Wendy Fournier of NAA: "Man Up, Mr. Savage"

Man Up, Mr. Savage.

For the last week, our community has been completely enveloped in the Michael Savage controversy.  It infuriates me that this one man has managed to take away so much of our already limited time and energy by forcing us to defend ourselves and our beloved children against his vile remarks.

When I first became aware of Savage’s comments, I immediately got in touch with Mark Masters, the CEO of Talk Radio Network and Savage’s boss.  Mark was aware of the comments but had not yet listened to the show.  We spoke for a long while and I quickly came to realize that I was speaking to a kind and compassionate husband and father.  Mark said that while he hadn’t yet heard the tape, he suspected that Savage was talking about one of the issues that bothers him most, the over-diagnosing and drugging of children in America, and that it was possible that his remarks were being taken out of context.  Having dealt with the media and having seen the ridiculous way members of our own community have been edited to look like crazy, desperate parents, I was open to the idea that Mark’s suggestion may have been a possibility.  Mark promised to speak with Savage and to give us the opportunity to refute his comments on the air.

On Monday evening, Mark fulfilled his promise and I was able to speak with Savage on his show.  Leaving the door open to the chance that he was indeed taken out of context, I pushed my anger toward him aside and discussed with him many of his views about healthcare in America and the sad reality that families affected by autism face.  Savage has several problems with the medical community in general that I personally agree with, the most frustrating of which is the over-zealous desire to drug our children.

However, when it came to Savage’s views on Autism specifically, he was completely misinformed and off the mark. 

He believes that autism is being over-diagnosed.  There may be a relatively small number of children who are wrongly diagnosed with an ASD, but for the most part, an autism diagnosis is not something that is given lightly.  Those of us whose children have been through the evaluation process know that it is extensive.

On the subject of diagnosis, our kids are diagnosed based on observation of skills and behaviors.  All the while, the medical community completely fails to investigate what might be causing those behaviors.  This needs to change.  We need research to turn away from number-crunching epidemiological studies and the search for the elusive Autism gene, and start looking from a biological standpoint at the children who are currently affected.   Your child may very well meet the current diagnostic criteria for Autism, but what if he or she is really suffering from heavy metal toxicity or auto-immune encephalopathy, for example?  Those illnesses are known to cause symptoms of Autism.   If your doctor kept digging to find the cause of your child’s neurological dysfunction, you would likely come out on the other side with a treatable illness and hope for the future, not to mention health insurance coverage for treatment.  But instead, you are told that your child has autism, there is no treatment, hurry to get on a waiting list for behavioral therapies.  Mainstream physicians need to start recognizing and treating the underlying medical issues that are causing the symptoms we collectively observe and diagnose as autism, only then will we start to make some real progress.  My hope is that one day, no child will be diagnosed with “Autism”, that all sick children will be properly diagnosed and successfully treated for the illnesses that they truly suffer from.

Back to Savage and his misconceptions, this one is almost amusing.  He actually thinks that having a child with autism opens the door to free medical treatment and services from the government, suggesting that parents might actually push for a diagnosis in an effort to screw the government and our fellow taxpayers.  Those of us in the trenches know that the word “autism” is the last thing a parent wants to hear.  Savage’s implied freebies are nowhere to be found.  The minute your child is diagnosed, you need to fit yourself with a suit of armor, a shield and a big-ass sword, because you have just taken the first step into a never-ending fight to get the services and medical care that your child needs.  Our kids are placed on waiting lists for services that can be years long, our health insurance companies turn their backs on us, and our overwhelmed and under-funded school districts force us to fight for even the most basic services to help our kids.  The number of families facing bankruptcy and losing their homes to provide their children with the care they need is staggering. 

Savage also thinks that greedy lawyers are somehow involved, looking for ways to milk the pharmaceutical companies for families who claim that vaccines caused their child’s regression.  He is completely ignorant to the fact that manufacturers are protected from all liability on vaccine injury claims thanks to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.  I tried to point this out to him, but he pushed on with this false assumption.  What I didn’t realize until hearing the show later, was that my phone line was completely muted when Savage was speaking.  There were several times when I tried to interject and disagree with him, and I was simply not heard.  This is misleading and my silence could be interpreted by some of his listeners as agreement.  I’m not happy about that.

Savage’s producer asked me to have several other guests from our community standing by to be interviewed during the show.  I did that, and not one of them was included.  The callers who were put on the air appeared to be hand-selected to participate in the show with the sole purpose of allowing Savage to backtrack and basically cover his own behind.

Savage claims to be an advocate for children’s health.  One might think that instead of ranting about bad parenting, he would be questioning why we have so many sick children in this country.  Coinciding with the increase in recommended vaccines, we’ve had an increase in chronic diseases including Asthma, ADD, ADHD, Juvenile Diabetes, and yes, Autism.  Why do our government health agencies refuse to compare the overall health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children?  Why do they continue to inject our babies with substances that are known to be toxic to the developing brain and immune system?  Why is our government being allowed to treat an entire generation of children like lab rats, by requiring an ever-increasing number of vaccines and conducting absolutely no safety studies on their cumulative effects?

Last night, I received an email with a link to a new website, www.savageonautism.com.  He’s got a website for this now?  On this site, there is a link to an audio clip of my discussion with Savage.  It noted, “Savage speaks with Wendy Fournier, President of the National Autism Association who says that she has much common ground with Savage”.  Again, misleading.   I do not appreciate the implication that I am in any way on his side and I will not be used as a pawn in his attempt to backtrack on his comments.  I contacted Talk Radio Network about this and the reference was promptly removed. 

Mark Masters from TRN has offered to air public service announcements on their nationally syndicated shows in an effort to educate listeners on the reality of autism.  For that I am very grateful.  I hope that it will undo some of the damage that has been done.

That damage is very real, and it frightens me for our children.  I just got a phone call from a 74-year-old lady from California who was literally screaming at me, saying that we are a bunch of hysterical mothers who refuse to discipline our kids.  She could barely catch her breath, and she’s calling us hysterical?  I ended up hanging up on her and she’s called back 5 times already - that’s how fired up and anxious she is to criticize us as parents and the children we love.  This is the damage that Mike Savage has done, whether he meant to or not is completely irrelevant.  There are people out there who are taking his words at face value and his message is one of hate. 

To the fine people who are sending me hate mail about freedom of speech, you can stop.  I’m all for it.  You can say anything you want to in this country, but if you choose to attack our kids, be ready to defend your comments.  We’re already suited up and are getting pretty good at wielding our big-ass swords.

In closing, I have listened with an open mind to Savage’s claim that he was taken out of context.  My personal conclusion is that he was not, he’s lying to us.  There are several reasons why I don’t believe him, but I keep coming back to one very significant quote.  Savage claims he was talking about the “misdiagnosed”, not kids that truly have autism.  But during his deplorable rant he said, “What do you mean they scream and they’re silent?”  He was talking then about children who are silent, children who are non-verbal, children who are severely affected by autism, children like my beautiful little girl.

Michael Savage, take your father’s advice.  Don't act like a moron.  You'll get nowhere in life.  Stop acting like a putz.  Straighten up.  Act like a man.  Whether you actually meant to hurt suffering families or not, the simple fact is, you did hurt us.  And for that alone, you should man up and apologize.

Wendy Fournier is president of The National Autism Association.

Comments

[Michele I.]

Wendy-
I just wanted to tell you that you are amazing. Your perseverance and willingness to just keep going for our community is incredible and it is something I aspire too.

I've been trying to block out as much of this Savage stuff as possible. I just don't think I can deal with it now. Well, my 'plan' of ignoring it came to an end, when I was at a wedding on Saturday and a family member asked me what I thought about Mike Savage's comments. I said I thought he was an idiot. To which he replied "Well, I kind of agree with a lot of what he said."

AGH!!!!

My next response should have been 'well I think you're in idiot.' But I bit my tongue and tried to explain that Jackson is not getting any 'freebies' and that autism has put us in tremendous debt. He was pretty shocked at that, he thought for sure he got some kind of disability payments.

I don't think I changed his mind, but at least I made him think. Thanks for the inspiration on changing the world, one person at a time. Keep up your amazing work.

[Fielding J. Hurst]

The Weiner Nation ...
http://autismparents.net/the-weiner-nation-great-michael-savage-pic/

[Wendy Fournier]

I want to thank everyone for being so strong and determined in the wake of the Savage attack. I am so proud to be part of this community. Many of you sent photos for a video that I made last year. The Rascal Flatts song that I used is worth a listen to right now.

Here's a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bRZGlY2UP4

The lyrics say:
When push comes to shove you taste what you're made of. You might bend til you break cuz it's all you can take. On your knees you look up, decide you've had enough. You get mad, you get strong, wipe your hands, shake it off, then you STAND.

Be proud of yourselves, YOU ROCK!

[Cindy]

Hats off to you, Wendy. I couldn't have been quite as nice and controlled as you. I have a tendency to be "in your face." It must have taken alot for you to muster up the self control to not climb through the phone line and kick his fat rear end.

Cindy W.

[Media Scholar]

Media Matters is *smart* enough to know that the initial "open mouth insert foot damage" is typically followed up by a short period of futile denial.

After this is over, things quickly dissolve into the obligatory two-way dialogue where things like the fact that Michael Savage agrees that vaccines have caused cases of autism come out in the open.

Media Matters and certain Autism groups are manipulating people to stampede simply due to the fact that they know during Savage's contrition things like who caused the proliferation of Thimerosal injections to happen will come out, and, will certainly be heard by a listening audience undoubtedly swollen by curiosity.

By all calculation, Michael Savage agreeing that Thimerosal is causing cases of Autism which most likely comprise the bulk of the epidemic is a very, very important thing for the general public to hear which is exactly why Media Matters is stampeding folks.

[Wendy Fournier]

Media Matters keeps coming up and I'd like to share my thoughts on them. First of all, the autism community is perfectly capable of defending itself against bullies. We don't need anyone telling us how to do that. They are fueling the fire, and purposefully trying to get everyone in a frenzy, including the media, for their own selfish reasons. They had two people call me the day I was scheduled to go on Savage's show, to try to tell me what to say. They wanted me to talk about his attacks on gays, muslims, women, etc. That pissed me off and I told them that I had no intention of getting on that show to fight with Savage about everything nasty he's ever said, I was going to use the time I had to talk about what is getting lost in all of this free publicity for Savage - OUR KIDS! They called me again last night to tell me that they will be sending out a response to the TRN Statement. I flat out told them that I don't care what they do, that this community is not naive enough to think for a second that they really give a sh*t about our kids, and I resent the fact that they are using OUR CHILDREN for their own agenda.

[Dana Read]

Thank you to you and NAA for continuing to speak out and defend our kids. Mr. Savage is a monster and Autism Speaks are cowards.

[Carolyn]

Wendy,

You are a trooper. You really are. So many of us are exhausted.

We fight constantly for the rights of our children. Do people even understand the concept of an autism diagnosis? It is...considered UNTREATABLE. Meaning. No speech therapy. No occupational therapy. No medical testing. NOTHING You walk out of the doctors office with your heart in your hands and nothing else. No one cares if your child is in pain? 90% of the pediatricians have not been "educated" in autism. They don't know how to care for a child that has this diagnosis (because this diagnosis is based soley on the concept of behavior/development) not it's real conception metal poisoning/viral encephalitits/methylation disfunction. Dr's have no idea if the child is in pain...never sleeps, is self abusive. All they want to do is prescribe you sedatives to contol your child. Tell me ....would you sedate a child that has leukemia because they are in so much pain they are acting out of control? (Not that I am comparing one tragedy to thie next) This is crazy. People wake up.

Where's the free lines??? There are NONE. Many of us have refinanced homes. 80% divorce rate. Estranged family. This is NOT a cake walk. Who implies such non-sense?

I swear, that 74 year old woman needs to turn off the radio and read Reader Digest, plant roses or clean a toliet. It is not 1953. Ozzie and Harriet don't live here anymore and doctors don't make house calls. You are making opinions based on a world that no longer exists. Sad to say but true, true, true. If I knew who you were I would give you my mother's number...she could take you to BINGO. Are you a smoker? My mother doesn't think there is anything wrong with smoking either.

Step aside because there are new parents being born everday. We are tougher, more educated and stronger than any breed that has ever lived (Not that we have a choice!).

Thank you Wendy for standing beside us. It is appreciated.

[Harry Tembenis]

Wendy:

You go, girl!!!! Make sure you put a SAVAGE beatdown on Mr. Weiner!!!

[Teresa]

Thank you, Wendy!! You are such an excellent advocate for all of our children.

Some people have looked at this Savage situation and compared it to what happened to Don Imus. Don was fired even though he did apologize and genuinely showed remorse in his comments. Savage has not come close to an apology and his comments reflect a sadistic, narcissistic, incongruent individual. He has now lied on top of the incident to minimize his comments as he may be getting a bit scared. Good--he needs to be scared and to be fired. His bringing autism up to his millions of listeners in this sick and blatantly wrong fashion shows only one course of action--fire him-- so that those same listeners understand how inappropriate he was regarding autism. There is no going back--there is no way to explain his delusional thinking process other than "it is what it is"--Bye Bye Michael. I don't have to be diplomatic here as I am mom here to Meg.

[Media Scholar]

Media Matters is involved with the Thimerosal issue and that's never a good thing.

Here is a fine example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFexBlk4g0g

Parents can put this all into context for themselves.

[Robin Nemeth]

Wendy,

I wanted to clarify one thing, and then I've REALLY got to stop thinking about Mr. Weiner for awhile.

When I said earlier that I hoped you were as angered at having your words censored as I am about having my words censored, I didn't mean to imply that my words have ever been censored by you, anyone with the NAA, or anyone here at this blog. Just in case anyone got that impression.

And I will try to stop making fun of Mr. Weiner's name. It's snarky and uncalled for but what can I say he's made me this angry. If my name'd been 'Weiner' I probably would've wanted to change it, too. But I wouldn't have picked 'Savage'. Sheesh.

[Kate]

Wendy -
Thank you so much for your willingness to appear on Savage's show. Any voice of reason in this foolish situation has to help, even if they limited your comments.

You must have amazing control. I'm still screaming hate in all of its various forms.

And as far as "real" experts go? We know. Parents are the only real experts. We're in the trenches. We're at the therapies. We're fighting the school districts and MDs. We're the experts.

[Keith]

Does anyone else think it's ironic that he whines about pharma making money dosing kids with stimulants when a stimulant also happen to be in Rock Star Energy drinks?

[lisa Thompson]

As repulsive as I think Michael Savages remarks about our kids and our struggles with autism are, in some respects he did us a favor by providing more air time and face time to get our message out there. Wendy, you have seized upon the moment brilliantly. While Savage has plenty of air time to spew his lies and hatred, at least the media is giving our team opportunities to respond. We just have to keep chipping away at the misinformation out there, and hate-mongering buffoons like Savage are recognized by the media and the public for the morons that they are. Meanwhile, we are being given valuable opportunities to provide accurate sound bites of our own. I just hope the world is listening!

[Keith]

Wendy

you know I love ya and what you are doing. I do applaud what you have done. However, I think it is pretty naive to think that they really would have given you credible air time and voice.

They only care about creating controversy and getting people worked up. They don't care if they piss off people as long as it gets them attention. That is what these jokers are all about.

I know some people here in this biz. They are smooth talkers and charmers but when they get you on air it's their game.

I think it is fairly ironic that many of the ingredients in the Rock Star energy drink are some of the same nutrients one might give a ASD child doing a biomed protocol (sans the caffeine, preservatives and a herb or two).

[Pat]

Autism Speaks involve themselves in the Savage situation? HA! All those phonies are are about at that organization is "all talk NO action." They accomplish absolutely nothing in really helping kids and I remain puzzled why their pathetic mouth pieces (they all know who they are) continue to think they are doing anything for children. They don't even come forward and stand up and defend children againt this pathetic Savage. Why the word "speaks" is even in their title is beyond me since they actually do not "speak" for the kids at all.

[Robin Nemeth]

First of all thank you for all that you’re doing.

People are entitled to their free speech. And while what he said was obscene and offensive and extraordinarily hurtful, people have the right to say mean and stupid things. What really disturbs me is the outright lie that I heard him speak a couple of nights after the original remark. He was interviewing some ‘expert’ who said that his name was Steven Cameroda of Vanderbilt University. (I don’t know how to spell the name and have probably not spelled it right.) This man said that the mercury was all removed from the vaccines and Mr. Weiner (Mr. Savage) replied with something like “yes that’s right it’s all been removed”. If this man is really an expert on autism, as he claims to be, he should know that it hasn’t been removed. I personally believe that he does know, and is lying, as does Mr. Weiner. But what I believe about that is neither here nor there.

When I contacted Talk Radio Network on the phone, I was given this email address to contact the producer of the show: Beowulf@talkradionetwork.com

I then sent them an email informing them that there is still a toxic level of mercury in flu shots that are now being advised for pregnant women, babies and children, as well as the FDA’s website where this information can be found. I asked him to please pass this information on to Mr. Weiner.

If Mark Masters, of Talk Radio Network, has offered to air public service announcements in an effort to educate listeners, he could start with correcting this horribly dangerous piece of misinformation. It is one thing to be obnoxious. It is quite another to broadcast false information that leads to serious harm in children, and it is a crime, I believe (or it certainly ought to be), to do so knowingly.

As far as your phone line being turned off when you were trying to speak during your interview with Mr. Weiner—well, welcome to my world :P I just hope it angers you as much as it angers me, to have your words censored.

[Jeanne]

Wendy, thank you and great job!

[Elucidatus]

Wendy,

As a father with a child diagnosed with Autism I am proud of you. Your persistance and courage is the very reason why we continue the struggle. This man has no idea what type of negativity he has labeled us with. I wish it was true that we could get all of these services with the Diagnosis of Autism. Financially, I am not doing well but I have seen the changes in my child with every single type of therapy that we have been able to provide without the assistance of insurance. At first I was very skeptical of these types of therapies but as soon as I saw changes that I was told by the experts to no expect, I knew I was in for a fight.

People like Mr. Weiner who have to change their name to feel more powerful are worse off then we are. We don't have to hide behind savagery and deciet to feel powerful. Our children have already made us stronger and wiser. They have no idea what they are up against and they soon will know.

Mr. Weiner(Savage), you have no idea what you started.

[Kelli Ann Davis]

"The callers who were put on the air appeared to be hand-selected to participate in the show with the sole purpose of allowing Savage to backtrack and basically cover his own behind."

Wendy,

I totally thought the exact same thing. And I don't know if you caught it or not, but when he introduced the guest from Vanderbilt who came on directly after you, he said, *real expert* -- the implication being that YOU weren't a *real expert*!!!

This *real expert* then went on to say that there were no vaccines that contained thimerosal on the market and it had been that way for 8 years!

For the next two days, as I listened to his program, *every guest* continued the misconception on the numbers -- how they weren't real, etc. and *that* perpetuation is what damages us the most and it's my main beef with Savage.

[Sonja]

Thank you Wendy...so well said. Here is a comment I sent to a radio talk show two nights ago...not sure if it was read but it felt good to write it. My comment:

My daughter taught herself Japanese, but she can't stand the sound of a vacuum cleaner. She can tell you all the characters of her video games or cartoon show, but she can't identify the cousins in her family. She received the highest score ever for a second grader in the state of Virginia's standards of learning test, but doesn't know how to tie her shoes.

Of course, Mr. Savage we indulge her. We have drained our bank accounts, stolen from our other three children's college fund, sold our home, and currently drive a luxurious 1994 Dodge Caravan so that we can pay for her therapies. We're so deep in the red that you'd think Vladimir Lenin won the Cold War.

But now I know I've been doing it all wrong, Based on your advice all I need is a whip and a chair?

I have surrendered neither my compassion nor my humanity. That will happen on a cold day in hell, a day as cold as your heart.

Kim, Anna will be at Surf Pals as well...hope to say hello and introduce the girls.

Sonja

[Stagmom:]

Did anyone from Autism Speaks make TV/radio appearances decrying Savage's words? NAA, TACA and GR have been vocal and "out there" on behalf of ALL people with autism. Do any of you know if AS had representatives calling talk shows, staying on hold for hours, talking to the press, writing releases that have circulated in media around the Globe as "we" have? I'm curious.

KIM STAGLIANO

[Andrea]

Thank you Wendy. You have handled this situation magnificently. You have represented our community well by your words and actions.

I am truly grateful.

Thank you.

[Tanners Dad]

Wendy thank you again. I really appreciate your kind words to me directly and in this article. I am over the tears and hurt. The anger is still on the surface.
I try to look at every situation like Jim C. said we have to imagine the world as we want it to be and work towards it. The bottom line premise after you scrape away all the Michael Savage muck that led to his comments (I listened to just about 9 hours in context...Yes I am ill) is that the numbers cannot exist in a genetic illness. We should use the power of the millions upon millions who have now been infected with the idea that something is rotten in Denmark. We should now inform them that little switches were turned off in our children by the vaccines... our childrens voices, eyes, and spirit were stolen. As much as I have nothing but anger for the man, this may be a ground for a truce. I am not sure if there will be much left with impact if people have been writing, calling, and shouting to the sponsors, radio stations, and FCC as much as me.