Celebrating Fathers When Everybody Else Said No Journalist Leland Vittert
In a world of labels being placed on people, one father and one son were determined to break that tag, even if it was one of autism. This is their story. In a world quick to label, judge, and box in people, one father and son stood firm and refused to be defined by an autism diagnosis. If you're channel surfing and happen upon Leland Vittert during his nightly national cable show on NewsNation, he comes off as a poised journalist prying nuggets from guests. If you watched him for years as an anchor at Fox News Channel, you saw him on the battlefields of the Middle East, the anchor desk, and the White House North Lawn. No one, including friends and co-workers, has ever known his full life story and how miraculous it was to get to that point.Leland was a socially awkward boy who didn't speak for years, and when he finally did, teachers and leaders declared him "weird." His unique behavior and inability to connect with his peers made him a frequent target for bullying and exclusion. In one particularly harsh moment, a school principal bluntly told his parents, "The people here think Leland is pretty weird. I guess I do, too." Those words felt like being shot with an arrow, as his parents sat in stunned silence, grappling with their own fears and uncertainties for their son's future. From a young age, Leland showed signs of being Autistic, a term rarely used at the time, struggling with social cues, communication, and behavioral norms that came naturally to other kids. The diagnosis didn't deter his father, Mark. He knew the world wouldn't change for Leland, so he quit his job and began changing Leland for the world. He became a full-time parent-coach, training Leland and teaching him the skills he needed to navigate in society. Simple concepts like eye contact, understanding humor, and instilling motivations had to be taught painstakingly. From hundreds of pushups at age 7 to toughen him against bullies, to coaching him through complex social interactions, Mark's relentless dedication changed the trajectory of Leland's life. Born Lucky offers an intimate look into their inspiring journey. Leland lays bare his experiences of the crushing bullying during middle and high school, the sting of rejection continuing into college, and his ultimate transformation into an esteemed journalist. But above all, this book is a love letter from a grateful son, who despite his diagnosis, trusted his father and defied all odds. It offers hope to every parent and every child who is grappling with their own unique challenges, to be inspired to break labels, tear down the walls that society builds, and create a better future.
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Speaker 1: The place to be is arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E dot net. Twenty
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Only on arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E dot net. Enjoy your exploration. What's
happening with you?
Speaker 2: Nothing.
Speaker 3: Just here in New York and talking about Father's Day.
Speaker 2: You're in Charlotte? Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Speaker 1: And I got to tell you, I prayed for this
moment way back when we talked in October of 2025
because I just knew we weren't done. And one of
the invitations I shared with you is please come back
to this show anytime in the future. And the blessing
has been answered because we're not done yet. And that
your book has opened up so many doors for people
to take a better look and a better understanding of
And it changed me because it's like, how can I
work closer with somebody who may be facing this? Because
I know through you that there is greater things on
the other side if we get beyond.
Speaker 2: The book cover. Well, I love that. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: You're making a difference. You're making a change. And to
be so out there, that takes courage and confidence. Never
once in my heart did I feel like that you
were being a journalist or a reporter in this book.
It's almost like you've come over here and we're sharing
some Southern sweet tea and we're just having a conversation.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 1: To put it into words, though, Leland, what was that
like for you?
Speaker 3: Writing the book, sharing the deepest, darkest parts of your
life and telling those stories on national television is a
little bit like sitting in a bathtub full of scissors.
It won't kill you, but there are more enjoyable ways
to spend your days. Not that being with you here, Arrow,
isn't wonderful, but the story of Born Lucky, writing and
telling it as a love letter to my father, been
very meaningful with him.
Speaker 2: What's far more meaningful is what you.
Speaker 3: Pointed out, which is after this book came out in September,
the response we have gotten from fathers and families around
the country, grandparents, mothers, that their lives have been changed
because they don't feel like they're alone anymore. That Born
Lucky is proof of the mountain-moving power of parental love,
what George Will said, but it's also proof there is
hope for so many families of kids having a hard time.
It doesn't matter if it's autism or anxiety. It doesn't
matter if it's ADHD or physical disabilities or bullying or
just the social media hell that kids now go through
growing up. Born lucky is proof that there is hope.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because, I mean, that's one of the things that
we have faced in so many years. Because of people
like yourself, we're able to put it on the front
page of our conversations. Because I'll never forget my mother,
as well as Michael Mack and all these other people
that I've been associated with that have said, what do
you mean my son has autism? No, he doesn't. He's
just as normal as you. And you grow from that.
And you have the strength from those fathers who stood next.
And that's why I'm so inspired by your father, because
he knew in his heart there is going to be
lives that are going to change forever. Because of my son.
Speaker 3: Well, there was a big distance from where I was
when I was diagnosed at eight years old to now.
And my dad's quest... was to adapt me to the
world rather than the world to me. Yes, sir. It
was very clear that I had some serious issues, and
he was going to do his best to teach me
how to deal with them. When I was eight years old,
my parents were told they needed to have me evaluated,
the worst thing that any parent can hear.
Speaker 2: They took me to a medical testing building.
Speaker 3: We've all been there with the linoleum floors and the
stale coffee, uncomfortable furniture.
Speaker 2: My parents sat there for a couple of hours. Probably
thumbed through some.
Speaker 3: Bad magazines because there weren't cell phones back then. And
a woman came back and said, your son's got big problems.
Big behavioral problems. If somebody looks at him the wrong way,
he'll turn around.
Speaker 2: And slug them. Big... Big sensory problems.
Speaker 3: If he has a jacket or socks on he doesn't
like or anything like that, he'll melt down.
Speaker 2: And then also big learning problems.
Speaker 3: I had about a 20-point spread in your IQ between
the two scores as a learning disability.
Speaker 2: I had a 70-point spread.
Speaker 3: So the biggest spread they'd ever seen. And the woman–
says to my parents, you know, there's not much you
can do. You just kind of have to meet him
where he's at. And my dad said, I'm going to
meet him where he's at, but I'm going to tell
him where we're going.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 3: Because, because I'm going to have to teach him how
to adapt to the world. My parents told no one
about my diagnosis, but worked with me every day, every hour,
every minute to try and adapt. You know, the first
thing my dad wanted me to do is teach me
what self-esteem was. So 200 pushups a day, five days
a week. Um, Because I wasn't going to be good
at school. I wasn't going to have friends. And I
wasn't going to be good at athletics. So we had
to figure out how to teach me self-esteem. And those
are the lessons of Born Lucky that my dad sort
of minute by minute was teaching me how the world was.
Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Leland Vittert coming
up next. The name of his book, Born Lucky. We
are back with journalist and author Leland Vittert. You're showing
people that, yes, my child could need some special needs.
I mean, even with my own brother, I never saw
him as what everybody else said he was. It was
always like, show me how to do something. Teddy, show
me how to do it. Because you have this knowledge
that I can't seem to tap into. And I told him,
I said, I think I'm the one that they should
be laughing at, not you. And because if you sit
down and learn, you will grow together. And that's what
I feel inside these pages.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you.
Speaker 3: Born Lucky is a love letter, right? It's a love
letter from me to my father about his and my relationship.
And I think what's so remarkable is how many parents
feel the same way my dad did and how many
spend nights crying the way my dad did down in.
Speaker 2: The living rooms.
Speaker 3: My dad often would leave my bedroom after taking the
emotional and physical cruelty that had been inflicted on me
upon himself. He'd let me yell or scream or talk
or whatever it was. And then he would go downstairs
and he would sit in the living room on a
blue couch by himself in the darkness and cry because
he felt the world had turned against him and turned
against his son. Yeah. And there are so many families
that feel that way. Even if the kid doesn't have
a diagnosis, just growing up is hard. And parents are
watching their kids struggle.
Speaker 2: It's hard.
Speaker 3: And this is proof that it gets better. It's also
proof that the adversity is temporary. And so often parents
want to take the adversity away. How do I make
this easier? That's not what my dad did with me.
He walked with me through the adversity and held my hand.
And that, to me, is what really made such an
enormous difference.
Speaker 1: So how did your father share with you the goal
of having eye-to-eye contact? And number two, to be able
to locate humor. Because, I mean, like I said, I
surround myself with those that have needs. And to be
able to sit down with him, Ontario, and I can't
get him to laugh. I'm going to figure it out.
And I'm using your book to sit there and to
listen to what you're saying in your stories so I
can take it back to my own connections here. So
how did you learn eye to eye contact?
Speaker 3: Well, I spent a lot of time with dad telling
me you need to look me in the eye and
you need to look other folks in the eye. But autism,
I equated to alcoholism. It's something you got to work
at every single day, every hour. And I still fail.
A couple of months ago, I was playing golf with
this guy, older man with my father-in-law. round ends and
i completely failed so we're in the parking lot and
i was trying to stuff my golf bag into the
travel bag and frustrated and late and this guy walks
over and he's trying to talk to me hey lucky
and he's you know sort of waving at me and
i'm sitting down on the ground and i go uh-huh
didn't look up and i could hear as he was
talking to me my dad say okay lucky what You
need to stop. You need to stand up. You need
to look Mr. McGillicuddy in the eye. Tell him about
the golf game. Listen to what he's saying.
Speaker 2: Smile. You're not that late. Whatever it is. And classic
autism is being task focused.
Speaker 3: I couldn't do it. I couldn't break away. And it
was a profound moment in my mind of failure.
Speaker 2: I sent Mr.
Speaker 3: McGillicuddy, whatever the guy's name was, a note and just said, hey, look,
I'm really sorry. I'm embarrassed of how I treated you.
But I didn't say, by the way, that was my
autism or, oh, that's my autism speaking.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Because my dad taught me you can never use this
as an excuse. And he didn't tell me about my
diagnosis until I was in my 20s. But it was
very important to him that I never be labeled by it,
but I never labeled myself by it. The standard is
the standard. You got to figure out a way.
Speaker 2: To meet it.
Speaker 1: I don't know how time flies by every time we
get together. I'm going to pray again that you and
I continue this conversation because this is an everyday moment.
Please let people know where they can find out more
about everything that you're involved in because you really are
that open door.
Speaker 3: Well, you're nice to say that. Born Lucky is available
on Amazon right now. A great Father's Day present for
all the fathers in your life and mothers in your
life as well. But fathers ahead of Father's Day. It's
the proof of what great fathers can do and telling
fathers they're not alone, even when they're having a hard
time and struggling. And obviously I'm available on social media
at Leland Vitter.
Speaker 1: Well, you, your father is an amazing man. And we're
going through a generation right now where fathers are finally
starting to show up at the grocery stores with their kids.
I never had that as a child. And for you
to be talking openly about your father the way that
he is, it's not just a day on the calendar
Father's Day. It is a celebration of their knowledge and
their leadership.
Speaker 2: Well, I could not have said it better. My best.
Speaker 1: Well, you be brilliant today.
Speaker 2: Okay, sir. Thank you. All the best.