Michael Savage Is Not The Problem

2008-07-23
By

“Now, the illness du jour is autism. You know what autism is? 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.”

–Michael Savage, Syndicated Radio Talk Show Host of The Savage Nation, 7/16/08

Love him or hate him, Michael Savage sure knows how to get a conversation started.

It’s too bad that most people will either protest him or support the protesters in wanting him fired for essentially calling autism a racket these days. It’s also too bad that most people are lazy and will not look at the broader points he is trying to make. Or what he has been saying about the mental health profession for years. You hear him say “99 percent”, and all of a sudden he becomes someone who must take a position in the unemployment line. Give me a break. Get yourself a clearer sense of context.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe for one minute what our government is saying about autism. On July 22nd, http://www.foxnews.com reported that “The government estimates about 1 in 150 children have some form of autism.” Where does our government get their sources of information? Who gets to define what autism is and isn’t? Doesn’t our government realize that there is no known single cause for autism? Our government used to play a similar numbers game with ADHD.

I mean, from time to time we all have “some form” of some thing all or none or some of the time.

Let’s take a breath here, shall we? Michael Savage is simply trying to wake people up to the fact that in this country, too many children are being labeled either “autistic” or labeled with a mental disorder like ADHD. Interestingly, we don’t hear too much about ADD or ADHD these days. One of the reasons is because this subjective mindset has unfortunately been accepted by our popular culture. If someone is acting a bit odd, out comes the checklist. You are labeled with a mental disorder. Don’t think this happens? Go ahead and google: TeenScreen.

I believe Michael Savage deserves a lot of credit for trying to wake people up, especially parents. There is no way he or anyone for that matter, including this writer, is taking on children or the parents of children who are truly autistic or have other severe mental handicaps. It is beyond shameful that special education and health care dollars are diverted from the truly mentally retarded to students and others who have more subjective behavorial issues. More and more students at every grade level are being placed in special education. This is a serious problem. Michael Savage is not the problem.

Years ago, nationally syndicated radio talk show host Neal Boortz riled up a bunch of parents when he dared to challenge the very existence of ADHD in children. He, and thousands before and after him, properly point to the fact that lousy parenting -or the acceptance of permissive parenting- obviously has a lot to do with how their children act at home or in public. But dare take on the ADHD machinery, and parents vested in it will come out and protest. They have protested outside of WSB-AM in Atlanta, and sure enough, like-minded parents were outside WOR-AM in New York City on July 21st demanding that Michael Savage be fired. Should Michael Savage be fired? No. Permissive parents should be.

I seriously doubt many of the protesters of Michael Savage and Neal Boortz are the parents of children with truly diagnosed handicaps. I imagine those parents understand that what Michael Savage and Neal Boortz and thousands of others are rallying against is the “overdiagnosing” of children. This has run rampant in our country for years. That’s the real problem.

Here’s a case in point that goes to the heart of what Michael Savage is trying to do with waking folks up about the overdiagnosing of children with autism. It shows that the problem now is psychiatry and Big Pharma. You would have to be a moron if you don’t see that there is a crystal clear connection between Big Pharma and psychiatry.

The state of New Hampshire is just one state out of over 40 states that is sharing a settlement of $515 million dollars from Eli Lilly and Bristol-Myers Squibb. It appears these drug giants were overpricing drugs like Ablify and Zyprexa to state Medicaid agencies. They also made illegal (big surprise!) payments to doctors to promote these drugs for children and adults who were on Medicaid. If there is not a crystal clear link between psychiatry and Big Pharma, ask yourself how it is possible and medically sound that in the state of New Hampshire alone, state spending on drugs like Ablify and Zyprexa jumped from around $300,000 in 2000 to around $4 million in 2007? Come on, think about it.

So when it comes to autism or drug companies or psychiatry, Michael Savage is not the problem. The true problem that no one wants to talk about is the rush to label both children and adults with a mental disorder based solely on a checklist. Most children don’t have any kind of “attention deficit” that can be helped with dangerous drugs that could not be better served by having parents give more of their time to them. And I mean real time, not just farming them out to more and more private lessons or sports camps.

In my view, we need more talk show hosts to speak up against the rising tide of leaving no child in America undrugged and undiagnosed. Michael Savage will be just fine without the Aflac insurance company no longer willing to advertise on his show. What a bunch of weasels. Cowards. I wonder how much stock they have in Big Pharma. I wonder if they donate money to mental health advocacy groups like CHADD or NAMI.

We all need to pull together and fiercely challenge any proposal to have every child in these United States tested/screened for autism before the age of two. Clearly, proposals like this are worth protesting. They are far more in the direct interest of drug companies and the appointment books of doctors. We have allowed ourselves – especially our children as young as one years old – to become one nation under medication.

Michael Savage is not the problem.

Tony Zizza is a freelance writer who lives in Hermitage, TN. Reach Zizza via email: tz777@comcast.net His columns have appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Macon Telegraph and The Union Leader newspaper. His columns have also been posted on http://www.ifeminists.net, http://www.therealitycheck.org , http://www.magic-city-news.com and http://www.mensnewsdaily.com

← Older Comments
  • Christopher Jerome

    “Aspergers Syndrome” is pure quackery. Simple.

  • Christopher Jerome

    someone should hit you. REAL HARD you evil power trip. people like you make me sick,

  • Christopher Jerome

    to hell with “neurotypicals”. they are primitive and obsolete nasties, and they know they are becoming extinct. Its happened before.

  • livsarents

    You know you could get a nasty ear infection keeping you fingers in there for so long, and that humming is driving everyone nuts

    17. Tony Zizza
    18. braincell

    Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person’s lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person’s ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe.

    Autism was first identified in 1943 by Dr. Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the same time, a German scientist, Dr. Hans Asperger, described a milder form of the disorder that is now known as Asperger Syndrome (read more). These two disorders are listed in the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) as two of the five developmental disorders that fall under the autism spectrum disorders. The others are Rett Syndrome, PDD NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. All of these disorders are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and social abilities, and also by repetitive behaviors.

    But brainstem, you really need to cite the site when you do a copy job, it allows the user to go and look for themselves:
    http://www.autismspeaks.org/whatisit/index.php

  • braincell

    Quote:
    David Brock established and manages a “thought modification” operation called Media Matters for America, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation located in Washington, D.C. One of their several projects monitors selected radio and television “talk” programs devoted to conservative thought that influences the American populace.

    The content, both audio and video, are recorded, reviewed and analyzed, day by day, minute by minute in an identical manner as National Security Agency military positions would record and analyze foreign intelligence intercept communications data.

    Mr. Brock’s Media Matters goal is to dismantle and destroy what he refers to as “the conservative media machine” using George Orwell’s thought police and as a tool to their end result.

    We do not believe Media Matters for America 501(c)(3) corporation is singular in its corporate structure. We believe from our investigation of its corporate structure and its selected personnel profile that the corporation is influenced and may be an operating tool of other entities with larger and more sinister agendas.

    We believe Media Matters has a socialist, liberal, almost military intelligence modus operanda, established for the purpose of destroying their enemy, America as we know it, freedom of speech and certain thought. We identified other connection threads to and from Media Matters that we believe are destructive to moral, conservative America. The connections and associations we identified are not passive or benign.

    Mr. Brock’s targeted broadcasters…
    1. Don Imus
    2. Rush Limbaugh
    3. Sean Hannity
    4. Glenn Beck
    5. Dr. Michael Savage
    6. Bill O’Reilly
    7. Chris Matthews
    8. Brit Hume
    9. Ann Coulter
    10. Pat Robertson
    11. Neil Cavuto
    12. John Gibson
    13. Lou Dobbs
    14. Shepard Smith
    15. Joe Scarborough
    16. Tucker Carlson

  • autismmom

    Has anyone heard what Savage says about his disabled brother who never spoke one word and died in an institution? If this is a true story, he should see that if his brother were born today, he may not have to be institutionalized. I have no idea what other symptoms he had or what his disablitly was but it is possible that he would even be diagnosed as autistic. If so, hopefully at an early age and given the therapy and eduactional support to help him live a happy and productive life. People do not get the fact that a lot of these autistic kids would have been labeled as “mentally retarded” and just pushed aside years ago. Now they know more about autism and how to diagnosis and treat it. There is no cure or pill for autism but there are very good therapies (ABA, Speech, OT, PT) that really help these children and the earlier they start therapy the better the outcome. The damage that savage is doing is that he is discouraging screening all children at 18 and 24 month check-up. Why? Because the UK says it is a bad idea. Since when do we just do something because another country thinks it is a good idea. That is one of the most peculiar things this man has said about autism.

  • livsarents

    As we leave the scene, we see that despite the Zizza topic raised and the issues caused by Michael Savages misconceptions of autism, it boils down to parents desparately trying to set the record straight on what is actually going on with autism…and many who flat out refuse to talk about it.

    Again, if your child is exhibiting behaviors like flapping hands, isolating themselves into not socializing, showing inflexibilities and showing delays in developmental…please please talk it over with your pediatrician. It’s a long process and, contrary to the misinformations put forth by Zizza, Savage and others, the diagnosis is NOT given lightly. There is no insideous plan to drug these children into oblivion, there are careful and proven therapies designed to help these children acheive an independent and self sufficient life. If you feel that your child’s symptoms may indicate autism, Go to http://WWW.AUTISMSPEAKS.COM and learn the realities of autism…and not the 30 second soundbyte pushing an agenda that has NOTHING to do with autism. God bless and Good Luck

  • autismmom

    I am all for free speech. I do not think anyone has the “right to be liked”. This is not about being liked. This is about spreading serious misinformation about disabled children. I do think that Savage should apologize after calling autism a fraud. He has the right to say what ever he wants. He has the right to apologize or not. The same freedoms that allow Mr. Savage to spew his uneducated venom allow advertisers to pick up their money and spend it elsewhere. It’s the American way. Capitalism at it’s best. God bless this country.

  • braincell

    Apparently under the delusion that my ‘recent’ posts were directed at the insidious ‘little’ nothings here.

    “You seem very angry”

    With such audacious acts being committed by these despicable fascist, you damn well better be angry, or join the lowly ranks of the dead-to-the-world passive idiots, as displayed here. They of course would like nothing more than to see you “assume the position” as they do..as ghouls do.
    Funny how we feel NOTHING for them when left to our own. Funny how unlike their ilk, it all just bounces off ‘us’.
    No matter how long the deluded ‘little’ wanna-be’s have been frolicking through their little ideological fantasyland..no one has a right to be liked.

    Remember, THEY ARE THE INITIATORS. The lower an entities level of operation, the more they will exhibit a tendency to violate their boundaries (or the rights of others). Understand? They lack the capacity to operate with respect to their boundaries.
    With every action, they reveal all that they are not….quite cluelessly.

  • autismmom

    Does my being the parent of a disabled child automatically make me a fool? I do not get where your insults are coming from, braincell. I have not sunk to your level of name calling so why all the hate? You are seriously paranoid if you think I work for media matters. I am a stay at home mom of two beautiful boys. My full time job is juggling their therapy schedules. I do have a stake in this because their future depends on people accepting and acknowledging their disability. Also, please stop calling me “it”. I am not doing that to you. You are not making a better arguement just by being rude. You seem very angry and I hope you get some help for that. Seriously!

  • autismmom

    ok, we get it. braincell hates media matters. I will agree with you on what their agenda is. I was not trying to show any support for them when I posted that link. You have no answer to the fact that Glenn Beck gave the EXACT same audio clip in his interview. You seem to be a big Glenn Beck fan so let’s start there. Do you have any logical explanation as to how Glenn Beck is part of this conspiracy? FYI, I am not a democrat. Registered Republican and proud of it.

  • livsarents

    I guess the fact that this ‘Enemy of the Conservative state’ helps publicize these gross misrepresentation, that makes the fact that Michael Savage makes these horrible statements OK, I’m still waiting to here how Savage has this inside scoop on how easy and off the cuff the autism diagnosis is and where he got his vast storehouse of knowledge of it. Still waiting to have a rational discussion instead of a grandstanding of this perception of persecution…

  • livsarents

    How convenient for you to throw up an artificial enemy instead of answering the legitimate questions posed. Hey, braindead, I am not a member of the DEmocratic party, I am not a Democratic shill and my ONLY agenda here is to get my two autistic daughters and the hundreds of thousands like them throughout the country. So when are we going to stop talking about all you perceived enemies and talk about Savage’s gross misrepresentations of autism?

  • braincell

    autismmom said,
    “I just don’t think that freedom of speech is an excuse to insult disabled children and their families.”

    No ones feeeelings or egos are above the rights of others…despicable punks.

    Witness, first “she” says this…

    “Again, I will say that I do not care if this man keeps his job or not.”

    And then ‘it’ responds with this…

    “I hope all of his sponsors pull their ads.”

    …unbelievable.

  • braincell

    autismmom said,

    No ones feeeelings or egos are above the rights of others…despicable punks.

    Witness, first “she” says this…

    And then ‘it’ responds with this…

    …unbelievable.

  • braincell

    “It is our hope that this incident will begin a broader conversation about the responsibility that news corporations, journalists, and media figures have to the American public. This is an opportunity for the media to truly raise the bar to a higher standard and return to the fundamentals of journalism.” …

    And by “a higher standard” and “the fundamentals of journalism” Mr. Brock means barring the expression of any opinion that differs from his own — or more precisely, from the Democrat National Committee’s doctrine.

    For while most people around here know that Media Matters is largely bankrolled by the self-confessed Nazi helper, convicted insider trader and fugitive from justice George Soros, it is also backed and run by top Democrats.

  • braincell

    Media Matters received over $2 million in seed donations from a roster of affluent donors including… Susie Tompkins Buell, a co-founder of the fashion company Esprit and a close ally of Senator Hillary Clinton; James Hormel, a San Francisco philanthropist who nearly served as ambassador to Luxembourg during the Clinton administration; Bren Simon, a Democratic activist…

    Prior to founding Media Matters, David Brock met with a number of leading Democratic Party figures, including Senator Hillary Clinton, former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, and former Vice President Al Gore.

    Today, more than a few of the organization’s roughly 30 staff members are Democratic operatives. Among these are Media Matters’ chief communications strategist Dennis Yedwab, who is also the Director of Strategic Resources at Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

    Brock’s personal assistant, Mandy Vlasz, is a Democratic pollster and a veteran consultant to Democratic campaigns, including the 2000 Gore/Lieberman campaign. Katie Barge, the Director of Research at Media Matters, formerly presided over opposition research for Senator John Edwards’s unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign…

  • braincell

    They are trying to incite you in order to help them persecute this man..and other men. This is what they do….

    Quote:
    Media Matters For America is just another front for the Democrat Party. Especially the Hillary wing of said party.
    So it is no surprise that they would seek to bar Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, Michael Smerconish, John Gibson and anyone else who counters the DNC line from the public airwaves.

    Indeed, regular readers will recall that Media Matters has been on a jihad to silence Ann Coulter for years now.

    If Media Matters has its way the only people who will be allowed to use the public airwaves will be Messrs. Brock, Soros, Chomsky, Ms. Hillary Clinton and other officially approved Democrats.

    And since Media Matters is a 501c3 taxpayer supported “charity” we even have the privilege of paying for their attempts at censorship.

  • braincell

    You are being played folks. I suggest you take a look at the group “Media Matters” and their ties to socialist radicals both within and without the democrat party. They have stated their intentions which includes the so called “Fairness Doctrine”.

    Go ahead, investigate what they’re about. This is what the were set up to do..this is what they do.

    They will use anyone to achieve their despicable goals.

  • braincell

    autismmom said,

    What is this? Is this supposed to be a joke? Apparently another exhibition of the extent of their stupidity. Let us assume that she is who she is, so what? In the face of what has already been presented, at the very least she would be just another parental fool exhibiting a blatant bias, and most likely working for this insidious group “Media Matters”.

  • cyberscan

    autismmom, thanks for the link. I’m glad Glenn Beck is questioning Michael Savages comments. This is what needs to be done, and I am all for it.

    Braincell, you know that I have been advocating that the lynching of Michael Savage be called off. I want Michael Savage to be able to express his opinion whether I agree with him or not. However, you do not know autismmom personally, do you. This is the Internet. I am willing to bet that you have no real personal knowledge of autismmom’s life. How do you truely know if she has one child, two children, or none at all. Unless you have met her personally or been to her home and talked to her family, there is no way that you can truly back up your statement with firsthand knowledge. Without

    I am not attacking anyone on this website. I only am trying to get people to reconsider attacking and lynching each other. I think I made my views on Michael Savage plain and clear. I don’t like seeing people trying to lynch or destroy Michael Savages career, and I don’t like seeing people trying to assassinate the characters of fellow posters. Just think, people say that it is us autistics that lack empathy.

  • livsarents

    Come’on brainstem, you ready to challenge your in depth knowledge (or Savage’s for that matter) of ASD’s or are you just going to continue to hide behind this little persecution towel you seemed to have created for Savage…

    He knows NOTHING of autism, he only has an agenda which he mistakenly tried to tie to autism. He’s wrong, he knows it and won’t admit it because it’ll expose him for the putz he really is…

  • autismmom

    ig·no·rant (gnr-nt)
    adj.
    1. Lacking education or knowledge.
    2. Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge: an ignorant mistake.
    3. Unaware or uninformed.

    Braincell,
    You are IGNORANT about autism. PERIOD.

  • autismmom

    For those who doubt who I am, I live in NJ. Dr. Bridget Taylor has evaluated both of my children among many other specialists. Most in the autsim community know her. And I am sitting her printing pictures for my non verbal son’s independent activity schedule – part of his ABA program. Did I make that up too? Oh, I am good at faking this autism mom thing. :)

  • autismmom

    Glenn Beck gave the full audio clip and gave Mr. Savage a chance to explain how he was taken out of context. I was so happy to see a conservative talk show host take on Mr. Savage. The weasel never did explain himself. Again, I will say that I do not care if this man keeps his job or not. I just don’t think that freedom of speech is an excuse to insult disabled children and their families. I hope all of his sponsors pull their ads. The public deserves to know that Mr. Savage is the fraud not autistic people and their families.

  • livsarents

    Hey braincell, you really think we aren’t who we say we are? It’s quite pathetic that I’m trying to have a rational conversation about the autism situation and you busy looking for the black helicopters. Step out of the foxhole and lets have a conversation about autism. Otherwise, stop the namecalling and admit that you, Savage and Zizza don’t know the first thing about autism spectrum disorders, treatments or what goes on in the lives of us who have to live with it on a daily basis.

  • autismmom

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=WK2SYib5Sxg

    Here is the link of Glenn Beck’s interview for those who would like to watch.

  • autismmom

    Braincell,
    I am exactly who I say I am. The parent of two disabled children. Did you even read my first post? How long would it take someone to make up my story. I would love to just have a charmed life with no problems like you but that is not my reality. That link was just the first of many I found when I googled “Michael Savage Autism”. I am actually not a liberal at all. You can get the exact same quote from Glenn Beck interviewing Mr. Savage on Larry King last week. Surely you would not accuse him of being a propaganda machine against a conservative radio talk show host. Would you call him a liar because he is also the parent of a child with special needs. Of course, his daugther has CP and looks disabled so you would never question that but no one seems to get that a “normal” looking child can have a real disability. Glenn Beck called Michael Savage out on what he said and it was a great interview. You should check it out if you missed it. Who do you think you are to pass judgement on children with disabilities and their families. You are extremely ignorant about autism so just shut up already!!

  • braincell

    You’ve exposed yourselves in more ways than you birdbrains even realize. Thats right..catch a clue. Its all there in black and white for those who still possess cognitive abilities.

    The thing about insidious ‘little’ morons such as these is that they’ve been playing on the ignorance of the less intelligible for so long, some have actually deluded themselves into believing that everyone operates at their despicable level.
    All entities operate at different levels, and there is not a despicable thing you insidious ‘little’ wanna-be’s can do about it.

    It just doesnt get much lower than this ilk. But then, they have rendered themselves irrelevant..now havnt they.

  • braincell

    Well, well, well. A link to the web site of the very propaganda lie machine conducting this. I dont believe for a minute that “autismmom” is who she(or he) presents itself to be. Calling us the “ignorant” in the face of what was ALREADY presented here?

    Odd how the CAIR lawsuit was held up until now and then finally dismissed precisely when this bs started. I’m sure ‘some’ of you are beginning to see the connections…it will of course be filed again.

    They speak of compassion, but are quite quick to persecute a man.

  • livsarents

    “Cut the crap already. You dont have a damned thing.
    If you not only looked at what he said in its entirety, but also actually listened to his show on a regular bases, you would see that he is a huge proponent and defender of the truly afflicted.

    Ultimately, the real harm caused is to the truly afflicted and to the many who ARE being wrongly diagnosed. Why is this not a factor in your pathetic excuse for an analysis? You agenda driven morons will stop at nothing, even if it means harming the very people your ilk so thinly profess to be “concerned” about, and will do anything to attack this man like the obsessed ‘little’ egotistical punks that you all are.

    You are all so full of it.”

    Based on Savages many chances to explain himself, he has proven every single time that he does not know what the autism situation really is. Comments like “Did you know there’s a spectrum of autism now?” just proves his ignorance of the current status of the disorder, it’s classifications and symptoms.

    If you like, braincell, let’s take his livelyhood off the table as part of the discussion and tell me point by point how this man really has a grasp of what’s going on with autism, what it’s REAL symptoms are and how we should tackle it? Or is he really just using autism to drive home a point about drug companies and mental disorders and the overdiagnosis of drugging of children with ADHD and ADD. I’ve brought it out several times before that these are two entirely different situations and that using autism to drive home his other agendas is a complete misuse and misrepresentation of what autism is and how it’s treated.
    People dealing with the autism spectrum are tired of having to clear up misconceptions about the disorder; Savage is sending us back to the pervebial stone age of awareness. I’m sorry if that offends your view of America, but guess what? You may not like it but there re a million people in the US with autism and there ar 10 times more dealing with the day to day existence of our loved ones. So lets just unwrap yourself from under the Constitution and talk about this like civilized humans rather than idiots behind microphones…

  • autismmom

    Cyberscan,

    You seem like you have not heard for yourself what Savage said. Here is a link so you can know what you are fighting for.

    http://mediamatters.org/items/200807170005

  • autismmom

    By the way, I don’t care if Michael Savage is fired or not. He needs to be educated about autism and stop attacking disabled children and their parents.

  • autismmom

    Dear Cyberscan,

    Thank you for your thoughtful response. You are an inspiration to me and my family. Don’t let the jerks making ignorant comments here or on the radio get to you. They are just ignorant. We can try to educate them but you can only do so much. I have found that people who do not have a loved one with special needs are very selfish, cold-hearted and they don’t want to know the truth. They can not see it.

    I must clarify a few things. I have not given up on my oldest son, at all. I never will give up on either of my boys, I promise. I was just pointing out the difference in the progress that can be made with a 2 year old if they are diagnosed early. It is very hard for a parent to find their way around the early intervention system, public school system, doctors and therapists. You have to know what ABA is to find a good therapist. My oldest son was 4 years old before we got really good therapy for him. He is making progress. I am so thankful for what all he can do. He is a beautiful, happy, affectionate and smart little boy. He can learn, he does learn, just not the same way a typical child does and certainly not at the same pace. I know I only pointed out the negative with him in my first post. That was a mistake. I was just trying to make a point about autism. There is a misconception that it is just out of controll kids having tantrums. That is just not the case. Yes some kids have a lot of behavioral problems but I think that is the result of a lack communication skills and lack of social skills. Honestly, my kids are the best behaved kids in just about any place we go. They are quiet, too quiet. We get compliments from strangers about how well behaved they are but I know it is autsim causing them to be withdrawn and quiet that makes them seem so well behaved. They do have their moments some days but tantrums are not really an issue for us right now. I want them to be able communicate and play with other kids. I want for them to get a good education and have an independent life, one day. I want for them to be happy and safe and be able to take care of themselves when I am not here to do it anymore. I think that is what all parents want for their kids. It would just be nice if people could see that it is a much harder road for us to get there than it is for typical kids and their families.

    A little understanding and acceptance is all we want from the world. Does anyone have compassion anymore for people who are really struggling? Reading the comments here does not give me very much hope. I will keep praying that the majority does not share the intolerence that some of you have made so clear with your hateful comments.

  • braincell

    Now do you see the fallacy and wide spread misuse of terms by those who will do anything to justify the violation of ones rights.

    They refer to the Constitution only when it serves their purpose…the rest of the time they’re wiping their a** with it.

  • braincell

    Savage Has Syndicator’s Support

    Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Michael Savage’s program to more than 350 affiliates, said Thursday that it had decided to reject critics’ calls to fire or suspend him over comments he made last week suggesting that most diagnoses of autism represented a “fraud” and “a racket.” In its first statement since Mr. Savage’s remarks on July 16 the company said that it was “satisfied that he did not mean any disrespect to autistic children or their families but was instead reiterating his LONGSTANDING concerns on public health issues.”

    The company added that it was “not appropriate to censor the opinions of its hosts on legitimate issues.”

  • braincell

    Quote:
    When private entities make personal decisions about what to publish and not publish, they are exercising the fundamental rights of private ownership and liberty — the types of rights whose exercise the government is supposed to protect.

    Let’s consider a famous example involving the misapplication of the free-speech principle in order to better understand it. In the 1919 U.S. Supreme Court case of Schenck v. United States, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote,
    “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.”

    But Holmes got it wrong. The reason that a man ordinarily cannot scream, “Fire!” in a theater is that the owner of the theater hasn’t permitted it. That is, when a patron enters the theater, he does so on terms established by the owner of the theater, which implicitly include a rule against disturbing the other patrons.

    Thus, freedom of speech is ultimately grounded in private-property rights. The owner of a newspaper has the right to publish or not publish materials because the newspaper belongs to him. As the owner of the newspaper, he has the right to refuse anyone’s request to communicate through his newspaper. No one has a duty to furnish someone else the means by which he is able to communicate his views. If one person can’t persuade another to publish his views, he is free to open his own newspaper.

    It’s the same principle with respect to movie theaters. The owners of movie theaters have the right to restrict the conduct of patrons and, for that matter, to refuse to show R-rated movies. By doing so, they are not “censoring” their patrons or the distributors of R- rated movies; they are simply exercising their right of private ownership.

  • cyberscan

    Livsarents asked, “So, you think that Savage’s comments don’t promulgate misinformation that can cause harm?”
    The comment about the 99% of children diagnosed with autism being the result of bad parenting (if that is his exact words)is VERY HARMFUL especially if believed. That is the reason I’ve been blogging like a madman to voice my disagreement and call Michael Savage out on his error.

    Are there a few parents who get some quack to falsely diagnose their child as autistic? Yes there are A *FEW*. However, the vast majority of parents who claim their children as autistic are TELLING THE TRUTH. I fact, I believe that the percentage that Michael Savage quoted is probably the exact opposite of fact. I believe that 99% of autism diagnosis are in fact ACCURATE. The additions of Aspergers, PPD-NOS, Retts, and childhood disintegrative disorder to the DSM’s definition of autism counts as a huge percentage of the increase in diagnosed cases. Just because a person lacks one simple criteria for classic autism does not mean that their condition is any less significant.

    I know of several people with Aspergers (not considered as severe as classic autism) who are having more trouble functioning in life than me. This is likely because they have not been taught how to perform (act) like I have been taught. My every waking moment around other people is a performance or show that I put on. If I flub my role, I lose friends, jobs, or respect, so I have learned my scripts very well. Those who cannot play or act the part called neurotypical end up being ostracized.

    With all of this said, I also want to say that I am not a listener of the Michael Savage show. However, I have a couple of very good reasons not to join the other autistics and autism advocates in calling for Michael Savage’s ouster. However, I will continue to voice my disagreement to what (others told me) he said.

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