New York City – Remarks On Autism Kids By Radio Show Host Michael Savage Stirs Anger And Protest

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    New York City – Conservative radio host Michael Savage will have his hands full on Monday.

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    In response to his controversial comments about children with autism, Autism United and angry parents will hold a major protest outside WOR Radio studios in Manhattan on Monday afternoon.

    They will be calling for the firing of the radio jock and asking for a boycott by parents of children with autism of all stations carrying his signal. Savage outraged the autism community recently by saying 99 percent of children suffering with autism are “brats” and “morons” on his national syndicated radio show.

    Media Matters for America on Sunday condemned Savage for his comments.

    “What Michael Savage said was foolish, mean-spirited, and hurtful,” said J. Jioni Palmer, spokesman for Media Matters. “It’s unfortunate he would use his radio program to make fun of and belittle these kids. Instead of ridicule and cheap shots, the children suffering from autism and asthma and their families need support and compassion.”

    During the July 16 edition of his show, Savage claimed that autism is “[a] fraud, a racket. … 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. That’s what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they’re silent? They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.’ ”

    Talk Radio Network, which syndicates The Savage Nation, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

    Over 2 million children and adults have autism. One out of every 150 children is diagnosed with autism today.


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    71 Comments
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    Tzippy
    Tzippy
    15 years ago

    THe guy is an idiot. Not trying to defend him but he does talk alot about people using medical terms as a way of excuses when getting caught doing illegal stuff.

    Savage talks many times about people with “ADD” and people using ritilin. In those cases doctors mislabel kids many times and just love putting kids on medicine instead of helping them through other means of diagnostics.

    We all know that this is true in many cases and kids get away with many things.

    I think all Savage was trying to convey is that there must be responsibility from a parent and from people in general.

    When someone gets caught for murder we always hear how the person has “a.d.d” or how his mother abused him 45 years earlier….

    Savage used the wrong analogy to get his point across. Again I am not defending him because he should be smarter than the dumb statements he made but we will hear about “freedom of speech” garbage this week!

    bigwheeel
    bigwheeel
    15 years ago

    Most likely his mouth got ahead of him! His statements are axiomatic , in most cases. The puzzle is even greater, because he calls himself a medical savant, of sorts!

    yshwee
    yshwee
    15 years ago

    I wish he ran for President. I really do.

    ax
    ax
    15 years ago

    very surprising. I listen to his show pretty often in my commute home from work. I never would’ve thought he really belived this. I agree that many kids out there are being labeled out there and being medicated at a very young age for just being ‘boys’, I don’t agree this is the case with autism. my wife dealt with autistic kids for many years & there’s simply no way that these childern can help themslves. it can very well be his comments were taken out of context or were said out of ignorance, but I must say I agree with 90% of what comes out of that guys mouth

    Milhouse
    Milhouse
    15 years ago

    If it’s true that “One out of every 150 children is diagnosed with autism today”, then Savage is right, not about 99% of them but about a large percentage. There’s no way that that many children really are autistic; there’s been a boom in diagnosis, which has led parents to panic, thinking that something in the environment must be causing this increase, when really it’s just that so many kids who years ago would have been “diagnosed” as in need of a “por petch”, are today diagnosed as in need of a highly-paid therapist or three.

    anonymous
    anonymous
    15 years ago

    ax- if you listened to his show only once you know he is quite capable of saying this and believing it as well.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    he is a mamzer beyond words and is an embarssment to klal yisroel. his awful comments and rants sound like a raving lunatic. its a shame people like because of his politics. the man is crazy. when he says things like this it just proves the point. it is indefensible and inexcusable.

    Charlie Hall
    Charlie Hall
    15 years ago

    Savage has been offensive for years. To put it mildly, he is not a model of midot. I can’t believe that frum Jews listen to him.

    TRS
    TRS
    15 years ago

    Deal with it people, the guy’s a moron.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Milhouse, its very simple math. If there’s 2 million people with autism and there’s 301 million+ people then guess how many that comes out to?

    one in every 150. (guess what 150 times 2 million is?)

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Milhouse, why dont you go to HASC and tell them that? who made you an expert? what do you know?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    I have never understood why self respecting frum yidden like him so much. jsut because he rants and raves on the radio about arabs and mexicans? his politics arent even right wing, they are just plain loony

    abc
    abc
    15 years ago

    i am a teacher for pre-school children with autism & let me tell you that yes misdiagnosing happens, but those kids still have issues that led to this diagnosis being given in order for them to recieve help. some arent autistic but do have mild forms & need help. lastly,if i could tell these kids to stop shaking around and being silent, and if it would make a difference i would.sorry but they dont respond to that & what hes saying isnt true..halevei these kids are pretending to be silent. only thing that works is treating them well and with respect.

    i wonder what experience hes had to cause this reaction

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Autism is a racket like many other illnesses, get over it.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Left wing group Media Matters has been distorting Savage’s words for years in effort to get him removed from the airwaves, and you’ll are falling right into their hands.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    11:16, do you even know anyone with Autism? I know children who were born with an obvious condition not like other people. what would you call it in your expert medical opinion? Your brain is a racket.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    11:18

    this has nothing to do with media matters, and savage has been screaming on the radio much longer than media matters has been in existence. how is this playing into their hands? they didnt say what savage said, he said it all by himself, much the same way he says everything else sickening that he says.

    At least he an left wing talker Bill Maher actually agree on something. Bill Maher once likened handicapped kids to dogs.

    The two (Maher and Savage) are the same animal. Vile disgusting human beings.

    abc
    abc
    15 years ago

    autism a racket?! come to my class & get the 3 yr old who cries out of nowhere & the 3 yr old who doesnt understand basic directions, out of their own worlds.

    i do agree, as ive said, that over diagnosing happens but many of these kids do have issues that are very similar to mild autism & they do need help if theres ever a chance to be mainstreamed or make progress.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Savage is right. He obviously exaggerated the 99% figure, but it is certainly true that it’s also a racket, led by parents who get doctors to label their children as autistic in order that they should qualify for social benefits such as social security at age 3 etc.

    My nephew has autism, so I have 100% compassion to the genuine cases (which there are plenty). Michael Savage had an older brother who had autism, and died as a child, and he has great loving words when he occasionally describes the affection he had for him, and how he was so protective over him. He relentlessly attacked Howard Stern for his satire of autistic children, and went as far as saying that he should be fired just because of his exploitation of the autistic population (pointing out that they can not defend themselves).

    For this liberal hack organization to use such a personal issue of his life against him is disgusting. He more then anybody has earned the right to be irked when he sees cases of “autism fraud” when as a child he had to deal with a real case (his brother was an autistic paraplegic). Don’t forget that Dr. Savage is a yid, and is entitled to have limud zchus. He wrote a book titled healing children naturally, which further illustrates his affection for children.

    Anybody has the right to disagree with his opinions, he’s merely one man’s opinion, and it’s America, but this character assassination is un-American especially in light of what I pointed out earlier.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    “For this liberal hack organization to use such a personal issue of his life against him is disgusting.”

    Which “liberal hack oprganization” do you refer to? The AUTISM society for which it is PERSONAL?

    Where was saint savage when blowhard Rush Limbaugh mocked Michael J. Fox’s suffering with Parkinson’s Disease? Or when Mitt Romney caught on video intentionally snibbing a man in a wheelchair? or Rudy Giuliani’s radio rant to a handicapped caller?

    Right wingers don’t have a particular liking to people with diabilities, its just that simple.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    there are many treatable diseases with therapy such as aspergers and the like that are labeled as autism by the autism racket. Savages point was many kids who just need more disiple and get away with all sort of shtick because they are diagnosed with “border line” autism. Ask any mechanach about the crap they have to put up with.

    b
    b
    15 years ago

    “Right wingers don’t have a particular liking to people with diabilities, its just that simple.”

    I have a disability too. I’m not as smart as Bill Gates. There are some legitimate cases of disability such as down syndrome. But every wheel chair bound person, just because they have a challenge, does not make them disabled. Yes, they are disabled from running, but not from having a normal job. Not every challenge and misfortune is the responsibility of the general population.

    Unless of course, you believe in Leninism. No one is entitled to a car and a laptop and TV. These are luxuries. Very few people are genuinely disabled from earning a meager income if they tried to get a job.

    anonymous
    anonymous
    15 years ago

    “Which “liberal hack oprganization” do you refer to? The AUTISM society for which it is PERSONAL?”

    Media Matters. I also wouldn’t be surprised if The AUTISM society has a political liberal agenda. There are many right wingers that have autistic children, and to say that there is a single organization that represents autism, is preposterous.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    ONE THING IS FOR SURE THERE WAS NEVER SO MANY PROBLEMS WITH CHILDERN AT RISK AS THERE IS NOW SOMETHING IN THE SYSTEM IS BADLY WRONG THERE IS NOW A 35 PCNT. DROP OUT RATE ITS GETTING WORSE NOT BETTER

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Makes you wonder where Savage got his PHD.

    Having listened to him before I expect outrages comments from him. But this has gone too far even for a nutcase like Savage.

    I guess if he’d have an autistic child he’d beat the hell out of him/her.

    anonymous
    anonymous
    15 years ago

    Autism United is not even on Wikipedia. How are we supposed to know who they really are?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    savge has a point. autism is what you call a garbage can diagnosis . it don’t mean a whole lot. when your doctor don’t know what to do he says autism,as a result a lot of children are mis diagnosed with autism. thats all savage meant.

    those that treat autism with behavior modification are the people you should protest against.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Lets not get carried away –

    Savage does an enormously important service for America. He is extremely important in an era in which our culture and social values have been upended ranging from the indoctrination of homosexuality as on par with a relationship between men and women, to the anti-Semitic media that supports terrorists – and while what he said may have been offensive rightly or wrongly -lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

    We need Savage in a time in which to many are asleep at the wheel.

    At least he wakes you up!

    And more than that – he defends the values that made America great and a democracy under threat from alien forces that seek its demise.

    crazelte payes
    crazelte payes
    15 years ago

    Savage is right in some part I can attest to it myself I have a child that’s giving me a run for my money (therapy & the whole 9 yards) but my pediatrician wanted to put him on medication in a heart beat b”h me & my wife had a little more brains then that and we did not fall for the quickfix, with hashems help & very hard work he will be fine, the over diagnosing is a very big problem people have to be more patients & a bit more Bitachon.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    #1 you forget the micheal savage is a doctor..

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

    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 books on herbal medicine and homeopathy.

    Thats not to say he is a expert at anything, but dont write the guy off as a nut so fast.

    And the fact that he is into homeopathy says alot about his distaste for modern medicinal practices!

    Is he meshuga ? no.. he just does not like the trend of doctors pumping kids with meds.

    As a example, I had bad temper tantrums as a kid.. I was also impulsive.. the cure ? I went to a ton of shrinks who gave me every drug known.. I think it made me worse.

    Now, i’m bh grown, I rarely if ever lose my temper, I dont do impulsive things.. YET I am unfocused at least according to a family member who us of the opinion that I need drugs.

    Now, I bh live alone, pay my bills, own and run a very large and successfull business bh.. I am healthy, clean, eat well etc.. so on and so forth.

    My complaint ? its sad that society has reached a point, where anyone that has less then accepted behavior needs medication!!

    If I procrastinate, I need medication ? So every frum yid that waits till right before licht bentchen to go to mikva needs medication? oy gevalt.

    Sorry chevra, in judaism we call it self control.. in chasidus we call it “itkafiya” the mind controls the body.

    Children need to be educated right, yes there are cases where they need medication.. But sometimes they need good petch too! (g-d forbid would a “physiologist” admit a kid needs a spanking)

    If your kid talks bad, he should be taught that a jew does not talk that way and be given soap.. if he misbehaves you tell him that a jew does not act that way and zetz his tuches!

    I fail to see how medicating a child will mold him into being a mentch.. rather it makes him into a zombie.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    This has nothing to do with media matters. they didnt make savage say what they said. they arent the only ones reacting to what he said. dont blame mm for mike savage. was it a hack job by some political organization that brought down dan rather? don imus? these people stick their own feet in their own mouths.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    This guy is a prick! As a parent with a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, I can assure you that if all it would take is a good “petch” or some firm talking to, I would have done that. What a shmuck! BTW, my son has a very hands on father who is very involved and I am Canadian where therapies are NOT covered by the government so at this point I’ve paid about $25,000 in the past two years! This guy should drop dead!

    anonymous
    anonymous
    15 years ago

    I have heard him say some most suprising and ridiculous things over the years, I firmly believe he does not mean most of the things he says. He does it for ratings. Thats the only reason. Its a show and its all fake. all that burnt up anger is put on for a show , to garner attention and publicity. People should not take offense to every thing he says. The reason he dohes it is to exercize his right of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech was implemeted to give a right to a person to say what he wants no matter how offensive it may be. As long as his retoric

    anonymous
    anonymous
    15 years ago

    I have heard him say some most suprising and ridiculous things over the years, I firmly believe he does not mean most of the things he says. He does it for ratings. Thats the only reason. Its a show and its all fake. all that burnt up anger is put on for a show , to garner attention and publicity. People should not take offense to every thing he says. The reason he dohes it is to exercize his right of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech was implemeted to give a right to a person to say what he wants no matter how offensive it may be. As long as his rehtoric does not threaten someones life it is permitted. We live in the USA and people have to understand that he can say what he wants. You cant live here and mootch off the system and flag your flag and proclaim you stand for everything America stands for yet when someone excercizes his right to say what he wants, he needs to be silenced. Get over it people, toughen up a little and stop being wimpish.

    Tachlis
    Tachlis
    15 years ago

    # Anonymous Says:

    comments – arrow This guy is a prick! As a parent with a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, I can assure you that if all it would take is a good “petch” or some firm talking to, I would have done that. What a shmuck! BTW, my son has a very hands on father who is very involved and I am Canadian where therapies are NOT covered by the government so at this point I’ve paid about $25,000 in the past two years! This guy should drop dead!

    07-21-2008 – 7:47 AM

    ——————————————-

    first take a chill. he didn’t say every kid is a brat, it’s very possible that you have a legitimate case of autism. the point he made and he is very correct is that the world is very hyper in diagnosing non sick children and then not being mechanech them because their “sick”.

    anonymouseducator
    anonymouseducator
    15 years ago

    It is sad and unfortunate that any individual nowaways should feel this way concerning children with autism. i have worked in the field for over 30 years aiding such children..there are many resources to help these children succeed in today’s world that did not exist 30 years ago…it is too bad Mr. Savage is so ignorant and naive as to this widespread and life-challenging disorder in children. He needs to be informed and more sensitive to this cause.

    GOLEM
    GOLEM
    15 years ago

    MY BROTHER-IN-LAW IS DIOGNOSED WITH AUTISIM, HE IS A REAL SICKO NEBECH CLIMBING ON ROOFS, QUITE, LIVES IN HIS OWN WORLD ETC. EVERYTHING WE ALL KNEW FOR YEARS WHAT A REAL AUTISTIC KID MEANS. ALL OF A SUDDEN NOWADAYS, EVERYBODY IS AUTISTIC… KIDS NEED ATTENTION… NOT BEING DIOGNOSED. MIKE IS AGAIN 100% RIGHT…. HE SAID 99% AND THATS WAHT IT IS. I LISTEN TO THIS GUY FOR 11 YEARS ALREADY, HE IS BRILLIANT HE IS THE ONLY GUY WHO MAKES SENCE ON THE RADIO. I MEAN HANNITY PLAAPELS AWAY GOOD BUT COMPARED TO SAVAGE? HE IS A GENIOUS. (EXCEPT WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT THE WORLD BEING MORE THAN 5000 YEARS OLD – AFRA LPIME – I TURN HIM OFF). BUT WISDOM? HIS NAME SHOULD BE MICHAEL WISDOM SAVAGE.

    YOURS: THE GOLEM

    Milhouse
    Milhouse
    15 years ago

    “Milhouse, its very simple math. If there’s 2 million people with autism and there’s 301 million+ people then guess how many that comes out to?”

    Nu, so who told you there are 2 million? I don’t believe that for a second, and you wouldn’t either if you had any sechel.

    The interest of the autism activist group is obvious, and it’s the same as that of every medical activist group – to inflate the numbers for their particular disease or condition, in order to attract funding; and in order to build public sympathy which they hope will translate into jury sympathy when they sue someone for some made-up reason, claiming that they somehow caused the plaintiff’s condition.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Savage is kinda like UOJ – he’ll make some outrageous statements every now and then, but at the same time he’ll say thing that need to be said that nobody else is willing to discuss. I say – you take the bad with the good; overall, love him or hate him, agree or disagree, Savage is an important voice in the debate of today’s problems in the US. And like UOJ, sometimes you have to scream at the top of your lungs to be heard.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    My wife worked with a few kids from a lower income neighborhood (actually a no-income neighborhood) who had “autism”.

    Amazingly just about every apartment in the building with kids had at least one child with “autism”. (In those projects there are usually more than one family living in each unit.)

    Eventually my wife and the other therapists discovered the children were misdiagnosed with autism and that their handicap was caused by their mothers and babysitters propping them up on blankets or in swings for 12+ hours every day in front of a TV.

    While my wife will definitely agree that there are many real cases of autism; the vast majority, probably close to 99%, of those diagnosed with autism in the lower income neighborhood where she worked are misdiagnosed.

    deepthinker
    deepthinker
    15 years ago

    “…Michael Savage had an older brother who had autism, and died as a child, and he has great loving words when he occasionally describes the affection he had for him, and how he was so protective over him….”

    Obviously, Savage understands the issue. There is more to this than meets the eye. I note that the CBS story does not quote Savage directly, but only includes an INTERPRETATION of what he said by the left-wing anti-Conservative goup Media Matters.

    I’m certain that Savage’s words were twisted out of context to mean something he didn’t intend.

    There is an ongoing campaign by Arabs (CAIR), MushChoSim, and Liberals to get this effective Conservative talk-show host off the air.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    I think there are definitely more children with all sorts of problems nowadays than in past generations for numerous reasons. Some of the problems can be because of toxins in our environment, or in the immunizations given to the children. we are exposed to all kinds of things that past generations weren’t exposed to.Cell phones and computers and all sorts of electronics give off emissions and we don’t know what harm they can do to us etc.The food we eat is loaded with all kinds of artificial man made chemicals and we don’t know the long term effects of those things either. Perhaps mothers expose their babies before they are born to all such things and the children are born damaged.

    Anonymous, PhD
    Anonymous, PhD
    15 years ago

    I have a PhD. I work in autism research. I have met kids with autism. I have observed kids with autism being tested. Autism is real.

    Actually, I (and most researchers) prefer to use the term ASD – autism spectrum disorder. This better conveys the concept that ASD is a SPECTRUM DISORDER. You will meet some verbal kids with such mild problems that you may not even realize that they are on the spectrum, and then you will come across a kid who is non-verbal and prefers to sit under the table.

    ASD is behaviorally diagnosed: there are deficits in communication, socialization, and repetitive behavior issues. ASD has only recently been defined (~1994), so only recently have we been able to truly measure the prevelance of this puzzling disorder. I have come across several cases where children with an auditory processing disorder have been misdiagnosed with ASD, so there may be kids with an ASD Dx who do not have it.

    If this story accurately conveys Michael Savage’s comments, then Savage is 40 years out of date. Bettleheim came up the the “refridgerator mother” theory in the 1960s and he has been discredited. We now know that ASD is a neurological disorder with multiple etiologies.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    To #39 , Paul stop trying to promote yourself.

    —————-

    Had any of you kvetchers actually heard him say it live – as I did – would know that he’s being taken out of context by some group to further their own agenda.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    He is a clown! He thinks he is GDs gift to humanity.

    Babishka
    Babishka
    15 years ago

    Every once in a while this guy will show up at a Chabad function, shlepping his shicksa wife, and even though he is just as rude and obnoxious in real life as he is on the air, he is treated with respect at all these affairs. As a result, he has many times said, on the air, how wonderful the frum Jews are to him and how warm and loving, etc.

    10.47
    10.47
    15 years ago

    Snore. Thank G-d for the first amendment. If you think he’s offensive, try Stern sometime.

    Pinky
    Pinky
    15 years ago

    My daughter was autistic. In case this might help anyone, look into Enzymes and autism. Refuah Shelaima.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Bettleheim came up the the “refridgerator mother” theory in the 1960s and he has been discredited…

    Bettelheim HIMSELF has been discredited, if we are to believe a book published about him a number of years ago. Seems like he made stuff up and didn’t have credentials. But this is just an aside.

    Ephraim
    Ephraim
    15 years ago

    It was a foolish comment. Nothing more. He’s a tactless hothead and makes his livings speaking off the cuff for hours a day. Statistically, we’d expect some nonsense to escape his overheated mouth every now and then.

    The rest is pretense to get him off the air. These liberals, who happen to succumb to fascist tendencies, have exploited the autism issue to attack the right. This is a about politics, not about an inconsequential sound byte. Autistic kids are not exactly a persecuted group that need marches or protests. I doubt any kid will get more treatment or care if Savage is fired.

    I have a sibling who has one of these disorders, and I think 99% of the protesters are brats and morons.