Jul 22 2008
Savage Autism
This is my jaw, fully dropped to the floor:
According to Michael Savage (who obviously isn’t one of my favorite people ANYWAY), a child with autism is “a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out.” Autism is a result of bad parenting. And Savage’s cure for autism is for the child’s father to say, “stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.” Or, my personal favorite, “don’t act like a girl.”
So… if my husband and I would just punish Isaac every time he starts whacking his head against the wall, then he’d be well. Or if we’d just told him to “act like a man” he would have been able to walk when other children his age walked. And if we would just yell at Isaac and call him an idiot, he would suddenly be able to speak.
Brilliant.
Savage has been given a thousand opportunities to clarify what he said and to take it back, but he won’t. He stands by his words. (See the NY Times article here).
Someone tell me WHY this man still has a job?
What was perhaps equally disturbing for me when I heard about this and then researched it were all the comments I see all over the place by equally horrid people saying things like, “whew! It’s about TIME someone told the truth about autism.” And “Go Savage.” And “anyone with an autistic child just needs to take a PARENTING CLASS.”
Wow.
I don’t think that there’s a more sweet, vulnerable, easy-to-target group of people in the world than autistic children.
Also, I don’t think there’s a group of more scared, confused, and guilt-ridden (not because it’s their fault AT ALL, but because mothers tend to feel guilt, especially when something is wrong with a child) people than parents of autistic children.
It must make Savage and Friends feel SOOO good about themselves to have found someone to pick on…
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Unbelievable! On the same level of Tom Cruise’s brilliant comments about post-partum depression. I would hope that most people would recognize the ignorance in ridiculous statements like this one. Apparently he was never told by his brilliant parents that when one doesn’t know what they are talking about that it is best to be silent.
If you want to lift your spirits a bit, there is a great new site called 5 Minutes For Special Needs ( a new sister site of 5 Minutes For Mom) with a wonderful community of parents discussing autism and other issues with much more intelligence and compassion. Just wanted to you to know you are welcome
So glad to see you blogging again, and I hope you’re getting settled in your new place.
I’ve always hated that guy and now I hate him even more. I agree, he needs to be fired. Right now. If I lived closer I’d go protest too.
What the crap?!
You go on the radio and use a racial slur, you get fired. But you spend a minute and a half insulting and degrading a huge group of people and their families who suffer with a real condition, and all you get is “well, that’s not the station’s opinion. Sorry.”
I’m livid.
oh crap…who is this guy? I don’t know him but he sure is telling crap.
don’t let his stupid comments get you. You know better. And you are good parents. Don’t doubt that!
Yeah. Well this is what this guy does. We may as well inveigh against pornographers for making pornography. Which is not to say that we shouldn’t. Another’s freedom of speech never means that I must shut up–a fact I know you also take to heart.
I wrote a very long diatribe about this guy to my mother a few years ago. He’s a common pot and pan banger. That’s how he makes his money. By saying ridiculous things. He’s not unlike a clown in this respect (with all the creepiness that that brings). My issue with him is that I think–as a person with many “conservative” beliefs–that he tends to discredit the very positions he proposes to uphold. His crass insensitivity makes him entertaining which profits him, but it comes (in my opinion) at an enormous cost to the truth. He’s like a missionary who’s message is “convert you idiots, damn you all.” It not only turns people off, it makes it harder for the more rationale and compassionate missionaries that might come after to get through.
Moreover, as here, he has strayed far from useful political truths into a twisted form of addictive talk radio rage. He’s like a Marilyn Manson or Nine Inch Nails for overweight 40-something Middle America commuters, who desperately need something easy to blame for their misfortunes, or who are otherwise addicted to the pessimistic, fussy mentality that something is going terribly wrong and I’m not a part of the problem. But I must beware of generalizing about them in the very same way which I allege they generalize about others.
Forget this man and his rantings. He thrives on attention, indeed profits by it. Any attention will do, even the negative sort. Observe Don Imus. After a restful handslap vacation, he’s back. The attention must have been momentarily uncomfortable, but in the long run had little effect.
As for autism…it would seem to me from listening to him that (1) his beef is more with this pretended enemy “the minorities” (vile, filthy Hispanics, who don’t speak of a lick of proper American) who are all in league to play sick, from the very womb; and (2) he would seem to have no real experience with caring for autistic children. I was tempted to call this latter point a blessing for him, but as Savage’s behavior has starkly shown us, I would be wrong to do so. His lack of experience has clearly been no blessing at all. If “ignorance is bliss,” so is cocaine and heroin. Their after-affects, unfortunately, are generally not bliss. In that light, and watching with a post-Imus eye, I’m curious to see how Savage fares.
UGH!!
I’ve always thought Savage says stuff for the shock value. Now I’m sure of it. He just wants to rile people up, and that’s what the loyal listeners soak up (for some reason). I think people listen for the drama factor and nothing else. (I just CANNOT imagine that people would think the guy is RIGHT … but maybe there ARE people like that??)
Anyone who knows someone with autism or, more especially, a parent of a child with autism knows the truth. It sure isn’t a result of bad parenting; that’s just ridiculous.
Yes. Better to think of him as like Stephen Colbert. But not very funny. Or as handsome.
I’ve never even heard of him before. Thank the lord for small favors as it would seem he has nothing intelligent to say.
Bryano del Sur,
You make some VERY good points, and I’m glad that someone (leave it to you…) was infuriated about the bit about the vile Hispanics too.
However, you did NOT just compare him to Stephen Colbert!!! Oh, them’s fightin’ words, my friend!
HAHAHAA
Fight! Fight!
I, like Worker Mommy, had not heard him before. However, my reaction was ARE YOU KIDDING ME????
When he got to the part about his dad telling him to stop acting like a fool or sounding like a fool- well, his dad needs to call him up and tell him again because he obviously has not learned that lesson yet.
Well, if that man is right, then why are only two of my six kids Autistic? We have raised them all the same…
I had thoughts of cursing him to end up with an Autistic grandchild or something, but thought that would be too mean to do to the grandchild. Imagine having a close family member with that attitude!
(Actually I think my father in law’s attitude may be somewhat close to that…at least he seems to think we should be able to make one of our sons do what we want him to just by telling him).
Okay, as a long, long (too long) time teacher, who’s worked with, known, played with, taught, loved a variety of children all over the autism continuum, that is categorical BS, which you know. Man, I can’t even imagine someone saying anything like that, nor the nasty comments that followed his article.
I don’t know your children, obviously, but I can tell how much you love them and put them first. I DO know my neighbor’s children. She has one of the most outgoing, brilliant, socially well-adjusted, kind, etc., etc., oldest daughters in the universe. Then she has a SEVERELY autistic, sweet, musical middle son and then a shy, lovely, sweet, brilliant, quiet daughter. So… uh…. where are her lack of parenting skills? But, um, yeah, I’m preaching to the choir here, but BOY does this get under my skin!!!
Brillig, you’re going to hear crapola like this, and you may even hear it on days when you feel like crud because there was a “set-back” or whatever… if you ever feel bad, please write me and I will set you straight, deal?
Grrrrr….. sorry about my soapbox, but …. grrrrr……
Anyone who believes his rantings is an idiot. It doesn’t take too much time with a child of autism to know that there is something much deeper then bad parenting going on.
I’m sorry for you and other parents of autistic children for this culture of ignorance.
Wow. Talk about big bad bully of the schoolground. How messed up was his childhood that he needs that kind of attention?
I knew I hated that guy for a reason.
Thankfully you are surrounded by people who know better. You are strong and your parenting skills are not to blame.
I also thought of cursing him with an Autistic child, but I would not for the world put that child through it.
Insnsitive, rude, crass idiots drive me nuts.
What a vile and very ignorant human being. Having worked with children who have Aspergers and Autism, and let’s face it, just being a basically good human being, I am stunned anyone could think this is just a kid acting out, or a parental failure. Autism is such a scary condition and there needs to be so much more knowledge and understanding. Big hugs to little Isaac, and to his Mummy.
My dear Brillig,
Allow me to offer my sincere apologies. I too highly esteem Colbert, and upon further reflection realized the injury in including his name in a sentence with even so much as pronoun referencing [you know who]. I will be on my guard.
Very truly yours, etc., etc.,
-Bryano
oh my BOB. i had to mute this, brillig, i couldn’t listen to it anymore. what a horrible awful evil man. i believe he will smoke something-that-came-out-of-a-posterior in someplace-awful-ending-in-two-’l’s for eternity.
would you like me to sick the polly pockets on him? they’ve already kicked madonna’s butt. and some social services nitwit in birmingham.
look, it’s not his fault. he suffers from idiot’s syndrome mixed with moronitis.
you know if he hadn’t been *quite* so vile, i’d have made the very poor joke “well, yes, you should try sending him to bed without dinner and see if that helps.”
it’s a good thing i didn’t do *that*…
(please giggle…..just a bit…)
if you’re *not* giggling, pretend i said “he is a bad bad man” again.
I wonder if bad parenting can explain how somebody can become famous for being a giant douchebag on the radio.
This kind of talk makes me stark raving homicidal! (My kids LOVE it when I say that…”I’d love to see YOU, the woman who walks softly down the stairs humming to herself, try killing someone, ANYONE.”) Seriously, though, I’d never even HEARD of this guy before, but he makes Howard Stern sound like a kindergarten teacher! Who’s allowing this guy on the air, anyway?
This morning I also went on a total tirade against some Hispanic-bashers, who had published erroneous statistics implying that all Hispanics are illegals. Don’t get me started! I almost emailed it to you, just for fun.
Heard about this the other day and thought of you and hoped you wouldn’t hear about it. He’s an idiot. While I do sometimes think autism has become a catch-all diagnosis, I don’t think it’s bad parenting that causes it. That’s just ridiculous. Something is happening with these children and it needs to be addressed and treated. Again, I repeat, he’s an idiot.
Moron.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
People like Michael Savage are completely ignorant, uneducated idiots. Shake off what they say, they know nothing. You know what is wrong and you know how you are supposed to deal with it, or your learning. That’s all that matters, my friend.
Absolutely no words for this…
Except that maybe I kinda pity the guy, if the only way he can get people to tune in to him is by spouting off on topics that he has no experience with, well, then that’s just sad.
Maybe Savage is autistic? In all seriousness, I heard his rant on the radio and thought, “What an idiot.” Off to read that article…
I agree with Bryano del Sur, this assh**e chose a subject that he knew would be sensitive to many people and chose an outrageous position just to get attention. I guess he believes that any publicity is good publicity.
I’m shocked. Simply shocked. So shocked.
You know those daydreams where you’re screaming your face off at someone and you find the most perfect words you could ever come up with in real life and when you’re done with said person they are cowering and apologizing? Maybe I’m the only one with those daydreams….
few people bring those particular ideas into my head, but this guy? He’s my new favorite star of my bashing and freaking out daydream.
Oh, the time I will now spend on pretending I have the chance to meet this man and all I would say and do.
Gross. He’s just gross. I had to turn the volume down, avoiding his stupid voice filling the ears of my children, he’s just too ugly and terrible to flood my house with his vile ignorance.
I’m so sorry you have to be faced with idiocy.
To be a bit more positive, I know I don’t know you in real life, but reading you would let anyone on the planet know you’re an amazing mom.
Wow. wow wow wow. I don’t even know what to say, except that you can’t let stupid people (even rich stupid people with big microphones) bother you. I know, easier said than done.
There are a lot of kids out there who really do just need someone to tell them to straighten up. But to make that kind of blanket statement about disabled children– oh my heck.
Hugs to you, girl.
Don’t let the idiots get you down.
He must be a Scientologist like Tom Cruise.
Seriously, it’s his job to be a right-wing nut. I can only hope he doesn’t really believe that crap. I can only hope, too, he doesn’t have any kids, or grandkids with issues.
If he’d have used the word “nappy” on the air, we could have gotten rid of the jerk.
Who is this guy? Besides an obvious moron, of course. Grrrr!
Unfortunately, there are always idiots out there, and trying to argue with them is both futile and draining. You have tremendous support from your family & friends, and I’m sure you will find the same in your new community. There are plenty of us out here who have children who don’t quite fit in, one way or another, and although our lives may not have been quite as we’d imagined them, there are rewards, great ones. I hope you find yours.
Good to see you back! Hope you’re enjoying your new home!
How heartbreaking. I had no idea - NONE - that he had said those things.
Now, I do know of complete brats who act that way because of their parents’ horrific choices. But that is COMPLETELY different from a medical condition.
Wow. Some people are so friggin’ stupid.
Oh. My. Goodness. I’ve never heard of this guy. I hope he never has to experience something like autism or ADHD as a parent because he’d never be able to handle it. He’s not man enough — he’s an ignorant bully.
What a complete douchebag. Parents of Autistic kids need awards, not more criticism. I see bad parenting all the time, and those kids are somehow miraculously NOT Autistic. If they were, those parents would probably shoot themselves in the head, wishing they would have savored how easy their life was.
People are so quick to judge when they haven’t experienced the pain.
It’s show business, pure and simple. Savage wouldn’t be on the air if he didn’t have good numbers and he wouldn’t get good numbers if he didn’t appeal to the lowest common denominator of our society. He (like many others on “Rant Radio”) deliberately goes too far just to get attention for his show and himself. Sadly, they all know exactly what they’re doing, which is really a condemnation of our society I guess.
Urgh! This puts me into Hulk mode! I hear stuff like this and I can’t even find the right words to express how I feel. A teeny bit of common sense would have told this creep that what he was saying was way off base. If it was true then how are there so many parents out there raising one child with autism and other children who are totally neurotypical? I mean, how did I manage to make my son autistic yet not screw up that same way with my daughter? It makes no sense using the logic this @ss is using. Grrr. Sorry, like I said, Hulk mode.
Savage = idiot.
What a frickin’ idiot.
I had a distant relative on hubs’ side, who is a special ed teacher, no less, tell me basically the same thing about Sensory Integration Dysfunction when LMNOB had been diagnosed.
Funny, her therapies have changed our lives.
Brill, I’m so sorry that you have to deal with autism in your child in the first place, let alone the fact that there are people in the world like this hateful guy.
What a total a*hole!!!! Of course the people who listen to him liked his ideas, because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be listening. Aren’t they just all lucky to have such perfect families, healthy children, and well-behaved pets? HA! I’ll bet every last one of them has a closet full of skeletons a mile deep. I hope none of them ever has a child that needs help in their family, because it obviously wouldn’t get any.
This man is so pathetically stupid, and uneducated, I feel sorry for him almost, except I don’t because he’s such a hateful idiot. The only people he doesn’t target are hateful idiots and it’s scary how many of them there are out there.
Ugh. This guy is a real genius … for ratings. It’s been awhile since the rant … and it still gets me. Worse are the comments of folks agreeing with him and sounding off.
I don’t get it … in all of their lives how often have they been affected by a meltdown of an autistic kid? Never I’m going to guess.
Just goes to show the prejudice and discrimination that still so strong with mental health and disabilities.
Still so much work to do for education, awareness and tolerance.
~g
Fork is sharpened and ready. Please tell him to open his eye.
In the same broadcast he said that black children are only diagnosed with Asthma so their welfare will be increased because of disability
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