Scott Morrison Has Been Slammed For Saying He’s “Blessed” To Not Have Kids With Autism
Grace Tame and Dylan Alcott have criticised his comments.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been slammed for telling the mother of an autistic child that he and his wife Jenny had been “blessed” to have children who are not neuro-divergent.
Morrison and opposition leader Anthony Albanese went head to head in their first debate ahead of the May 21 election last night, hosted by Sky News (for reasons unclear to literally anyone).
Topics discussed included the cost of living, the NDIS, nursing shortages, a federal ICAC and the devastating floods, with the general consensus being that Albanese won the debate. But the most noteworthy moment of the debate came when a mother of an autistic child asked Morrison what his plans for the NDIS were, if reelected.
“We are grateful to receive funds through the NDIS but I’ve heard many stories of people having their funds cut recently under the current government,” the woman said. “I’ve been told to give my son the best future I should vote Labor.
“Can you please tell me what the future of the NDIS looks like under your government?”
Without missing a beat, Morrison immediately replied to the woman by informing her that he is “blessed” to have two children without autism. “Jenny and I have been blessed, we have two children who haven’t had to go through that,” he said.
It’s worth mentioning here that autism is not some sort of curse, and this mentality is harmful and offensive to neuro-divergent people.
“And so for parents, with children who are disabled, I can only try and understand your aspirations for those children,” he added. “And then I think that is the beauty of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.”
The comment was quickly called out on social media.
Hey @ScottMorrisonMP, i’m blessed to have a kid on the autism spectrum. He cares about people and doesn’t need empathy training. #AusVotes22 #autism #LeadersDebate
— Stew Prins (@Storeman_Norman) April 20, 2022
I work in disability, predominately with people with autism. It's not God's blessing their families need, it's a robust and accessible NDIS and a government who supports it.
They're not going to get that from Scott Morrison.
— Riff Raff (@RichardAOB) April 20, 2022
Autism blesses those of us who have it with the ability to spot fakes from a mile off pic.twitter.com/Ck41YcqAAq
— Grace Tame (@TamePunk) April 20, 2022
I am also just so blessed to have my son with autism and ADHD and Scott Morrison can F off
The Empathy training didn't take.#auspol https://t.co/HQp3nMdDaL
— Lee Murphy 💉💉💉 (@pokerspudda) April 20, 2022
Woke up this morning feeling very blessed to be disabled – I reckon my parents are pretty happy about it too.
Feeling sorry for us and our families doesn’t help. Treating us equally, and giving us the choice and control over our own lives does
— Dylan Alcott (@DylanAlcott) April 20, 2022
Following the backlash, Senator Hollie Hughes — whose son has autism — defended Morrison on the ABC. “I certainly didn’t take anything negative away from it and I really do think that people are missing the point of the substantive issue here if they want to focus on one word,” she said. “I’m the mother of an autistic son, I have three children and I know that there were days very early on when my son was younger that were really hard and I can tell you I didn’t feel particularly blessed.
“To focus on one word is missing the point.”
While the word “blessed” has been criticised, the outrage currently directed at Morrison seems to be an all-encompassing response to the NDIS being cut by 30 percent, which will have a significant impact on people with disabilities, and Morrison’s overall attitude to it.