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.”
She read a letter from a mother brought her son to a doctor because of problems and he was diagnosed with ADD. Well, that's serious, so she wanted a second opinion. Second doctor said it was mild autism. Okay, well, which was it? So, she went for a third opinion ... and got a third diagnosis.
Finally, she went to a fourth doctor who told her: "Ma'am. You son is a brat."
Go to the link and listen to the audio.....he said it.
It’s called freedom of speech vs political correctness.
Care to share his field of expertise?
a bomb thrower like no other
Behavior, behavior, behavior, behavior, behavior . . . .
This is what Savage said, more or less, and other replies confirm this IMO.
Of course mediasmatters and the author of the article have unalienable rights to their opinions. We have equal rights to disagree.
America is a supercollider of unalienable rights with so far a limited number of head-on collisions. But every day the anti-matter folks -- those who object to the right to express opinions contrary to theirs -- add more and more particles increasing the inevitability of an explosion.
The source I looked at says “nutritional ethnomedicine”, but I can guarantee, that many Ph.D.’s theses are no more impressive than that sounds. Mathematics and science are more difficult, but many wade through and do unimpressive and even faked research. The point is, many of the same people who criticize his views look up to Ph.D.s, so it is necessary for them to ignore this. Would a degree in “global warming” work for them? Probably.
Michael Savage had survived due to his education level and religion. Anyone else would have been run out as a hayseed Right Wing Christian wacko, and many have been run out of talk radio this way. It’s impossible to label him a fascist, so they are lost and must marginalize him in other ways. But he does have something to say, and a lot of it agrees with Mark Levin, who unlike Savage, defends Republicans.
Nice gratuitous slam from out of left field, there. When I can endure even a few minutes of his hysterics, he often finds a way to mock and belittle his betters, including Levin, Hannity and Limbaugh.
It used to be most of the kids who had it were diagnosed as mentally disabled and shunted off to institutions.
I'm about 20 years younger than you. When I went to grade school, the school I went to was also the training school for the teachers' school at the local college. Which included a classroom of what were then called "retarded" students. In retrospect, some of them were definitely what would be called autistic today.
One of my first babysitting jobs also was for an autistic boy (about six). That would have been really difficult, except his younger sister (about three) was very bright and could tell me what his normal behavior was and what I should do.
I was nearly labeled as autistic because I was a late talker, liked to play by myself (puzzles mostly) and didn't work hard to play with the other kids. Then some bright teacher thought, "maybe she can't hear very well" and had my hearing tested. I was 3 + years old when they finally discovered I was hard of hearing--totally deaf in my left right ear. That was the reason I wasn't talking.
Once they realized the real problem, I was put into a speech therapy and lip reading class so I could catch up. By the time I reached kindergarten, I had caught up.
Many of the same affiliates used to carry Savage, and years ago Chuck Harder. Since neither Savage nor Harder would defend indefensible policies, Hannity and Levin have moved into those time slots. I don’t think that either Harder or Savage think the Democratic candidates are better. Hannity and Levin hammer things like amnesty for illegal aliens, but somehow manage to refrain from associating Republicans with these policies.
...right ear.... LOL!
I am always curious about syndromes that seem to coincide with technological or cultural changes. If a diagnosis surges “since 1980” and continues through today, I would investigate these areas: 1) increased access to doctors for non-emergency issues (ie, medical plans where you pay next to nothing for on-demand GP visits), 2) changes in family structure (Moms who go back to work and leave infants in daycare), 3) inundation of children to computer and video media.
Those are the directions my gut leads me. Some psychiatrist needs to jump in and discuss the crucial phases of child development, and what might be interfering with them.
I don't think Mike meant that in every case, but...I support Mike.
It was the same with asthma and ADD --in many cases parents got more money if their kids had these ailments.
You are a perfect fit for cretinous fraud Michael Weiner.
Maybe you, he and Jerry Brown can share a wheat-grass smoothie and dance nude on the beach.
My grandsons hearing is fine, at least it was a couple of years ago when they tested it.
Somewhere on the net is a paper from Harvard I think that found that the rate of autism has increased about the same as the rate of retarded has gone down. The theory being that there was money for autism and not for retardation. There was even some discussion on Fr about. <p. I think most kids just suffer from impulse control. Are there kids who have a problem? sure. I do agree with Savage about the brats though. I cannot hardly stand to be around most kids under 20 (I know) I just want to smack them and yell “snap out of it!”
“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.”
If I had an antique car I could get a special plate for free to drive it on special occasions.
But it took Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks to make it mainstream celebrity material.
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