ExACTly: “When did ‘special needs’ become synonymous with disregarding the needs — and safety — of others?”

Katherine Berry dares to say it:

So when it comes to a toddler who refused to remain in his seat wearing a seatbelt and who was, as his mother described it, “rolling around on the floor,” if that child didn’t have autism he’d have been labeled a brat whose parent needed to tell him to, as Savage put it, “Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.”

But this was a case involving an autistic child, and somehow that meant nothing else was important: not the safety of the child and his mother, the flight crew, or the other passengers. Nothing.

Because when autism is involved it’s all about the autism, our new sacred cow.

(…)

And that’s something the autism community, with all of its focus on autism awareness, fighting discrimination, and promoting inclusiveness for autistic kids, just isn’t getting with respect to Michael Savage’s comments: inclusion is a two-way street.

Unfortunately, just like the case where the safety of other American Airline passengers and the flight crew got overlooked because the situation involved an autistic child, that disorder is once again stealing the focus when it comes to Michael Savage’s comments: this isn’t about whether Savage’s comments were right but, rather, that it’s his right to have made them.