Traveling Show

jonnyskov:

Wow, I was a Decemberists fan before, but now I love this guy.

I’m sympathetic to the writer; he seems to be writing with the best of intentions. But as a fellow parent of a kid on the autism spectrum, of a kid who does listen to how his disability is represented in the media, I have very little patience for people who write about autism the way this guy does — and very little patience for the outlets who publish it. Not only does the writer make an off-the-cuff suggestion that vaccines cause autism, but he equates “deadly diseases” such as HIV to autism, which is awful. Language like that is not only harmful to the autistic community, it spreads bad information to the public at large. It’s irresponsible journalism. To publish it is irresponsible editorial work.