I listened to the program where Savage discussed this subject. He made it clear that he wasn't talking about real cases of autism, but ones that are falsely diagnosed. And, he gave shining examples of the type of things going on in the autism diagnosis field that backed up his case. A previous poster here stated that mri's show differences in brains of autistic children. That may well be, and if so Savage was not directing his comments toward those people/children, but towards kids diagnosed as autistic because they engage in behaviours that most any child might engage in. Then, the left wing blogs distort what Savage said, the autism groups have a hissy fit, and Savage is dropped from a station in Cleveland. Well, the lib groups got what they wanted, they just had to lie and misrepresent to do it. These same lib groups continue to think of themselves as the "good guys" fighting evil. What a country.
Um, I heard the broadcast. Here is what he said, verbatim, "Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism, since I'm not talking about autism? A fraud, a racket. For a long while, we were hearing that every minority child had asthma. Why did they sudden -- why was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], "When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], 'I don't know, the dust got me.' " See, everyone had asthma from the minority community. That was number one. 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. 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." Autism -- everybody has an illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, "Don't behave like a fool." The worst thing he said -- "Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry." That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have. " If Savage/Weiner knew anything about how autism is diagnosed, he would know that it is not a "money racket," that they are not done casually. He did not provide one scintilla of evidence that 99% of autism cases are misdiagnosed. My child has autism, and I would estimate that our family has lost well into the six figures of income lost and medical costs because of it. That includes the time we had to take our son to the emergency room while getting ready for church one Sunday morning because he banged so hard into a glass window that he cut his wrists and almost died. Many families with an autistic child have to declare bankruptcy (the only reason our family has been able to make it is because of my trading profits). It has been estimated that 85% of marriages with an autistic child end in divorce because of the pressure, the time involved, and the general difficulty. And then we have a talk radio blowhard who thinks it is mostly a scam to suck money from the public. Totally clueless. Simply put, the "Savage" Weiner provided no evidence for his assertions. He has a Ph.D. and should therefore know better. He should get raked over the coals for his big mouth. I am glad that citizens have used their free speech to pressure advertisers to stop sponsoring Savage's brand of ignorance. Yes, this is a free country, and all of us have free speech, but all of us are responsible for our willful actions, which includes what we say. If the Weiner cannot take the heat for his big mouth, then he should shut the f$% up. Savage Weiner is free to use his free speech to act like an idiot. Ironically, for all of his talk on how weak fathers, the "Savage" Weiner did not take his own father's advice about not sounding "like an idiot." Then again, what else can the guy do? Sell cars?
Mercor: ] If placebo effect exisits and phyiscal symptoms exist, then it may not be a medical situation but a behavior issue. No, Mercor, the placebo effect does not indicate that a disease is just in a person's head. It is well known that it has a real effect on real diseases of all types.
Yes , free speech for everyone. Free speech can expose the ones who speak freely about things they know nothing about. I know not alot about autism. I do know a boy who is 9 years old with autism and this boy can meet you one time, and if he sees your car, he will remember your license plate number. He remembers everyones license number that he has ever met, and their name. This is not fake.
Glad to see ET is not filled with nothing but knee jerk bleeding hearts. Savage never claimed autism didn't exist. That these morons would go off the deep end and throw a shit fit, proves conclusively that they are not to be taken seriously. The everyone has a disease, everyone is sick, "I'm entitled to endless insurance and government handouts" syndrome needs to stop. It can't stop if we're afraid to call the phonies and the misguided out. He may be many things, but Savage has the balls to do just that. If you can't take the heat, then crawl back into your victimhood.
For the quick read on autism, and I do mean quick but eye opening, start reading on page 214 in the book "Blink" in stock at Borders. They reference Ami Klin as an expert and review a few studies.
Ok, yes. People jump on the bandwagon of free money for a fake diagnosis someitmes. So the problem is how to diagnose truthfully. But there is no doubt to me that some children show unusual abilitys to remember details about strangers when normal children do not. Or to hear a song once and remeber its melody exactly is not usual. And to show no emotion to a loving parent, or not show normal childhood crying or laughing is unusual. This in not bleeding heart mentality, but an observation and comparison of what we know as normal.