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.
Look up "The Delphi Technique".
Boo-hoo. I have never listened to Savage, I don't even know what his voice sounds like. But this criticism is crybaby stuff. "His science is wrong because he hurt my feelings" should not be coming out of the mouth (or pen) of anyone, let alone a professor (even a "professor of government", which itself is a frightening thing).
If we allowed the purveyors of perpetual victimhood free reign, nobody would be "normal", every last person would have some "condition" attached. "Subclinical" this, "asymptomatic" that, "high functioning", "spectrum disorders", etc etc etc. Legitimate terms, warped beyond any rational medical meaning, are used to feed a spectrum of interests (pharmaceuticals, adult babysitters therapists, folks who just want more handouts, crappy parents looking to shift the blame).
When I was a kid, words like awkward, shy, and withdrawn, or energetic, loud, and troublemaker, were used to describe children now "diagnosed" with autism or ADHD. The supposedly blighted children (by today's standards) are all normal functioning adults today. Hell, I probably would have been labeled autistic because I mixed (informal) sign language and English in near equal proportions until age 4. Is that unusual? YES! Is it a medical condition? Of course not.
If anything, projecting ones own hypochondria is a mental sickness that needs to be addressed.
Savage can say anything he wants. Others are free to whine about what he says, or like I do, ignore him.
Evidently you didn’t listen to what Savage and his guests were talking about. And Media Matters is one of the most dishonest sites on the internet...quite an accomplishment. Most important, if you’re going to be duped by the PC police and Media Matters slime, don’t put the rest of your ignorance on display by concluding that Savage is really a liberal working to give conservatives a bad name. Hagel and McCain have done enough of that for several lifetimes.
My wife is a special ed teacher. She would tell me about the problems involving some of the autistic kiids but I never paid much attention until I went and had lunch with her at the school and met some of the kids, it was an eye opener to me.
Well, I did not listen to his entire spiel on autism, just read this excerpt of a typical Savage hyperbolic rant. I’d be willing to bet though Savage knows more about the subject than most of his critics. On AHD and ADHD, Savage has been right on the money for years.
(hint)Liberals predominate the medical profession so beware when they suggest your kid needs to be medicated. I would get as many opinions as possible and then some before coming to any conclusions about my kid.
Savage’s show is little more than nonsensical shockjock trash most of the time now. You don’t find much serious commentary on there anymore. The guy lacks great talent or insight so the only way he can get listeners is to try to be provocative.
I can only imagine if some of the worlds most productive and smartest people had been told they were not normal and began medication to suppress the undesired 'condition'.
They are not the same at all, but nonetheless, he was roundly slammed for exposing the AHD racket. I’m just guessing here, but I’d be willing to bet Savage said much more, that made much more sense than just this excerpt states. And this is coming from someone who does not care for Savage.
Not so fast....I work in the medical community and I do not wish to disclose in what capacity because then people will be asking for alot of advice. I can say I am not a pediatrician, but the diagnosis on autism is all subjective. I wish I had the time to listen to Michael Savage’s radio show because he is 100% correct on this issue. The labeling of kids has to stop somewhere and I praise him for bringing this out in the open so we can have dialogue on this subject. Too many parents want to pin a label on the their kids to make them feel better about themselves because they failed as parents. 20 years ago it was asthma, 10 years ago it was add (and still is) and today we have autism. When will this stop? My heart goes out to all the children who are being drugged when they just need a hug (I know, extreme, but making a point). I think Mr. Savage brought up this point before, not sure. But if Einstein was a child today, he too would of been labeled with having all these bogus dianosis and probably made up new ones. And we all know the impact that would have on us today if that were to take place. Just because we notice someone acting out of the norm (and just what is the norm these days anyways) does not mean we have to label them, then drug them.
I just think he is a dickhead and his radio show blows. He is the Howard Stern show version of issues oriented talk radio, except that Stern’s show is a little more intellectually oriented. Sorry Savage fans, had to get that off my chest, no offense intended...JFK
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