The Ignorance Extraordinair Award Goes To…
Posted by athinkingwoman on July 26th, 2008
Michael Savage.
This is really sad. Mr. Savage, who I usually find entertaining to listen to (although I don’t listen to him all that much), has a pretty strong opinion about something he has obviously never taken the time to study. He has a voice on the air. People listen to him. He should realize what an important role he has in society. The unlearned will listen to him. Here are a couple of quotes from his show this past Wednesday…
“During last Wednesday’s show, Savage called autism a “fraud” and “racket.”
“Now the illness du jour is autism,” Savage said. “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?” Savage added. “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.’ ”
Speaking of morons…
What an assumption! First Savage assumes that autistic children don’t have fathers around. I’ll be the first to say, that ALL of the autistic children I know of personally, have fathers who are active in their lives. Mr. Savage also assumes (well, actually he states dogmatically) that 99% of autistic kids are undisciplined. Any of my close friends can tell you that the reason my housework doesn’t get done on any given day is because with all the disciplining, I haven’t had enough time in my day to do it. I feel like all I ever do is discipline! There are certain “diagnosis” that I (cautiously) feel are the result of an undisciplined home, but Autism is NOT one of them. Does lack of discipline really make a kids run in circles flapping his arms when he’s happy? Does lack of discipline really make a kid lie down and watch the wheels of his toy car spin rather than making “vroom” sounds and driving it? Does lack of discipline make a child painfully sensitive to loud noises?
There is no limit to what I would give so that my precious son could live a happy life and be understood by others. But with big mouths like Savage out there? Who’s going to take the time to try to understand him?
Sorry if I seem a little flustered. I am. Mr. Savage needs to do some research next time he gets the urge to slander a bunch of vulnerable children to have to live life under the scrutiny of those who are a little more perfect than them.