Autism Speaks refuses to do anything about Michael Savage not because they're scared of him or because he's well-connected, but because deep down in their pocketbooks, they agree with Michael Savage and everyone else who demonizes autistic children.

I hope the incident opens more people's eyes to realize that Autism Speaks is just another charity that refuses to actually help people when the time comes to stop fundraising and start funding.

Mr.Savage has in his mind the same picture of Autism that our parents have.
They know about the Autistic kids in thier day who were so disabled they never spoke and many parents followed the "experts" advise to institutionalize them.
When our son was first called Autistic we were in disbelief, our picture of Autism did not match the way our son behaved.
The medical establishment put this label on our children. Those in the know matched this horrible condition to the behaviors of Autism. Our children are not responsible for this. Did the medical establishment know in the early 90's that this was vaccine injury? Did they call it Autism to steer us away from vaccines?
Dear Mr. Savage, Call the condition whatever you want to, this does not change the fact that 1in150 American children have been damaged. Put your passion to good use. Join us in finding the solution.

Micheal Weiner (okay, I am a person that believes names are very significant!) would love to have parents call into his show this afternoon so that he can further belittle parents and promote himself. He's good at it and he makes a living off of it remember.

"Mike Savage is opening up his show to our calls today from 3-6pm Pacific Time. The call in number is 800-449-8255."

I would like to see SPONSORS of his show call into the show and voice their concerns about Weiner's cold-hearted comments. If sponsors care that thousands and thousands of parents are angry and frustrated with Michael Weiner/Savage (both names tell a lot) and his show, they they should make a statement.

A simple "we don't share Mr. Savage's views" is not enough. They are FUNDING Mr. Savage's critical and harmful viewpoint, and as such, that is SUPPORTING it.

SPONSORS, call into the show today! Parents, let's urge them to do so.

While I’m not going to apologize for last night’s tirade that I posted, I think I will point out that I probably wouldn’t have written it at all if I hadn’t broken a promise. (There they are, those consequences for actions, thwacking me in the face this morning as I reread what I wrote last night.) I’d made a promise elsewhere not to listen to Savage, anymore. Right after his first stupid comments aired. And there I was, last night, just as soon as my husband told me he was talking about autism, with my radio on. And omg but he makes me soooo angry... My own tirade, I think, was meant to function as a sort of wall in my brain, against his evil and stupidity.

But anyway, I’m sorry, for that. That I broke my promise and was listening to his show, last night. I guess I felt I owed it to him and to me to keep an open mind. But after the comments about how the mercury has been removed from the vaccines, well, this time I really mean it. No more. I know enough to stop listening to people who have lied to me. Don’t try to tell me he’s uninformed. As Jim said, “How stupid do you think we are?”

Cindy wrote: I'd like to hear more about the arrest attempt Robin.

To tell you the truth I’m starting to get that same feeling that I used to get when I was in grade school, and there was some joke and everyone got it but me, and that was a big part of the funniness of the joke for everyone else. Which almost makes me not want to say anything because the jokes were almost always mean, and anyway it’s not as though I haven’t put the details down in writing plenty of times. But you want me to talk about the details again? The joke’s on me—I’ll bite. Hardy har har.

House of Blues, April of last year, Autism Speaks benefit concert, I’m standing with my husband outside and I’m handing out flyers about thimerosal when I’m asked to leave. “We’ll put your flyers on our table” says the woman behind the information table. I suspected that they’d put my flyers into the circular file as soon as I walked out the door, but I know it would’ve been rude to say as much, and so I said only “I’d prefer to hand them out to people personally.” “We’ll call the police if you don’t leave” I was told. “Do you have a child with autism? I have a child with autism. Can you understand that?” I told her no. “We worked really hard for this and we just want to have a good time tonight” I don’t know who she was. I didn’t understand why it should bother her that I was there. I didn’t know why her having a child with autism should mean that she had the right to tell me I had to leave. So I stayed. Two police cars came. The fact that there is no official police record, I believe, tells you that I wasn’t actually harassing or threatening anyone. If I had been, there’d have been an official police report filed. I think that’s what the receptionist I spoke with at the police department said, or implied. But if you look at the dispatch report, which I got a copy of, you’ll see that when the House of Blues called the police, the police were told that I was threatening and harassing people. That right there pisses me off. Because I most assuredly was doing no such thing.

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~r_nemeth/HOB_incident_report.htm

But honestly, it’s the stuff that happened afterwards that really makes angry. The bitch lied about it. Excuse my language, but I really don’t see what other word there is for the likes of her. They didn’t just stop with lying about what I was doing there that night, with lying and telling the police I was threatening and harassing people. On a local yahoo internet forum, after seeing the local AS chapter president Ms. Goldberg soliciting donations for another AS event, I wrote of the arrest attempt. And the president of the local chapter of AS replied, on the forum, with “Robin, nobody tried to have you arrested.”

I know that I’ve heard a few people take issue with my use of those words. In that the police didn’t actually try to arrest me after they showed up. But actually, they did tell me, initially, that I would be arrested if I didn’t leave--it was only later when the chief of police came that I was told I was within my rights to stay. So while there wasn’t any sort of actual physical scuffle, I’m standing by my words. And the bitch, who I’ve never met, might have been there that evening or she might not have. But if she was there, then she knows what happened. She saw the police cars come, she saw the officers talking to me and to my husband, telling me to leave, asking him if he “couldn’t just take me home.” And if she wasn’t there, then the bitch should shut her trap. If she is going to speak about that night, she should be speaking the truth.

Part of the reason I’m so furious is that it seems to me that a person would have to have colossal gall to do what she’s done. I can’t imagine what she is thinking. Surely she knows that others saw what happened that night. Perhaps she thinks it doesn’t matter at all. Perhaps she is right. It certainly hasn’t seemed to matter. I at first thought sheesh, for her to do this she must be so used to being able to say anything at all, and get her way and get away with it, and have no consequences. The empress has no clothes, and nobody seems to care to say so.

I understand that there are situations in which people don’t know what happened, and it is, as far as they are concerned ‘he said/she said’, as they say. And yet, I’ve had people, so many people, tell me that they believe me, or that they knew of someone who spoke with the police about it, and that they think it was wrong for them to have done this. And they say this to my face, but they’re two faced. Because, a month or two later when I would be at another meeting or another function, there would be the people who had told me “gee it’s terrible what they did”, and they’re cozying up to the people who’d supposedly done this, in their opinion, terrible thing as if they were just the best of friends. Hugging, smiling, laughing, dancing with them. All smoochy poo. And helping them to raise money.

I’ve heard the term ‘incestuous’ used to describe the various charity organizations. I know it’s a broad brush to use to paint them all with, and all of the people in those organizations. But here where I live, it is quite accurate. I don’t care who I offend or insult by saying so. They tried to have me arrested. And I’m supposed to worry that I’ve committed some stinking social faux pas by naming the *(*&*^& names of people who lie blatantly and shamelessly??

This is another thing that’s really pissed me off over the past year. Every last person who’s in charge of any of the support groups, here where I live, has either refused to let me post about this on their internet forum, or else made me feel that I’m nuts for speaking of what happened to me. I’m made to feel as if I really ought to have my head examined for even thinking about speaking of it, for even thinking about naming names. “Let me help you edit this into something more acceptable”—this is what I heard a year ago from the moderator of AutismNE. “Let me help you edit this, oh and btw, don’t mention your problems with the others”—this, almost the very same thing, is what I heard a month or two ago from the GC-AS moderator. Along with “I hope you’re not offended.” How the hell would I NOT be offended at the idea that I would acquiesce to censorship?? Is this what it means to be neurologically typical?? Ack.

For six or eight years I went to political chat rooms and I chatted amiably with people about every topic you can think of. When I said ‘thimerosal’, the chit hit the proverbial fan. Excuse my language, again, but I can really not thing of a better way of describing what happened to me there. It all sounded very much like what you heard from Savage. Obscene. And it was accepted and tolerated and *I* was the one who was painted as the sick person, the twisted person, the lunatic. But I told myself, as scared as I was by it, “oh well, these aren’t real people, these people who op on these channels they are nameless and faceless. And they aren’t representative anyway of what people are like, the people on the internet.” That’s what I said to myself, and it’s why I got away from the stinking internet chat rooms. I made myself get away from them and go out there and talk to real people in real life. And do you know what I found? I’ll tell you what I found. I found the same ugly evil obscene things. The same censorship. The same two faced hypocrisy. The same people who think it’s hilariously good fun that there are children with autism. No I’m not talking about the local women of AS now, I’m talking about Savage.

I got so tired of seeing the same thing over and over again—the “oh it’s terrible what happened to you” to my face, followed by the glad handing as soon as I walked away. I got so tired of it, and yet I said to myself “oh well maybe you’re mistaken, Robin. Maybe that particular person isn’t really aware of what happened to you, or that one, or that one. Why on earth would you expect them to be angry about what happened to you, if they’re actually not even aware of what happened to you? Maybe you’ve forgotten who you told, or wrote to, or maybe they never read the email you wrote, or maybe you’re confusing this person with someone else.” And so, one evening, at a local meeting, I spoke to Andrea, who is the wife of the local NAA president, and I said “Please, give me fifteen minutes after your speaker, to talk to the group”. And she did. And there were about fifteen or twenty people there, most if not all women, and they heard what I had to say. About the arrest attempt, and the subsequent lies by Ms. Goldberg, local AS chapter president, and about the censorship by the local support forum AutismNE. And afterward, I asked Andrea to please send me a list of names of people who were there that night. So that I would, in the future, know. I would be able to say to myself “ah, that person—that two faced sleazebag—knows exactly what happened to me, and yet there she is, hugging Marian, the moderator of AutismNE as if they were sisters.” I don’t even care that much about the hugs and the smiles. I know it is important to remain positive, and even to forgive at times. But they help these people raise money! That infuriates me. They help AS raise money, and they help AS censor the truth. All of this while knowing that AS uses their money and their power to go so far as to call the police to try to shut up those they disagree with. It’s happened over and over and over again, here. This two faces schmoozing.

Andrea never got back to me with those names. I don’t know why. I don’t know what she thought I might do with them. I know that when I was on the internet chat rooms, years ago, and would be banned for increasingly longer periods of time each time I would post a factual web address with new information about thimerosal, I got really scared and really angry. I had to smile at the person who commented here of their hands tingling, as if they could feel the baseball bat in them. Because that is exactly what I wanted to do to the operators of those channels. And I said as much, there in those channels, when the ten day or twenty day or thirty day ban would be lifted. But only after I posted the latest convincing evidence. And I promise you that any threats that were made were made LONG after the bans started, and I promise you that the bans started for nothing more than merely saying “there’s this evidence that mercury causes autism—here it is”. Eventually as the bans got longer and longer and the abuse got more and more cruel I was saying things like “those ops better just be damned glad I don’t know where to find them.” It’s probably a good thing for me, as well, that I didn’t know where to find them. I will say that I had no intention, ever, of going after anyone in real life with a baseball bat. If only because it sufficed to know who they were. It sufficed for me to be able to say to myself “oh, that’s the two faced bitch who says one thing to my face, but then her actions speak exactly the opposite”. Because I know that other people see the things that I do. And if there are people doing things, evil things, out in the open, with faces and names that people know and see, I tell myself that the evil will stop. It has to. People won’t put up with it.

God I’m naïve.

I didn’t much care that I never got that list of names. I don’t remember who was there that night, and I don’t think I’d recognize any of the people if I saw them again. I don’t care. I have no use for any of the people in the ‘support’ organizations around here. Not Shari Goldberg or the women who were behind that table at the House of Blues, not Marian Helmick of AutismNE who only posts ‘positive’ things on her forum, not Gus Gallucci, who wanted to speak to me out in the hallway, away from the others at the ASGC meeting, to tell me that he believed me when I wrote of what happened to me in front of the House of Blues but, when it comes to helping AS raise money well he’s going to keep on doing that because “I can’t shun a whole group of people simply because YOU happen to have some issues with them.”

I’m listening to Savage as I’m writing this. The ‘expert’ Savage has on tonight (Steven Cameroda (spelling?)) is saying the increase in autism is due to the fact that children live now who wouldn’t have lived decades ago. Arrrrrgh!…….I have to stop listening and concentrate on writing this. I’m pissed off enough as it is already. I hope somebody has a transcript of this show cause I’m dying to find out if there’s any mention of thimerosal at all. I know he mentioned it once before on his program, years ago.

Where was I? Oh yes.

I don’t care if I get those names or not, because I’m likely not going to cross paths with any of them again. I’m pretty much of the belief that anyone I might cross paths with, in the ‘autism support’ world of the greater Cleveland area, is going to be of the same belief. It’s perfectly fine to tell people that it’s horrible and terrible to try to have someone arrested for saying ‘thimerosal’. It’s also perfectly fine to befriend the people who try to have people arrested for saying ‘thimerosal’, and it’s even perfectly fine to help those same people raise money. It’s all I’ve experienced so far in the last year and a half. I’ve no reason to believe things are any different with any other group of people, around here. This is what people want. They want to continue getting money to ‘help’ their children and the ends justify the means and they don’t mind if they are doing it through the suppression of information. I know that when most groups have meetings, there is a secretary who takes the minutes and records what is said, and a sheet of paper is passed around where people sign their names to say they were present at the meeting. If Andrea doesn’t want me to know the names of the people who’ve been told, who know what happened to me, who’ve seen the police incident report (I took a copy with me that night), then that is her prerogative. It’s not as though I paid money for an NAA membership. If it had been ASGC, I would have gone off in a huff after telling Gus and Rory that I’d like my five dollars I paid for my years membership returned to me.

Don’t tell me you don’t wanna hear this. Don’t tell me you don’t wanna hear rants. Heh. I know better. As I’m writing this, Savage is back on, on my radio. And he’s spreading more crap about the causes of autism. I’ll rant as long as I like. Rant and spew. I really don’t take issue too much with the things he’s saying about the expansion of the diagnosis, or with the pharmaceutical companies who just want to medicate our children. But he’s lying about the mercury in the vaccines. Of course he is. He has to, if he wants to keep his job.

Now this ‘expert’ who’s on the Savage show tonight, he’s saying chelation has no basis in fact. And that vaccines have nothing to do with it. Mercury’s been removed years ago. Yadda yadda. Same old shit. Michael Weiner: “yah, it was taken out years ago…” Vanderbilt university, that’s where this ‘expert’ is from.

But let me get back to what I was doing, which was ‘trashing’ people. My mother did teach me by the way that it’s not polite to speak about people who aren’t present to defend themselves. When those people are people who do not allow you to speak, who think it’s perfectly acceptable to censor the things you have to say, then rules schmules—screw the rules, I don’t buy it.

I don’t have any use for Theresa Szalkowski, of GC-AS, whose idea of ‘support’ for people is to tell them “let me help you edit your introductory letter from five pages to two paragraphs and oh btw, don’t mention the problems you’ve had with the other people”.

My husband said to me, a few weeks ago, that I wasn’t really being polite, when we were there handing out flyers at the House of Blues. And I freaked out. I totally freaked out. Do you have any idea how terrifying it feels to hear this, knowing that I’ve got nothing between me and the lies of that bitch who is the local chapter president of AS except for one photocopied document from the police department, and THAT says the police were called out because I was ‘threatening and harassing’ people? After a little while he said that “well the polite thing would’ve been to have left when they asked you to.” Which was a relief to hear, even though I think he has a very strange definition of ‘polite’ if you ask me. I told him that you might as well tell our daughters that if some guy wants to rape them, they should just tell him “oh you just go right ahead and have your way with me” in order to be polite.

When I first posted about the arrest attempt on AutismNE, somebody suggested to me that perhaps the women who organized the House of Blues benefit concert were simply afraid. Because of 911. And so I pointed out to those in the group that I, too, had some reasons to be afraid. Support? From these people?? Ha. Instead of support I got told, when I tried to post the police incident report--the documentation which verifies what I say-- “oh, sorry. That’s not positive. We only talk of positive things, here.” You want positive, Marian? You and those like you are positively corrupt to the core. I don’t know what motivates you. I don’t want to know.

God help your kids.

Now I’m listening to an ad for how depression can be treated. On Savage. In between his rants about how the medical establishment wants to drug our youth. An ad for a website called ‘depressionisreal.org’. Lol. Is he even aware of who advertises on his show?

I’ve got a new nick on the internet chat rooms. It’s ‘Almostnormal’. Please God, if normal is what you have to be to understand what’s on the airwaves these days, please God don’t ever let me be normal.

Robin Nemeth
http://www.wideopenwest.com/~r_nemeth/vaccine_flyer.htm

Dear Talk Radio Network,

In response to Michael Savage's statement today:

This "man" has now backpedaled to say that he was being critical of the medical community for "over-diagnosing" autism. This is Monday morning quarterbacking at its best. His comments were directed at the children's behavior and the parent's apparent lack of discipline, even going as far as suggesting that autistic children do not have a father around to tell them "not to act like a fool". He actually said that 99% of autism cases were fraud, and implied that parents were behind it as a way to make money. That is absolutely hilarious, since autism comes with many bonus disorders (metabolic, intestinal, etc.) that need treatment, but health insurance will not pay for. Our son's autism costs us about $2,000 a month at this point. The idea that this disorder is a way for people to make money would be laughable if it wasn't so patently insulting.

Until Michael Savage can admit that what he said about these children and their parents was just plain wrong, your radio network will continue to take the heat. Maybe when he is costing you exorbitant amounts of money in lost sponsorships, you will discipline him. As his employer, it is up to you to tell him not to "act like a putz".

Christina Fergo

Everyone should tell Autism Speaks how they feel, here email

Dana Marnane
National Director of Communications and Marketing
Autism Speaks
2 Park Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10016
[email protected]

Thank You
Daniel Faiella
www.recoveringMatthew.blogspot.com

I was forwarded a form letter type e-mail and it was signed by the following:

Thank You,
Judith Ursitti
Massachusetts Chapter Advocacy Chair
Autism Speaks

Oh please spare me...Autism Speaks is the last organization I would support, have confidence in or listen to Judy Ursitti. Wake up!

HOW FITTING FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES to give Savage the coverage to justify his remarks. The Times has never cared about autism. They're nothing but a propaganda front for all those trying to cover up the damage done to a generation of children. Pretending that autism is "an overdiagnosed medical condition" is similar to the long-standing "better diagnosing" position of the CDC, AAP, and the AMA.

It all comes down to the same thing: There's been no increase in autism.
Anne Dachel
Media editor

Is this guy a friend of Paul Offit? As far as Autism Speaks, they do not speak for me!
Savage needs to loose his job, just like Imus lost his for comments made on the air.

There would be no pity for Savage if everyone inserted their childs name and their own name into his diatribe.
I don't feel pity when someone tries to diminish my childs difficulties, I feel anger. I am unable to turn the other cheek when it comes to my boy.
If he had done 5 minutes of research he would know that there is no money to be made off of our Autistic children.

Shame on him.

How to hit Michael Savage in the wallet

To show what a hypocrite the Savage Wiener is, he is hawking a book
on Natural Cures for such items as ADD, ADHD, Allergies,etc:

https://www.savageonlinestore.com/productDetails.jsp?catid=&sku=855

Gee, if he did his homework, he would know ADD, ADHD,etc are all on the autistic spectrum...

If you really want to hurt him in the wallet, don't just boycott his sponsors, boycott his kid's energy drink company: Rockstar

http://www.rockstar69.com

"Savage and his second wife have two children, a daughter and a son;
his son, Russell, is the founder of the company that produces the
Rockstar energy drink, where Janet serves as chief financial officer."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_(commentator)

Feel free to forward onto the entire Autism community.

This investigative reporting was brought to you by:

http://www.firstgiving.com/eliasdad

http://spectrumpublications.com/index.php/June/July-2008/Spectrum-
Magazine-Category/a-walk-to-remember.html

Please feel free to donate, if you can.

Best Regards,

Harry

One thing Savage said that was very damaging (and typical of the "blame the victim" technique used when trying to poison a future jury pool--hmmm) --was that we parents are 'faking' autism to collect money. Well, I have a question for him--According to Savage, I've been successfully training my child to be autistic-like since he became that way overnight at 14 months! Even his LABS are consistent with heavy metal poisoning. He's GOOD! And my friends child even learned how to fake grand mal seizures! And we've both spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, lost great-paying jobs because we couldn't find good enough care for our children--So where do we get this money he says the govt is just handing out?? Oh--and by the way, the kids you see in the classrooms? They are just the tip of the iceberg. .

Dear God, who does their PR?? The JOKER?

THey are truly an amazing organization, and not in a good way.

I'd like to hear more about the arrest attempt Robin.

This incident only confirms my feelings about Autism Speaks. They certainly don't speak for me or for many families affected by autism. They should be ashamed of themselves.