"Montel" Today

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I happened to see it because my mother-in-law was over. It was a Mother's Day special where mothers were being given "make-overs" because of their exceptional accomplishments. You guessed it!! ! The first one had "cured" her 14 year old son's autism. There was about five minutes of discussion about it where, in sheer generalizations, she said that she started having him "treated" quickly, he is now mainstreamed, and that "no one" could say that he has any signs of autism now.

Then her three children were brought out. If there had been 100 of them, I could have picked out the one with HFA. He wouldn't look anyone in the eye (not even the camera) and he sat there stimming away , rocking back and forth in the chair.

This child's problem is not his autism. He is very high functioning, perhaps AS. His problem is a mother who cannot accept who he is and now parades him before the world as no longer being who he is to an applauding world of daytime TV housewives.

I feel badly for him.

Last edited by Litguy on 11 May 2007, 3:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Pathetic.
Thats really the only word for this and it sadly happens all the time.

Ew yea thats not right

Very sad....I think they need to do some research in treating this "illness" in parents.

montel is only slightly classier than springer.

least springer is honest, though

lol

It can be really hard for parents to accept there is something different about their child, I think they often feel some guilt. Her 'curing' him will just lower his self-confidence.

What I think is truly unfortunate is the depiction AS and the wider spectrum is being given in Hollywood generally. As someone else pointed out in another thread (sorry I can't remember and give credit) if you listen to the entertainment industry you get the idea that anyone with AS is totally unable to function in society and can be spotted instantly in a crowd. Witness Jerry on "Boston Legal", an otherwise very entertaining program. The fact, of course, is that most of us CAN function perfectly well and no one would ever know that we have AS unless we tell them - the difference is merely the way we think and perceive things around us. AS is not a disease or even a disorder, per se, at least in my book, and can provide many actual superiorities over the NT brain. It does, however, provide additional challenges for us which need to be understood in order for us to deal more efficiently and comfortably with the world at large. Hollywood, including Montel and his other sleazy talk-show breatheren, are doing people - both AS and NT - a TREMENDOUS disservice with this rubber-stamp, pop psychology approach to a very complex subject.

Ah but the complexity of the subject is the problem, isn't it?

If they trotted someone out who was a real representation of an adult with an ASD the viewing public wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Even if it was explained to them (a process that would take up a large chunk of the programs run time) they still wouldn't get it.

Don't forget.. half of the worlds population are of below average intelligence.

And so they only way to get the concept across and make it noticable enough for the peons to understand is to represent us in an exaggerated caricaturistic manner.

Yes, you're absolutely right, of course. It's just frustrating. But that's part of the cookie-cutter, sound-bite culture we're living in, exaerbated by the media, that anything too complex to be explained in a 3 minute segment on Headline News gets lost because no one will take the time to understand it. However, I still maintain that it's doing a huge disservice to leave the public perception as skewed as it is, and to create urban myths a la Boston Legal.

Just venting, really.

Did you know, after his last show on autism, I called his offices to attempt to make a more positive stance on autism and I never heard back from him. I wonder why

If you want to hound someone,you might try Rosie O'donell...she has a web-site but I am not persistent enough to get a question through.She is going to be doing some upcoming episodes about autism Ithink she would be open to a more balanced approached.(I think she has a lot of AS traits,actually)

The best bloody cure is acceptance.

Yeah, I mean I find Rosie Odonell to be incredibly annoying but if it's good for autism awareness and acceptance I'll definately consider it.

that's terrible

what are we talking about here?
montel williams? he is a p**** anyway.
Jerry Springer is different class.

Kosmonaut, you are hereby fined 100 Internet Credibility Points for the offense of using the words "Jerry Springer" and "class" in the same sentence.

Montel Williams used to be respectable, and even did research on his guests - I guess that was costing him ratings, though...

There are some characters portrayed as functioning adult Aspies, although as far as I know it's never been made explicit - for instance, the writers of the Fox show "Bones" say that the character of Dr. Brennan is being written as an Aspie. (Then, of course, there's our TV poster child - Dr. Gil Grissom, of "CSI" - and his understudy, Tim McGee on "NCIS".)

And you're right - most people don't seem to pick up on it.