Comments on: McCain and Obama Debate: Down Syndrome, Autism, Special Needs

By: Autism Vox 2008 in Review: August-December

Autism Vox 2008 in Review: August-December — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 08:56:00 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Regan

Regan — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:27:05 +0000

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)

By: Top Posts from the Past Two Weeks

Top Posts from the Past Two Weeks — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:35:27 +0000

[...] gets mentioned for the first time in a presidential debate on October 15th; here’s more [...]

By: Regan

Regan — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:06:43 +0000

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.

By: Newsweek Q & A on Autism and What John McCain Said

Newsweek Q & A on Autism and What John McCain Said — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:46:35 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Regan

Regan — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:47:36 +0000

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

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:41:29 +0000

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.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:19:28 +0000

@satchmo,

Even after 10 years or 5 years, she’d most likely have something more to say……

By: Around the autism blogosphere October 18 2008 | Autism Library

Around the autism blogosphere October 18 2008 | Autism Library — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:03:40 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: satchmo

satchmo — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:02:08 +0000

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.