Oops, she did it again (dr. Laura)

The BBQ Pit
1

When we last heard from our favorite radio commentator (:rolleyes: ), she was issuing a terse statement re the cancelation of her much touted, little watched TV show (“I believe we could have earned a substantial audience in time, but the television advertiser boycott precluded that,” ).

This time, on her show, a caller posed the question “should I issue a wedding invitation to my nephew, who has Tourette’s Syndrom, and has verbal tics”

The esteemed, thoughtful, considerate, pro family Dr. Laura’s answer?

here’s the rest of it

2

Well, sure, Tourette’s sufferers swear and curse on purpose! They CHOOSE to do it!

Just like gay people choose to… oh never mind!

What A Bitch.

3

Wow.

Bad advice. No cookie. Go get a noodle from Ann Landers.

4

That woman scares me.

5

Girlfriend told me about this when it first aired. We both agreed that Dr. Laura is pretty much beneath contempt. She’s a menace.

6

Wow.

Why isn’t this in the pit so I can really say what I think?

Gawd I hate that woman and her view of life. I mean nice way to go! Blame the mother for the neurological problems of the child.

Bitch

7

(assuming the ‘bitch’ was referring to Dr. Laura :smiley: )
seriously, when I posted this, I wasn’t dropping venom - the woman, to me, is such a well, anyhow, I just looking at it as a ‘gadz is she an idiot, or what’ but, your point is well taken, so I have emailed the mods of both areas to see if they’d be kind enough to move this, just for you :smiley:

8

OK, lets think about this for a while. It might be wrong, it might be not-PC and Dr. Laura might be a psycho bitch. But seriously, if it was your wedding would you like someone there shouting and cursing up the place? even if it wasn’t their fault? Sorry but i wouldn’t, same as i wouldn’t sleep in the same bed with a bed wetter.

9

What makes you think that just because this person has a verbal tic that it’s going to act up that much? Are you assuming the worst?

If it is their fault, i.e. by choice, then I wouldn’t want someone like that there. But as it ISN’T the person’s fault, why not have them come?

Verbal tics are not something that happen by choice, TEIN. It isn’t as though the affected person thinks to him- or herself “Hmm . . . I wonder how much fun it would be to shout ‘fuck . . . shit . . . fucker . . . asshole’ every once in a while.”

:rolleyes:

10

The question of how to handle the presence of a Tourette’s Syndrome patient in a public situation MAY be open for debate.

The notion of the mother “punishing” the world isn’t.

The notion of “Dr” Laura steeping this low in the common sense sensitivity department isn’t.

11

Hmmm. let’s see. Refuse to allow a loved one to be part of my wedding because they have a condition that makes others feel uncomfortable? or have all of my loved ones share my wonderful moment. gee, you’re right. :rolleyes:

I guess to some people having their day resemble a Hollywood movie is more important than sharing it with your loved ones. Not to me, thanks.

12

Now, I agree that, yes, it may be unwise to bring someone with Tourette’s Syndrome to something as solemn as a wedding. However, it wasn’t so much that as how Dr. Laura said it. First off, there’s the implication that people who suffer from the syndrome simply start yelling swear words all the time, and second is the implication that the mother of this child wants to “punish” anyone.

She makes assholic assumptions about people because it gives her cause to be self-righteous and smug.

She needs a good lay. With a woman.

13

And when you think about it, the world is full of alcoholic in-laws, simmering family feuds, bad weather and other natural disasters. When you think of the things that can go wrong and ruin someones “perfect day”, a guest with an involuntary tic seems quite refreshing. The trick to get through the reception without anyone shouting those things on purpose.

14

Actually, it might be nice to have Dr Laura come to my party and scream “Fuck You” every 5 seconds. It would bring me new admiration and respect among all friends. I could see her doing this a sort of party-clown gig, to make some spare dough.

15

I agree with Dr. Laura. Though it would depend on what were the practical manifestations in this case, and how severe they were. (Also on the sensibilities of those attending).

Also, I suspect that when she used the term “punish” she did not mean it as in retribution - which makes no sense in this instance - but rather as in making other people bear the consequences of your misfortune.

I do agree however (based on what little I’ve heard of her show) that she is smug, arrogant, judgemental, and obnoxious. But these are personal failings, and do not detract from the validity of her opinions.

16

God help me, I’m going to have to agree with SPOOFE on this one. Laura’s a worthlessly twit who makes snap decisions on major issues with minimal information. But IF this kid is one of those Tourette’s sufferers who does spout obscenities, and IF he does so with such frequency that he is likely to disrupt the wedding, then the bride and groom are justified in asking him not to attend such a solemn ceremony. But make sure he’s invited to, and made welcome at, the reception.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by IzzyR *
**I agree with Dr. Laura. Though it would depend on what were the practical manifestations in this case, and how severe they were. (Also on the sensibilities of those attending).

Also, I suspect that when she used the term “punish” she did not mean it as in retribution - which makes no sense in this instance - but rather as in making other people bear the consequences of your misfortune.

I do agree however (based on what little I’ve heard of her show) that she is smug, arrogant, judgemental, and obnoxious. But these are personal failings, and do not detract from the validity of her opinions. **[/QUOTE

Ummm, what? You did read wring’s link right…the one where…

“Dr. Laura backtracked. She recanted. At her direction, Brian Glicklich, VP of interactive services at Premiere Radio Networks, posted an apology on an Internet bulletin board. “The comments we made on the bulletin board stand for themselves,” Glicklich said Tuesday.”

It IS the arrogant, snap judgemental, make a difficult situation sound trite- ATTITUDE that is the main problem here. Her personal failings, in this case, are a significant part of the problem…so much so that she felt the need to have some lackey apologize for her on-air spewage.

I have a confession to make. I first heard Dr. Laura back on our local radio station back around 1994-95 or so. I found a lot of what she had to say (especially compared with the dreck of a lot of talk radio pop psych) to make sense. At the time, although she stressed “personal accountability”, her tone was not (at least to me) as strident as it is today. And, most important to me, she seemed (again, to me) to be making an effort to keep partisan politics out of her banter.

That is no longer the case today. Whether her attitudes have changed over the years, or maybe she chose to hide them then…I find little to admire in what or HOW she delivers in the way of advice today.

Reasonable people can disagree about Tourette’s sufferers at formal wedding ceremonies…but Dr Laura went way beyond the pail with her comments. The word “punish” is indicative of her feelings toward the mother and son…and is despicable.

18

Dr laura is a fucking ignorant twat of a woman!

The majority of people with TS do not have coprolalia. The tic of screaming out obscenities is rare. So to fucking assume that all children with TS will behave this way is rude and ignorant and propagates the myth that TS is like this always!

IMO the proper way to handle kids with special needs at occasions like weddings is to talk to the parents! Most of us have a clue or two as to what our kids can handle. I’d be fucking offended if every kid in my family were invited to a wedding and mine were left out and nobody talked to me about it. I wouldn’t be offended if someone rang me and asked me if my kids can cope or if they want to go to the wedding.

FWIW my kids have a string of dx’es which could make an outsider blanch at the prospect of being in the room with them but the older kid would comport himself beautifully at a wedding. He’s possibly got TS but he doesn’t swear inappropriately.

I wouldn’t dream of taking kid number two anywhere near a formal occasion. But then I’m not a fan of taking any three year old to a formal occasion.

But fuck you Laura Whathersname! Don’t automatically assume you are expert on kids like this without reading a basic primer on TS. It truly fucking sucked for you to assume that all kids like this have the worst symptoms and it truly fucking sucks that people think that these kids should be raised in a barrel or we parents are punishing the general public by daring to walk among you.

And while I’m on a roll - Izzy R what the fuck are you on about? My kids might occasionally upset other people (hey that’s kinda like every other kid on the planet right?) but they are not in any fucking way ‘a misfortune’.

19

What if, instead of a person with Tourette’s, it was a two month old infant?
Now, it’s not the baby’s fault that she’s a baby. Also, the kid doesn’t cry all the time, but you have no idea when she will begin or end. It’s not at all controlable and the outburts will be extremely disruptive.
Heck, for the sake of this hypothetical, let’s make the little girl a first cousin. I mean, she’s family for goodness sake. How can you not invite her?

Quite easily. In fact, I’d venture a guess that most of you would be quite annoyed if a two month old were brought to a wedding.

So where’s the difference? Sure, infants grow up while Tourette’s sufferers never get better. But on a basic level, where’s the difference?

If you want to bash Dr. Laura, go ahead. I’ll be right there with you on the smug, condecending, preachy, hypocritical know-it-all ness that she brings to the airwaves. But I think we need to seperate what Dr. Laura said from how she said it.

20

Ender, what do you know about TS? You seem to be assuming that a kid with TS is automatically disruptive and that the parents won’t know how to manage it. The issue is that if the bride and groom are inviting all the other child relatives (and in this case they were) they were obviously prepared for some degree of childish behaviour.

To automatically assume that a kid with TS is going to be a problem displays ignorance. There are ways to manage kids with TS and other neurological problems in public.

Try imagining it is your child for a minute… do you really think it would feel OK to have that child prejudged in this way? I don’t have an issue with a child free wedding - hell, my wedding was child free but I do have an issue with a couple inviting every other kid and excluding this kid on such little information as they appear to have. Did they not invite this kid because they were scared of TS or believed the media hype because if they did, then Dr Laura truly furthered ignorance. And that sucks.