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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Sorry to hear of your daughter's condition? Is there anything we can do to shut jerks like this down. Like sic Jenny McCarthy on him -- or his sponsor(s). A lot of us need direction and want to offer more than sympathy.
On another front, was your child;s behavior related to innoculations at all? There's got to be an explanation for the rising numbers. This is what this jerk looks to as a sign the condition is bogus, whereas I see it as a sign of the increasing toxicity of our environment, including these "routine" matters. I have mercury poisoning, but some neurologists are convinced it's incurable MS. I ain't so sure, esp. given the big cover ups about things like mercury in silver amalgem fillings.
I think Jenny is onto something. Sensitive kids and adults with various "diseases" are a leading edge that should be understood better because more of this is coming if it isn't understood and addressed.
Weiner is a weiner.
When I learned that oneof his sponsors was the USO, I stopped supporting them and directed my "Support the Troops" money elsewhere.
Any Federally licensed station that keeps him on the air doesn't deserve a franchise from the American people. We don't have support hate speech.
Mr. Young,
As a parent of a son with autism, thank you. I was less generous than you on my blog. But it's the rage I have as you wrote, from years of the stares and comments from unknowing strangers. And all of the fights with the schools and the doctors and the government. I've had it. I've been angry not only at Savage but the people who put him on the public airwaves (and I was a radio talk show host too - fired for opposing the Iraqi War) and the people who mindlessly listen to him. But this is the cheapest, most vile and evil of shots against a defenseless and innocent population.
Again, thanks. BA http://badamerican.wordpress.com//)
Wow.. What a great post on your blog.
Weiner should be fired.
It is an excruciating and monumentous task to raise an autistic child.
My brother has been raising two for the last 10 years.
I can't believe you were fired for opposting the Iraqi war.
stop on by and see our versio of what should happen to the people who started it all.
http://www.funwithwarcrimes.com
I don't know you, Mr. Young, but I am so sorry for your pain and your son's pain.
I have a dear little friend who has been diagnosed with autism . . . fortunately, his diagnoses came very early because of observations by me and by other friends of his mother who recognized the stark difference between the socialization of this sweet boy and his twin sister.
Savage is an idiot who simply says things for effect . . . his show is listened to by people because of its shock value. Have never understood why he has not been targeted and removed for his true racism and bigotry a la Imus. Seems like some folks believe that certain biases are more acceptable than others [Muslims, mentally handicapped, mentally ill and others that Savage rails against]. All bigotry and racism are vile.
I have never called a radio station to complain about any programming they carry or what any hosts may have said. That changed today. I called my local station WPRO in Providence RI.
Not only was what Savage said in accurate it was also cold, callous, mean spirited and should be an embarrassment to any outlet that pays for his services.
I have a niece that is autistic; a beautiful, loving girl with great patient parents. Mr. Savage is the only loud brat in this equation.
Ha! corect. Savage is the brat. Brilliant observation.
Savage may not be insane, but he certainly plays insane on the radio. His show actually works if you think of him as an even more over the top Stephen Colbert. It would not shock me if upon retirement he announced that it was all a mockery of talk radio.
But if he is serious and sane then he is certainly abominable.
I have to wonder what that station thinks it is gaining by broadcasting blatant ignorance.
Have they, at last, no shame?
$$$$$$$ and yes they have no shame.
I too felt scorn, rage and contempt for Savage upon reading this. And like another poster here, I then felt sadness.
At first, this story made me furious; then, terribly sad. Obviously this man is just trying to tap into a vein of anger and hate using any available target, and has chosen our most vulnerable and voiceless children as his latest tool. Some people are so filled with rage that they feel they have to destroy anything they are told is good or deserving of help. What a pathetic shame to be the kind of person who can do this and think it makes him successful, or important, or anything but dust.
But apparently he has many listeners, and I don't know -- when he voices this bile without opposition, do they actually believe it? Do the lackwits who say, "Obama is a terrorist because the radio told me so" now say, "Those autistic kids are brats with incompetent parents because Michael Savage told me so"? My father has friends who listen to far-right hate radio, and I wonder what they now think of Dad's grandchildren with autism spectrum disorders, and their parents who have only tried to help.
Savage is on the radio for one reason...money and the fact that he manages to insult just about everyone without breaking FCC law and codes. When I stumble on his show while channel surfing an image comes to mind. Remember the "Alien" series of movies (with the ever so stunning Sigourney Weaver?). Michael "Savage" Weiner is not the alien, he is the foul hyper-acidic saliva that the creature drools liberally in many scenes. The acidic spittle drills through everything indiscriminately.That is the picture I have of the Savage nation.
Autism is a tragedy. We do not understand it well; perhaps it is a spectrum of disease/disorder, perhaps with a genetic foundation, possibly secondary to environmental stimuli in utero, and other possibilities. It is an acute issue for far too many parents and their families to ignore let alone ridicule. Mr. Weiner, aka Savage all too often extols his high intelligence and keen insights sounding much like a self proclaimed "svengali" (he has a PhD; he's like Mr. Science....but better). I just wish he would prove it for once.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Savage
Perhaps Savage might like to compare himself to another Savage, Matt Savage, a 16 year old young man from NH who has autism, but is far more gifted and accomplished than steve savage could ever hope to be-and far better behaved. I wonder who really is the brat
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