Subscribe
Previous Post
Did Senator John McCain conflate Down Syndrome and autism during the debate tonight?
As Andrew Sullivan just blogged:
I was curious about McCain’s apparent conflation of Down Syndrome and autism. They are very different ways of being human, but they do come under the same umbrella of “special needs” according to Wiki.
Here’s what McCain said about autism (go here for a transcript of the debate from the New York Times):
And by the way, [Sarah Palin] also understands special-needs families. She understands that autism is on the rise, that we got to find out what’s causing it and we’ve got to reach out to these families and help them and give them the help they need as they raise these very special needs children.
She understands that better than almost any American that I know. I’m proud of her and that she has ignited our party and people all over America that have never been involved in the political process. And I can’t tell you how proud I am of her and her family. Her husband’s a pretty tough guy, by the way, too.
Obama responded:
I do want to just point out that autism, for example, or other special needs will require some additional funding if we’re going to get serious in terms of research. That is something that every family that advocates on behalf of disabled children talk about. And if we have an across-the-board spending freeze, we’re not going to be able to do it. That’s an example of, I think, the kind of — the use of the scalpel that we want to make sure that we’re funding some of those programs.
Later in the debate, McCain said:
And I just said to you earlier, town hall meeting after town hall meeting, parents come with kids, children, precious children who have autism.
Sarah Palin knows about that better than most. And we’ll find –and we’ll spend the money, research to find the cause of autism. And we’ll care for these young children. And all Americans will open their wallets and their hearts to do so.
And from MSNBC by political researcher Domenico Montenaro, about McCain on “special needs”:
McCain mentioned that Palin knows more about the issue of autism than nearly anyone. What evidence is there of that?
Because Palin has a child with Down Syndrome, it can be safely assumed she feels a connection with parents of children with special needs.
But what does McCain-Palin specifically want to do about special education? Do they agree with IDEA? Do they want to expand rights for special-education students to private schools? Do they want to increase funding? Do they want more access, by way of funding, to special-ed advocates?
McCain also said they want to help find a cure. But how?
The NIH budget has been slashed in the past eight years. Does McCain-Palin propose additional funding, particularly for autism or Down’s research?
We don’t know. Nothing was or has been laid out.
And here’s some more about McCain and Obama on autism and disability.
And from Daily Kos is this account by a writer whose older sister has Down Syndrome.
1225 days ago
[...] then, in the middle of October, was the McCain-Obama debate in which McCain apparently confused Down Syndrome and autism, and after which I was interviwed on [...]
A well-known conservative stating his reservations about the McCain-Palin ticket,
Call Him John the Careless
George F. Will
Washington Post, October 30, 2008
“…Did McCain, who seems to think that Palin’s never having attended a “Georgetown cocktail party” is sufficient qualification for the vice presidency, lift an eyebrow when she said that vice presidents “are in charge of the United States Senate”?
She may have been tailoring her narrative to her audience of third-graders, who do not know that vice presidents have no constitutional function in the Senate other than to cast tie-breaking votes. But does she know that when Lyndon Johnson, transformed by the 1960 election from Senate majority leader into vice president, ventured to the Capitol to attend the Democratic senators’ weekly policy luncheon, the new majority leader, Montana’s Mike Mansfield, supported by his caucus, barred him because his presence would be a derogation of the Senate’s autonomy? …”
Besides his career as a political commentator for the Washington Post, and author on a number of subjects, George Will is well known as the father of Jon Will, who has Down Syndrome. Mr. Will has written several articles about Jon, including,
Jon Will’s Aptitudes
On The Up With Down Syndrome, A Publication of the Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin (Originally appeared in Newsweek, May 3, 1993. Quoted above from the collection The Leveling Wind: Politics, the Culture, and Other News, 1990-1994)
1292 days ago
[...] gets mentioned for the first time in a presidential debate on October 15th; here’s more [...]
The archived webcast is now online for viewing and will be online until April.
“Education and the Next President”
From Teachers College, Columbia University:
A debate between Linda Darling-Hammond, education adviser to Democratic nominee Barack Obama, and Lisa Graham Keegan, education adviser to Republican nominee John McCain.
More info and links to register to view
1298 days ago
[...] about McCain’s comments about autism in the debate last week here. Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, barack obama, disabilities blog, disability, down’s [...]
Sidebar
Cindy McCain was a special education teacher.
I was doing some reading on Joe Biden and found it of interest that Mrs. Biden, Jill, has been an active educator (2 masters + doctorate) since at least 1977 and spent several years teaching remedial reading, English and history to teens at the Rockford Center Psychiatric Hospital, DE, and is a faculty member at the Delaware Technical and Community College. So there is some education background there as well.
Wikipedia entry – Jill Biden
There are no experts in autism. There are no neurological tests or genetic tests or chemical tests. There are only a list of obvious behavioral symptoms listed in the DSM IV. A pimp could diagnose it just as well as a neurologist. The only thing a neurologist could do is rule out *real* neurological diseases, like Parkinsons, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, etc.
@satchmo,
Even after 10 years or 5 years, she’d most likely have something more to say……
1300 days ago
[...] discussed McCain and Obama Debate: Down Syndrome, Autism, Special Needs (a post with a big banner ad for the McCain/Palin campaign when I read it!). Kristina Chew [...]
Unless Sarah Palin has raised an autistic child herself or is a neurologist who studies autism, she is not an expert.
Her son is still young. She has no idea what it is like to raise a special-need child. At least not yet.
Wait until her son is 37, then come back and tell me she has experience raising a special need child.
Doug – thanks for the reminder. I also hope you hear him call you “dad”; maybe with a full frontal hug thrown in for good measure.
As a parent of an autistic child i was shocked that the subject of autism at a presidential debate even came up. Perhaps this will raise awareness even more. For my sons sake i sure hope so. Perhaps with enough research and progress, someday i will hear my 6 year old son call me “dad” for the first time.
1302 days ago
[...] last night’s Presidential debate, Senator John McCain said this about Governor Sarah Palin: And by the way, [Sarah Palin] also [...]
I don’t doubt that McCain understand the difference between the two (AS/DS). Nor, do I doubt Palin’s knowledge of her nephew’s autism. That said, I can guarantee that doesn’t mean she knows more about autism than any American; if so, she’s in the wrong field altogether! (wink) Seriously, though, I think there is a world of difference between experiencing a niece/nephew/neighbo’s child with autism and actually parenting one. Ms. Palin has not yet reached the point in mothering her own son where she has to deal with evaluations, IEP’s, fighting for services, etc. I certainly don’t wish her ill, but I also won’t put much stock in her “expertise” until she’s walked a bit in the same shoes.
I agree that McCain probably knows that Sarah Palin’s son has DS, not autism. But even so, and even granting that she has nephews on the spectrum, it’s pretty ridiculous to say that she understands “better than almost any American” which John McCain knows. If that’s true, it just shows he hasn’t spent much time talking to autistic adults or parents of special needs kids older than five months. He also doesn’t recognize any difference between autism diagnoses being on the rise and actual incidence. His ignorance on the subject extends well beyond the slip-up about Palin.
Both candidates, I thought, committed a huge omission by not mentioning autistic adults at all. To not address us as our own constituency is pretty condescending and telling. I did find McCain’s comments more offensive, because of the ignorance and reliance on fear-mongering and “tragedy” narrative.
Typo – I meant “pouncing”. :)
When I said “please get over it already”, I meant stop bouncing on every little thing said by McCain or Palin. There are people here who actually think that man does not know that Sarah Palin’s child does not have autism. That is just ridiculous. So “getting over it” would be an appropriate reaction. I know we all have individual reasons we vote the way we do. I just want to look at everything they have done in their careers when making a decision. I personally made my decision a long time ago. I just don’t base it on what they say about autism. I am too cynical I guess but I don’t believe it will be a priority for either of them. That was my point.
1302 days ago
[...] another health care matter, McCain raised some eyebrows (click here and here ) when he appeared to suggest that the issues of autism are similar to those of Down [...]
Please get over it already.
While it’s useful to discuss potential policy and points of view, I don’t think anyone necessarily has to “get over” anything. Individual voters have individual reasons for voting of the candidate of their choice, as is their right as members of the electorate.
For good or for bad, I’m pretty sure I know who I am voting for the Executive branch. Now onto the Congressional races…
Good point, Sherry. Like you, I also will not vote on this one issue alone. I’ll vote on things like the economy, health care, education, and foreign policy — and for all those reasons, I’m voting Obama-Biden. I’m ready for a change, and McCain and Palin represent the same old policies and politics.