Posted on 07/26/2008 12:06:03 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Last week, radio talk-show host Michael Savage talked about autism:
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.” I’m not an impartial observer here. My six-year-old son has high-functioning autism. He is exactly the kind of kid that Savage attacked.
Savage’s comments were wrong and harmful. Some autistic kids do learn to read and speak, which is why misinformed people may think that they are not “genuinely handicapped.” Yes, they are. Autism is a brain disorder that affects everything from social communication to physical coordination. Autistic people have multiple problems that make it hard for them to do things that the rest of us take for granted. It may take them years to learn how to toss a ball or nod their head.
And even when they can talk, they often have odd speech patterns that instantly mark them as autistic. Other kids taunt them with the very words that Savage used. If they respond verbally, their speech problems will draw even more taunting. If they respond with their fists, they run the risk that authorities will label them as “violent.”
Once in a while, parents take the approach that Savage recommends. It never works. Screaming insults at a handicapped kid is not child-rearing. It’s child abuse.
Conservatives need to speak out against Savage. Many news stories label him as “conservative” or “right-wing,” which may prompt some people to think that we agree with him. Savage has a long history of disgusting comments, which has led David Klinghoffer to speculate that his act is a giant liberal put-on, a “lefty’s cartoon mental picture of a ranting right-wing caveman.”
The liberal website Media Matters has spearheaded the backlash against Savage’s autism comments. Understandably, conservatives might be uneasy about siding with such an outfit. Savage has tried to exploit such feelings by casting his critics as PC leftists. But just because the folks at Media Matters oppose child abuse, it doesn’t follow that we conservatives should accept it just for the sake of disagreeing with them.
Besides, liberals do not have a corner on concern for autism. California’s 1969 Lanterman Act was a landmark in serving people with autism and other disabilities. Its sponsor was a Republican, as was the governor who signed it: Ronald Reagan. In 2006, President Bush signed the Combating Autism Act. Its author was Senator Rick Santorum (R., PA).
Savage has cited respectable commentators who suggest that many kids with the autistic label are merely late talkers. His defense fails on two counts. First, these commentators don’t speak in the hateful language that he has used. Second, although they make their argument in good faith, they get things backward.
When you first notice that your child has a speech delay — around his second birthday — autism is the last thing that you want to think about. Autism is devastating and frightening. It’s more comforting to think that your kid is just starting late and will catch up soon. Clutching the “late talker” security blanket, some parents wait months or years before admitting the possibility of autism.
At that point, they may indeed conclude that a formal diagnosis could be important in getting help. States and school districts often pay for the assessment. Every autism diagnosis means thousands of dollars for services that the federal government mandates but does not fully subsidize. With tight budgets, the authorities have no incentive to encourage overdiagnosis. Once in a while, a child may incorrectly get the autism label, but underdiagnosis is probably a much bigger problem.
We need more study of the causes and prevalence of autism. At the moment, though, the issue is Michael Savage’s attack. He has since claimed that he is a nice guy who wants help to go to those who truly need it. Nonsense. If he cared about autistic kids, he wouldn’t have spewed words such as “moron” and “idiot.”
And he shouldn’t claim to be a conservative. He has cheapened political discourse and hurt defenseless children. There’s nothing conservative about that.
—- John J. Pitney Jr. is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College.
Replay from last Monday.
while I agree with that statement, I am a little puzzled as to how this pertains to autism.
There are many children being raised by both mom and dad who have been diagnosed.
And is should be noted these children will often have siblings not affected by the disorder.
Reality is the exponential increase according to the CDC. Reality is the lowered age of prescribe for medications being prescribed for Autism diagnosis as far as symptoms - look at Prozac. Reality is Ritalin (ADHD and ADD) having a bad name and not being fashionable as an excuse for bad parenting or unpopular children. There are actually real cases of Autism being pushed aside and watered down with the influx of new diagnoses. Medication is fine for the truly afflicted and relief. Someone’s child not being popular or someone’s child being weird, or someone’s child that has no discipline is no excuse.
oh I hope there is someone special out there for him to meet.
That is so heartbreaking to see how kind and gentle these children can be, but it is so difficult for them to reach out socially.
Well guess I pinged everyone just in time, lol!
yes you did say he would say that he would score a 100% on the test, and then you went on to say that looking back you thought he was weird then, but now you think he is autistic. Your words, not mine.
I was only trying to prove a point on that is no set guidelines to what we think the “norm” is when I mentioned those 3 examples. Rap (most of of on here don’t really understand the meaning, but blacks do. Opera- many find this to be a only elitist fuction, it is not the norm for me. give me a fishing pole and some bait and I would be happy) I am trying to figure out what people feel are the “norm”. Don’t read into it so much.
And yes they do prescribe medication for autism, and I have already discussed this on a previous post...go search for it.
It’s just not the same without numerous references to all things K-Pop.
I did not say that “just” because he scored well on tests made him autistic.
I described him as having a combination of other signs as well.
One of the most common red flags with autistic children is their inability to maintain eye contact.
Many of them are incapable of carrying on a social conversations - some not speaking at all.
These are characteristics I also noticed with this person - not just the fact he received a high test grade.
You are cherry picking a portion of my statement and twisting it into something I didn’t intend to say.
commonguymd wrote:
What is new is the lowered age of prescribe for drugs like Prozac. With existing drugs flatlining in sales, the new market opportunities come with treating the symptoms of Autism in specific categories with drugs such as this. Follow the money, and the new SSI opportunities for parents and funding for schools. The age now is 7 where it can be prescribed. Also, look at Haldol and Valium. Autism is not old, it is the new fashionable badge that used to be ADD and ADHD. Ritalin has gotten a bad name and you should check the CDC because they can’t even answer the question as to the exponential increase in diagnosis. I bet one could correlate the increase in Autism to a decrease in ADD and ADHD
Comment:
What is your specialization?
As the father of a child diagnosed by more than 15 professionals as having Autism and the husband of a Medical Doctor would you please expand on your remarks?
Do you believe that parents are using the Autism diagnosis as an excuse or ruse to obtain Social Security?
The high number of children diagnosed by doctors is caused by their ignorance of what really constitutes Autism?
That Autism is the new fad in diagnosis that drug companies are using to push very expensive drugs?
Further Comment:
I am interested in what you have to say on the subject since so many GP doctors misdiagnose Autism.
My wife is inclined to believe that no drugs at all would be best if possible and situation was right.
We are contemplating moving to an area where we can just take our child off drugs and see whether that will make a big difference in his treatment.
We are inclined to blame everything on the drug companies and that is not correct.
Drug companies are easy prey but we must remember that many factors go into why kids are diagnosed with autism.
Factors such as pressure from the school administration and intimidation from the state in the form of Gestapo like Child Protective Services.
It is easier for all concerned if we just dump a child’s entire problem into one big gigantic diagnosis.
Savage has done a real disservice to the conservative movement.
ADHD and autism are entirely different diagnoses. Autism is a serious medical condition pegged to genetic differences.
My cousin has a severely autistic child. It is obviously a serious, objective medical condition, not a “contrived” condition or faux diagnosis designed to “enable” people to screw off & enjoy victim status.
Shame on Savage, what an A*S.
Comment:
Evidently you have never met a Child Protective Service agent.
or You never had children.
or You don't know Shiite from Shinola about Autism.
Savage is dead wrong about what he said.
I would like to take the little twerp out behind the milk barn and give the jerk a major physical attitude adjustment.
Comment:
Dosen’t take long for the All Knowing Kook Fringe to glob on to a thread.
Savage is an ignorant jerk in my opinion and needs a good ass whipping.
.5 per thousand to 6.0 per thousand is a 12 fold increase.
You did the same thing to my post and then accuse me of cherry picking. I din’t realize you were a doctor and could make this diagnosis by “red flags” I know alot of people who don’t make eye contact with people, but I am not ready to prescribe medication for it. the diagnosis of autism is totally and I mean totally subjective. I think if we had a better understanding on how the fascinating organ we call the brain works, then we can actually make some headway on this issue.
I am just wondering why they consider not making eye contact is a “red flag”. My take on it is that so many people do communicate with out making eye contact. So the more people that don’t make eye contact are being classified as autistic which= more money in the pockets of people who really don’t have your child’s welfare in mind. I have heard through ut my life another reason that people can’t maintain eye contact when communicating is that they might be “lying” also. People who are dishonest don’t look at peoples eyes.
And when I was in highschool we called those people nerds not autistic. If you look back alot of those people are very successful now.
Yeah. With the way doctors hand out Ritalin, though... if he'd said 70% he'd have probably been alright. LOL...
I thought maybe the critics were listening to an abridged version. I listened and there was everything as far as I can. He clearly mentioned the fraud and the government checks, for example.
Talk about "cheapened" even conservatives are worried about families losing government checks even knowing that their children's autism was possibly misdiagnosed.
So much for some conservatives "concern" over wasteful government spending and -- no other word for handing out checks to families whose children are not autistic -- fraud.
Thanks for posting the link -- I thought some conservatives were just not getting the rest of the story and once they heard about the fraud and waste of taxpayer money on kids who have been misdiagnosed would object to the waste. Boy was I wrong about those "conservatives."
Savage is an ignorant jerk in my opinion and needs a good ass whipping
With your type of attitude, I'd like to put you in the hands of the AMA and see what diagnosis they come up with about you.
garbanzo wrote:
“Autism is a brain disorder that affects everything from social communication to physical coordination.”
Being a spastic geek is now a brain disorder?
Comment:
Wow! I take it you don’t qualify to be a geek?
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