Michael Savage’s Autism Rant – UPDATE
Posted by: onemom on: July 25, 2008
- In: 3. Politics
- Comment!
I enter into this topic very carefully.
Until a few days ago I had never heard of Michael Savage, when he made headlines for ranting about the over-diagnosis of autism. While his choice of words were thoughtless and cruel, his basic premise – that autism is over-diagnosed – is something I agree with. To read the story about the controversy, please click HERE.
Earlier this week, Savage did an entire program on Autism. In this program he talked with parents and professionals about this perceived growing epidemic. In this program he had Dr. Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University to talk about autism, problems with diagnosing, and the differences between communication disorders and autism. For those of you who read my blog, you will know that Dr. Camarata is the person we took our daughter Hannah to for a lengthy evaluation when she was three years old. Her diagnosis is a severe mixed expressive/receptive language disorder. She is 6 now, and we still are working our way in this communication wilderness, but we’re making progress. Autism is not part of our daughter’s diagnosis, nor should it be. As Dr. Camarata explained on Savage’s program, the key marker of autism is the reduced or total lack of motivation for social interaction. While our daughter certainly has difficulty with language, she has no lack of desire for social interaction. Unfortunately, the ever-expanding autism umbrella has twisted it to be that language disorders are the hallmark for autism, and this is truly a perversion of what Kanner originally described.
For parents of children with classic autism, it is a difficult road to be sure. These families need all the love, support and assistance we can provide. What they don’t need is people with children with language disorders claiming their “autistic” child was cured or having them clogging up the system so that the kids who really are autistic do not have access to as much as they need.
I encourage you to take the time to listen to the program from July 21st … especially the middle portion with Dr. Camarata. You can access the program HERE.
For the rest of our story and my views on all of this, please read OneMom Speaks and visit my other blog A Time to Talk. For more from Dr. Camarata, please click HERE.
OneMom
(July 28, 2008 Update: Please click HERE for a statement from Talk Radio Network. Then go HERE for the rest of the story).
18 Responses to "Michael Savage’s Autism Rant – UPDATE"
July 25, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Frances – I have always thought that about ADHD. I actually think now that ADHD is no longer “in vogue”, and has been replaced by autism.
July 25, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I’d never heard of Mr.Savage before this week either, even though the radio is on in the background as I type. [Thank goodness for Science Friday on NPR]
Otherwise it’s certainly interesting to hear different viewpoints from what might be considered mainstream media.
I’d certainly be interested in hearing your response to Frances’ question too.
Best wishes
July 25, 2008 at 2:40 pm
i thought of you when i heard about this whole controversy yesterday. interesting to read your thoughts on it.
July 25, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I listen to Savage from time to time, and he usually rants about something or other (that I often agree with) in a non-PC and sometimes insensitive way. I agree that his basic premise is true, though his hurtful and exaggerrated language didn’t help.
July 25, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I could be very upset with Michael Savages’s comments as my wonderful loving grandson has autism. But I have to feel sorry for such an angry uninformed man that only understands what he has experienced. The thing about Michael Savage is he frightens me. Given the right circumstances, I could see him as having the capability of becoming a Hitler or a Husseim.
July 25, 2008 at 7:04 pm
debbie – you need to listen to the program that I have linked to in the post. Savage is a “shock jock” … he makes his money saying outrageous things. He is in no way another Hitler or Sadam.
July 25, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Maybe you’ve covered this before — I haven’t been through all the blog posts yet — but if so, I’d be interested to read it, and if not, I’d be interested to hear your take.
We didn’t vaccinate our children for other personal reasons, but since making that decision, I’ve heard and read quite about researchers investigating a link between vaccinations and autism. Have you encountered this school of thought at all? If so, what was your take on it? Something to consider, or just a bunch of quackery?
July 25, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Rob – I haven’t addressed it because it brings a firestorm I’m not interested in participating in. Bottom line is that there is so much research that it is irrefutable … vaccines do not cause autism.
Dr. Camarata discusses this in his portion of the Savage broadcast I’ve linked to in the post.
July 26, 2008 at 11:07 am
I’m no fan of Savage, though I listen to his show now and then. His style is well on the other side of the line of civility for me.
However, he has some good points about health and nutrition, if you can get through the malarkey to listen to it.
July 27, 2008 at 4:25 pm
One Mom
I love the improvements you have made on your blog. Beautiful flowers…
July 28, 2008 at 12:09 am
My son has autism. Savage’s idiotic comments are way off base, they are offensive and inflammatory. Noah is 9 years old and I have spent the last 8 years learning, teaching, struggling, crying, and smiling. The things he said were like a slap in the face….more like being spit on. Noah lives with me and his father and his 2 older sisters and younger brother: the issues we deal with everyday as a whole family have nothing to do with lack of parental figures and/ or lack of discipline. Explaining autism to children is extremly frustrating, it’s very hard to understand and people tend to make a lot of misguided assumptions. Now, thanks to this effing moron, it’s going to be difficult to make some adults understand and be willing to take Noah’s special needs into consideration. I want to be able to give Noah as many oppurtunities and experiences as his siblings have, he deserves them, but I can’t do that alone. Tolerance and understanding from others will be required everyday of my son’s life. I have no clue why someone would go out of their way to make this harder.
July 28, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I thought you might be interested to know that American Thinker did a story on the Savage ordeal. Here is the link.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/07/savage_misguidance.html
July 30, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Hmm. I know there is considerable debate and I’m likewise not interested in jumping into it, but I don’t know that the research I’ve encountered on either side could easily be labeled “irrefutable.”
July 30, 2008 at 4:36 pm
rob – when you look at the quality of the studies (study design, etc) and number of studies, it is as irrefutable as a topic can be.
July 30, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I was quite surprised today when I read the “Conway Daily Sun” and spotted an article to
“Dear Abby” about this very subject. I had no idea it had entered public discourse to such a degree!
July 31, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Like I say, my primary interest was just knowing how you view the issue, and now I know. Thanks for taking the time to answer.
July 25, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Do you think that ADHD is one of those over diagnosed problems as well? I am no expert, but it seems to me that many (or at least some) ADHD kids just need parental interaction and firm but kind discipline. Anyway, I would love to hear your much more professional opinion.