Open letter to Rush Limbaugh

On Facebook, I found this link.

I got so upset that I just had to write. And here’s what I wrote: an email to Rush Limbaugh.

I am very upset. No…I am pissed off and angry.
I read a transcript of your May 27th thing on The Hunger Games. Now, let me be crystal clear: I am 23 years old and I love The Hunger Games series. The last chapter in Mockingjay is one of my very favorite passages in literature; it has gotten me through a really rough period in my life where I was struggling with depression.
So, The Hunger Games is very near and dear to me.
For the love of God, do your research. Read the book, watch the movie. At least try to be objective.
Or don’t. Whatever. The Hunger Games is fiction…beautiful, powerful, moving and brilliant fiction…but fiction nonetheless. I can shrug and move on. Your opinions on a favorite book do not affect my life in the slightest. Your misinformed comments on Aspergers do.
You see, my brother has Aspergers.
He’s also one of the smartest, strongest and compassionate people I know. He’s come far in his life and he’s had to do it against a world of ignorance and arrogance. Rather like what I found on your show.

People with Aspergers are real. They are human, they have feelings and THEY deserve more than a “whatever it is” from you.
So here are some basic facts you could have picked up from a five minute Google quiz…because God forbid you have to exert yourself.
Aspergers is a pervasive developmental disorder that is, by the way classified on the Autism Spectrum. Not similar: on the same spectrum. It is NOT a disease. It is NOT terrible. And just in case you didn’t get it: Aspergers is NOT a disease. You can’t catch it or cure it. There’s nothing to cure: it’s a difference in brain-wiring.

Saying “They can’t function…It doesn’t take much to have them just go off, and so you have to kid glove everybody. It’s terrible…” is terribly offensive. It’s offensive because it is inaccurate and gives a a false picture of Autism to the world.
While it is true that people with Aspergers are prone to meltdowns (the technical term for what you called “just going off”), these are always a reaction to overstimulation.
And people with Aspergers, with autism…they see the world in relentless high-definition. They see all the details, all the time; they can’t “turn it off” like neurotypical (you’d probably say normal) people can.
Can you really judge them for their meltdowns?
Kid gloves, you say? How about trying a little compassion, Rush? Try putting yourself in their shoes…do a little research. You don’t even have to get off your ass to do it! Just type “Aspergers, autism” into your Google search bar. Then here’s the hard part: read the information. Try to understand it.
Your show reaches millions…that’s an audience I’ll never have. You could do so much good for autism…but if you aren’t willing to do that, do me a favor and please God don’t broadcast misinformation and hasty conclusions on a national platform.
You have no idea how much damage that can do to the lives of people affected by autism.