Presidential Debate: Does McCain Think Palin's Son Has Autism?

Has Senator McCain simply forgotten that Calculus Algebra Trig has Down Syndrome?  During the third debate, it certainly appeared so.  Or maybe McCain just thinks that autism and Down Syndrome are the same thing.

And again with the autism:

WTF?

Comments

[Catherine]

I wondered whether he knew the difference myself. I hope someone is able to catch it, because it has a lot to say about what McCain thinks about health care and kids. It made me realize that he doesn't care 2 dead flies about Palin. He brought her there to wiggle and wink...that's what he thinks about women. He was willing to offer his wife to some bikers, so it is easy to see that he used Palin's butt for his base, and her baby to get points.

Someone should also tell him that certain hormones, that women have in their day's of vanity are exiguous when they reach their 40's. I am pro-choice, and I believe if you were not allowed to have birth control and Wade v. Roe was extinguished...they would damn well have to research Down's Syndrome and everything else. The other option would be celibacy!

[Halimah]

I found his 'precious' remark about children creepy. And yes, I think he thinks that autism and D.S are the same ~ or he hasn't been paying attention. He said it more than once and didn't correct himself.

[Catherine]

I just want to let one more thing be known.John Sidney doesn't know didley about vouchers. Most schools are paid for by land taxes. If all the home owners lose their homes, the amount of money that schools get decreases. Does that affect a kid's education? You better know it! Each child gets a certain amount of money based upon the taxes received. That amount is what is in the "voucher" that McCrazy is always talking about. If you pull your kid out of a public school that only allows him or her 5,000 per year, that is all you get in your voucher. If you try to take your kid and voucher to a school where each child gets 14,000 dollars per year...you have to come up with the other 12,000 yourself. It is not likely that parents have that much money, so basically it's a waste.It is far better to come up to the school and volunteer. The greatest problem in the poorest schools is behavior. The state ended behavior control for teachers and parents. Both can be jailed for touching the kid. That is why I like the volunteer army that Obama will bring. It can change everything...scores will soar, that is an absolute. Teachers cannot teach if they spend the entire day in discipline. Thanks for letting me get this off of my chest! Johnny Boy knows nothing about autism, Down's Syndrome or vouchers!

[cynematic]

Nice gesture to *talk about* special needs kids (even if he seems hopelessly befuddled about the difference between Down syndrome and autism), but since McCain said he wants a blanket spending freeze, just how does he plan to pay for increased special ed funding??

[Robin]

I, too, am so glad this is being picked up and noticed. I think he's lumping it all into one category. But it isn't that simple! Although it is possible to have DS an AUT, they are 2 completly separate disabilities, including research, medical care and educational and behavioral needs. If he thinks it's a one fit solution, it's not.

And as for vouchers - just like Catherine said - a teacher CAN NOT teach if a child is not available to learn, whether it be because their stomach is growling, they are tired from sleeping badly on a floor or they have not learned to make positive choices. The teacher first needs to take care of those issues, and if there is any time left over before the last bell can squeeze in some learning before starting from scratch the next day.

[Cheryl]

I don't like the McCain-Palin campaign pulling the special needs card, but Sarah Palin's nephew has autism. It has not been as publicized as Trig's Down Syndrome, but you should find information out there. Or maybe because my son has autism I pay a little more attention to these things than most. ;)

[Maggie]

The McCain campaign has "let it be known" that Palin has a nephew with autism. I haven't been able to find any information about this young man or how his autism manifests itself. My family is invested in teaching children with learning and behavior disabilities and also those across the autistic spectrum. Even though I know many families with autistic children, I certainly wouldn't presume to call myself an expert. It seems that the McCain/Palin ticket has no such concerns about their presumptions.

[Cheryl]

To follow up, here is a quote from a blog at the Anchorage Daily News in 2006:

Sarah Palin said she wanted to diminish the oppressive hand of government while still providing needed help. Services, the Republican candidate said, shouldn’t be dictated by government; ideas should come from the bottom up. Topping her list of social and health priorities: housing, a trained work force and containing costs. She glanced at sheets of notes as she spoke. She also talked about her young nephew, who has autism, describing him as a “red-headed angel.”

http://community.adn.com/adn/node/102840

[Gina]

I jumped out of my seat last night when I heard John McStupid say it ONCE, but when he said it twice I wanted to call every parent that I have worked with over the past 26 years who has a child with Autism and Down Syndrome. I wrote my comments to John Cafferty this morning and I hope he posts this major Gaffe by the Republican candidate. He should be ashamed of himself not only for picking Palin to exploit children with special needs but for also being so out of touch with the every single issue facing the American people and their families. Look at his record on educational funding. Anyone who votes for this clueless, senile, nasty old man is out of touch as well. Get educated.

[Lawyer Mama]

I know about the nephew with autism, although we haven't read much about that and I'm sure the family wants their privacy. I just thought it was odd that John McCain kept talking about special needs kids with *autism* when Down syndrome children are special needs as well. If anything, they need more resources available to them.

I had to delete a disgusting comment from here, so let's keep it civil here folks. I appreciate all of the current posters & their polite and thoughtful comments!

I have a nephew with Down Syndrome. It pisses me off beyond belief when empty promises are made about being "an advocate" for special needs children. They need more than advocacy. They need money to receive the care they deserve. And I don't see the McCain/Palin ticket, with its emphasis on tax cuts for the wealthy and spending freezes on everything except the military (that INCLUDES domestic spending for special needs children), making promises for anything specific.

McCain/Palin - If you're going to help special needs children, tell us how. If not, shut up and stop using it to play the sympathy card.

[LauraB]

Palin's nephew has autism. That is why McCain referenced it like he did. Try not to be so quick to jump all over "mistakes" before getting the entire story.

[LauraB]

Cheryl, really? Anyone who votes differently than you and sees it differently than you needs is out of touch and needs to "get educated"??? What a God-complex.

[pkb]

He was referring to "special needs" children, since she has a special needs child, she understands the problems, and the epidemic rise of Autism.

[JP]

Moms, if I may jump in as a Dad - I'm a father of a child with autism and I am grateful for Barack's thoughtful response to McCain's frankly shortsighted and pandering use of just trying to use the terms "autism," "special children," "cure," etc. in the same sentence. The notion that Sarah Palin as a mother of a four-month old child with Down's is somehow now an 'expert' who "knows more than most people about autism" (McCain's words) is ludicrous. Sen. Obama's thoughtful response that you can't just throw out the name of any disability and say we'll cure it; that we have to actually commit our country to research says volumes about both candidates. As a "special needs parent" I do not see Gov. Palin as my advocate and am beyond angered by Sen. McCain's talking down to all of us and "our precious" (his words) children.

[AY_Lamb]

Ok, I got this attribute of the candidate's dialog as well and, I noticed both candidates praised Gov. Palin's efforts to promote support for the disabled and both candidates sited autism as the main topic of Gov. Palin's endeavors. My question is, has Gov. Palin in fact advocated for any improvement or even initiation of support mechanism's for the disabled? I mean beyond prayers to deities?

[Hillary]

I agree with JP, that Barack made it clear to me, a mom of a daughter with ASD, that he has a better vision and plan for what our children need, ASD, DS, CP, you name it. Also, I was put off by McCain's comment about Palin's husband "Her husband's a pretty tough guy, by the way, too" What? who was that a shout-out to? To shore up support from men who wouldn't dream of voting for a woman unless she had a "tough" husband? Thank goodness Barack didn't feel the need to trot out Jill Biden (who is a wonderful educator and advocate for women's rights) as the reason why we should support Joe Biden on the ticket.

[AY_Lamb]

OK, I will have to answer my own question. After some rigorous research I am sad to report she has done nothing other than appoint some of her church buddies to various Alaska State educational positions. I am not trying to imply they are bad people or even unqualified for that matter but, as Governor she had to appoint somebody and as the standard republican model goes - if you gotta appoint someone might as well be you buds. I see no extraordinary concern from Gov. Palin - I am going out on a limb here but I say - She is talking head.

[Janice Bigos]

I got the idea that McCain implied that Trig is autistic because it's trendy and cool to have an autistic child right now (just like Jenny Mc Carthy!)Or maybe autism was the only disability that came to mind,or maybe Down's is just not trendy enough. Even if Trig did have autism, any parent, teacher, or health care professional knows that it takes way more than 5 months to make the clinical diagnosis, and often it takes until the child is school age to diagnose many ASD's. And how would having a 5 month old make Sarah Palin an expert in anything other than changing diapers,anyway?

[JH]

Special needs run in the special family.

This was recently posted on the following site:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/10/did-john-mcca-1.html

John McCain mentioned special-needs and autistic children more than once in last night's final presidential debate.

And he noted that his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, would "understand what it's like to have an autistic child."

Except that Palin doesn't have an autistic child. Her youngest son has Down syndrome.

OMG! Does McCain not know the difference? Gotcha!

No, no he's not senile. He just didn’t clarify that Sarah’s older sister, Heather, has an autistic son, age 13.

Also, two of her cousins in her extended family have children with autism/Asperger's.

McCain created some controversy recently by saying at a town hall meeting that there is “strong evidence” that mercury in vaccines causes autism.

What do you think about McCain using the special-needs kids in Sarah Palin’s family as a vote getter? Do you think it will make autism activist Jenny McCarthy vote for him? Bet Amanda Peet (spokeswoman for a vaccine advocacy group) won't be voting Republican now.

And what do you think about his mercury/autism statement?

[Carmel]

As a social worker, and as an Alaskan, I know a few things about Palin and working with children with mental health and developmental disabilities. I was insenced by McCain's patronizing comments and absolute misinformation. One would think, as his #2, McCain should KNOW Palin's child's issue, Down Syndrome. To misidentify this, not once, not twice, but several times, was rediculuous!

Anyone worth their salt, and who knows children with either autism or Downs, knows that Downs is a genetic disorder and can be determined even before a child is born. Autism takes years to sort out, and can not be diagnosed in an infant of 6 months.

McCain needs to have a chat with Palin and perhaps think about his comments before he lets them slide out of his contrite mouth!

[Lawyer Mama]

JH - Yes, I know. I believe I mentioned that in the comments. But as many of the commenters here have mentioned, "advocacy" doesn't translate to actual help.

The mercury in vaccines statement was just irresponsible. First, although many will disagree with me, that viewpoint isn't well received in the medical community and second, I don't even think they use thimerosal in infant vaccines anymore. But then "science" has never held much sway in the Republican agenda.

[Mistylady]

John McCain mentioned special-needs and autistic children more than once in last night's final presidential debate.

And he noted that his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, would "understand what it's like to have an autistic child."

No, no he's not senile. He just didn’t clarify that Sarah’s older sister, Heather, has an autistic son, age 13.

Also, two of her cousins in her extended family have children with autism/Asperger's.

And who is negative here?

[Mistylady]

John McCain mentioned special-needs and autistic children more than once in last night's final presidential debate.

And he noted that his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, would "understand what it's like to have an autistic child."

No, no he's not senile. He just didn’t clarify that Sarah’s older sister, Heather, has an autistic son, age 13.

Also, two of her cousins in her extended family have children with autism/Asperger's.

And who is negative here?

[cynematic]

Mistylady, I don't think anyone's being negative.

What I hear from the parents of actual special needs children commenting here is that they would like programs that address their child's particular need, whether it is Down syndrome, ASD, a physical or mental disability, or any combination of the above. (By no means a complete list.)

Those programs are part of public school and public health funding. Our taxes pay for these programs.

So I'll repeat my question: if McCain has promised a spending freeze on all new programs (except for military spending), where will he find funding for special needs kids?

Obama outlined his overall proposal for the economy, has been up-front about his tax policies and proposals for jobs creation/economic stimulus, and during the debate, named concrete programs for special needs kids that he would fund and expand.

What I take away from this is that parents of special needs kids require services they can use right now, not empty political pandering.

If you've heard of specific programs or proposals McCain has gotten behind, please don't hesitate to link here as others have done.

[jaelithe]

McCain said at last night's debate, and I quote: "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."

I was already aware of the fact that Sarah Palin had a nephew with autism. But, watching the debate last night, I still was convinced that McCain had autism and Down Syndrome mixed up.

It is absolutely the case that families of children with DOWN SYNDROME have been flocking to McCain-Palin rallies and town halls in order to meet Sarah Palin-- I just saw a TV news item on that the other day.

I have seen no similar reports of families of children with AUTISM showing up in droves at McCain-Palin rallies.

As the parent of a child with special needs myself, I was already extremely disappointed in Sarah Palin for saying that she wants to help children with special needs, but NOT proposing a single policy plan aimed at helping children with special needs.

Children with special needs often cannot get health insurance because they have pre-existing conditions; McCain's health care plan does not protect those with pre-existing conditions from being excluded from insurance plans. Children with special needs need help in school; McCain and Palin have presented NO plans that would give children with special needs access to better education services.

If Sarah Palin wants me to believe she is an advocate on my family's behalf, she needs to put her money where her mouth is, LITERALLY: Sarah, draw up a plan to help children with special needs get access to better health care and better education, and then explain to me how you plan to fund it. Then you can talk to me about being an advocate for my son.

Right now, all I hear from your campaign that pertains practically to my son's health issue is a health care plan that will ALMOST CERTAINLY eventually cost my son his health insurance.

Of course, it would be a good step in the right direction if Sarah Palin would take the time to educate her running mate on the differences between common developmental disorders.

[PunditMom]

He was clearly on drugs last nite.

[Michelle]

I think I read somewhere that she has a nephew with autism. I do not think that was what McCain was refering to. I think he really did get it mixed up in his mind. Or it may be the fact that this is a concern in education right now as these children are going to be entering or may have already started entering the school system soon. Special ed is already underfunded and this issue is going to create a burden for these programs.

[Expat Chef]

I caught that too. I was like, WTF? Autism and Down's are very different.

[Francie]

I am a staunch supporter of the Obama Biden ticket, and at first I thought last night that McCain made a huge blunder with the autism statement. However the link below will take you to Huffington Post who clarified where they think the autism and downs syndrome relationship is.

I think it is of paramount importance that as supporters of Obama, that we NOT spread rumors that are not proved to be true or false. As Obama has taken the high road, so must we, his supporters. We cannot allow the right to divide us even more.

Here is the link to Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/last-nights-autism-debate_b_135256.html

[Cheryl]

Cheryl, really? Anyone who votes differently than you and sees it differently than you needs is out of touch and needs to "get educated"??? What a God-complex.

I didn't say that. I have no idea why this is addressed to me. I said I don't like her playing the special needs card. Very different than saying someone should get educated.

[Lawyer Mama]

Cheryl - I'm not sure why that comment was directed at you either. I didn't see anything in your post about that. Your comment was very respectful.

That being said - everyone, I *know* Palin's nephew has autism. (See my earlier comment.) I just thought it was bizarre the way McCain brought it up, as if he had confused the two. It make a lot more sense to bring up down syndrome in the context of special needs children. But once again, I'm not seeing any concrete ideas or plans to implement that "advocacy."

[Thomas D. Taylor]

People interested in learning the facts about autism are welcome to listen to the free autism spectrum podcasts by Midnight in Chicago. They are located at www.mic.mypodcast.com

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