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Michael Savage on Autism
Friday, July 25, 2008
20 audio clips of Michael Savage's comments on Autism.

1. Savage says the real cases of autism need our sympathy and support.
Listen

2. Savage says his brother was severely disabled and that misdiagnosis
hurts the child. Listen

3. Savage says that the genuinely autistic need as much love and
attention as we can give them. Listen

4. Savage talks about his disabled brother who died in a hospital.
Listen

5. Savage speaks with Wendy Fournier, President of the National Autism
Association. Listen

6. Savage interviews psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin. Dr. Breggin says
that though there are real cases of autism, those involved in the
broadening of its diagnosis are in the pay of pharmaceutical
companies. Breggin says Savage is correct that autism is over
diagnosed. Listen

7. Savage speaks with Dr. Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University
who has worked extensively with autistic children. He says that the
definition of autism has been expanded too far. Listen

8. Caller Kyle is a school psychologist who works with autistic kids
and agrees with Savage on the over diagnosis of autism and how it only
hurts the kids who truly have the condition. Listen

9. Caller Susan says her child was labeled autistic by school
officials and that she was pressured to sign off on the diagnosis.
Listen

10. Caller Tikvah is a therapist in New York City who works with
children who says that kids are frequently labeled with autism even
though they have other conditions because the agencies are provided
with more funds for that diagnosis. Listen

11. Savage says his comments about autism were directed at those who
are falsely diagnosed and that he knows what it's like to have a child
suffer in front of his eyes. Listen

12. Savage reads from his book Healing Children Naturally where he
cautions against the drugging of children. Listen

13. Savage mentions that UK doctors do not screen for autism because
screening tools have not been fully validated. Listen

14. Savage says real autism is devastating, but that it's difficult to
diagnose, such that the do not screen for it in the UK. Savage says
that over diagnosis occurs because of the "autistic spectrum" and this
is insulting to the truly ill. Listen

15. Caller Victoria has an autistic child and says it is too easy to
get a child diagnosed as autistic. Savage says resources for autism
must be reserved for children like hers. Listen

16. Savage says he has devoted his life to helping children and gives
the context for his remarks. Listen

17. Savage criticizes doctors for recommending cholesterol drugs on
children as young as two. Listen

18. Savage says that though people are making money from false
diagnosis, real cases of autism deserve our sympathy and out support.
Listen

19. Savage says many experts say that many children are falsely
diagnosed. Listen

20. Savage says that real autism is tragic, and that a false diagnosis
is a crime against the child. Listen

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STATEMENT BY TALK RADIO NETWORK
ON MICHAEL SAVAGE'S AUTISM COMMENTS

There have been numerous calls in recent days for Michael Savage, who
hosts "The Michael Savage Show" for Talk Radio Network (the
"Network"), to be fired or suspended for his brief 84 seconds of
commentary concerning autism during the July 16th broadcast of the
Show.

Promptly after the Network's management learned of the comments in
issue, the Network commenced an investigation into the particulars and
the circumstances of those comments. This investigation began with the
Network's CEO, Mark Masters, personally contacting Dr. Savage to
address the concerns and obtain an explanation of the comments
directly from Dr. Savage.

In that conversation, and other subsequent conversations between Mr.
Masters and Dr. Savage, Dr. Savage explained the circumstances and
intent of his statements in considerable detail. The Network also
carefully monitored subsequent broadcasts of the Show, on Monday, July
21st and Tuesday, July 22nd, which were devoted to the subject of
autism and further explanations by Dr. Savage of his views on the
subject.

Dr. Savage has clarified that his July 16th statements concerning
autism were not directed at those who are in fact challenged by this
horrible affliction, but were instead addressing efforts to broaden
the concept of autism beyond those who truly are autistic to a broader
"autistic spectrum" of behavioral symptoms which are also manifested
by persons who do not suffer from autism, and his concern that many
children are being misdiagnosed as autistic due to the subjective
nature of autism diagnosis (due to the lack of known biomedical
indicators, such as blood tests, to definitively confirm or deny the
actual existence of autism). Dr. Savage has also explained his belief
that there have been efforts by certain professionals and professional
organizations to expand diagnoses of autism more broadly, for various
reasons, and his concern that this victimizes and stigmatizes children
who are misdiagnosed as autistic. On multiple other occasions Dr.
Savage has expressed his concerns that other conditions, such as ADD
and ADHD, are overdiagnosed and result in improper medication of young
children, which Dr. Savage regards as abusive.

In the context of his broader concerns, it is clear that Dr. Savage's
comments were intended to suggest his opinion that, in the vast
majority of cases, most children throwing tantrums, or refusing to
communicate, are not autistic. Unfortunately, by condensing his
multifaceted concerns into 84 seconds of commentary, the necessary
context for his remarks was not apparent, and the few words he used to
express his concerns were, in this instance, inartfully phrased.

As a result, Dr. Savage's comments did facially appear to be directed
at children who suffer from autism, and clearly could be perceived as
such. This has, in turn, caused understandable pain and distress to
those who have a child or family member who is challenged by autism.
This was not Dr. Savage's intent, and, on behalf of the Network and
all persons associated with the Network, we wish to note that our
hearts go out to all families who are forced to face the realities of
autism every day of their lives, and to sincerely apologize to these
families for any increase in these burdens resulting from inartful
commentary appearing in the Network's programming.

While the phrasing of Dr. Savage's remarks was inartful, after the
aforementioned investigation, as well as personal knowledge of Dr.
Savage's strongly held views towards children and those dealing with
special challenges, the Network is satisfied that he did not mean any
disrespect to autistic children or their families but was instead
reiterating his longstanding concerns on public health issues. Indeed,
on these points, Mark Masters, the Network's CEO, notes that:

"I have known Michael Savage for nine years now. Over those nine
years, we have had occasion to disagree on many issues. However, I
have always respected Michael as a man of conviction, and I have
noticed throughout our relationship that he has always been passionate
and intense in his opposition to persons who he perceived to be
disrespectful of persons dealing with special challenges.

I once asked him about his passion in this area, and he noted that it
was because he had a brother who was disabled, but that he did not
want to discuss it. Michael never shared any particulars on this with
me until he shared with his audience on Monday that his brother never
spoke during his lifetime, was institutionalized at 5 or 6 years old,
and died in that institution in his 20's.

My observations of Michael's consistent opposition to what he viewed
as abuse or disrespect of persons dealing with special challenges, and
of his interest in children, as well as his 1982 book, Healing
Children Naturally, are completely inconsistent with Michael attacking
children who are truly autistic. In contrast, his belief that
misdiagnosing children as autistic will damage those children who are
misdiagnosed and stigmatize them for life, his aversion to what he
sees as improper medication of young children, and subjecting them to
a lifetime of chemical straight jackets, and his recent sharing of his
belief that the medical profession failed to properly care for his
brother prior to his brother's death, do explain his passion in
challenging what he sees as improper efforts by some in the health
care industry to brand and treat as autistic persons who are not."

In this context, for multiple reasons, the Network does not believe
that it is appropriate to take adversarial action to suspend or
terminate Dr. Savage for not phrasing his comments in this instance
more carefully.

First, the Network recognizes, and those who are calling for action
against Dr. Savage should recognize, that live talk radio is
unscripted. Hosts do not read from prompters. Regardless of the
abilities of any individual host, it is impossible to expect that
hosts can in all instances avoid any instances of failure to provide
full context and caveats for every statement made in three hours per
day, five days per week, of a live talk program.

The Network also believes, as a policy matter, that it is not
appropriate to censor the opinions of its hosts on legitimate issues.
Neither the Network nor its management personnel agree with all
positions asserted by all hosts on each of the Network's shows.

As a policy matter, the Network neither supports nor rejects
individual policy statements asserted by its hosts. It does, however,
support the rights of its hosts to express their views on public
policy issues.

The purpose of talk radio is to raise the level of public discourse by
introducing commentary on controversial issues. If the Network were to
require hosts to refrain from stating views which others disagree
with, or discipline hosts for holding unpopular views, its hosts would
be intimidated from exercising their freedom of expression. Should
this ever become the standard for talk radio, the interchange of ideas
and debate which is the lifeblood of talk radio would be destroyed,
and the freedom of expression which is a hallmark of American
democracy would be eroded.

The Network is particularly concerned with respect to efforts to
remove Dr. Savage from the airwaves by persons or organizations who
disagree with his political views. In the case of the underlying July
16th autism clip comments now in issue, the Network must be cognizant
of the fact that the initiation of a campaign to remove Dr. Savage
from the air for those comments was instigated by Media Matters, an
organization which regularly tapes broadcasts of The Michael Savage
Show for the purpose of finding sound bites which could be used in an
effort to remove him from the airwaves, for their own political ends.

In this case, the Network does believe that there has been an effort
by Media Matters to take advantage of an inartful lapse on the part of
Dr. Savage in failing to supply full context, caveats and explanations
in the 84 seconds of comments at issue. While the Network and Dr.
Savage regret any pain to families of autistic children as a result of
inartfully phrased comments intended to enhance the welfare of
children, it does appear to the Network that Media Matters and others
now seek to cynically exploit this particular sound bite, out of
context, to harness the pain of parents with truly autistic children,
for their own self-serving agenda, in a broader political effort to
remove a voice they politically disagree with from the airwaves.

In this context, the Network does question, if such efforts were to be
successful with respect to Michael Savage, which other hosts will be
the next targets. This is not the first, nor will it be the last,
attempt by Media Matters to exploit any issue for their own self -
serving political and social agenda.

Despite the concerns on the Network's part as to the motivations of
Media Matters and other organizations which seek to remove those hosts
they disagree with from the airwaves, and its belief that no action
against Michael Savage is warranted under all applicable circumstances
of this situation, the Network does want to take some positive action
to address the fact that inartful statements concerning autism were
made on one of its programs. As a result, the Network will begin
broadcasting public service announcements with respect to legitimate
autism issues, subject to spot availability, without charge, and will
be encouraging other networks to do the same. In this regard, the
Network invites organizations which would desire to submit public
service announcements to forward them by email to
PSA@TALKRADIONETWORK.com, or by mail to P.O. Box 3755, Central Point,
OR 97502.

In contrast to the cynical efforts of Media Matters to manipulate 84
seconds of commentary out of context, for its own ends, the Network
does believe that the issue is about the children. While the 84
seconds at issue has created intense controversy, the Network welcomes
the opportunity to broaden the discussion on the important issues
relating to autism, the "autism spectrum", the validity of autism
diagnoses, and the ever-expanding drugging of America's children.

The Network commenced this discussion in the July 21st and 22nd
broadcasts of The Michael Savage Show. For those who believe that the
84 seconds cited by Media Matters defines Michael Savage's views on
autism, the Network recommends going to (or clicking) http://www.savageonautism.com/
to view a representative sampling of Dr. Savage's views, as well as
the applicable issues, in true context.

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