Name: Deaf Mom

Location: Chicagoland

Sex: Female

Status: Married

Michael Savage Insists Children with Autism are Brats

Posted: 7/23/2008 at 12:39 AM

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Here we go again.

Just a few weeks ago, I blogged about the attitudes surrounding children with autism in my blog post:

Disabled Kid Thrown Off a Plane--And the Attitudes Come Out

Several bloggers are now calling for the resignation or firing of Michael Savage, a radio host who insisted that kids with autism are merely brats created as a result of lax parenting. According to the New York Times, Savage told his audience that children with autism need to be told to "Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot."

Thankfully, some of the advertisers sponsoring his show have pulled their ads. There's a growing movement to encourage other sponsors to pull their ads and for his employers to yank Savage off the air:

Justice for All: Radio Host Michael Savage Calls Children with Autism: "Just Brats"

Chicago Tribune: Michael Savage, Autism Comment

NY Daily News: Michael Savage Incites Protests

Autism Groups Plan Protest in NYC

On the Justice for All blog, my friend Valerie Brew-Parrish, a grandmother of a child with autism left this comment:

Michael Savage needs to be fired for his callous, insensitive, cruel, and highly offensive and totally inaccurate portrayal of children and adults with autism. Children with autism are not brats! They simply process information differently. Blaming parents for lack of correct parenting is outrageous and outmoded.

We have unfortunately seen an increase in the murders of children with autism during the past few years. A month ago, a two year old child with autism was booted off of an American Eagle airplane. This backlash has got to be dealt with forcefully by disability activists. Michael Savage has a listening audience of 10 million. We need to unite to permanently shut off Mr. Savage's microphone because what he utters is truly repugnant, dangerous, and downright savage!

As for Savage, I'd like to see him spend some community service sitting in a classroom for several weeks alongside a child with autism. Have him go to dinner with my friend Bonnie, who is raising two children with autism. Then he can go visit my friend Genevieve, and get to know her son Jay, who has autism. Savage needs to see the faces and families who are touched by autism on a daily basis. Perhaps then, he would see how hurtful and wrong his words are.

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Karen Mayes wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 7:24 AM
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*shaking my head* My son has Asperger Syndrome (mild though) and he is a gentle boy whose social maturity is not always up to the par with his peer, despite the fact he is smart. Michael needs to attend the workshop, etc., and to see that autism has a WIDE spectrum... every child/adult is different.
amy wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 9:16 AM
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classic... DS is deaf and autistic. (cochlear implant.) the dude needs to be fired. the thing is, the few can ruin it for the many. If I am in a fine dining establishment, i do not want to listen to a kid- autistic or otherwise...and if I am on the airplane and a child is OOC and won't sit in their seat- perhaps the parents needed to think if the trip was worth it...(maybe it is a first time meltdown but usually not.) and in church is the church trying to do all they can or are the parents being too rigid in their thinking and not accepting potential alternatives being offered- and as a parent of an autistic child is not my job to barrell into every situation- i must think of all involved to make it a success. NOT to make it on the news. (All of the above were in the news in the past few months.) It is the few extremists that make it to the news and then jerks like this guy pick it up and call autistic kids brats- ARG...too early to be angry. http://www.growing-fruit.blogspot.com/
Jeannie Russell wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 9:38 AM
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If this was a racial issue instead of a disability issue, Michael Savage would be off the air NOW. Al Sharpton would see to it personally.
Aaron R. wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 10:51 AM
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Just here to play the devil's advocate. Did you hear the entire radiocast? His point of contention was that there was a huge explosion in diagnosing autistic children within the past twenty years, with quite a few of them being misdiagnosed. In the United Kingdom, the equivalent of the American Association of Pediatrics decided against widespread autism screenings of children due to the lack of a standardized form of evaluation. In my experience I have come across falsely diagnosed autistic children, with one instance of a set of twins actually having hearing loss rather than autism. The twins were never diagnosed with hearing loss until they were eight years old, so imagine the severe language delay they had. Did you know Michael Savage's brother had severe disabilities and died in a mental hospital? Maybe his anger was directed towards the medical industry. That being said, if Michael Savage must go, then so must Rush Limbaugh and all these idiots who like to bash people.
MM wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 1:04 PM
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My son has Asperger's too. With mindless and ignorant comments from people like this, how can we every get them accepted ? People don't understand the issues properly ADHD is not autism, neither are badly behaved children ! Too many associate these things with Autism. My son is at the lower functioning spectrum, he is very quiet, very introspective, does not understand people's emotions very well, cannot mix with other children, but he is outwardly the most polite child anyone could come across, the last thing he welcomes is attention. He doesn't run around shouting, screaming or anything else.
naomimimi wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 1:24 PM
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The NY Times reported today that several radio stations have dropped Savage's show.
"A group of seven Mississippi talk radio stations owned by Telesouth Communications has dropped Michael Savage’s nationally syndicated radio program over comments the host made last week suggesting that nearly every child with autism was “a brat” of inattentive parents. “Michael Savage’s comments about autistic children were beyond inexcusable and are unacceptable,” the station group said in a statement posted Tuesday on its Web site, supertalkms.com. The cancellation follows the decision on Monday by Aflac, the insurance company, to pull its advertising from the show. On his Web site, Michaelsavage.com, the host posted a letter on Monday in which he iterated the central point he said he had been trying to make on his July 16 program: that autism is too often misdiagnosed in the cases of children, or falsely diagnosed, at least partly as a means of wringing resources. “Let the truly autistic be treated,” he wrote. “Let the falsely diagnosed be free.” On July 16, Mr. Savage, above, referred to autism as “a fraud, a racket,” and asserted that what “99 percent” of children with autism most needed was a parent willing to tell them things like, “Don’t act like a moron.” Mark Masters, chief executive of Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Mr. Savage’s program to more than 350 stations, did not return messages left at his office seeking comment."
Nanal wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 1:56 PM
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I think the suggestion that Mr. Savage get to.....personally spend some....real life time.......with an autistic child.......is a good one.......one that will give him a much more personal experience with him/her........and maybe begin to understand what it's like to handle life, and it's ups and downs.......as an autistic child would.................getting him off the air......yeah, sure......he deserves it.........getting him to change his mind about autistic children......then belonging to a system whereby he can get the proper view out there......for all to understand........I see that as the best solution...........peace and love.......Norma
Ms. Nitzia I. Montanez wrote on Jul 23, 2008 at 11:52 PM
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As I read the above posting, I come to realize how closed-minded individuals are about disabilities. We like to believe, both adults and children are given equal opportunity, to live a (almost) normal life. But who are we kidding, (it is that of attitudes like Mr. Savage's), that we have to fight even harder for our children and siblings. How can someone who claims to be well-educated make off the wall comments like that of children with autism "being brats". I do hope that Mr. Savage, takes up the opportunity and works with these children and their disability. As for my parenting ways, I bet I have a closer relationship with my autistic child; than probably you may have with your Mr. Savage (if you have any children).
» Savage remarks shouldn???t be ignored: Take a stand for autistic children wrote on Jul 24, 2008 at 2:04 AM
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Pingback from » Savage remarks shouldn???t be ignored: Take a stand for autistic children
Wendi wrote on Jul 24, 2008 at 11:25 AM
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HI---as a parent of 2 kids on the Autistic Spectrum....I would LOVE for him to spend a day at my house! (lol) Yes the kids may seem unruley at times, but they are processing the world around them in a MUCH different way, and controlling their reaction is NOT always easy. For a tiny example, 1 of my sons hates having a shirt on, due to the feel of it. No amount of 'punishment" as Savage would suggest, will 'fix' that. In AMerica there is freedom of speech, but I'm hoping his words are either taken back someday, or career damaging. The biggest brats are the few overpaid media personalities who chose to do more harm then good. JMO! Wendi

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