Rod Liddle dismisses dyslexia/ADHD/Coeliacs/ME/asthama etc. etc. as middle-class affectations

[Paleodad]

Has anybody seen this very odd article by Liddle, where he essentially dismisses all the above as "character flaw[s], and one which could be stamped out given the necessary willpower from the parents" and "crutch upon which middle-class parents support themselves" rather than accept their kids are thick or just generally crap.

Very, very odd. I read through the whole thing believing it was a piss-take, but no, he seems to really believe it.

How was this bloke ever an editor of Today.....and how can he be seen as a serious journalist?

oops, link: www.spectator.co.uk/columnists/rod-liddle/9157681/dyslexia-isnt-real-but-dont-worry-neither-is-adhd/

Rod Liddle! Ha, he has a little rod.

What can I say? Of course athma is all in the head and a MC issue. That's why it can kill.
Of course ME is just a MC thing. That's why a child with ME can be put in a pool and he will be so tired that he won't try to swim and go back to the surface (there was a program on the BBC about that few years ago. They did really drop the child in the water)
Etc

I hate it when people say that sort of things. It reinforce a lot of preconceived ideas and is a disaster for all the people actually suffering from these illnesses.

Whereas Rod looks his flaws in the face, unflinchingly and truthfully

His attitude to allergies and the supposed feeding of a peanutbutter sandwich to child with coeliac have made me visualize him in an entirely new way - A Katie Hopkins figure, but with penis.

And actually a lot of people DO believe that thing like ADHD is just bad parenting, coeliac us just people being fussy, ME us being lazy etc :(:(

Really, Forago?

Because DS1 had a fab diet as a toddler. His adventurousness with food was legendary. Even though he's now a tween who would happily eat his weight in carbs every day, his diet is still fairly low in additives and full of fruit and veg and good fats and protein rich. Oddly enough, he still has ADHD.

He's either beng deliberately provocative in order to get attention, or he's an ignorant idiot. Possibly both.

And, when I was at school, a girl in the year below mine died from an asthma attack. Bloody stupid to dismiss a condition that can kill someone as a "character flaw"

He missed out autism! Can't believe it.

Yes, there really are some thick as shit people out there -- the sort who feed a child something it can't tolerate, for starters.

That's a terrible image to place in someone’s head, Katie Hopkins with a penis....Feel Ashamed NotAnother

Look, no one is going to read that and feel enlightened. It's just cheap taunting.

Apologies for the distress caused by that mental image

If I was reading the article and had to guess the author, then KH would be on my list of possible culprits.
I think the sucessful media career she has carved out for herself by spouting toxic bile is going to be very damaging as others follow, hoping to rekindle their dying careers whilst totally disregarding any facts and the damage their ranting will cause.

Who is he? Does he have any actual influence over the populace or can we safely stick him in a box with Hatie Kopkins?

Uri associate editor of The Spectator. He used to be editor of R4 Today programme, but now he has influence over a publication that is read by about 70,000 people, I think... think that makes him less influential than Katie Hopkins.

What Durham actually said :Although the researchers do not question the existence of the very real underlying problems that those with complex reading difficulties typically experience, they are critical of dyslexia as a term. (my italics)

I hate this kind of lazy writing. Let's made a series of sweeping generalisations and then try to offend as many people as possible. My DS has ADHD but the non-attentive variant. Is this variant of ADHD a middle class disease since he's not violent or in a special unit somewhere?

Rod Liddle is an ignorant cock of a man spouting a crock of shite.

Rod Liddle talks total rubbish and Durham are living in academic cloud cuckoo land.

Of course dyslexia is a vague and imprecise term and of course it would be wonderful if every child with reading difficulties got a perfectly tailored individual programme of help and support.

However, I haven't seen any flying pigs lately.

Thanks MrsS, didn't have a clue, do you think he'd mind?

I've heard that Dr N Campbell-McBride suggests a radical GAPS diet for kids with autism,dyspraxia, ADD, and even schizophrenia.

But not having known any parent who has children with these problems, I wouldn't even consider having an opinion, not having walked in their shoes so to speak.

Wonder if anyone's told this Liddell chap that?

He can come and feed one of my good friends a sandwich. And then watch her being blue-lighted to hospital. Arse.

God that really could have been written by Katie Hopkins.

Bizarre.

Hmm, he's being deliberately inflammatory - all those conditions exist IMO but some of them are definitely more likely or more severe in MC families and/or where parenting is poor.

Coeliac.org uk has responded with a letter, The Spectator are publishing:

Sir: I want to correct some dangerous comments about coeliac disease made in Rod Liddle’s article which, if repeated enough, could put the health of others at risk. Feeding gluten to someone with the disease will make them ill. Coeliac isn’t a food allergy; it’s an autoimmune disease. The body may not react immediately, as in an allergy, but a reaction will be inevitable. Knowingly feeding gluten to someone with the disease is the equivalent of assault — something, even for the sake of stirring up a little controversy, I hope the Spectator would not advocate.
Sarah Sleet
Chief executive, Coeliac UK

Rod Liddle started talking rubbish long before Katie Hopkins appeared on the scene. He's a vile person, so vile in fact that on an appearance on Have I Got News for You along with Christine and Neil Hamilton the Hamiltons were by far the people you'd want to spend time with.

He's the male Melanie Phillips.