So, if you've not heard by now, that paragon of tryth and knawledge (misspellings intentional), Michael Savage made the following statement on his show on July 16, 2008:

"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.' "

To anyone who has ever dealt with an autistic person, it's obvious Savage is a tool and is wrong.  For those of you akin to Tom Cruise and his now recanted "There is no mental illness" position, no doubt you are "dittoing" your way into blissful ignorance.  Oh wait, that's the other tool, the drug addict guy.  Sorry, I can't keep all these "holier-than-thou" pretenders of knowledge straight.  I mean, I know Rush is a liar and Coulter is a clown and Savage is a tool but, seriously, those are labels of the moment and interchangeable between them and their ilk.

Normally I just ridicule these folks and move on but this time it's personal.  I remember relating to a friend the side effects of the Wyeth drug Effexor on children.  This person stopped me and said: "You're just parroting something you heard on liberal talk radio."

I looked at them and said: "No, I'm talking about what happened to my son after he was prescribed this medicine."

You can read my letter to Wyeth here.  There response to me was a moronic form letter saying, basically, it was not their fault.

Well, Savage has hit the same nerve.  My son, a gifted, creative, and intelligent person is autistic.  No one who knows me or has witnessed how I parent would ever mistake my methods for “feel good" parenting.  When my son screws up, he deals with the consequences.  I don't give his behaviour a pass just because he's autistic but I do make certain that my response is appropriate and provides him with the tools and opportunities to learn how to respond in ways that are less disruptive to him.  Of course, sometimes I am more successful at this than others.

Unlike many people, Savage, Limbaugh, and Coulter and nearly all the presenters on Faux news, you can reason with an autistic person.  Most of the reactions they are having are because of variances to established schedules or a perceived change in environment.  The autistic person, in my experience, is a creature of habit and if they have a set of rules they can cope with just about anything.  This is a reason they are so bloody lost in social interactions, admit it folks, there are no reasonable rules.  It's a mess of shifting loyalties and areas of importance where the most important thing in the world one second is taboo the next.  Autistic folks get to the point where they give up on understanding social situations and, if they do not withdraw from them completely, they have a tendency to establish a consistent pattern of behavior that while many times odd in the least and inappropriate at the extremes, serve as a set of rules within which they can survive.

A case in point.  Several of the people to whom I teach martial arts are autistic.  Some instructors just can't fathom how to death with them.  They either expect too much or too little and end up being frustrated.  I handle it differently.  I let them know, not individually but as part of the class, what rules exist.  They are not being singled out so they do not feel self conscious.  The rules are simple and straightforward, not for their benefit but because rules should always be simple and straightforward, so they get it.  And if they stray from accepted behaviour, I reel them in by treating them the exact same way I treat all of my students; I tell them to straighten up and if they do not I invite them to leave class until they have calmed down and welcome them back, incident forgotten, when they do.

I don't scream, I don't yell, I don't call them names, and I never try to motivate them through ridicule.  Ridicule I save for bullies and with bullies, well, I admit, I don't play fair.

Autism is not a disease and does not need to be cured.  Unfortunately, stupidity is a disease but cannot be cured and Savage and his sycophants are lapping at the trough of ignorance and stupidity with such regularity that they've become immune to facts. 

It's a matter of compassion and intelligence.  The incomplete person can only understand the impact of a situation when they are directly affected, rather like any animal.  The complete person can consider unfamiliar situations and determine the effect they would have.  We are all more or less complete in different areas but for some people their insecurity is so all consuming that they must bluster and spout nonsense in order to keep it at bay and thus make pronouncements of fact when they have no logical support.

I pity Michael Savage while as a person and despise his comments and position and, like the autistic person learning to integrate into an unruly society, Savage must be taught some hard lessons.  He's already been dropped from at least seven stations.  He's already lost major sponsors.  His response is to call the people who brought the issue to a head, MediaMatters.org a "homosexual Mafia Group."

But here, read his quote your own damn self:

"And nobody has personally suffered more from a sibling, in my case, my brother, who was born brain-damaged. So please, I don't want to hear that I'm insensitive from people who are making these false accusations, because many of them have no children of their own and they're connected with the homosexual mafia group Media Matters, none of whom have children of their own. They're a fascist, homo-- goes out of their way to misquote me, take me out of context, and try to get me in trouble with people who love me. I stand by my words. Media Mat-- and that's it. And that's where I'm going to leave it. "

Remember when I mentioned I don't play fair with bullies?  The only thing I have to say to Savage is:

Mikie, is that really the best you can do?  "Homosexual Mafia Group?"  Don't you have a large radio audience?  Aren't you supposed to be clever?  C'mon boy, you are touting your qualifications all the damn time and indicating you are smarter than others and "homosexual mafia group" is the very best thing you can devise?

Dear God, what an idiot.

Oh, and I do like "nobody has personally suffered more from a sibling. . ." crap.  Poor Mikie.  He had a tough childhood because his brother was "brain-damaged" and nobody in the world can know what it was like because only Mikie has ever suffered through anything like that.

But let me get this straight.  Autism is a fake because Mikie says and no one in all the world has suffered more from a sibling than Mikie.

Bullshit.

It's not even good enough to be arrogance, it's just abject stupidity, and not in a good way.

Hey Mikie, I don't have a syndicated radio show and I don't have anyone telling me how smart I am and I don't have a "first-rate" degree but I do possess something you cannot tolerate; common bloody sense.  When, exactly, Mikie did you start producing the antibodies that reject reason? 

If you were only ignorant I would have hope for an eventual cure for you.  It's just not going to happen though.  You are blatantly and deliberately stupid in order to pretend you are better than others.  Well Mikie, I don't maintain I am better than any other person on the planet, except you.  I full well know I am better than you.

That's right, I'm smarter, more handsome, and I can touch my tongue to my nose.  You're stuck with whining that people are picking on you and then throwing out random 6th grade references to homosexuals.  What’s the matter Mikie, did you just grow hair in unexpected places and suddenly you’re not sure if you like your male friends or like them like them and you are trying to cover your discomfort by flamboyant accusations?

How so very sad.  This is why they gave you a radio show?  This is your big claim to intelligence?  Damn boy, my eldest son at two was more accomplished in the art of insult than you are now.  He's got a degree from a first rate university now and would be happy, I am sure, for a large fee, to teach you how to structure an argument so as to not sound like a complete and utter moron.  For an additional fee he could instruct you in how to devise an insult that is above the grade school level.

I'd offer my services but it's obvious you need remedial training before you are ready for aid from a professional.  Plus, I'm allergic to stupid.

Mikie should you ever desire to have a competition of wit, you let me know.  I say you're just a scared little boy who never got over the fact that your parents were forced to spend more attention on your brother than you and you've never forgiven them for that perceived slight.  Hell, I could understand such behaviour from a 12 year old but aren't you pretending, amoung other things, to be an adult?  Isn't it time you realised that your parents had to devote more time to your brother and it was not because they loved you less it was because he needed them more?

Really Mikie, isn't it time you bloody well grew the hell up?

Oh, and Mikie, get an autistic person to fix your shit-for-brains website.  It's not just ugly, it;s not just butt-ugly, it's, well, Mikie Savage ugly.  And what's up with the random database errors?  Oh, and I do love the scam ads.  My only surprise is not seeing one concerning $32,392,342,345,542,902,810 in a Nigerian bank that I can get if I'll only provide my bank information.  Do you not realise that web hosting is cheap? 

Also Mikie, a rule a real journalist would understand.  Quoting your parent site as a source to back up your stupidity?  Not that credible.  Dear God boy, you own the domain name MichaelSavage.com, demonstrating to the world you're not smart enough to have it resolve to your own damn site just illustrates what an idiot you are.  Given the pedantic nature of your website and its constant whining for money, I suppose none of this should come as a shock.

This is what I mean:

http://michaelsavage.wnd.com

This tells me MichaelSavege.com is part of WND.com since when I type in MichaelSavage.com I go to the above address.  And what a paragon of intellect your parent site is.  No wonder they sponsor you, it's the only way they can feel more intelligent than another person.

Still, I keep expecting people like you, people who pretend at intelligence, to do a better job.  Alas, I must learn to live with disappointment.

Now, of course, I know you'll never read this, even though I'll send a link to your parent organisation since you don't allow folks to comment on your site, but hey, that's because I know the difference between reality and fantasy, something you've never quite managed.  But, as I tell everyone, I don't do this for anything other than my own damn amusement. 

It's an autistic thing Mikie, you wouldn't understand.

Oh, and have a nice day.