If you haven’t read what talk show host Michael Savage thinks about autistic children (99% of whom he says are misdiagnosed), go here.
If you haven’t read his attempt to explain himself, go here. Savage cites his own experience seeing his “severely disabled” sibling die in a “‘snake-pit’ of a ‘mental hospital'” New York as why he “[knows] first-hand what true disability is.”
This is my suggestion for providing him with a little autism education. And then things got even more interesting when I brought up a recent use of the word “retarded” by another mother of a disabled child.
Maybe sticks and stones don’t break my bones, but names—but words—can really, really hurt and miss the mark entirely.
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Thanks so much for posting on this, Kristina! I was so angered when I read the things he said- I realize that talk show hosts make a living off of sensationalism and contorting facts, and I expect it, but there’s a line between comedy and hatred that’s not too difficult to see. What I find especially disturbing is his consistent comparison of autistic children or their behaviour with girls or girlish behaviour. Who, exactly, is he trying to insult here? And blaming their parents- what was he thinking? Keep us posted if you find out about any repercussions…
I was most troubled, too, by that comparison and autistic children to girlish—“not boy enough”—behavior. A part of me thinks that he’s taking advantage of all the attention given to autism and mouthing off and getting a lot of (undeserved) attention; he’s apparently made other unfound comments on an “asthma epidemic.” Some sponsors have withdrawn their support and an an online petition’s been started:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/DisabilityCommunitySavage/
but the network is defending him.
http://www.autismvox.com/network-defends-dr-savage/
http://mediaandmayhem.com/2008/07/25/home-depot-still-hasnt-answered-a-straight-question-about-any-relationship-they-might-have-had-with-michael-savage-courageous-ridiculer-of-disabled-kids/