Action opposing Savage's words on Autism

[Guest guest]

Dear friend,

I am contacting you regarding recent comments

about children diagnosed with Autism made by

Savage on his talk radio show that is aired on Talk Radio Network.

I am the parent of a 12 year old son who is

medically and educationally diagnosed with

Autism. I also have an older sister who is

diagnosed with Autism. I am offended and

concerned about Mr. Savage’s comments and their

potential impact upon my family and other

families dealing with Autism. Here is what Savage said.

‘Now, the illness du jour is autism. 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? 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.' Autism—everybody has an

illness. If I behaved like a fool, my father

called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't

behave like a fool.' The worst thing he

said—'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be

anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't

act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was

raised with. That's what you should raise your

children with. Stop with the sensitivity

training. You're turning your son into a girl,

and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men.’

These are the words of a man who has no

experience with, or knowledge about Autism. He

does not spend his nights with a child who

repeatedly wakes up throughout the night. He does

not understand the difficulty of maintaining a

special diet to prevent his child from having

constant diarrhea and infections with high fevers

and heroin like effects from certain food

proteins. He cannot comprehend the challenges of

coping with sensory issues, spatial issues,

safety issues, medical issues, educational

issues, behavioral issues, fixation issues, etc,

etc, etc. These are not problems that a child

chooses to have, or that are caused by poor

parenting or the absence of one parent. Autism is

a neuro-biological condition with roots in

genetics that we are still discovering.

Savage has always been known for

controversy, but this time he has gone way over

the line of what should be tolerated or ignored.

His message damages the forward progress of the

last 50+ years. When my sister was diagnosed with

Autism there was another Savage claiming

that Autism was caused by mothers being

emotionally distant or cold toward their

children. Dr.Bruno Bettelheim, and his

contemporaries, brought much grief upon my mother

and others like her who were doing the best they

could to care for children with severe challenges

that often included self-injurious behaviors and

other behaviors that were so difficult and

unpleasant that most people would not even be

able to imagine living with them.

His words will only add to the difficulty that

parents face when seeking to obtain appropriate

educational services for our children. Many

teachers already harbor thoughts that are not

unlike Mr. Savage’s. Some of them and their

assistants have resorted to placing our children

in locked isolation closets or they engage in the

use of dangerous restraint procedures because

they lack training in how to calm or re-direct a

child with Autism. Most people would be shocked

to learn how frequently this is happening here in

the United States. Individualized Education

Programs (IEP) are mandated by the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure

that a child’s individual educational needs are

met. However, many parents of children with

Autism have found it necessary to bring lawyers

or assistants with them to IEP meetings to

prevent school districts from depriving their

children of services that are essential. School

staff members often see our children as a problem

to be dealt with rather than as an educational opportunity.

Beyond the educational issues are the looks,

stares, glares, and comments of people who do not

understand Autism who we encounter when we take

our children out into a public place. Mr.

Savage’s message has surely reached the minds of

many of these individuals making it even more

unpleasant for us to engage in routine activities.

Mr. Savage has described the following verbal

method of teaching/correcting a child with

Autism, '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.’

Savage’s method will not work for several

reasons. Some children with Autism are so

impacted by challenges that they may not even

comprehend these words. Others, who are higher

functioning, may not have a typical empathetic

bond that exists between a parent and a child.

They may also lack what is often referred to as

Theory of Mind (TOM) which would allow them to

have a basis for understanding another person’s

intentions, desires, beliefs, etc. Without these

typical mental and emotional tools Mr. Savage’s

methods are meaningless to our children. Even for

a typical child, Mr. Savage’s method would be demeaning.

Most parents of children with Autism have tried

many methods to reach our children, and have

found that typical methods rarely work and

usually make matters far worse than before. If

Mr. Savage had a child with Autism he would

probably understand this. What do work are

adaptive strategies that help make a child’s

world more predictable and less invasive from a

sensory perspective. Methods that identify, and

compensate for developmental losses and

impairments also make learning possible. Where

Mr. Savage, through ignorance, attempts to make

the child somehow change to comply with our

world, in reality we need to change our methods

of communication while making the child’s world

more structured, predictable and functional.

While it is highly likely that there are some

cases in which Autism is incorrectly diagnosed,

or where medications are inappropriately

prescribed, it is not the place of someone such

as Mr. Savage to make a broad and baseless

statement that has this type of negative impact.

He is not an authority on these matters and has

obviously not even taken the time to have the most basic of understandings.

Raising a child with Autism has many rewards, but

the purpose of this message is to reveal that

Savage does not have a clue about what he

is talking about. He has focused his message of

abrasive hatred upon a group of children who have

no ability to defend themselves. What he did not

count on was the fact that as parents we will defend our children.

I am now asking for your assistance in helping to

limit the spread of damage that Mr. Savage has unwisely initiated.

Please join with me in an email and letter

writing campaign to counter Savage’s message.

Please send a message to Talk Radio Network,

telling them that Savage’s rant against

children with Autism was unacceptable, hateful

and damaging to children and families with

Autism. Their contact information is as follows:

Talk Radio Network

P.O. Box 3755

Central Point, OR 97502

Phone: 541-664-8827

Fax: 541-664-6250

Email:

<http://www.talkradionetwork.com/contactus>http://www.talkradionetwork.com/conta\

ctus

Savage’s contact information is as follows:

The Savage Nation

The Revere Society

150 Shoreline Hwy, Bldg E

Mill Valley, CA 94941

Fax: 415-339-9383

Email:

<mailto:michaelsavage@...>michaelsavage@...

Please also send a message to your local

affiliate radio station that hosts the

Savage/Savage Nation radio program. I would

suggest doing an internet search using the name

of your city and the name Savage.

In Portland the local affiliate is KXL. Their contact info is as follows:

KXL/Rose City Radio Corporation

0234 SW Bancroft Street

Portland, OR 97239

Phone: 503-243-7595

General Manager: Tim McNamara Email:

<mailto:tim.mcnamara@...>tim.mcnamara@...

Program Director: Derby Email:

<mailto:james.derby@...>james.derby@...

The following is a list of Savage sponsors with

their contact information. Please ask them to

withdraw their sponsorship/support of the

Savage Radio Program, explaining to them that his

comments regarding Autism are unacceptable and intolerable:

ABC, Inc.:

VP Advertising/Sales Mike Shaw

Phone: 212 456-7272

<mailto:mike.shaw@...>mike.shaw@...

VP Public Relations Brockman

Phone: 818 460-7756

Fax: 212-456-1424

Acura:

Vice President

Jeff Conrad

<mailto:jeff_conrad@...>jeff_conrad@...

American Express:

Berland

212.640.5142

<mailto:.A.Berland@...>.A.Berland@...

American Express

P.O. Box 981540

El Paso, TX 79998-1540

Boca Java:

Stefanie Hochstadter

<mailto:shochstadter@...>shochstadter@...

1-888-262-2528

Boca Java

730 South Powerline Rd.

Suite D

Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

s:

Soup Company

Place

Camden, NJ 08103-1701

Phone: 800-257-8443

Phone: 800-871-0988

Citrix:

851 West Cypress Creek Road

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309, United States

Americas PR

Wyse

Americas Senior PR Manager

Phone: (786) 449-3740

Email: <mailto:jason.wyse@...>jason.wyse@...

Armstrong

Director, Corporate Communications

Phone: (954) 267-2977

Email: <mailto:eric.armstrong@...>eric.armstrong@...

Dish Network:

CEO Charlie Ergen: (303) 723-1010

CEO assistant: (303) 723-1005

EchoStar Satellite L.L.C.

Attn: Corporate Communications

9601 S. Meridian Blvd.

Englewood, CO 80112

<mailto:press@...>press@...

Ebay:

Alan Marks

Senior Vice President Corporate Communications

Telephone: 1-408-376-7400

Fax: 1-408-369-4855

Email: <mailto:info@...>info@...

General Motors:

Canabal

General Motors, Northeast Communications,

Work: +1-914-244-6059,

Cellular: +1-914-391-6898,

<mailto:andrea.canabal@...>andrea.canabal@...

Stockholder line: 313-667-1500

Gallo Winery:

Segale

Gallo Winery Spokesperson

Work: 916-960-5341

Cell: 916-600-1081

Prudential:

Bob DeFillippo

Phone: 973-802-4149

<mailto:bob.defillippo@...>bob.defillippo@...

Nestlé Purina PetCare:

Email: <mailto:kschopp@...>kschopp@...

Phone: 314-982-2577

Fax: 314-982-2752

Simon & Shuster:

Selleck

(800) 223-2336

<mailto:info@...>info@...

Staples, Inc:

Capelli, 508-253-8530

<mailto:paul.cap>paul.cap

Subway:

SUBWAY® Public Relations

(203) 877-4281

Les Winograd Ext. 1683

<mailto:winograd_l@...>winograd_l@...

Kane Ext.1329

<mailto:kane_k@...>kane_k@...

Volkswagen:

Keyes, Steve

Director, Press and Public Relations

Phone: 703 364 7650

Fax: 703 364 7071

Email: <mailto:steve.keyes@...>steve.keyes@...

Sears (Reportedly cancelled sponsorship of Savage)

Sears Public Relations And Communications

(847) 286-8371

Website Contact:

<http://www.searsmedia.com/tools/inquires/feedback.htm>searsmedia.com/tools/inqu\

ires/feedback.htm

Radioshack (Reportedly cancelled sponsorship of Savage)

Media Relations

Riverfront Campus

Mail Stop #CF7-130_300

RadioShack Circle

Fort Worth, TX 76102-1964

Phone: (817) 415-3300

Fax: (817) 415-2585

E-mail: <mailto:media.relations@...>media.relations@...

AFLAC (Reportedly cancelled sponsorship of Savage)

1-800-99-AFLAC (1-800-992-3522)

Kane, 2nd Vice President External Relations Aflac Incorporated

1-706-596-3493

Mechell , Media Relations Manager, 1-706-243-8004

Email: <mailto:news@...>news@...

Budweiser (Reportedly cancelled sponsorship of Savage)

Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

One Busch Place

St. Louis, MO 63118

Website contact:

<http://www.anheuser-busch.com/ContactAgeVerification.html>http://www.anheuser-b\

usch.com/ContactAgeVerification.html

(Click “yes” to verify that you are at least 21

years of age, and your browser will be directed

to another page where you need to click a button on the left side for email)

1 800 DIAL BUD (1 800 342 5283)

You may also want to discover sponsors in your

local area and contact them directly.

Alternately, you can cut and paste the following

list of email addresses into your email program

“send to” line and you can send a blanket message

to the many of Savage’s national sponsors.

<mailto:mike.shaw@...>mike.shaw@...;

<mailto:jeff_conrad@...>jeff_conrad@...;

<mailto:.A.Berland@...>.A.Berland@...;

<mailto:shochstadter@...>shochstadter@...;

<mailto:jason.wyse@...>jason.wyse@...;

<mailto:eric.armstrong@...>eric.armstrong@...;

<mailto:press@...>press@...;

<mailto:info@...>info@...;

<mailto:andrea.canabal@...>andrea.canabal@...;

<mailto:bob.defillippo@...>bob.defillippo@...;

<mailto:kschopp@...>kschopp@...;

<mailto:info@...>info@...;

<mailto:steve.keyes@...>steve.keyes@...;

<mailto:paul.cap>paul.cap;

<mailto:winograd_l@...>winograd_l@...;

<mailto:kane_k@...>kane_k@...

Please forward this message to as many people as possible.

Respectfully,

Derrick Jeffries

Portland, OR

--

Derrick Jeffries

derrick_jeffries@...

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

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