It all started with some remarks about autism comedian Denis Leary has made in his new book, entitled Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide To Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid. In a paragraph of the book, Lary writes: “There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-ass kids can't compete academically, so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks…to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons. I don't give a s--- what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you—yer kid is not autistic. He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both.”

The Autism Society of America reacted to Lary’s comments and said it was “ridiculous” for the comedian to suggest that doctors and parents are conspiring to falsely diagnose autism in children. The Boston comedian writes that autism diagnoses “help explain away the deficiencies of (parents’) junior morons” and blames the disorder on “inattentive mothers.”

The Boston comedian’s comments have also upset many parents of autistic children. His comments are disturbing because they play on stereotypes, just like the similar remarks made by radio host Michael Savage, who said that the disease is the result of incompetent or absent parents and it is being over-diagnosed. Savage has not apologized, claiming his words were taking out of context.

Denis Leary did the same; yesterday, he released a statement claiming his comments were taken out of context. He said that the chapter about autism deals with adults who wish they could self-diagnose themselves with the disease in an attempt to explain their “failed careers and troublesome progeny.”

According to medical experts, autism is actually under-diagnosed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.