Posted on 07/20/2008 6:50:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A Savage Betrayal Of Humanity Radio Host Michael Savage Says Autistic Kids Aren't Sick..."Just Brats"
One Parent Begs To Differ
by Steve and Ryan Young
I’ve written for years about the problems I’ve had with talk radio, and did so, for the most part with tongue tucked firmly in cheek. I’ve even had my own show in L.A. so In some way, I’ve been a part of the problem I write about. I do get ticked off, but rarely does anything said on talk radio ever cause me to lose my sense of humor. Until this past Wednesday.
On his syndicated talk radio show, The Savage Nation, Michael Savage (real name: Michael Weiner), the third most listened to talk show host behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and a bomb thrower like no other, called the disorder known as Autism, “a fraud” and “a racket.”
He went further.
"I’ll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. That’s what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they’re silent? They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.” (Full audio at:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200807170005?f=h_top)
There’s so much I wanted to say, not only to pound some actual knowledge into whatever Savage uses for a brain, but also to defend those families who have been besieged by the heartbreak and hardship of living with someone, especially their children, with Autism.
I wondered how Savage might feel it were his child who was constantly being met with disapproving stares from strangers who recommend that “if your child can’t behave maybe you shouldn’t take him out in public.” And how he might feel if the knew that it is going to happen every single day.
But as I began to write a note to Savage, I realized that it would be more appropriate to have someone who knows full well the devastation felt of not only hearing the diagnosis of your child as autistic, but having to live through the day to day sadness, frustration and pain you feel when it hits you that your child may never have what most would consider a typical life. For that I turned to my son Ryan…
From Ryan…
Mr. Savage,
My eight year old daughter Rebecca has a diagnosis of Autism.
Autism is a brain development disorder that impairs social interaction and communication, and causes restricted and repetitive behavior. That diagnosis in itself may help define a set of Rebecca’s symptoms, but it far from defines who she is any more than insensitive or mean-spirited totally describes you.
Rebecca can be sweet, funny, happy, sad, angry, silly, frustrating, irritating, gentle, kind or any number of other adjectives you’d use to describe a typical eight year old, though brat is not one that her doctors have used to describe her. That usually only comes from those ignorant of her condition.
When Rebecca is having a meltdown or dealing with any other upsetting moment in a public place, we are almost always met with judgmental glares from onlookers who are thinking, boy, if that was my child… or who might even say, “If you can’t control that child, keep her home!” G-d forbid these people ask if there anything they can do to help you. It’s something every parent of an autistic child has had to deal with most every day.
If you don’t understand Autism, its very easy to say or think such things. I probably did too before my wife and I had Rebecca, but I never went on a radio show, where millions of people believe I am some sort of authority, to label innocent children as a moron or idiot. That you supposedly hold master’s degrees in medical botany and medical anthropology makes your actions even more shameful.
Imagine, Mr Savage, if you lacked the ability to express your feelings, thoughts or needs. Imagine if this were your child. Would you want your child smeared for something they had no control over? Many children with autism lack the capacity to verbalize their feelings instead act them out. This is not how they act like a putz. This is how they communicate.
Being her father, I see Rebecca’s many challenges, stressors and unexpected events that challenge her ability to get through each and every day. As parents, her stressful and frustrating moments become OUR stressful and frustrating moments. What loving parent doesn’t cheer when their child succeeds or aches when their child is hurt, frustrated or upset?
Because the world challenges Rebecca so incessantly it would be easy to want to keep her home, insulated from the world, protecting her against the whirlwind of circumstances that at once can delight her one moment or upset and anger her the next. But ours is a life built on “that which does not kill you, can only make you stronger.” With each challenge Rebecca meets head on, she can learn and grow, hopefully adapting to the world, one step at a time. With each fall that she rises from she learns to walk a little stronger; gains confidence, and actually learns to become the best Rebecca she can be.
What no parent of a special needs child wants is to be pre-judged or isolated and kept in the shadows so that people like you don’t have to look at a child with a disability. We want and need support of those around us and hope upon hope that our child be treated with compassion and understanding.
This week, you Mr. Savage, have made that a little harder.
Sincerely,
Rebecca’s Proud Dad, Ryan Young
For more information on Autism, go to: Autism Speaks at www.autismspeaks.org
Ryan Young is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York. His dad is author of “Great Failures of the Extremely Successful…Mistakes, Adversity, Failure and Other Steppingstones to Success.”
Media Matters is a highly un-credible source.
But I can’t resist tweaking the title of this: “Michael Savage Says Legal-Maximum Donors to DemocRat Jerry Brown aren’t liberals... Just Jackass Posers Intent To Make Conservatives Look Like Buffoons.”
Yep, probably better than any of the other kids. I didn’t keep in touch with anyone from there though. It was the 8th grade and we all went off to different high schools. He went off the Stuyvesant, which I didn’t get into. There was a test for the three ‘specialized’ schools. Stuy was the best, then Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech. I got into Bronx Science, but didn’t make Stuy.
Don't be a sycophant.
Of course it's Savage voice.
The question is, was it put together from different clips or edited to make Savage sound like a seamless monologue.
I don’t know what to make of Savage. I sometimes listen to him precisely because I never know what he will say. Sometimes (often) he says things that are outlandish. When Savage gets off topic, he will say something about music, literature, history, his travels, etc. At least there is a chance that what he says will be interesting. Rush is a more balanced person and overall more listenable but when Rush gets off topic, he will ramble on about football or golf - I find sports statistics to be about as comprehensible and entertaining as reading the tax code so at that point I always turn Limbaugh off.
I listened to that show and I felt that all Savage was saying was that autism was way over diagnosed.
Amazing how "some" can miss the point like a blind skeet shooter with an agenda.. Autism is real... just as real as parents SPOILING their children.. SPoiled children mostly grow up to be spoiled ADULTS.. that some poor SAP marries..
“Michael Savage is depressing to listen to for more than short periods”
Well he comes off as perpetually depressed. Take a friggin’ prozac Mike!
“IF he said it, it should be the end of him. Good grief, what an idiot.”
No, you’re an idiot and a putz, as Savage might put it. What a whiney, liberal, wussy comment to make. “Waahhh, ‘it should be the end of him’ because he upset my media-driven opinion on these issues...........”
Thanks. I have already read this article and passed it on my son and DIL. It only confirmed my feelings.
MediaMatters = the Gaystapo
They failed to mention that Savage had a severely mentally retarded brother who suffered terribly at the hands of the mainstream medical establishment and died at an early age. He knows very well the pain of a family member with mental disabilities. Also as another poster noted 99% isn’t all. Diagnosing kids with ADD is an epidemic of quackery pushed by the drug companies and the minions who do their bidding. Media Matters simply hate Savage and listen to each and every show with headphones like the KGB looking for anything that could be misconstrued or off-color to discredit him.
My point was the kid hadn’t yet been diagnosed with the illness but the mother was already using it as an excuse for his behavior. Or, perhaps, there’s a subset of autistics who are labeled “in the process of being diagnosed with Aspergers”.
Kind of sounds like my 33 year old son when he was a toddler. He was fascinated with any thing that had to do with numbers and if I took him to the toy store all he wanted was puzzles. He was never geeky and always very social but even as an adult he does have some quirks. He’s a real perfectioist and little things that probably wouldn’t bother most people make him nuts. Right now he’s obsessing over a noise in his car that no one can figure out.
Click on the audio in the link your article referred to. Hear it now?
Since the original source of the news is Media Matters, I would take this news with extreme caution as this group has been angling to get talks shows hosts like Rush Limbaugh off the air.
That's not his voice?
Oh, back then the disease was known as "brat-isness". :)
What you posted is from a different Savage rant about Autism, ADD, etc. The Youtube clip you cite was added to youtube on June 30. The quotes cited by Media Matters are from the July 16 show. The quotes from Media Matters are accurate.
Maybe have the rare form of this disorder called FReepautism?
Savage exaggerates to make a point, but he’s basically correct. There’s no shortage of “medical experts” who can come up with handy excuses for lazy parents to use to explain to themselves and others why their children are undisciplined failures.
“Autism” has become the latest catch-all. I guess those other recently discovered bogus excuses, ADD and ADHD, have lost some of their shine.
Writing a “script” is more PC and less trouble than challenging parents to get the job done.”
What are you talking about? I have an autistic son and I can guarantee there is no medicine that treats autism. He is not on nor does he require any medication. He has an aide at school, goes to socialization classes and has turned into a very nice, well behaved young man.
Autism is very real and affects many good families and children. We work hard with our son to provide the best care and opportunity. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it isn't from caring and love - hardly “ineffective”.
You're comments reflect you have an ounce of knowledge and a pound of opinion. Or more precisely, opinions are like a$$holes - everyone's got one. The ones who have no experience in what they talk about seem to voice them.
Since autism has been shown to be associated with changes in the structure of the brain including in some cases a section of the brain stem that is missing entirely, it's not at all clear that providing vitamin D and feeding non-allergenic foods is going to solve the problem.
That said, I do have some friends with a daughter who had been diagnosed as autistic and who has no vocabulary at age six. They did discover that removing wheat from her diet caused a considerable improvement in her behavior. They ascribed this improvement to the fact that their daughter had previously been in pain when trying to digest what products. But their daughter still has extremely severe problems. She has subsequently been diagnosed with Angelman syndrome.
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