"Autism is a "fraud"" - Anyone else hear about this?
By lisado
@lisado (1227)
United States
July 23, 2008 12:53pm CST
My MIL called me this morning asking if I had heard about the rant by a radio talk show host and Autism. I said, no, I hadn't. It took some hunting, but I finally found it on the CNN website and listening to him made me furious. As the mother of two Autistic children, I was insulted to hear that he thinks my children were just disgnosed because I wouldn't make them mind and to get extra Welfare. We don't get welfare or any other money from the gov't! Not even SSI-disablilty, because they say we make to much money for a family of 4, one income household. My husband is enlisted in the Navy and doesn't make that much and we don't qualify. We had to fight tooth and nail just for the basic speech and occupational therapy for our oldest son. At one point our insurance took away speech therapy saying that since our son is non-verbal (he was 6 at the time) he didn't need speech therapy. He doesn't talk, so why does he need speech therapy? That was their arguement. He did finally get speech therapy back, one hour a week, but how this guy figures we're getting our sons diagonosed because they won't mind, their morons or for welfare is beyond me. Here is the link to the video story. He tries to defend himself, but that made me even more ticked off.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/07/21/lkl.mike.savage.cnn?iref=videosearch
2 people like this
8 responses
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
28 Jul 08
I couldn't get video to work, but I have to agree with him. Yep, autism is a fraud. 
My oldest son is just pretending to be autistic. At 11 years old he is just faking at being almost non-verbal and the rocking he does is just to drive me insane. Yep, I'll just tell myself that. 
And if anyone believes that I have a unicorn I want to sell them! 
I wouldn't wish an autistic child on anyone, but too bad this guy doesn't know what it is like so he could see that autism is [b][/b]very[i][/i] real.
My oldest son is just pretending to be autistic. At 11 years old he is just faking at being almost non-verbal and the rocking he does is just to drive me insane. Yep, I'll just tell myself that.
And if anyone believes that I have a unicorn I want to sell them!
I wouldn't wish an autistic child on anyone, but too bad this guy doesn't know what it is like so he could see that autism is [b][/b]very[i][/i] real.
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
3 Sep 08
If only that could be done. 
I know what you mean about feeling dumb when trying to figure out an autistic child. There have been many times my husband and I have felt this way when our autistic son tries to tell me something and it takes us forever to figure it out. Thank goodness he (our son) has started talking, even if it is limited speech as it has helped a lot. Though there are still those days...
I know what you mean about feeling dumb when trying to figure out an autistic child. There have been many times my husband and I have felt this way when our autistic son tries to tell me something and it takes us forever to figure it out. Thank goodness he (our son) has started talking, even if it is limited speech as it has helped a lot. Though there are still those days...
@jmhall (143)
• United States
31 Aug 08
Would it be nice if you could just lock him in the mind of an autistic child and try to communicate and see what it is like to try and communicate but not be able. I know my daughter gets really up set when trying to communicate what she wants and we are too dumb to figure it out:)
1 person likes this
@lisado (1227)
• United States
26 Dec 08
I have a couple of those unicorns when you sell yours! :P Send 'em my way!
I understand what you are going thru. My now 10 year old has no words at all. He knows a couple of signs but doesn't like to use them. He "sings" all of the time and, though most of the time I can tune it out, some days it drives me nuts. He can't help it, and I remind myself of that when I find my nerves fray, and then I feel guilty. He has no way to tell me when he is sick, why he cries for what (to us, anyway) looks like no reason at all. He shreaks so high and so loudly that you'd swear the windows were about to break.
Our other son is 2 1/2. He still won't eat. He drinks formula and apple juice. That's it. He's been in therapy for over a year and they can't get him to eat anything at all. Literally. No french fries, chips, candy, Cheerios, nothing. His OT is at a loss because the things that work for other kids won't work for mine. He won't allow anything (toothbrush or anything else) in his mouth except his bottles (won't use any cups at all, sippy or otherwise). He gags on anything you might sneak in his mouth to the point he almost makes himself throw up.
Like your son, apparently mine are faking their Autism, too. I just "don't make them behave". The man probably has never been around Autistic kids. Maybe he should spend some time at a therapy center or a classroom with special needs kids and see how fast he changes his mind.
1 person likes this
@pimpsterque999 (227)
• United States
23 Jul 08
Im sorry for your frustration...you have to see it from there point of view...you just like thousands of others have been tricked. the government "cnn" etc are trying to protect there own. Its there fault that all the children have autism!! you see it used to be the old vaccine had mercury and it would only affect so many kids per year ...why im not sure maybe just the child couldnt handle it or something i dont know maybe they juiced up some of the shots so give kids autism im not sure but i do know its that MMR shot that is screwing up the kids. over the last year or two the government has changed the shot ....now we have an increase of autism. its not the childrens faults...its not the parents faults...its the government and why arent they doing more to protect our children. they will tell you teh shot is safe....they will telll you your kids have to have the shot but ...if its a free country HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE ME GET MY CHILD A SHOT WHICH ISNT SAFE????
Correct me if im wrong ...this is what has happened with darn there all mothers and fathers whom have autistic children--- the kids run and play and talk everything seems fine then they go get there shots. no one really thinks about which shot it is they just realize taht there child wakes up one day and doesnt function like they used to. ITS THE SHOT I DONT CARE WHAT HEALTHCARE PROVIDER DR NURSE WHATEVER WANTS TO SAY ITS NOT THE SHOT I HAVE HEARD TOOO MANY STORIES AND THAT SHOT IS WHAT IS HARMING OUR CHILDREN!!!!!
As far as speech and healthcare....the government runs a** backwards because if you have a good job and nice car and such it seems you can lie and get all the help you want however if your really in need of assistance you play hi and h*ll water trying to get help!!! i think the government needs an overhaul and needs to see the difference in NEED!!!
@lisado (1227)
• United States
23 Jul 08
I have heard the shot arguement and I am on both sides of it. My oldest son did seem to regress (go backwards) a few months after his MMR shot, but we found out we also had black mold in our apartment at the time, which is also thought to "cause" Autism. Our youngest son, however, showed signs before he got his MMR shot, so I could argue both ways.
I heard ya on the healthcare/welfare issue. We were once told that the only way we would qualify for foodstamps (this was when we only had one son and well before he was diagnosed) was to sell our only car. According to them, the car was worth to much, so we'd have to sell it to qualify. The fact that it was the only car we had, so my husband could get back and forth to work, and the fact that we owed more than it was worth didn't matter to them. The car was "worth to much" so we couldn't get help. We always play by the rules, so we are nearly always told we "make to much". We barely qualify for WIC! My husband is only an E5 in the Navy and I am SAHM, so how we make to much money for a family of four is beyond me. When I see people driving new Cadillac SUVs picking up foodstamps when we're driving an older family car (was a Honda Civic at the time) irks the heck out of me.
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
25 Jul 08
Never heard that one about the foodstamp problem... that is really messed up... what state is this?
My family was on foodstamps and once a new car was involved the foodstamps actaully went up. So I don't understand your case, I would check more into that because with a newer car, you should actually get more foodstamps.
I also have a friend that works as a caseworker and helps people get on foodstamps and she says that a person with an older car would actually get less then the one with the new car. They go on what you make and what you use on bills that are concidered a need. A car, at any situation, new or old is a need along with ur home bills and rent.
The system just doens't make sense half the time...
lol..
@lisado (1227)
• United States
26 Dec 08
That is how I thought it should work, too, the car being newer would help you and not hurt you, but that isn't how it worked in our case. We were living in Indiana at the time. I could see it hurting our case if we had a brand new Ferrari or something, but a Honda Civic?? Gimme a break. And my husband, at the time, delivered pizza for a living, so he HAD to have a car that was good on gas. The caseworker said she understood us needing the car, but there was nothing she could do for us unless we sold it. It didn't make sense to me at all.
@albert2412 (1782)
• United States
8 Jan 09
I admire you very much for everything you are doing to fight for your children. As a dad of an autistic son I can understand some of the things you are going through. It has taken us a long time to find the right ways to get our son better using herbs and supplements. We also do not get government help.
@albert2412 (1782)
• United States
8 Jan 09
I do not understand how anyone in their right mind can say that autism does not exist. Our son became autistic at the age of 12 from the mercury preservation in the MMR school shot. He was a normal, smiling happy boy before the shot and several weeks later after the shot he was autistic, silent, nonverbal, stemming, etc. We are still trying to get the mercury out of him and he is much improved, but he is not normal. Autism is real and is caused by mercury poisoning. All vaccines should be illegal and not given to children.
@ch88ss (2271)
• United States
3 Oct 08
It would tick me off to. We also spend lots of our our own savings on therapy for our child too.
That really is wrong for the insurance to say “he does not need speech therapy if he is does not talk” well in that case, the insurance company should not take your money because they don’t offer the services when it is necessary.
Or better yet the person who told you that don’t need to be paid for this job, they did not use their brain when replying to this denial…
Outrageous!!!! Welfare, and other assisted program have been available for many others I remember a girl in my old neighborhood with 5 children, and 5 different dads. I am sorry, but I seen so many that do not work, and get their nails done all the time, going out to bars, and having babies. Then they get welfare check, food stamp, assisted living and even more. Free education, free preschool, free transportation, free housing, free school lunches, free medical and much more.
I endure the same problem, we fought with insurance for months about speech, I have to pay insurance premium weekly. We also pay for summer school, preschool, and school lunches too. But our child has a disability so why are we paying when we are the ones paying taxes right? It is horrible system.
How dare they say autism is a fraud and claim we are trying to take money from the system when indeed they are not looking in right direction. I hate it when I have to pay for my copay before they can see my child, but another one walks in and they don’t need to pay copay and probably don’t even need to hold a job to pay their bills.
You can tell I am upset about this too! I won’t be upset if I did not go through h… e…. l…. l… to pay for speech, behavior and other therapies.
@fluffnflowers (1594)
• United States
24 Jul 08
I think most people were appalled by what he said. While I think everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I hate that this man with his expansive medical knowledge (said with EXTREME sarcasm) is heard and respected by so many.
People will believe what they want to, but I am glad to hear the number of people who were outraged by his commentary -- especially those that aren't autistics or autistic parents. It's good to know that more and more people are recognizing autism as a disease, rather than just assuming that the child is undisciplined.
@lisado (1227)
• United States
26 Dec 08
I think a lot of that has to do with the number of people that have been diagnosed. You can't throw a stone without hitting someone that knows someone with Autism now. And the symtoms vary so much! Both of my children are Autistic and non-verbal but that is where the similarity ends! They are at opposite ends of the spectrum other than that. My MIL is the one that told me about this guy's rant and she was spitting nails when she called. No one else in the family has Autism and yet, because they know our sons and their special needs (as well as differences) they were all livid. I, honestly, didn't think much about Autism one way or the other until we had our sons. We didn't know anyone with Autism. Since more people are in contact with special needs kids, and they aren't hidden away anymore in hospitals and such, more people understand that this isn't a BS diagnosis.
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
25 Jul 08
Yes I heard this the other day and eveb wrote a thread myself on it. I was really upset I told my husband that I want this mans phone number so I could give him some of my own remarks about his ignorant remarks.
He obviously doesn't know much about Autism and needs to educate himself more.
But this man makes a living doing stuff like this on his radio station, so I don't think nothing will happen to him, although I wish he could be fired, but it doesn't look that way.
But I feel this was one of the lowest things anyone could say to the public. He made no sense to be honest because as many others ask, "What does he feel about the non-verbal Autistic kids that just sit in the corner and so on?"
There are different kinds of Autistic behaviors, and I don't feel BRAT is one of the behaviors..
@jsvanriet (29)
•
13 Aug 08
that so pisses me off my child cant help the things that are happening to him. he is not a spoiled brat or a moron. he has a IQ higher than most 6th graders and he is 3. but because he cant talk or socialize with other people doesnt make him stupid or anything that horrible man said i think that guy should have his mouth zipped shut and never be aloud to even think about children with specail needs or there parents. that is the worst thing i have heard in years. God help him cause he needs it.
