Thread: Boycott Michael Savage

There is no cure for autism otherwise ALL the people who tried this method would have found success.

I didn't say it cures all, BUT kids have been cured. It's lots of work and not something you can do without a team to have consistancy all the childs waking hours. If your relative read the book and tried some stuff all alone, it will not work.

Have you investigated Temple Grandin? Along with inventing a mechinism to calm cows by pressure on them, which she did to herself to stand her own Autism. Later on she was diagnosed with Ausbergers due to her intelligence. Here's her books:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/2 ... &x=24&y=21.

Here's some of her history, she is truely amazing.

Based on personal experience, Grandin advocates early intervention to address autism and supportive teachers who can direct fixations of the autistic child in fruitful directions. She has described her hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli. She is a primarily visual thinker and has said that language is her second language. Temple attributes her success as a humane livestock facility designer to her ability to recall detail, which is a characteristic of her visual memory. Grandin compares her memory to full-length movies in her head that can be replayed at will, allowing her to notice small details that would otherwise be overlooked. She is also able to view her memories using slightly different contexts by changing the positions of the lighting and shadows. Her insight into the minds of cattle has taught her to value the changes in details to which animals are particularly sensitive, and to use her visualization skills to design thoughtful and humane animal-handling equipment.

Grandin is considered a philosophical leader of both the animal welfare and autism advocacy movements. Both movements commonly cite her work regarding animal welfare, neurology, and philosophy. She knows all too well the anxiety of feeling threatened by everything in her surroundings, and of being dismissed and feared, all of which motivates her in her quest to promote humane livestock handling processes. Her business website has entire sections on how to improve standards in slaughter plants and livestock farms. In 2004 she won a "Proggy" award, in the "visionary" category, from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

One of her most important essays about animal welfare is "Animals are not Things," in which she posits that animals are technically property in our society, but the law ultimately gives them ethical protections or rights. She uses a screwdriver metaphor: a person can legally smash or grind up a screwdriver but a person cannot legally torture an animal.

As a proponent of neurodiversity, Grandin has expressed that she would not support a cure of the entirety of the autistic spectrum.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin

That's it, I'm done, if people doubt what I'm trying to offer for informationthere is nothing more I can say. Remember, it takes a team not a couple of people to give consistancy, EVERY day.

It's cool to have the kids later explain what to was like when they were trapped in themself and what they were thinking at moments they remembers.

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

There is no cure for autism otherwise ALL the people who tried this method would have found success.

I didn't say it cures all, BUT kids have been cured. It's lots of work and not something you can do without a team to have consistancy all the childs waking hours. If your relative read the book and tried some stuff all alone, it will not work.

Have you investigated Temple Grandin? Along with inventing a mechinism to calm cows by pressure on them, which she did to herself to stand her own Autism. Later on she was diagnosed with Ausbergers due to her intelligence. Here's her books:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/2 ... &x=24&y=21.

Here's some of her history, she is truely amazing.

Based on personal experience, Grandin advocates early intervention to address autism and supportive teachers who can direct fixations of the autistic child in fruitful directions. She has described her hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli. She is a primarily visual thinker and has said that language is her second language. Temple attributes her success as a humane livestock facility designer to her ability to recall detail, which is a characteristic of her visual memory. Grandin compares her memory to full-length movies in her head that can be replayed at will, allowing her to notice small details that would otherwise be overlooked. She is also able to view her memories using slightly different contexts by changing the positions of the lighting and shadows. Her insight into the minds of cattle has taught her to value the changes in details to which animals are particularly sensitive, and to use her visualization skills to design thoughtful and humane animal-handling equipment.

Grandin is considered a philosophical leader of both the animal welfare and autism advocacy movements. Both movements commonly cite her work regarding animal welfare, neurology, and philosophy. She knows all too well the anxiety of feeling threatened by everything in her surroundings, and of being dismissed and feared, all of which motivates her in her quest to promote humane livestock handling processes. Her business website has entire sections on how to improve standards in slaughter plants and livestock farms. In 2004 she won a "Proggy" award, in the "visionary" category, from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

One of her most important essays about animal welfare is "Animals are not Things," in which she posits that animals are technically property in our society, but the law ultimately gives them ethical protections or rights. She uses a screwdriver metaphor: a person can legally smash or grind up a screwdriver but a person cannot legally torture an animal.

As a proponent of neurodiversity, Grandin has expressed that she would not support a cure of the entirety of the autistic spectrum.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin

That's it, I'm done, if people doubt what I'm trying to offer for informationthere is nothing more I can say. Remember, it takes a team not a couple of people to give consistancy, EVERY day.

It's cool to have the kids later explain what to was like when they were trapped in themself and what they were thinking at moments they remembers.

Uh, there's no need to get so sensitive there Worried American. I never said I doubted you and I appreciate your advice! I believe what you said about the successes other people have experienced. I didn't doubt that for a minute. But that doesn't mean it's a cure for everyone. It appeared you were suggesting that there WAS a cure for everyone because you said I was wrong for saying that there wasn't! (hope I made sense here!)

Thanks for all the information you posted. Yes, I have heard of Temple Grandin. In fact my sister met her a few years back at an Autism seminar down in Atlantic City. She's an amazing person!

Anyway, I contacted my sister about our discussions and she sent me the following email:


"I believe that Jenny McCarthy has brought "good light" to the subject of Autism or as I'd like to call Â*Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A true Autistic person unfortunately is very much locked within their own world, has no language, no eye contact, exhibits "extreme stimming"Â*on a consistent basis and 90% have mental retardation. Is there a cure for these individuals? I'm not so ready to jump on the band wagon yet.

Persons with ASD on the other hand may do very well on the system that Jenny McCarthy touts in her book. Remember she started these interventions when her son exhibited the symptoms of ASD at a very young age,and that is a crucial component.

Many families do not recognize the symptoms of ASD and some doctorsÂ* are quick to judge the Mother for being overly cautious. Remember there is no blood test to determine Autism or ASD, only by behavior can these diagnosis be determined. But to say that Autism or ASD'sÂ*can be cured is not fair to all the families out there who have tried diets, kelation shots, vitamins, dolphin therapy, etc, and are still dealing with a child in their own little world. EveryÂ*person is different. That is what is so devastating about ASD's.

I do not believe that it's just vaccines or just the environment or just genetics. In my son's case I believe he may have carried a gene that was predisposed to ASD and maybe it was triggered by the environment or vaccines. I don't know, like other parents I wish I knew and I wish he could take a pill and be cured. He is doing well with his therapies and has grown tremendously in his speech and social skills. Will he ever be cured? I don't know but we take it one day at a time.

I am surrounded by families who have tried everything under the sun to get their children to utter one word. One family believed that removing her daughters back teeth may help and placing the girl in a hyper-barric chamber for an hour a day. Unfortunately these extremes and being on a special diet have not helped her child. DO NOT TOUT THAT THERE IS A CURE FOR AUTISM.Â* Please be careful how things are phrased, when success' occur great, but not everyone is so lucky."

My sister said it much better than I could have ever hoped to. I hope that clarifies some of what I was attempting to say.


Â*

Chloe24

Uh, there's no need to get so sensitive there Worried American. I never said I doubted you and I appreciate your advice! I believe what you said about the successes other people have experienced. I didn't doubt that for a minute. But that doesn't mean it's a cure for everyone. It appeared you were suggesting that there WAS a cure for everyone because you said I was wrong for saying that there wasn't! (hope I made sense here!)

Thanks for all the information you posted. Yes, I have heard of Temple Grandin. In fact my sister met her a few years back at an Autism seminar down in Atlantic City. She's an amazing person!

Anyway, I contacted my sister about our discussions and she sent me the following email:


"I believe that Jenny McCarthy has brought "good light" to the subject of Autism or as I'd like to call Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A true Autistic person unfortunately is very much locked within their own world, has no language, no eye contact, exhibits "extreme stimming" on a consistent basis and 90% have mental retardation. Is there a cure for these individuals? I'm not so ready to jump on the band wagon yet.

Persons with ASD on the other hand may do very well on the system that Jenny McCarthy touts in her book. Remember she started these interventions when her son exhibited the symptoms of ASD at a very young age,and that is a crucial component.

Many families do not recognize the symptoms of ASD and some doctors are quick to judge the Mother for being overly cautious. Remember there is no blood test to determine Autism or ASD, only by behavior can these diagnosis be determined. But to say that Autism or ASD's can be cured is not fair to all the families out there who have tried diets, kelation shots, vitamins, dolphin therapy, etc, and are still dealing with a child in their own little world. Every person is different. That is what is so devastating about ASD's.

I do not believe that it's just vaccines or just the environment or just genetics. In my son's case I believe he may have carried a gene that was predisposed to ASD and maybe it was triggered by the environment or vaccines. I don't know, like other parents I wish I knew and I wish he could take a pill and be cured. He is doing well with his therapies and has grown tremendously in his speech and social skills. Will he ever be cured? I don't know but we take it one day at a time.

I am surrounded by families who have tried everything under the sun to get their children to utter one word. One family believed that removing her daughters back teeth may help and placing the girl in a hyper-barric chamber for an hour a day. Unfortunately these extremes and being on a special diet have not helped her child. DO NOT TOUT THAT THERE IS A CURE FOR AUTISM. Please be careful how things are phrased, when success' occur great, but not everyone is so lucky."

My sister said it much better than I could have ever hoped to. I hope that clarifies some of what I was attempting to say.

I understand. .. but I wasn't being sensitive though, I just know I'm right, there's a difference. We were talking 2 different scenerios......

I worked 25 years in an institution for the retarded. My clients were ALL very aggressive. I have the scars to prove it! I wasn't referring to any of the retarded autistic. I didn't want to bring in too much side info into the discussion, is all.

I'm only speaking of normal kids who got the shots and got autistic in days, not kids born with it. I think that is environmental, totally. I'm even wondering if the years of lead the Chinese have been feeding our children might have to do with it too. Just my personal thought due to the way it skyrocketed.

If the parent can't afford resources, and has no help from family or friends, I'm afraid, they can only do their best dealing with the day to day stress. Care givers are so stressed and over-whelmed. Throw in that it's your child and I get stressed thinking about trying to "cure" your kid.

There is no cure for retardation, but there are little steps which take a long time, years. We just try to get them as independent as possible. So that is a totally different subject IMHO. If your child has retardation it wasn't mentioned. I would not have said there was a cure for him/her. I was strictly speaking JUST autistic. We were on two different subjects, sort of.

Yes, you are right on parents missing the window of opportunity. I couldn't remember the specific age you have to incorporate the intensive therapy, every waking moment. I thought it was under 5 and I think that shot is given at 2?

Also the doctors don't want to admit that the kid has autism because in many instances the mom asked and was leery of the shot. So they stall the answer and stick their heads in the sand and hope. they must feel guilty and very upset.

Many of the just retarded (not with any autism) "self stim" too but I think it might be a habit from the early years of being hidden and bored. Some of my clients were found in rooms on 3rd floors, left all alone except feeding, hidden from relatives, one lived in a chicken coop with her retarded sister and a set of blind retarded Echolalic, (the repetition of words and sounds a person has heard either recently or quite a while ago) twins were in an open hope chest and was thrown food. Later they just crawled around on the floor in a locked room.

I also saw kids in a Russian orphanage that weren't retarded but they "self stimmed," out of neglect. A baby will die if it is not ever touched.

It's so sad.

Good luck with your child/nephew. I wish you the best.
I'm not trying to argue I just hate being misunderstood and I was only reffering to those who got it from the shot and have no retardation.

Chloe24,

I'm so sorry to hear that this disorder has had an impact on your family.

Dr. Savage can be a bit too harsh and over the top sometimes, but that is also the reason people love him so much. He speaks freely without always calculating the impact of what he says.

I did not hear his original comments, but I heard some of his show the next night.

My local TV news had a story screaming "Shock Jock in Hot Water for Saying Autism Isn't Real!"

On his follow up show, he was saying that he thought that Autism was real but that the "Autism Spectrum" being promoted by the psychiatric institutions and big pharmaceuticals companies was entirely too broad and designed to get more children on prescription drugs.

Before being offended, I would encourage you to write him or to try to find an archive of his shows to see what he actually said.

You cannot rely on the MSM to tell the truth about what someone like Dr. Savage said.

W

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

Chloe24

Uh, there's no need to get so sensitive there Worried American. I never said I doubted you and I appreciate your advice! I believe what you said about the successes other people have experienced. I didn't doubt that for a minute. But that doesn't mean it's a cure for everyone. It appeared you were suggesting that there WAS a cure for everyone because you said I was wrong for saying that there wasn't! (hope I made sense here!)

Thanks for all the information you posted. Yes, I have heard of Temple Grandin. In fact my sister met her a few years back at an Autism seminar down in Atlantic City. She's an amazing person!

Anyway, I contacted my sister about our discussions and she sent me the following email:


"I believe that Jenny McCarthy has brought "good light" to the subject of Autism or as I'd like to call Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). A true Autistic person unfortunately is very much locked within their own world, has no language, no eye contact, exhibits "extreme stimming" on a consistent basis and 90% have mental retardation. Is there a cure for these individuals? I'm not so ready to jump on the band wagon yet.

Persons with ASD on the other hand may do very well on the system that Jenny McCarthy touts in her book. Remember she started these interventions when her son exhibited the symptoms of ASD at a very young age,and that is a crucial component.

Many families do not recognize the symptoms of ASD and some doctors are quick to judge the Mother for being overly cautious. Remember there is no blood test to determine Autism or ASD, only by behavior can these diagnosis be determined. But to say that Autism or ASD's can be cured is not fair to all the families out there who have tried diets, kelation shots, vitamins, dolphin therapy, etc, and are still dealing with a child in their own little world. Every person is different. That is what is so devastating about ASD's.

I do not believe that it's just vaccines or just the environment or just genetics. In my son's case I believe he may have carried a gene that was predisposed to ASD and maybe it was triggered by the environment or vaccines. I don't know, like other parents I wish I knew and I wish he could take a pill and be cured. He is doing well with his therapies and has grown tremendously in his speech and social skills. Will he ever be cured? I don't know but we take it one day at a time.

I am surrounded by families who have tried everything under the sun to get their children to utter one word. One family believed that removing her daughters back teeth may help and placing the girl in a hyper-barric chamber for an hour a day. Unfortunately these extremes and being on a special diet have not helped her child. DO NOT TOUT THAT THERE IS A CURE FOR AUTISM. Please be careful how things are phrased, when success' occur great, but not everyone is so lucky."

My sister said it much better than I could have ever hoped to. I hope that clarifies some of what I was attempting to say.

I understand. .. but I wasn't being sensitive though, I just know I'm right, there's a difference. We were talking 2 different scenerios......

I worked 25 years in an institution for the retarded. My clients were ALL very aggressive. I have the scars to prove it! I wasn't referring to any of the retarded autistic. I didn't want to bring in too much side info into the discussion, is all.

I'm only speaking of normal kids who got the shots and got autistic in days, not kids born with it. I think that is environmental, totally. I'm even wondering if the years of lead the Chinese have been feeding our children might have to do with it too. Just my personal thought due to the way it skyrocketed.

If the parent can't afford resources, and has no help from family or friends, I'm afraid, they can only do their best dealing with the day to day stress. Care givers are so stressed and over-whelmed. Throw in that it's your child and I get stressed thinking about trying to "cure" your kid.

There is no cure for retardation, but there are little steps which take a long time, years. We just try to get them as independent as possible. So that is a totally different subject IMHO. If your child has retardation it wasn't mentioned. I would not have said there was a cure for him/her. I was strictly speaking JUST autistic. We were on two different subjects, sort of.

Yes, you are right on parents missing the window of opportunity. I couldn't remember the specific age you have to incorporate the intensive therapy, every waking moment. I thought it was under 5 and I think that shot is given at 2?

Also the doctors don't want to admit that the kid has autism because in many instances the mom asked and was leery of the shot. So they stall the answer and stick their heads in the sand and hope. they must feel guilty and very upset.

Many of the just retarded (not with any autism) "self stim" too but I think it might be a habit from the early years of being hidden and bored. Some of my clients were found in rooms on 3rd floors, left all alone except feeding, hidden from relatives, one lived in a chicken coop with her retarded sister and a set of blind retarded Echolalic, (the repetition of words and sounds a person has heard either recently or quite a while ago) twins were in an open hope chest and was thrown food. Later they just crawled around on the floor in a locked room.

I also saw kids in a Russian orphanage that weren't retarded but they "self stimmed," out of neglect. A baby will die if it is not ever touched.

It's so sad.

Good luck with your child/nephew. I wish you the best.
I'm not trying to argue I just hate being misunderstood and I was only reffering to those who got it from the shot and have no retardation.

That's ok WorriedAmerican. I hate being misunderstood myself! You obviously have experienced many things first hand. And I must commend you. It takes a very special person who does the kind of work that you do.

You make a very good point about lead from China. I wonder if anyone ever brought that up into consideration as well? I appreciate your kind well wishes and thanks to the other members who posted theirs too.

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Chloe24,

I'm so sorry to hear that this disorder has had an impact on your family.

Dr. Savage can be a bit too harsh and over the top sometimes, but that is also the reason people love him so much. He speaks freely without always calculating the impact of what he says.

I did not hear his original comments, but I heard some of his show the next night.

My local TV news had a story screaming "Shock Jock in Hot Water for Saying Autism Isn't Real!"

On his follow up show, he was saying that he thought that Autism was real but that the "Autism Spectrum" being promoted by the psychiatric institutions and big pharmaceuticals companies was entirely too broad and designed to get more children on prescription drugs.

Before being offended, I would encourage you to write him or to try to find an archive of his shows to see what he actually said.

You cannot rely on the MSM to tell the truth about what someone like Dr. Savage said.

W

Thank you for your post and for the kind words William. I'm actually familiar with Dr. Savage as I used to listen to his show from time to time.

From what I have been hearing recently, he seems to be backtracking a bit from his initial outburst. There are several audio clips on his website addressing what he supposedly truly believes about autism. For all I know he may be sincere however, he originally did state that autism was a fraud. I heard it on audio and this is a direct quote of what he said:

"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 like a crying and screaming idiot.' http://mediamatters.org/items/200807180001

While I certainly agree with you that you can't rely on the MSM, I don't see how one can possibly sugar coat something like this quote. Consider it from the point of view from a family member who is dealing with a child who has an autism spectrum disorder.

Some excerpts from a recent op-ed in Newsday:

It's important for people to understand that children with autism have a diagnosed disorder. So unless neurologists, psychologists, psychiatrists and speech language pathologists cannot differentiate between "brats" and children with disabilities, Savage's comment betrays a great deal of ignorance.

The process of diagnosis and identification is a complex one. Educational teams within the school system require input from professionals and parents. Teams are also required to review multiple assessments, so that diagnosis is not based on a single evaluation.

To say any child is a brat suggests either poor parenting or oppositional behavior in the children. Parents of children with disabilities work hard to tailor their parenting skills to the needs of their children. Children with autism are not deliberately or even knowingly exhibiting "bratty" behavior.
It's not helpful for any media talk-show host to make such sweeping negative comments about any group of individuals, let alone children, and especially children with disabilities. They cannot argue back.

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny- ... 7445.story

I agree with Savage 100% about the overmedication of children in our society. However, I think that message will now be lost in light of his quote and how the media is now running with it.

Originally Posted by SeaTurtle

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

I didn't think they were "born with it?" Isn't it aquired from our wonderful pharmacutical companies.

Was it right after a series of multiple shots?

You know they have cures now, don't you? I know Jenny MCCarthy son is cured by special methods,. Many others are following it and it works!

She has a book to explain all she went thru and how to get the kids back.

REALLY??? What's the name of the book??

I'd give my life to get my son back from his post-immunization borderline-autism.

Seaturtle, was all our info helpful to you? Good luck to you and your son. I didn't want you to feel left out.

Hey chloe24,
I went back and read our (group) whole conversation here and thought it was great how we went in a circle then came together again. So I cut and pasted some of the conversation and sent it to my email contacts. It might help some of their friends who have had the same problem as you and Seaturtle. I mentioned that there might be some mistakes but it was basically a good starting point for over-whelmed parents. I hope you don't mind.
Good getting to know you.

Originally Posted by SeaTurtle

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

I didn't think they were "born with it?" Isn't it aquired from our wonderful pharmacutical companies.

Was it right after a series of multiple shots?

You know they have cures now, don't you? I know Jenny MCCarthy son is cured by special methods,. Many others are following it and it works!

She has a book to explain all she went thru and how to get the kids back.

REALLY??? What's the name of the book??

I'd give my life to get my son back from his post-immunization borderline-autism.

Seaturtle, I wish you well with your son. I'm embarrassed that I got so caught up in my discussion with WorriedAmerican that I negelcetd to recognize your own concerns. My apologies!

How old is your son? Have you enrolled him into any early intervention programs? I believe this is key. From my perspective, those who do this, definitely see some successful results. Surround yourself with other mothers or families going through similar circumstances. Join one of the many autism spectrum forums available online

Luckily, my sister didn't waste any time. She got my godson in a program around the age of 2 or 3. He is now 13 and goes to a private school which specializes in this sort of disability. His verbalization and social skills have improved tremendously.

On the opposite side of this is my cousin who also has a son. He and his wife believed in only persuing a special diet for their son. They may have stayed with it too long even when it wasn't working, and that delay has made it more difficult for him now that he is older. (He's 11 now)

Bottom line, the mothers of these kids know more about them than the medical experts. They have become the experts now, so when it comes to schooling don't be pushed around. Fight for the programs in your area that these kids need. My sister was never confrontational but ever since her son was diagnosed, she became a pitbull to insure that her son got the best possible support and also passed along her knowledge to other families.

She also made time for herself to go out once a week with a small group of other mothers, just to have fun. It's so important because even though some fathers try their best to help out, it's always the mothers that shoulder more of the day to day responsibilities of having a special needs child. Be well and stay strong.

Originally Posted by WorriedAmerican

Hey chloe24,
I went back and read our (group) whole conversation here and thought it was great how we went in a circle then came together again. So I cut and pasted some of the conversation and sent it to my email contacts. It might help some of their friends who have had the same problem as you and Seaturtle. I mentioned that there might be some mistakes but it was basically a good starting point for over-whelmed parents. I hope you don't mind.
Good getting to know you.

Hey, if it helps out other families I don't mind at all! Good getting to know you as well.