Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ...

Post Reply New Topic

No use getting pissed off at every idiot on this earth...because if you did, you'd die of a heart attack.

Must. stop. steam. from. coming. out. of. ears.

This guy needs to be fired. We're "brats"? Does this guy even know about adults and those in their late teens on the Autism spectrum like myself? I was diagnosed when I was 8 by people who are far smarter than Michael Savage.


All hope isn't lost. We have celebrity photo vandaliser Perez Hilton on our side. Here's what Perez has to say.

Sure, the world is full of idiots. But it really pisses me off when somebody of considerably high education or influence says stupid harmful things like this.

I'm new here, and afraid this will make me quite unpopular but why should WP be any different from the rest of the world, right? Coming from a group of people who are accustomed to being judged and ostracized by the ignorant masses, I'm disappointed by all the venom I'm seeing spewed at Savage also out of ignorance. How many of us have been discounted by people who never took the time to understand the first thing about us based on one thing we said or did? And how many of you have spouted this negativity without any first-hand knowledge of what the man stands for? Savage is an intelligent, well educated, passionate, and - YES - compassionate - individual who doesn't deserve to be written off every time someone disagrees with him. YES he is extreme, and YES that means sometimes he'll be EXTREMELY WRONG! But sometimes he gets it right too. Just like the rest of us. Unfortunately his words are subject to the media magnifying glass and ours aren't.

That being said, I heard parts of his show yesterday. And it hurt. A lot. By the time I got home from dropping my boyfriend off at work I was in tears, doubting both my own diagnosis and my integrity. I had also mentally composed much of a message I intended to post here on WP to share my frustration because I thought I'd find understanding here. And do you know why I didn't post? Because I was afraid you would all criticize me for listening to his show in the first place. Now I can see I was right. And, frankly, as bad as I felt after hearing the show, the last thing I needed was a bunch of people screaming "IDIOT!" If I have gotten a lot of comfort from his words at times when there wasn't a single person in my life who saw the things I saw and he's an idiot -- what does that make me? Thank you.

But now I've put myself out here to be judged right along with him so I may as well continue. If you're interested in the perspective of a person on the spectrum who actually listened to the show, here it is. And granted, I did not hear everything, and no I'm not interested in reading the transcript. It was painful enough the first time.

During the time I was listening, he was complaining about how overly-diagnosed disorders such as Autism and ADD are in children these days. It's hard to disagree with that. He also made the point that the medical establishment is too quick to medicate everyone - children increasingly so. Also true. I mean, here in the US we actually have schools that will deny admission to students that the schools themselves diagnose with one disorder or another if their parents refuse to medicate them. A school shouldn't have authority to diagnose anyone. It's a legitimate problem. But, being an extreme, passionate, opinionated person who's come to believe that there's too much BS in this country AND whose field of expertise is not neurological disorders, he took it a dozen steps further. He basically went on a (typical Savage) rant, claiming that anyone diagnosed with an ASD aside from classic Autism itself - and/or the individual who diagnosed them - is just a non-conformist who wants to play the system. They want a piece of paper that entitles them to assitance from the government. There isn't anything really "wrong" with them.

Of course I'm paraphrasing, please don't take any of that as a quote. It's just the impression I walked away from the show with.

Unlike the majority of you, over the past seven years I have come to respect a lot of (I did not say ALL of) what Savage has to say, so I do not have the luxury of dismissing his words out of hand as the rambling of an idiot. Everyone is wrong sometimes. The man can't be an expert on everything. Does that mean he should keep his mouth shut? If you say yes, then where do we draw the line? How much do we limit free speech, exactly? I know that some of what he said was hurtful - it hurt me! But I still defend his right to say it.

I'd like to say more but I've probably lost you already and I don't want to hijack so I'll stop here. Please don't attack me for what I've had to say. I came to WP because I needed a safe place to discuss things I thought only others on the spectrum would understand and I thought I would find people here who were as tired of the judgment and negativity out in the world as I am. But since I've been here I've seen so much anger and judgment and so many heated arguments that I wonder if I came to the wrong place. It just makes me sad. Don't we get enough of that crap "out there?"

I heard what Savage said and I did not like what I heard.

i would like to welcome the new person too. *offers welcome cake*

What cracks me up, is how much money there is to be made by offending the right people. If you're a hard metal act, go ahead, offend the Christian right wing. It's not like they're going to buy your album anyway, and you'll gain credibility with the sort of people who would buy your album. If you're really lucky, they may even protest, you can't buy that sort of publicity. The same things works in reverse too, if you're of the right wing persuasion, it's in your interest to piss off the gays, bleeding hearts, vegans etc that never would be potential customers, but who may give you free press. This is a perfect example, I doubt that Michael Savage has a huge autistic contingent among his listeners, so pissing us off costs him nothing, and if we make a fuss, it nets him some free publicity, AKA free money. Why wouldn't he try to piss us off? Taking it personally is foolish, it's business, pure and simple. Just ignore him, and he's sure to return the favor.

I know (or have at least heard here) that this guy's just a shock-jock who makes his money by creating controversy. The reality is though, he is spreading very damaging ignorance and hurting a lot of people in the process, so he can't just be flat-out ignored like we want him to be. Hopefully someone will get through to him on a personal level and stop him from selling his soul any further.

I had to drive across town last night, and heard some of his follow-up to the controversy he created.

huh?

everyone's entitled to his own opinion

even though how stupid it is

controversy = money hahaha.... whatta a way to earn

Mr. Savage is a "Bigot". I have been to two other places, and I will say it again. He can go to his "Hate Closet and ROT". He has made it harder on all of us. He is a BRAT , and he has gotten in trouble for past comments. He belongs to the 19th-Century with the rest of his kind.

I really like Michael Savage even though I don't agree with his stance on this subject. If you listen to the man you may agree with a lot of his views. He despises social run government red tape programs like I do. He recently has stood up and raised money for the defense of some of our military heroes coming back from Iraq that that the vermin media and government are trying demonize.

Tuh.. I've tried to be lenient to this man, I've tried to ignore his idiocy, but now I am OFICIALLY pissed off. Now I am going to fly out and burn his sorry excuse for a studio. Excuse me while I go wake my dragon.