Radio “host” Michael Savage is a fucking idiot. Excuse my French.
Savage stated that nearly every child with autism is just “a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out.”
Direct quotes from this douche:
“My main point remains true. It is an overdiagnosed medical condition. In my readings, there is no definitive medical diagnosis for autism.”
“They don’t have a father around to tell them: ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life.”
He also stated his belief that “99% of the cases” of autism were a result of lax parenting.
He said they should be told, “ ‘Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.’ ”
Savage’s program, Savage Nation, is heard nationally on more than 350 stations.
As this dumb ass is a “shock jock” there isn’t even a point in threatening to boycott or writing letters to his boss. The more hoopla this gets, the more they will be thrilled.
I can only hope that the general public has gotten to the point of being educated enough to realize that this is all complete idiocy. This is just a throw-back opinion to the 50′s and 60′s where they blamed “refrigerator mothers” for causing autism, and kids were stuck in institutions never to be seen again.
I will not even post a link to any article about this man or this crap he spews. I will not give him even one bit of happiness by running the numbers up on his hits for the utter garbage he is spewing.
If you want to read something, read about the reality of autism. Or watch HBO’s “Autism: The Musical”.
Or come and meet my son, who has autism. And yes, he has a father. And no, he isn’t a brat, he isn’t spoiled. He has a neurological disorder.
And at least he doesn’t have “I’m-an-asshole-for-pay” disease.
Oh, so hard not to rise to the bait…His audience gets off on the shock value, and his ratings go up every time he offends people. That’s what he gets paid for. You know he’s full of shit. Hell, he probably knows he’s full of shit. He doesn’t care. The sad thing is, many of his listeners don’t even know what autism is, let alone care about it; and won’t go educate themselves because of his comments.I’m sorry he touched a nerve with you. Unfortunately, you’re playing right into his hands. I wish that people like him didn’t draw such demand for more crap like this.Do yourself a favor and stick to NPR. Shit like this isn’t worth bothering with.
It did touch a nerve, for the exact fact that you state: that some of his listeners that don’t know anything about autism will believe him to be right.By not linking to his site, and not responding directly to him or his show, but linking, instead to actual autism sites, I hoped to avoid “playing into his hands” by not addressing him directly in any way. Instead I chose to leave information that could help people understand autism better.I seriously doubt he’ll be stopping by my tiny little blog to see what I’ve written about him and get his kicks, lol.
oh he is so fucked..I bet he (and rightly so) loses his job over this..what an idiot…
Nope, I don’t think he will. His company has already made a statement saying that his views are not the views of the company.The guy is known to say rude, homophobic, stupid things. It’s how he makes his living.I’m sure his bosses are just sitting back and rubbing their hands together with glee, thinking of all the people who will tune in and all the attention this will garner the a-holes show.There is, I think, a special place in the afterlife for people like this. Or maybe he’ll just be reincarnated as a turd.
Can you imagine if all the people who worked had jobs that actually made a difference rather than a job that raked in the cash at the expense of others? And how much that would help everyone rather than drive people apart?How do people even listen to that garbage?I’m sorry about your son’s Autism, but just in the few weeks I’ve been reading your blog, he has an awesome (and often hilarious) mom.Best wishes.
I must life under a rock, I have no idea who this idiot is and I’m glad. What is wrong with him? Some people are so heartless and cruel. It’s sick.
Thanks, Katie. We are actually pretty lucky, as my son’s autism is on the mild side, and physically all our kids are very healthy. There are those in much tougher situations than us.Suzie, it’s a shame when people are ignorant on a topic (or about a group of people), and perpetuate that ignorance on others (especially their own children) It’s almost a crime when someone spreads ignorance for money and ratings. I’ve heard of this guy before, when he made some horrendous remarks about gays. At least he is an equal opportunity a-hole.
I don’t know who that idiot is either and I have no plans to find out…geeez the stupidity of some people. What I don’t understand at all is why they continue to pay someone like that for being an idiot and the people who listen to him have to be bigger idiots.Ok… **puts soapbox away** I promised myself no more ranting for today.
It’s really sad that we live in a society where anyone at all considers ratings and money above basic human decency. I do believe in karma, though. What goes around comes around.
Hmm. So I guess I should be worried about my parenting skills. After all, my daughter with Asperger’s Syndrome — who is the most loving, well-behaved daddy’s girl on the planet — is on the Autistic spectrum. I must have treated her neurotypical twin brother much better.I say a big “whatever” to this jerk. If you’re going to spout a “shocking” opinion, at least get your facts straight. It’s not worth the breath to rebut him.
You are so right! No need to give him the satisfaction.Strange how our other children haven’t been made into “idiots” by our bad parenting, isn’t it?Gah!
Oh heck, I’m not trying to pee on your parade.On vacation, I caught part of Savage’s bit on Larry King Live (with a different host). I didn’t hear his radio show, but from your reaction, I gather it was pretty offensive.And as a parent of children who have developmental disabilities (one son with autism), and as someone who has worked in advocacy, I have to say that I agree with some of what he says—from what I saw on Larry King, that is.I’m going to make this short and somewhat generalized, because there are plenty of nuances in all situations, but I’m basically talking about the parents that Savage is addressing, although he seems to be trying to swat a fly with a sledgehammer.Lots of kids have issues. Some are severe enough that they have to be addressed (and paid for) through the school system. Some aren’t. There is a mindset out there that every hardship and woe we face in our lives means that somebody “owes” us something “for” it. It’s silly, sort of.Anyhoo, there are plenty of parents out there who are looking for an extra edge. So they don’t want their kids to be diagnosed with ADHD (which is considered a moderate disorder that can mostly be treated with medication and behavior modifications). They want their kids to be diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome—the diagnosis de jour at the moment (the two diagnoses are often confused, and ADHD is just soooo 90′s!), because the autism spectrum is more of a severe disorder that comes with more school services. And if the kid needs to have stimulant medication to control the “hyperactivity”, well so what? He has Asperger’s with hyperactivity!Many people who have Asperger’s lead productive and profitable lives. I’ve been watching the show “Flipping Out” lately, and to be honest, I think that guy has more than OCD.But back to the topic. There are many parents out there who are looking for an edge for various reasons, which I won’t go into here.5 or so years ago, I think it was 60 Minutes—did a bit on how a huge group of upper-middle class parents in a secluded island or something community had their kids classified as “disabled” so that they wouldn’t have to go to the same public school that the townies went to. Since the system “couldn’t address their needs”, their children got flown by private plane to a (regular) private school that offered more teachers per student ratio at about 40K per kid per year, courtesy of their already underfunded school district.And even more recently in the news—the firefighter who went on “total disability”, but was competing in body-building competitions 6 weeks later.There are parents out there who are jumping on the Autism Spectrum bandwagon for various reasons. As Savage said, there are no definitive tests, or testing criteria. It’s parents like those who make things harder for parents like us to get the services our kids need, or even basic societal acceptance. The public hears about the cheaters and then lays a blanket of generalization.I’m not trying to speak out of my heinie here. Not only have I dealt with this as an advocate, but within my own extended family as well.PeaceATM
Attila, I totally get what you are saying. I’m sure there are plenty of people who abuse the system. As someone with a kid with PDD-NOS (I still haven’t figured out exactly how that is different from Aspergers, but that’s another topic) and someone who’s led a special needs youth group for the last 3 years, I know there are those who just want that extra edge. But this man flat out said that 99% of those diagnosed are caused by lax parenting or single parenting.That if we just tell our kids to stop screaming and act like a man, that they will. If only that were true! I’d sit and scream at my son all day to give him a chance at a more “normal” life!I didn’t catch the more recent interview, but I have a feeling that he was more covering his ass a bit than trying to explain his original inflammatory statements.If he had originally just wanted to bash the parents who are “faking” it for more services, he would have addressed that in the first place, instead of making blanket statements against all families with an autistic child.Either way, I don’t think I’ll be spending any time listening to his show, lol!
I agree with the covering his ass idea. Sounds like his rant was horrible. If I knew how to get his show, I wouldn’t waste any time on it either.