More About My Mark-Paul Gosselaar Interview

Did you read my interview with Mark-Paul Gosselaar? It was a great experience to do a phone conference interview with him. We were allowed one question each and I wish we were allowed two. My questions were asked and answered during the call, so I asked one of my son’s questions. The question I didn’t ask, that I wish I had been able to, was also one of my son’s questions. He wanted me to ask “Do you speak nicely of Autism.”

My son was referring to the fact that there are some celebrities that have said cruel things about children with Autism. He wanted to know if Mark-Paul would ever do that. I don’t think he would. Mark-Paul picked his words carefully during the phone conference. He seemed to be very aware of the fact that what is said in a public forum can be misconstrued and he was careful to answer questions in a way that left no room for misinterpretation. I also believe, given what he said during the interview, that he would not be one of those celebrities that would say something, for shock value, that was negative in regards to children with Autism.

I wish more celebrities were as careful with their words as Mark-Paul is. Words are such a strong weapon. They can do life long damage to a child. My son is very sensitive. He takes everything personally. There are many people that look at an autistic child and think that he/she does not feel or think. It is easy for them to draw that conclusion because they do not know the child. A lot of autistic children have difficulties showing their emotions and communicating them to others. This does not mean that they don’t feel. My son does not show a lot of emotion outwardly, but he feels it internally.

I do wish that I had been able to ask Mark-Paul the question, though. I also wish that I had been able to get his reaction to celebrities that degrade autistic children for the sake of shock value and publicity. It would have been nice for my son to read his answers to these questions and know that there are celebrities that would accept him for who he is. That is, of course, assuming I am correct in my assessment of Mark-Paul’s character.