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A Savage Betrayal Of Humanity: Radio Host Michael Savage Says Autistic Kids Aren't Sick..."Just Brats"
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."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 if 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...
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
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" and blogs at steveyoungonpolitics.com
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A little late on this post Steve.
This is the same BS that all of these talk show host spread. And people eat this up. The best thing to do is cut him off and not listen to the BS.
So Michael Savage is an idiot. But we already knew that. Protest by boycotting his sponsors. Don’t listen to him. Don’t respond to his nonsense it just gives him more publicity. He is just a space occupying lesion and should be treated as such.
This Savage is one hateful guy. If we could tap into his soul and convert all that venom into electrons we could go a long way to solving our energy problems.
Thank you all for being one of the ones out on the Internet with some version of a transcript..
If you find there is a wholly complete transcript out there, or better yet, if you could possibly provide one right here to help accommodate *all sorts* of situations where some of us out here are not otherwise able to access the other provided media, you would be an universal accessibility advocate's *Hero Of The Day*..
The reason is that I just forwarded this *DEEP* into my disability advocacy network then found that some responded back and expressed they felt it might be being blown out of context..
Aha, most certainly could be true without being able to hear this myself..
But.....
Alas and alack, another accessibility issue in the form of "net neutrality" seems to *possibly* be rearing its head in that my Internet provider does not lately accommodate the download of media similar to the above provided.. Thus this predicament of having to most humbly request some assistance from you all.. :)
Thank you sooo much..
Cyber hugs from Talking Rock, Georgia.. :)
Cindy Sue
Six. Almost Seven..
As a mother of a child on the autistic spectrum who also has epilepsy, unless you live with a child like this, you really can't understand it. The one thing I understand is my son already feels bad on some level ,because he is aware enough to know he's not like other kids. One of the most important goals for a child who is disabled is help in feeling better about themselves. Sad that Savage spent his childhood emotionally battered by his father. This is all he knows so this is what he does. This battering doesn't help these kids any more then it helped little Michael. But he is so angry that he can't stop for a minute and see beyond himself. I can't fight him, but if enough of us educate the public, then his words will look laughable to most of society.
Has anyone heard the vile stuff spewed by Randi Rhodes? She has said some pretty disgusting, dehumanizing things about people she considers "retarded" or about those who have fetal alcohol syndrome. These disabilities, just like autism, are developmental.
Sure, its sick, what Michael Savage says - but he's a Republican what do you expect?
But truly, it is antithetical to democratic, progressive human values to demean and dehumanize people with disabilities. Nobody seems to get enraged about Randi Rhodes, do they? Take a closer look at the crude and dehumanizing comments on the Left.
XCITIZEN said:
"Has anyone heard the vile stuff spewed by Randi Rhodes? She has said some pretty disgusting, dehumanizing things about people she considers "retarded" or about those who have fetal alcohol syndrome. These disabilities, just like autism, are developmental. "
Vile? Spewed? I listen to Randi a LOT, and she's as caring and compassionate as anybody. Feel free to provide actual examples, IN CONTEXT and not just some comparison she made between somebody she was arguing against and somebody with a brain disorder. She certainly wasn't insulting anyone WITH a developmental disorder, not that I've ever heard. She gets worked up, she gets loud, and I've heard her be rude with callers when she should have controlled herself better, but she's not hateful, and she doesn't insult people who can't help their condition. Comparing her in any way to "Savage" is just unbelievable.
Another thing about Rhodes, she's surrounded by adoring enablers who will jump to her defense no matter what comes out of her mouth.
I listen to Rhodes everyday and have never heard the "garbage" you're claiming she "spews" - there is no way you can compare her to Michael Weiner. I have heard her speak of people who were "morally" retarded, but she has never waged an attack on on people with developmental disorders. You just want to get off topic because there is no way you can justify the Savage Wiener's venom and how much you like it, XCitizen.
I'm not one of Rhodes bigest fans, but she is not in the same ballpark as the savage wiener. Not within sight of the ballpark. To be fair, few even of the right-wing talk show hosts are.
Maybe Randi occasionally misuses the term retarded, but no where near the level of hatred and disgust for everyone who disagrees with her. Savage literally calls for the execution of people who hold alternative views. Savage is dirt.
HuffPost's Pick
Dear Steve,
That's why I heart ya, and hold your essays/posts with high esteem. Agape.
See Steve Young's Profile
Pshaw and pshaw from my entire fam.
Thx,
S
It is not rocket science people. My son spoke. My son got shots. My son stopped speaking.
His Doctor committed suicide. New Defeat Autism Now Doctor treated him. Now he said his first words in six years. "Hi Daddy" for Father's Day.
I lose sleep everynight listening to my son bounce off the walls and thinking ...what sort of person out there could do this to children and sleep at night. We need respite, therapies, remediation, and respect. We are not colateral damage. Our children need help now. End the debates, admit the mistakes, and pay the bill!.
That is the job that media is supposed to do. Expose the one who did this to our children. NOW!
my daughter spoke. my daughter has gotten numerous shots. my daughter still speaks. i don't think that vaccinations can be solely blamed for autism. there may be a connection, but it seems that there must be other factors at play as well. Perhaps some children are particularly sensitive to some ingredients in vaccines, perhaps environmental factors (like pollution, nutrition, etc.) are involved in autism as well.
i think it is a little irresponsible to say that autism is caused by vaccines and therefore all vaccines should be stopped. vaccines are one of many huge factors in increasing life expectancy. the diseases we vaccinate for now killed (and continue to kill in countries without access to vaccines) a huge number of children and adults. disease and short life expectancy were some of the reasons families routinely had large numbers of children, they never knew how many would actually live to adulthood. the diseases we vaccinate for may be mostly eradicated here in the U.S., but they still run rampant all over the undeveloped and developing worlds.
do people need to be more understanding and compassionate towards people with disabilities? abso-effin-lutely. the crap savage was spewing was absolutely uncalled for and insulting to everyone's intelligence. should we scrap decades of medical research and new discoveries? absolutely not, at least not until we can figure out ANOTHER way to prevent communicable diseases.
Well said!
Despite changing his last name to Savage and spouting right wing nonsense on the radio, Michael Wiener can never escape his past as a San Fran hippie-mo and Ginseburg butt-boy.
keep reaching for that rainbow, Wiener!
Michael Savage is too ignorant to breathe. Is he completely uneducated, or does he just pretend to be a brainless, ranting, psychopath to encourage the others like him? No, he couldn't have that much acting ability, so this comment must reflect his true comprehension.
He is so stupid he probably thought he was talking about artists, not autists. Crawl back in your burrow, Savage weasel. Don't come out until you sprout a brain.
Savage's percentage is way off .. but other than that he is correct. I would not doubt that around 50% of the diagnosis of Autism are wrong. AHDD, however, is probably up towards 90% incorrect.
I'd love to know with what authority you feel you can say that. Other than the education you feel you've received watching Fox Nudes, and sitting in your underwear cruising Internet bulletin boards with other self-selected "experts."
Here's a statistic I derived from the same place you got yours.
(I'll let you guess where it came from).
I would not doubt that around 80% of posters on blogs that have names that include the word "beach" or "bum" are utterly unqualified to post comments on anything requiring critical analysis, and are likely "extremely fact challenged".
Are you a child development specialist? Or are you some conspiracy-theory devotee who just want to put his two cents in? Because it sounds like the latter.
Just like Ann Coulter, Michael Savage is only interested in getting publicity...and Huff Po gave it to him...how about we only report on intelligent discussion of differences--there are plenty of people who have different ideas on autism...report on those. If there is no attention to blatant idiocy maybe we can raise intellegent discussion and work toward treatments, solutions and the eventual eradication of this odd affiction...Savage is about Self-Promotion...time to pull the plug!
Savage might want to look up "narcissistic personality disorder" and "borderline personality disorder." Like Limbaugh, he's a windbag on the order of Goebbels and Father Coughlin--mean for money, maybe never heard of the golden rule or didn't get it when he heard it. He deserves our pity.
I'm totally with you until the pity part. I believe in shunning.
Unfortunately that won't happen soon enough. In the meantime, folks like Steve and others have to call him on his B.S. He's a bully with a microphone. He could never have a face-to-face with any of his enemies because he has a cream filling.
Who knows how these borderline personalities end up with a megaphone and a mega salary. I can't imagine who listens to them. But there's no real surprise here. When you've seen Limbaugh dancing around in his chair to mock Michael J. Fox, you can expect just about anything from these people The real shocker—and pity—is that they have any audience at all.
Any attempts at correcting Mr. Wiener's absurd proclamations is akin to trying to teach a pig to sing -- it's a waste of time and it only serves to irritate the pig.
Another blatant right-wing attack on science. I assume that all of the highly educated scientists who figured out what Autism is, and it's symptoms, have just been lying to us all along. Yeah just like the ones speaking out about climate change.
The name suits this individual because this is one of the most SAVAGE attacks on the innocent I have ever heard. And I beleive this individual has the right to free speech but the American public has just as much right to ignore him and put him off the air.
Are there really that many ignorant, bigotted individual in the US to keep this guy's show alive and well and on air? That's a pretty sad statement.
His real name is Michael Wiener. That suits him even better.
I like to point out periodically that his name is spelled with e before i, and sounds like "whiner," not "wiener". He himself sounds like both.
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