Some more celebs have jumped on the autism/advocacy bandwagon last night on Larry King Live. Bill Cosby, one of my favorite comedians; Toni Braxton, a fabulous singer and Gary Cole, who starred in the Sean Cassidy produced fab. cult TV show “Gothic” and America’s own “Lou Grant” Ed Asner, were on Larry King, along with Suzanne Wright, of the Wrightslaw website, and now Autism Speaks, which is fast becoming one of my favorite resources for Autism info., as well as a great place to find informative multi-media films and teaching videos about ASD.
I found the transcript to the show here and while I admit, I didn’t see the show, I had a difficult time reading the interview and watching a short clip on the Larry King website… not because of anything the guests said or did, but the whole Larry King demeanor was hard to keep down. He really came across as someone who knows NOTHING about autism… which is very hard for me to believe in this day and age.
Now I know what you’re thinking… many people out there have the same attitude, they don’t know anything about Autism, that’s why we need celebrities to put a flashy face onto this whole thing to raise public awareness. Still, I think if you’re going to be doing a whole show about autism and interview your guests on it, you want to come across as someone who at least has done a bit of reading about it ahead of time. Cue cards, cliff notes, a paragraph from a NY Times article or Newsweek… or Google it or something.
And I don’t want to belabor the point but… was it just me cringing when I saw that they actually showed a RAINMAN clip doing some savant math and then Larry King asks Gary Cole “Is that a classic example of autism?” Only to have Cole squirm and ever so politely say “No, that’s actually pretty rare.” Only to have to deal with the audacity of the next question “What about your daughter?” As in, IS YOUR daughter like Rainman? Should I take her to Vegas. Can she count cards? Gary, you’re too nice! I know you’re in show business and you can’t say what you were really thinking… and why doesn’t someone bring a dictionary and highlight the word SPECTRUM so the general public can at least get the concept of what we’re talking about in the first place).
As if one mention of the godforsaken RAINMAN analogy wasn’t enough for Larry King, he then asks Dr. Robinson, a pediatrician who specializes in treating children with autism spectrum disorders:
KING: Was “Rainman” really off the mark or are there a lot of people like that, who can add figures and that?
ROBINSON: Well, you know, there are so many individuals with autism in the country today, that, yes, a certain percentage of them might look like “Rainman.”
KING: Who could go to Vegas and count cards?
ROBINSON: Yes. Yes. That would be a savant skill…
KING: Right.
Right my aschew… Why didn’t Robinson make it clear how ludicrious the comparison was? Doesn’t she know, the public eats these things up and Hollywood spits out sitcoms with the seeds. Next thing you know, NBC will be developing “Rainman: The series” with the pitch being… hey, 1 in 150 people out there’ve got it… we gotta make a show for them. Think of the numbers! (If you’re working in development, right now… don’t even think about it).
Maybe it’s just the Average Joe flavor that Mr. King’s trying to come across as… maybe he’s dumbing it down for the audience. Maybe he really just wants to find a savant out there who will fly to Vegas with him… But gee, is it me or is this just too big a deal to make a joke out of, especially one that’s not even remotely funny. As a parent of a child with Autism, I have a hard enough time having the general public out there thinking that Rainman has anything to do with my child. If you’re going to say “Hey, I just want to help get some info out there… Help the cause, don’t add to the problem.” It may only be TV, not medicine but if you’re promoting awareness: Do no harm, boys, do no harm.
On the other hand, Suzanne Wright was very eloquent, from what I gather from the clip on the CNN website and the transcript. She’s got a can-do/kick-butt demeanor that was just what the show needed, she was strong and personable and she got the message out to go to the Autism Speaks website, so that’s a good thing…. and she also spoke very well as to how big of a deal this is to everyone in the world right now… Bill Cosby, who doesn’t have any direct involvement with Autism, but who is kind enough to put his face on the thing and perform, to draw in a crowd to get money for research, said enough to at least come across as somewhat knowledgable about the disorder (even if it was the cliff notes kind… and I’ll forgive him that really lame “No, nobody in my family has autism, we’re just naturally crazy joke.” Well, just a little bit… someone had to tell him after the show how terribly stupid it was to associate people on the autism spectrum with the word “crazy” even in jest… you’ve got a doctorate Bill, please… even if it is honorary… you should know better than that).
Of course, it was Braxton, Cole and Asner, each with a child on the spectrum that really had the most to say and said it best, in relating little pieces of their personal experience with the challenges of the disorder (and what a variety they had within the celeb circle… Braxton recently got a diagnosis for her 3 year old son; Cole has a daughter who’s been diagnosed and making progress in the public schools; and Ed Asner has an adult child with Asperger’s… so a spectrum of the spectrum was truly represented in the line-up. Whoever programmed the show has a great sense of structure and possibly irony, if we’re to read into it on that level. Who knows, maybe he or she’s high functioning!)
I just wish the leader of the discussion, Larry King, himself did a little more research or at least came across as having read a few of the zillions of front page articles about the very basics of what IS an Autism Spectrum Disorder. I can’t imagine Oprah running clips of Rainman, can you? Has Oprah even covered Autism yet? I know she’s interviewed Toni Braxton about her financial, career and marital strife… but as I recall, Autism never came up. Maybe the wonderful Ms. Braxton hadn’t known of the diagnosis at that time… maybe Oprah’s already “done” Autism and I missed it… but hey, April is Autism Awareness month after all… do it again. Come to think of it, how about Dr. Phil chime in with his degree and all and do an Autism Awareness Special… I’d like to see HIM sit in on a typical PPT meeting, wouldn’t you?
Anyway, I’d be curious to hear others comments about the Larry King program… if you’ve watched it or read the transcript, drop off a comment here.
Be Aware, Be Very Aware
–BWC
(PS… don’t forget to visit my Autistic Genius store in time for April Autism Awareness Month for some neurodiversity vibe)
4 Comments
April 2, 2007 at 7:13 pm
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April 5, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I came across your website on my way to look up Oprah’s after the show…. yes today she actually did a show on autism …. i taped it ….. it was supported by autismspeaks.org i am not sure who i feel about it yet but it was finally on .. thank you for this site … .and thank you for explaining the things that you do …… autumn ( mother of zack age 9 with autism
January 7, 2008 at 5:59 am
My name is Ryan McReynolds and I am an individual with Autism, you can talk to me if you’d like.
April 15, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Hey, cool tips. I’ll buy a bottle of beer to the person from that forum who told me to go to your site