- they're supposed to exist for the simple fact that two people enjoy each other's company and insights. They say Aspies are socially impaired-- but honestly, sometimes I think that the reason we come off that way is that neurotypical standards for social interaction are very often too one-sided, shallow, cynical, and/or driven by ulterior motives for our liking.

I felt mixed emotions about the entire premise. On the one hand, I can very easily put myself in Graham's position, because that was my position when I was a freshman in high school. And yes, admittedly, having someone reach out to me at that point in my life would have been a beacon of hope. On the other hand, though, the way Kathie Lee and Hoda spun this, and the way the parents went along with it, was so terribly condescending to the entire autistic community. The worst thing was that this plays along perfectly with that prevailing mainstream notion about autism, that those who are on the spectrum are, for all intents and purposes, inseparable from-- and defined by-- their social limitations. How can we ever rise above when the rest of the world is told to see us only as autistic, and not also as fellow human beings?

Ugh, that song. It was hard to sit there and listen to it. I barely made it through. I mean, the lyrics "Can you imagine if loneliness was all you'd ever known? / It's more than we could ever comprehend" pretty much sum it all up perfectly. These are people speaking from a position totally out of their experience, with not the slightest clue of how painful it might be or the slightest hint of empathy. And they accuse us of being "mind-blind".

Yes, Kathie Lee. Yes, actually, I can imagine that. That was my life. That is life for far too many people than you realize, and just because you never personally experienced that kind of ostracism yourself, it doesn't mean there aren't people for whom that's an extremely sore subject. It's not a big joke, and it's not some pet project to make you look good. We are real people. We don't want to be treated like "angels in disguise"-- we just want you to treat us like you'd treat anyone else. What this kid needs most is for someone to let him know things will get better, and that his limitations as an Aspie are much less important as a basis for a character judgment than everyone else says they are. The last thing he needs is to be branded as an "other" on national television.

Kudos again to Howard for speaking from a position of relative sanity.

And NOW I remember exactly why I never watch Hoda and Kathie Lee...

Every day that show is horrible, but this was a specific kind of horrible. So horrible, you can't even believe that some fool of a producer ok'd the concept and said "Sure, let's put that on national television."

I couldn't even listen to the song. I fast-forwarded through that. Otherwise, I would have vomit all over my family room rug.

The interesting thing here -- Graham, the freshman with Asperger's, was the only reasonable person in the entire group. He responded in exactly the right manner to that song. He was even appropriate and kind when he very honestly said "well, the song was a little sad..." If I had been Graham, I would have been thinking "I hate that song, and I want to let them know I hate that song, but I have to be careful to not be insulting..." Then, Kathie Lee, in a very inept attempt, tried to save the situation by making a joke. Except the joke is to try and jazz up the song? Which is the most stupid, unfeeling, over-the-top, ridiculous song?

And then, to ask the kid about being on the baseball team, only to find out that he's the manager. If they had done their research, they would have known that, and could have spun that into a more positive light. But instead, it ended up making the kid feel even WORSE.

Graham handled himself with great dignity and intelligence. Zach, the "friend" wasn't too bad. But the rest of them -- ugh.

Howard Stern was right on the money with the things that he said about Kathy Lee and that stupid song. Imagine what it is to be a misfit. Imagine what it's like to have no friends because you're different. Imagine what it's like to be hated by your peers who support Autism Speaks. Imagine what it's like to be an angel disquised as a monster. I can imagine. That's the most horrible song that I've ever heard. I've heard Justin Bieber songs that sound better than that. That's not a song, it's an opera singer singing out the words of an essay. Kathy Lee has reached an all time low.

Well said.

I thought it was the Liberalism that NBC wanted to see so that they know Obama and Democrats would remove support for Autism, my only thing to say this, it is more shoving politics on a disorder that is very serious and seems that people like this are only using "More Fear" in the event of making Autism look more bad than ever, it is not right, that is discrimination.

I'm sorry, what? As far as I can see, this has nothing to do with liberalism (or conservatism, or libertarianism, or any political position, for that matter). This is, quite simply, a horrible misstep by a neurotypical celebrity who doesn't know any better and who doesn't realize how insensitive she's being. Why bring Obama into this? Why politicize this in the same old rote right-left terms? As far as this subject concerned, the only thing I see here that even remotely resembles a political discourse is in terms of the sensibilities of people who've got a positive view of autism clashing with those of people who have a negative view of it (even if subconsciously or involuntarily). Party lines are irrelevant in this context.

Horrible. Can she even imagine how this will go over in school? The kid has to go back to the front line.

I had one of the very popular homecoming king type kids try to draw me out in HS. He invited me to a high-end popular kid party. I just thanked him for the offer and bowed out. He seemed confused that I didn't want a ticket to the HS equivalent of the holy land.

I'm not surprised by the behavior of the people at MSNBC, Fox News probably will cover it if they have a chance to, there is a lot of news going on right now, however that is the only way Fox News might not bring this up.

If Fox News manages to find time to report on this, they will report on it.

I literally was sick to my stomach. Namely, because I was just like this kid when I was a sophomore in high school. I was the chubby, autistic kid who sat alone. People avoided me like the plague for no reason other than I was different and quiet.

This quote summarizes basically everything you need to know about the "heart warming" message of her show:

Once I was befriended, I had a lot to give. My friends wouldn't give me up for the world. This jock seemed to give Graham up by allowing himself to come to the show for nothing more than making himself look good. Shallow and insensitive people!

This is just the biggest WTF I've ever seen.

First off, I don't think Graham looked that comfortable being around all of the those people talking about him in his presence, while it's all being filmed live on national television. Can you blame him? Because that for me would be my own personal hell.

Laughter seems part of normal NT conversation. The problem is we as aspies don't understand how it works or how it sometimes comes out when we are making typical conversation. I didn't see a problem with Kathie laughing at his manager comment. She even tried to boost his confidence. But isn't this kid in high school? Why the hell is she talking to him like he's a preschooler?

So apparently the song is a typical part of these "Everyone Has a Story" segments. (In agreement with Stern that song was s**t x1000000). Granted something like this could easily tug at the heartstrings of NT. So why the hell would everyone burst into f*****g laughter when Graham said that it was very sad? He was being honest. And everyone thought it was funny that he was giving his honest opinion about the song? You gotta love how they brought on the song writers/producers to join them after the song ended.

Again, I've been in situations like this before (not infront of live camera on national TV), but I know what its like to be in a room where you're the centerpoint of a particular conversation and then you open your mouth to contribute and everyone just laughs at you and you're wondering wth. Now imagine adding a song into the mix that might cause you to be emotionally overwhelmed as people are laughing at you.

This is why I've given up on the NT world, folks. Again the newstory is more about the football player than it is about the kid with autism and yet it is the latter that the segment went completely over-the-top with. That comment that Kathie made to Graham about getting him to smile...God, I should've seen that coming. Do your research on aspies next time before you subject them to this kind of misery.

That does sum it up perfectly. This is one of the saddest things I've seen in quite a while. I don't understand how anyone could not see it this way. Just the look on the boy's face made me want to cry.

Howard Stern defending decency and good taste??????????????????

Whats the World coming to?

Autism isn't a race. The word you're looking for is "ableist."

NBC kinda reminds me of how Glenn Beck treated an Autistic Kid on his show, or to be more accurate how he didn't treat a kid with Autism.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBW4S9xcTOk[/youtube]

Um...that kid is TOTALLY NOT AUTISTIC but I'll save that debate for another thread.

Even if he did though, it's scary-ironic that Glenn Beck showed more dignity to this kid than any of those people in the Kathie Lee Gifford segment did for Graham. At least he didn't intentionally made him cry and laugh about it.