Writer defends Savage's autism remarks

http://www.selwynduke.com/

Maybe I'm naive to think that people don't play the system, but when it comes to whether or not somebody has a medical condition, I'll take the word of a medical specialist as opposed to somebody who says he has a Ph.D. and is trying to sell a book about "natural" cures.
Sorry the last thread on this got so out of hand. Moddy, if you want to kill this, go right ahead.

 

If you read what Savage wrote in his "explanation" -- I don't buy that's what he really meant, I have no doubt he was being abrasive and trying to get a rise out of people -- but he isn't completely off his rocker in saying that Autism -- as well as ADD and ADHD -- have been overly-used diagnosis's and in some cases the reason was to illicit certain benefits for certain kids.

And before the hyper-ventilating and frothing of the mouth begins let me be as clear as possible -- what Savage said about Autism was idiotic, pure and simple, and it is a very real condition that affects far too many families to count.

What he said about the fact that there are certain individuals who are teaching their kids - or worse are being taught to teach their kids -- to act a certain way for certain specialists in order to get extra benefits is 100 percent correct.

 

Please cite evidence.

 

There may not be evidence but I find it hard to believe it doesn't happen. Society sucks, remember?

 

Well, I will agree with Savage that he does know firsthand what true disability is. I also commend him for using his exclamation points as no horse-shit argument can truly be complete without the finest of all punctuation.

Aside from that, anybody who actually buys that this is what he was trying to say, go ahead and dunk your head in the nearest toilet. His radio screed was pointed toward parents, not doctors. Now he says it's the doctors. I'll thank the douchebag for, in the future, picking his losing horse and riding it to the race's conclusion.

 

It may or may not happen but I wouldn't stick my neck out and say that it's a fact.

 

This will not end well.

 

It barely started well.

It's gonna be Groundhog Day all over again.

 

I have a new hero, it is Peter Bell of Autism Speaks.

Why?

Because he is a "cause person" with a rational thought process and a good head on his shoulders.

Witness his reaction to the whole Michael Savage "controversy"

From the AP story....

Peter Bell, executive vice president of national advocacy group Autism Speaks, said he isn't aware of any big controversy about overdiagnosis of autism. He said Savage's remarks, effectively blaming parents, reflect an outdated point of view.

"He's an entertainer, he does these things for attention," Bell said. "I think we should, to the best we can, ignore it."

Imagine that -- no calls for Savage to be fired, no knee-jerk whining about how offensive he is and how he should be boycotted, no demagoging, no grandstanding --- just a very rational answer, which was basically -- "Savage is an idiot and what he said is irrelevant so why should we give a shit."

Maybe there is hope for this country after all.

 

I have no problem sticking my neck out on this one.

Here is a very good interview with a pediatric doctor about the over-diagnosis of ADHD, the motivation behind it and the problems of over-medicating and drugging kids as a means of masking the behaviors attributed to that disease.

http://www.liftforlife.com/adhd.htm

 

You are not on welfare are you? Do you receive an SSI check for your child?

And I would say that it applies far more to ADHD and ADD diagnosis than diagnosis of autism, which is clearly overly-diagnosed these days.

 

Just one question.

Are there unlimited resources (financial and otherwise) available for autism?

So the mothers of kids who actually do have autism are sitting by, smiling beatifically as the special ed classrooms are taken over by perfectly normal kids whose mothers want them to be getting some special service? The one argument on that side is that the mothers of the autistic kids all profoundly, desperately, heartbreakingly wish that their kid could be in the mainstream classroom, out of that limited special ed room.