Does McCain understand the difference between autism and Down's Syndrome?

[Fran Kubelik]

Seriously. I don't think he does. Or is he saying Bristol is autistic?

[vanlassie]

1. Joe Lieberman wasn't there to hold his hand.

[Clovis Sangrail]

2. he very definitely was saying Sarah's kid was autistic

I scratched my head when I heard that too

[tridim]

3. He probably just calls them "retards" in private.

[asdjrocky]

4. I thought the same thing.

Her baby has down's syndrome. I was waiting for someone to point that out. Guess it's all the same in his book.

[anneboleyn]

6. I pointed it out first! And I am a newbie! But seriously he did make a mistake

which suggests to me (like others have said -- that he barely knows who she is.

[jwirr]

5. He is tossing the two issues into the same basket so he can cover

more voters. What he does not understand is that when it comes to special needs most of us involved are very specific as to the needs of each group and sensitive to lumping them all together.

[AZBlue]

7. Obviously not. And he's going to get killed tomorrow for it.

I suspect autism and down syndrome groups to be on the attack tomorrow. His mistake shows complete disregard for both groups.

[Fran Kubelik]

12. I have a close friend with an autistic child who is spitting nails tonight.

:nuke:

[AZBlue]

13. Oh yeah - thankfully, these two groups are very vocal and very quick to defend or correct.

And they should be! I wish all groups defined by a medical challenge would be so outspoken - they could learn a lot from associations like NADS and NAA.

[justiceischeap]

8. Palin's nephew is autistic

But you have to Wiki it to find that out.

[Canuckistanian]

9. Bristol is the teenager. Trig is the baby.

And from what I've seen, Bristol is not autistic.

[Fran Kubelik]

11. That was my bad attempt at humor.

;)

[boppers]

10. More kids with ASD than Downs.

(ASD= Autism Spectrum Disorder)

Basically, he's pandering the the explosion in Aspie diagnosis.