Say Anything Blog

Michael Weiner is a hater, a bigot, and an ignoramus.

Heh, he is a talented radio personality however, if you can stomach that stuff.

Years ago they said that children who had autism were 1 in several thousand. Today they have signs up in Schnucks saying autism affects 1 in 113. Did the cases of autism really jump that much? Of course not. They’ve broadened autism to include a lot more that it used to.

When we look at the “socialist paradise” that is Cuba, we must remember that a sizable share of the misery those people suffer is directly attributable to Che Guevara bringing Castro into power, and giving him many of the policies that have caused so much pain. The real symbol of Che should be the raft, to remind us of all those who have died on rafts in the ocean trying to escape the Cuban nightmare and get to freedom. And had he not been killed, begging for his life like a coward, he would’ve done the same thing again and again in countries all throughout Latin and South America. His actions have inspired terrorists across a continent and caused countless deaths.

I listened to Savage because he was generally anti-Bush and I wanted to hear from a thoughtful, well spoken opponent. 

Don’t mock me.  Most experiments end in failure.

Kenney,

I don’t know where those stats come from but even if they’re true - autism isn’t something you just shake your finger at and correct. It isn’t a behavioral disorder, and Savage is a dick to mock it like that.

Election ‘08 - We Are So Screwed

Another lunatic conservative

The point he was trying to make was in the mis-diagnosis of American children.  He was talking about the new practice of perscribing cholestorol medication in children as young as 2.  He was using ADD and riddlin as an example and I think he got carried away (as he often tends to do), or misused the word ‘autism’ when he meant ADD. 
Savage has multiple degrees and is a very smart man.  He obviously knows that autisum is a serious disease.
His points were about the pharmacutical companies / hospitals / insurance companies working together to take advantage of uninformed parents.

And I’m not saying I agree with Savage 100% of the time.  I often have to turn the channel when he starts ranting, but this should definitely be taken with a grain of salt.  The media loves to take any conservatives words and twist them.  This is just their latest attempt to force Savage off the air.

I don’t know where those stats come from but even if they’re true - autism isn’t something you just shake your finger at and correct. It isn’t a behavioral disorder, and Savage is a dick to mock it like that.

He’s not mocking it. He’s saying that it’s the new ADD, that most people who are diagnosed don’t have it.

That diagnoses went through the roof is simple fact:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/26/national/26AUTI.html?ei=5007&en=df60f2977058a880&ex=1390453200&adxnnl=1&partner=USERLAND&adxnnlx=1075129562-T3QDwLuvT1o+uhFlrvnXRA

Cases tripled between 1987 and 1998, while the population went up less than 20%. Then it doubled in the four years after.
Ironically, at the same time cases increased, the doctors who were discovering the “epidemic” starting calling for federal funds.

No one is shy about admitting that the criteria for determining what is autism has been WIDELY expanded. Many of the new criteria could just as easily apply to behavioral problems.

Autism is now big business, and like a lot of politicized science, it appears to be filled with junk research and padded numbers. It means more federal funds and more money from doping kids up.

Michael Savage may be a blowhard and hard to listen to, but he wasn’t attacking Autistic children, or mocking the disease. I don’t really care for him, (and have made posts in the past mocking him) but I listened to that episode, and his comments were not mocking towards the handicapped. And parents are mad because he hit close to home with the one comment:

Many teachers and some parents just want someone else to deal with their child. Whatever the diagnosis, as long as someone else takes care of it, they’ll go along with it. Medicating children has taken the place of teaching and parenting.

When we look at the “socialist paradise” that is Cuba, we must remember that a sizable share of the misery those people suffer is directly attributable to Che Guevara bringing Castro into power, and giving him many of the policies that have caused so much pain. The real symbol of Che should be the raft, to remind us of all those who have died on rafts in the ocean trying to escape the Cuban nightmare and get to freedom. And had he not been killed, begging for his life like a coward, he would’ve done the same thing again and again in countries all throughout Latin and South America. His actions have inspired terrorists across a continent and caused countless deaths.

Hey Kenny, who are the people morphed into your avatar?

“If a conservative is still a republican after the last 13 years, he is blind to the fact that his party of choice has failed him utterly.” – Realitybasedbob

I am not defending anyone here, but having worked closely in the educational environment with children diagnosed with Autism, whether they are truly diagnosed or misdiagnosed, almost all of them can be disciplined sufficiently to cause them to behave like human beings out in society in a decent and acceptable manner. I mean the very worst of them, worst meaning the hardest to control! I also know that far too many children with Autism can be spoiled by overindulgent parents that look upon their poor children as being handicapped rather than expecting them to grow, develop and be productive citizens.

Lastly, I agree that Austism is a big money industry today. In some ways, for those families with truly severe Austic chiuldren I am happy it is attracting government (tax) financial assistance, while in other ways some people do bleed the system because like human beings without children that are suffering from Austism, there are bloodsuckers everywhere.

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

Here’s the deal, there are people making lots of money off of autism but they’re not your family doctor, pediatrician, big bad pharmaceutical companies, parents of autistic individuals, or autistic individuals themselves. Contrary to popular belief autistic individuals and their families do not grow fat suckling at the government teet. Autistic individuals and their families make do with whatever they can cobble together in their area. And while they do so they have to fend off the criticism and condemnation of those who choose to believe that autism is bad parenting, bratty kids, an over/mis-diagnosed fraud, a ploy to get government goodies, or some combination thereof.

PS, there are no medications approved for the treatment of autism. There are some that are approved for treating conditions that sometimes occur along with autism (such as depression, anxiety, and OCD) but that’s it. As far as the medical community is concerned autistic individuals are on their own after diagnosis.

Samantha,

No one is suggesting that autistic families “get fat off the government teet”. Autism takes time, money and a lot of patience when the child is indeed autistic.

But there is a lot of money to be made in therapy (and there are a lot of options: http://autism.about.com/od/treatmentoptions/tp/topdevandbehav.htm ). If the diagnosis is phony, that’a a LOT of money down the drain for no good reason. Medicine is also routinely doled out to “help with learning” and deal with hyperactivity and disobediance. Of course, this isn’t the fault of the drug companies, as they just sell what is requested. And there are federal funds going to autism research.

The psychiatric field makes a lot of money off of Autism. And the jump in profitiblity in treating the disease coincides with the increase in cases.

When we look at the “socialist paradise” that is Cuba, we must remember that a sizable share of the misery those people suffer is directly attributable to Che Guevara bringing Castro into power, and giving him many of the policies that have caused so much pain. The real symbol of Che should be the raft, to remind us of all those who have died on rafts in the ocean trying to escape the Cuban nightmare and get to freedom. And had he not been killed, begging for his life like a coward, he would’ve done the same thing again and again in countries all throughout Latin and South America. His actions have inspired terrorists across a continent and caused countless deaths.

I left a comment regarding this very thing at another blog and I’m copying and pasting it here. I can tolerate Savage in small doses, but the negativity really gets to me after a while. The only thing I’ll say supportive of him is that he raised a boatload of money for the Haditha Marines and for that I’m grateful.

Here’s my comment fwiw

I worked in special education preschool for a while and will say that there are kids with true autism and then there are kids who’s parents are just too damn lazy to discipline them and like to keep them doped up so they don’t have to deal with them. They make their children mindless little drones.

Savage is just talking hyperbole here like he always does. Seriously though, you people who have children with autism and adhd, don’t you get frustrated seeing people who drug their kids up who you know full well don’t need it?

I think parents who dope up their kids for their selfish reasons really do a disservice to those whose kids have real problems by making add/adhd/autism seem less credible.

I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.

Yes people are suggesting that autistic individuals and their families are taking money that they don’t deserve. That was part of Savage’s point that in his words 99% of autistic children are faking it so that their parents can get some cash from somebody. The fact remains that there is no financial benefit to being diagnosed as autistic. You do get the privilege of being called a dumb brat who’s faking it and who just needs to be told to cut it out though. You also get the privilege of being labeled a drain on society.

Most autistic individuals never see a psychiatrist. There aren’t enough in the country to go around. The psychiatric field is not making any money off of autistic individuals because they never see the vast majority of them. If you’re interested in a good discussion of the evolution of autism diagnosis you can read Unstrange Minds by Roy Grinker. I think it would help clear up a lot of your misconceptions about autism diagnosis.

As I said, the money made in autism these days is coming out of the pockets of parents. It is not going into the pockets of pharmacuetical companies or the family doctor or the specialist who diagnoses autism. People selling unproven cures and treatments are the ones making money. I don’t see this as grounds for claiming that autistic individuals and their families are faking it or frauds running a racket to get money out of people or the government.

Again, there are no drugs approved to treat autism. Whatever you are talking about with regards to kids souped up on drugs is not autism. What is the evidence for this argument any way?

Savage’s remarks may have been hyperbole, he may be granted the right to say it by the Constitution but he’s still wrong.

Michael Savage Wiener is the bravest and most honest voice speaking for movement conservatives on the air today. His insight and cutting edge commentary pulls aside the curtain weaker conservatives cower behind out of an unwarranted fear that their deeply held beliefs will be ridiculed as fringe and hate mongering. We all know that’s not true. Mr. Savage Wiener is a conservative hero and deserves our respect.

Here’s to you Savage Wiener, man of conservative values and a great American too.

“If a conservative is still a republican after the last 13 years, he is blind to the fact that his party of choice has failed him utterly.” – Realitybasedbob

That was part of Savage’s point that in his words 99% of autistic children are faking it so that their parents can get some cash from somebody.

I didn’t see the mention of money anywhere in his quote above. I was basing my statement on his actual quote.

Again, there are no drugs approved to treat autism. Whatever you are talking about with regards to kids souped up on drugs is not autism.

Exactly, that’s my point. I’m talking specifically about the kids who don’t really have autism. I don’t think the kids are faking it, I think the parents don’t want to deal with their kids. Again, I’m talking specifically about people who don’t really have autism.

The parents can go to a doctor, read a list of symptoms they found on the internet and without doing any checking to see if the kid really has autism, they’ll give the parents a prescription based on the parent’s words alone. There is no true test for autism, just a checklist.

Parents who’s kids really do have autism know this and they know full well their kid has autism, but you can’t draw a vial of blood and diagnose autism.

Since you seem to know so much about autism, you also know that Autism is actually a diagnosis that encompasses several different disorders, all of which affect a child causing developmental delays. Most notably, in autism there tends to be major speech and communicative delays, but in some other forms of Autism Spectrum Disorder, the speech and communication develops normally, sometimes even at an accelerated pace, such as Aspergers Syndrome.

There might not be drugs approved to treat autism, but there are drugs used to treat the symptoms of autism. If you’re familiar with autism, you know this. They are intended to address specific symptoms including behavioral issues, anxiety or depression, mood swings (bipolar disorder), obsessive compulsive disorder, attentional issues and hyperactivity.

Doctors might not necessarily make money from pushing drugs, but I know quite a few who get some serious perks, when they use one drug over another. Vacations, lots of free, expensive meals for their entire family with alcohol as much as they can drink.

If you take out his hyperbole, you will find he’s not wrong. Ask any special education teacher in this country what their opinion is. They’ve seen the increase in kids that are doped up because the parents and the teachers can’t deal with them.

Having so many people diagnosed as austic that really aren’t, only hurts the cause.

I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.

Yes people are suggesting that autistic individuals and their families are taking money that they don’t deserve.

ah, I see you were directing the money quote to someone else, but I still don’t see where money is brought up with Michael Savage.

I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.

For a brief and more positive story about an autism success story try this from the Gwinnett (GA) magazine.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Savage is trying to recover from his blundering statement. Check the update.

Election ‘08 - We Are So Screwed

BTW… my best friend has an autistic daughter.  I don’t think anyone could truly understand what that is like unless you live it day-in and day-out.  However… there are MANY, MANY governement benifits for autistic (and probably other handicaps) that I didn’t even know existed.  The one that shocked me the most was the money available to my friend for ‘babysitting’ her own child.  Even her 19 year old son can collect a check since he stays and watches her on occasion. 

My friend thinks its ludicrous that the government would pay her to take care of her own child and so refuses to take advantage of that program.  However… just in citing this one example, you can see where the problem lies.  If a doctor ‘misdiagnosis’ (*wink,wink*) a child, the parents can collect big time. 

Its like every other government program out there.  While there are people who truly need the assistance, there are many more out there taking advantage of the system while the rest of us foot the bill.

there are MANY, MANY governement benifits for autistic (and probably other handicaps) that I didn’t even know existed.

Oh you know what? I forgot about that! My ex-sister in law used to get that for her daughter that has epilepsy.

My sister also used to work as what they call a “respite care worker”. Even if you’re not needy, if you have a disabled child (emotionally or physcially) they will pay for you to have a babysitter several times a week to give you a break. This is in San Diego, I don’t know about other parts of the country.

I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.