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?

at choosing the hamiltons - I suppose at least NH is a buffoony type rather than offensive.

'I kind of agree about crap diet and ADHD though.'

Forago can you post the research that leads you to that opinion?

Scientists have identified the gene that causes ADHD. I'd be interested to see research that disputes that.

How ironic OP. The word is affliction, certainly not affection.

Rod Liddle is very tongue in cheek in this article most of the time but seems some readers "don't get it"

They've identified a gene that causes every diagnosed case of ADHD? Really? E numbers aren't a contributory factor? Given the temporary effect they have on my children I find it hard to believe a constant diet high in additives and E numbers couldn't cause symptoms of ADHD, no. And I didn't state that it was proven fact, just anecdotal. I had CFS/ME in my twenties and I also think that was largely self inflicted, I don't think I have a gene that caused it. I'm sure some cases of both conditions are genetically based, mine wasn't.

Rod Liddle, for me, is some sort of horrific hybrid of Clarkson and Boris Johnson, only with even worse hair. It's inflammatory rubbish.

Oooooh! The anecdotal evidence of a lay person. Compelling!

("Sarcasm?" asked Dr Sheldon Cooper.)

Madame the op said affectation not affection, look it up in a dictionary.

I had a step GM who insisted asthma was down to lack of will power which was real comfort then I was 10 and sitting in A&E waiting to be seen on christmas day
This is controversy for the sake if controversy.

Molecular Biologist. Are you a Doctor?

I agree he's a knob (Asthma and Anaphylaxis being imaginary is clearly bonkers). But I am entitled to my non-scientific opinion, just as you are.

And sarcasm isn't very clever if you feel the need to point it out, in my opinion again of course.

next London ME conference programme, but I don't see Rod Liddle presenting....

Forago - how do you think you self inflicted CFS/ME, if you don't mind saying?

Liddle is worse than Clarkson or Boris. Clarkson at least earns lots of money through programme sales so the BBC can spend it on obscure arts programmes. Clarkson has never edited The Today programme or written for The Guardian so no one ever thinks about taking him seriously.

Boris isn't doing a bad job of running London.

Liddle just peddles his rent a controversial opinion shtick and does nothing worthwhile at all.

Liddle is essentially trolling. It is quite extraordinary that the Spectator gives him a platform to do so.

Is Rod related to Katie Hopkins and Edwina?

He's really not a nice person by any account - he assaulted his partner when she was 20 weeks pregnant for one.

Madame the op said affectation not affection, look it up in a dictionary.
Thanks WoT, had to check what i'd written...

and Madame FWIW i didn't 'get it'. It didn't come across as tongue-in-cheek, just ranty and offensive

He's really uneducated, isn't he? Well-researched, medically documented conditions that occur across the world, and they're due to being middle-class? Well, I guess he'd just let the child suffocate to death/fail and that's another one that won't breed to weaken the species, then?

I think his wiki entry says all we need to know about RL

"Liddle married his longtime partner, Rachel Royce, a television presenter, in January 2004 at a ceremony in Malaysia. They had been living in Heytesbury, Wiltshire, and had two sons together, Tyler and Wilder.[55] Six months later, Liddle moved in with Alicia Monckton, a 22-year-old receptionist at The Spectator. It transpired that he had cut his honeymoon with Royce short so that he could be with Monckton. Following their divorce, Liddle and Royce exchanged attacks in the media. Liddle called her a "total slut and slattern", and Royce wrote an article in the Daily Mail titled "My cheating husband Rod, 10 bags of manure and me the bunny boiler. As for The Slapper... she's welcome to him".[56] For some years, Royce continued to write about her ex-husband.[57]

On 5 May 2005, he was arrested for common assault against Monckton, who was 20 weeks pregnant at the time. He admitted the offence and accepted a police caution, but asserted later that he did so only because it was the quickest way for him to be released, and that he had not assaulted her.[58] The couple's daughter, Emmeline, named after the suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst, was born in October 2005.[25] The couple married in September 2008.[59]"

Presumably his wife is young enough to be his daughter etc etc.. Plus ca change.

My dh wasnt allowed to take computers back in the 70s because he was "thick". He is an undiagnosed dyslexic who couldnt read until he was 10 and spent secondary school in remedial classes. Through a good old fashioned apprenticeship and evening classes he is now a qualified engineering.

My DS 18 has the same learning difficulties as his father, has just had offers from some of the top universities for engineering. Do either of them sound thick?
I tend to agree with Durham that dyslexia as an umbrella definition is not that helpful, as i have been told ds cant be dyslexic because he can read, but dyslexics can be taught to read with good phonics, but it doesnt take away the underlying problems of short term memory etc. DS couldnt remember a sum written on the board long enough to look down on the paper to write it out, but easily understands complex formulae
He would spell the same word 3 different ways on the same page. It doesnt make him, yet at 5 had the understanding of

The both have nut allergy as well

JaneinReading Thanks for posting that wiki entry. I didn't know any of that.

The problem with moving away from the dyslexia word is there is no easy other word to use. My older daughter (City lawyer now) was a bit dyslexic. It became less of a problem in her senior school when handwriting and spelling were not the key things and your brains were instead. She's quite bright. She still has to spell check things. You will still see a shopping list with letice or some other variation of that. It would certainly be untrue to say these kinds of conditions do not exist. Specific learning disabilities is not a great alternative term to use or processing difficulties either.

What an idiot, and a misogynist bully to boot.

Last time my DD had something she was allergic to she ended up in hospital

GPs hand out inhalers so asthmatics can breathe. breathing is essential to stay alive, duh! Asthma still kills people every week in the UK FFS

what a cunt

at the asthma comments.

My grandmother was told her child was hysterical and making up her symptoms. The Dr told her to slap her child in the face the next time, to put a stop to it. She did, and the child died. My grandmother lived with that guilt for the rest of her life. You would think opinion would have moved on on the past 50or so years.
Asthma is not made up, and it's dangerous. People might be deterred from seeking help if they see someone having an attack and they think it's "put on" after reading this stupid mans article.

The dyslexics (myself included), nut allergies, coeliacs and food intolerant people in our family are not making it up either!

Hi CFSKate - I had a weird viral illness in my early twenties and due to my heavy partying lifestyle at the time I don't think I recovered from it very well and I feel that is probably why it turned into CFS/ME which I had for about a year (off work for about 6 months). They eventually found evidence of a CMV infection and raised inflammatory factors but nothing else showed up in tests. This was nearly 20 years ago and I have never had it since (took about 2 years to fully dissipate and I took Prozac and had CBT which I think helped a bit).

When I say lifestyle-based I mean that, after being sick for a few weeks, I would have a good day and feel better - so go out clubbing until early hours as normal with my friends, but then be exhausted for days and not be able to get out of bed, then feel a bit better and be desperate to go out partying and that cycle gradually turned into CFS for me. I am still a bit manic at times and suspect that had a lot to do with it for me - viral infection, immune system low due to partying lifestyle, tendency to overdo things. I also think the fact that I have never had it since indicates more lifestyle-based in my case - as wouldn't it have recurred otherwise? The CBT did help me smooth out the days so I am able to nip it in the bud now when I am overdoing it.

However, this wouldn't explain why children and teenagers get it I guess and I did have an acute 3 week viral illness where I was hospitalized so possibly it was simply a result of that and would have happened anyway whatever I had done. My instinct tells me it was the all night paarties etc. that prolonged it in my case though.

Long time ago though - no up to date knowledge of what is thought to be the cause(s) of CFS now.