Viagra for Women, Michael Savage Says 99% of Autism is Fraud, Ashton Kutcher, Tattoo Remorse and More!
Today on the Dish…Viagra for Women, Michael Savage Says 99% of Autism is Fraud, Ashton Kutcher, Tattoo Remorse and More!
I’ve asked Nancy Price, co-founder of SheKnows — and mother to an autistic son — to blog in response to Mr Savage’s comments. I’ll add mine too: Mr Savage shouldn’t make such blatant and careless statements without having evidence to support the position.
Whenever I hear such completely asinine comments like Savage’s (perfectly apt name, by the way), my first reaction is sort of a smack-forehead, roll-eyes combo.
Here’s a little of the verbal diarrhea Michael Savage recently shared about autistic kids:
In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out… 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, you idiot.’
Blather like that makes me wonder who here should really be riding the “short bus.”
After three “typical” kids, our family welcomed fabulous little boy named Quinn (see him with his big sister below). From the start, he had his own unique little quirks, and they grew more pronounced over time.
Eventually we came to realize that he had many of the hallmarks of autism, and therefore we needed to seek assistance for him
right away in order to help him learn to function in the world and grow into a truly contributing member of our society. Even if he had been our only child, we didn’t have the skills or experience needed to give him all that he needed.
And so began the long and arduous process of getting him “services” — in our case, that meant primarily speech therapy (because his verbal skills were just about nil) and occupational therapy (learning how to do day-to-day stuff, from washing hands to using a fork to realizing it’s not safe to run into the street).
Realize that we don’t get cash in pocket — not even a penny — because of his autism diagnosis. We get these services to help him learn and grow as a person. If he didn’t need this assistance, such intervention would actually be a negative benefit: they would slow him down and keep him from the lessons that are, in fact, appropriate for his age.
Savage clearly has not known anyone who has actually obtained an autism diagnosis. I have — in two states, no less. Put simply: It’s a total pain in the a*s. There are seemingly endless evaluations and meetings and daily discussions and mountains of paperwork. (Seriously, I have accumulated a stack of papers at least two feet high over the years.)
Quinn’s dad, stepmom and I are all very involved parents, and regularly attend meetings with various specialists, during which we discuss his skills (and lack thereof) to the nth degree, and figure out what intensive therapies our guy still needs.
But like other autistic kids in his school, Quinn doesn’t qualify for every sort of therapy — for example, physical therapy — and that’s not just okay, that’s great! Not only is he not wasting time needlessly working on problems he doesn’t have, I’m happy to know that he registers as “typical” in that department. Over time, the goal is to get his skill set completely on par with other kids of his age.
To be honest, the word we use to describe this set of needs is irrelevant. If these children need serious assistance in any area, their needs should be met. It’s preventative medicine.
And in the past 5 years in the system — which includes services via public schools, in-home and at a facility for kids like Quinn — I have yet to meet even one child who I doubt is pretty deeply into the autistic spectrum.
Of course there are people who abuse the system — and that goes for any system. But I’d say that the balance of fraudsters is much closer to the first percentile than the 99th.
Giving voice to the ignorant minority of people who somehow contend that autism is a crock is annoying at best, downright harmful at worst.
As for my fellow parents of kids with autism: vent, complain, tell everyone you know that Savage is a putz. But please don’t take his comments too much to heart. He’s not worth it. Our hearts have enough going on that we really don’t need some random, clueless, angry idiot zapping what’s left of our energy.
And on that note… I’m done talking about him. I have a million things in my life that are more important/interesting/useful than Savage. Like watching paint dry — or, perhaps, trying to find a tree fairy in my backyard. Or, more seriously, hanging out with my boy and being the best mama that I can.
I’ve featured much of what Quinn has taught me in our “Autism in the family” article series on SheKnows. To find out more about the everyday experience of autism, I hope you’ll check it out. Start here: SheKnows.com/autism.
Links mentioned in today’s Dish…
http://www.sheknows.com/articles/804742.htm
http://www.sheknows.com/articles/6203.htm
http://www.SheKnows.com/autism
http://www.sheknows.com/articles/804869.htm
http://www.deliriusdesign.com/
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