A Savage Fool "Speaks Out" On Autism

Hope you are sitting down for this one! Michael Savage, a right-wing radio host has determined that: weak, feminized fathers who do not berate and humiliate their children are the cause of autism. Alternatively, according to this paragon of wisdom, autism is just a "fraud." Wow! You have to read and hear his words to believe that I am not exaggerating.

Apparently, following his undeniable "logic," if at the first signs of autism, at say 6-18 months when most children, I mean,  infants/toddlers are diagnosed, we as a country should scrap EI services in favor of a new military model of working with young children. Remove those children from sorry sensitive men, and give them over to institutions that will not put up with wining, crying and cringing. I can hear the future "teachers" of these children now: "Alright lets all crawl in formation, if  you wet that diaper one more time, I want 10 push ups, and do not even think of asking for your mother (that is assuming your verbal skill permit making such a request.)

He repeatedly refers to his father as a model of parenting.  Use of the word "fool" applied to the little savage seemed to a prominent part of his upbringing. Well his Daddy would be so proud to see he succeeded in raising a total savage fool. The only silver lining is that he makes Nanette Asimov look thoughtful and balanced.

By the way, it appears that Savage's rant about autism is not even current. He simply recycled and recast criticisms of autism he made in 2003.

This blog comes to me from my cousin Mark Mlawer, who is a national special education consultant and monitor, who is  an inspiration for all I do as an attorney. Education Week has also blogged on this topic.

Comments

[Liz Ditz]

Michael Savage is one of the most popular (well, most-listened to) radio talk-show hosts in the country.

I cannot put into words how enraged I am by his latest spew.

Let's see. Your child has epilepsy? Dad, your duty is to slap the shaking and absence out of the kid.

Do I remember that Don Imus lost his job over the "nappy headed hos" comment? Surely Michael Weiner Savage should lose his over this -- in my book, far more offensive.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here, he's carred by

KNEW
http://www.910knew.com/

[website keeps timing out....]

In the Los Angeles area, he is carried by

KFWB (980AM)
http://www.kfwb.com/

VP/General Manager: Dan Weiner
email:
dan.wei...@cbsradio.com

Snail Mail:

KFWB NEWS 980
5670 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-525-0980

From Wikipedia (ok, grain of salt here)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_(commentator)

Michael Alan Weiner, better known by his pseudonym Michael Savage, is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. His nationally-syndicated talk show, The Savage Nation, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network. He holds master's degrees in medical botany and medical anthropology and earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in nutritional ethnomedicine. As Michael Weiner, he has written a number of books on herbal medicine and homeopathy. As Michael Savage, he has written four New York Times bestsellers. His radio show reaches more than 10 million listeners on 410 stations throughout the United States, ranking third in number of stations syndicated nationwide and third in nationwide audience behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

[Liz Ditz]

KNEW contact info

Programming email:
clarkreid@clearchannel.com

snail mail
Talk910 KNEW
340 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Business Line: 415.975.5555
Fax Line: 415.975.5471
Feedback Phone - 415.273.1191 (24/7)

To call into Savage's show:

Michael Savage - 800.449.8255 (3p-6p, Pacific Daylight Savings Time)

Savage's self-written blurb at 910 KNEW

Author of the Best selling books "The Savage Nation" (30 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List), "The Enemy Within" and "Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder," Michael Savage is the number one drive time talk show host in the San Francisco and in many other cities around America. The Michael Savage Show is syndicated by Talk Radio Network.

Trained as a scientist, he holds Masters degrees in medical botany and medical anthropology, and earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in Epidemiology and Nutritional Science. He spent decades searching and saving tropical rainforests.

"I guess people love my show because of my hard edge combined with humor and education," he says. "Those who listen to me say they hear a bit of Plato, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Moses, Jesus, and Frankenstein. I pull many of my life experiences, including that of father, son, husband, brother, ice cream factory worker, busboy, lifeguard, writer, scientist, and my huge library of books." Listeners also hear top-flight guests and, in keeping with the fact that talk hosts attract the audience they deserve, listeners hear literate callers with intelligence, wit, and energy.

[gina]

I am in my 6 year teaching students with autism or now Autism Spectrum Disorder. Yes, some of these kids are spoiled. These kids are smart. They learn through behavior and consequences. Wow, if I hit and kick and scream, my mom or dad or teacher will give in and I get what I want. I have seen that over and over again. Stop babying these kids. Make clear and immediate consequences for their behavior. And I will NEVER give my students candy for sitting in a chair quietly. There is no reason why they cant do this. Again, we teach them how to use their behavior to get what they want. They need discipline and rules like every other child. Every year I work with aggressive students, get them on track, only to be all undone when they go to the next teacher or go home for the weekend and the kids walk over their parents. Tough love is what they need, not excuses.

[Margo/Mom]

No way around it--this is a hostile and damaging bit of garbage for Savage to be airing. But your boot camp suggestion reminded me that it hasn't been too long ago that such children were thought to be the offspring of cold and distant mothers, and "treatment" involved institutionalization to get them away from that unhealthy influence.

[chris]

To Gina in regards to her comment: Quit your job. Get out of the world of these students with autism. Go do any other work. Every family functions differently to get by and they do not need someone like you judging them. You're actually worse than Michael Savage because you have had 6 years of study professional exposure to data, studies and personal experience. You are worse because you have access to these families' confidential information as they trust you to help them. Sincerely, a special education teacher who suggests you are burnt out and doing more harm than good.

Ed. Amen, and glad this is posted from a fellow teacher.

[Chuck]

Whatever you good people do, do not let Savage off the hook. His apology is disingenuous and contradicts the real insult he has inflicted on autistic children and their parents everywhere. The sniveling coward can not even own up to his own remarks, but he did say “99%” and has previously said the same about these kids and their parents. No amount of his spinning or whining about being taken out of context undoes what he says. Do not be taken in, this man is a vile enemy of all of you and your children. Your protests are righteous and should be expanded. Getting sponsors to stop funding his insane rantings is NOT CENSORSHIP– it is YOUR RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH. He, as all of us, has the right to speak, but NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO HAVE SUCH HATRED ON THE AIR. Keep the pressure up, and don’t fall for the free speech arguments or the phony excuses. It would be so easy to defeat this legend in his own mind doofus in a debate, but he’s too cowardly for that too. Keep the pressure on. Go to his sponsors. This isn’t against free speech. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO A RADIO SHOW. And the speech of listeners is, itself, protected in their right to call for boycotts, and to hold sponsors accountable.

[Glorivee Guzman]

I am a mother of a 6 year old with severe autism. I think this savage man is an ignorant and doesn't know what he is talking about. He should be left for a few hours with children and their parents so he can see if it's as easy as he claims it is. Most children with autism not only have autism they also have other health problems and needs that affect them. I, as a mother have tried everything with my son and will continue to do the best I can to help him. I treat him no different than my 11 year old daughter. They each have needs and those needs are met. It's harder for him to understand but with love, understanding and patience he is learning. I don't need to be a psycho teacher, psycho mom or dad or psycho and ignorant radio station talk show host. I don't think such an insensitive person should be allowed to speak on the radio. I hope he doesn't have children because I will feel really bad for them. And about the teacher that has worked for 6 years she should quit. She is another ignorant so called professional. Is people like this teacher and the "Ignorant Savage" that ruin it for the children. Learning should be fun and interesting. For tipycal children they learn through play and what interests them. Is the same thing for children with autism. If the professionals take the time to get to know the child the child will respond. If you treat a tipycal child in a mean and insensitive way they are not going to respond positively. If you treat them with love and respect they do. Is the same thing for a child with autism. As for the sponsors that stopped helping they should not listen to what this guy is saying, they should take the time and visit a school or an agency that can educate them better than an idiot on the radio.

[eric le van]

I think all of you people are disgusting. You are completely for freedom of speech when it concerns pornography or the trash and pop junk on radio and TV spewed to your children night and day, and yet you don't want somebody to express his opinion about how parenting can have influence on a child's behavior. You cannot compare with epilepsy because there has been no medical diagnostic for autism. Interestingly, the only professional who actually works with autistic children has admitted that much of the problem in these children is behavioral is that they are spoiled by bad parenting. So you are all getting sirupy and sentimental about a radio talk show host hurting the children with his comments but we don't hear any rage against those Homer Simpson-styled parents, weak, self-absorbed and incompetent who are creating a host of epidemics such as ADD, etc.in our country. Ask yourself the simple, logical question: why isn't it an epidemic in other countries? I do not mean being idiotically harsh with them. I'm speaking about really caring, spending the time and the effort, correcting through love and care any behavior that needs to be corrected.

You people by not allowing any other opinion and responsible for censoring Michael Savage are the true fascists and Nazists. Will you also encourage burning his books?

Why are you so obsessed with having this talk-show host apologize? Do you not believe in freedom of speech? Why do you want to silence him? If the reasons for autism are still unknown, then why do you want to have somebody's alternate opinion silenced? He was mainly referring to the over-medicalization of those children who are not autistic,but who have been misdiagnosed. In all our experience in speaking with parents who tell me their child is autistic, we have asked pointed questions about the way they have raised that child, as well as discerned certain personality traits in the parents themselves. It is astonishing that the things they do or do not do seem to correspond amongst these families. Is this just a coincidence? Children have to be taught to communicate from the very earliest age. They must have a mother who spends an enormous amount of time in interacting with the baby from day one. We've seen many of these parents we have interviewed simply put their child in front of the TV from an early age for hours at a time. Or when I speak to them, they seem to be so self-absorbed. (The fact that so many of these parents are spending time protesting and being activists instead of actually spending this precious time with their child, tells a great deal.) Why is it that the notion that the way a child is raised could have an impact in developing autistic behavior, is completely censored and not even considered? The answer is evident: it would be a very inconvenient truth indeed to face and deal with. Further, why is it that we have an epidemic in THIS country. Oh yes, we've heard all kinds of reasons. Well, in a country such a France which is more heavily vaccinized than this one, there is no such epidemic. If the reasons were genetic, then we wouldn't have these 100% point increases in such a relatively short time.

Ed. You need to check you facts before you make such misinformed statement but in the interests of free speech I am posting your comments.

[TED]

Savage isn't the only Talk Radio Network show blaming parents for autism:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga5j4MSlKdw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZE6EaIX5dk&feature=related

[Myriam]

To the attention of the Editor & Chris:

We would like to keep an open mind so please enlighten us as to the facts and correct information on this matter since you state we are misinformed and do not possess the facts. I would like you to send us the results of a serious study proving that parenting and the way a child is raised have no effect whatsoever on his behavior, including that behavior which many people define broadly as autistic.

As for Chris and the editor's answer to the testimony of the teacher, Gina, who has worked with autistic children for over 6 years, I'm curious to know why you dismiss offhand her experience. She claims she has seen certain behaviors and patterns over again, that she is able to accomplish progress with these children, only to see it undone when they return to the parents or other teachers. Don't you care or aren't you curious to know how she was able to obtain such results, or would knowing touch on too uncomfortable a truth?

By the way you have all again misunderstood Savage's take on the problem. He does not refer to the authentically autistic, which he believes is rare. He was referring to those children whose disorders - he believes - are largely created by ineffectual and improper parenting. This is what we have observed in the multiple cases around us. Common sense would tell you that an epidemic that hardly existed some years ago but has exploded to alarming proportions today, does not originate in genetic or biological causes but rather in upbringing.

[Ann]

Although I abhor the kind of opinion expressed by Mr. Savage, I also think that there's the tiniest amount of truth in what he says. Just the tiniest, mind. As the stepmother of a young adult with autism, I've seen his real parents spoil him, that is, let him get away with unacceptable behavior just because he has a handicap. This spoiling might give the false impression that "autistic" is a fancy word for "pampered." Of course autism is a neurological disorder that's difficult for parents to accept and deal with, and hence the tendency for parents to numb their guilt with displays of martyrdom, spoiling, and other forms of overcompensation. Children diagnosed with terminal cancer often get spoiled too, but you don't hear anyone saying cancer is caused by spoiling. That's because you can see cancer cells in a microscope, but you can't see how the autistic mind works. Anyway, I've had to play the major mother role in bringing up my stepson because the real mother couldn't deal with the spoiled behavior that I believe she played a big role in causing. So despite my dislike of Mr. Savage's opinions, I think it's worthwhile for parents of autistic children to think seriously about whether they let their kids get away with behaviors that shouldn't be accepted, or give in to their kids because it's too much of a struggle to set limits. All kids, even ones with autism, grow up into adults...let's all pay attention to what children need to learn to function at their best in the adult world.