To our valued listeners:
We welcome your emails in response to Michael Savage’s comments on Autism. Please send your emails directly to WOR’s Vice President and General Manager, Jerry Crowley at : jerrycrowley@wor710.com.
As you may have already seen or heard, Michael Savage’s official statement concerning his remarks on the radio about autism is as follows:
"My comments about autism were meant to boldly awaken parents and children to the medical community's attempt to label too many children or adults as autistic.
Just as some drug companies have overdiagnosed ADD and ADHD to peddle dangerous speed-like drugs to children as young as 4 years of age this cartel of doctors and drug companies is now creating a national panic by overdiagnosing autism for which there is no definitive medical diagnosis!
Many children are being victimized by being diagnosed with an illness which may not exist, in all cases. Just a few weeks ago doctors recommended dangerous anti-cholesterol drugs for children as young as 2 years of age!
Without any scientific studies on the possible dangers of such drugs on children, corrupt doctors made this controversial, unscientific recommendation. Increasingly our children are being used as profit centers by a greedy, corrupt medical/pharmaceutical establishment. As the brother of a severely disabled person who suffered and died in a New York snake-pit of a mental hospital, I know first-hand what true disability is.
To permit greedy doctors to include children in medical categories which may not be appropriate is a crime against that child and their family. Let the truly autistic be treated.
Let the falsely diagnosed be free."
Savage devoted his entire three-hour broadcast of July 21 to further clarifying and explaining his position on autism, allowing listeners to call in and voice their outrage, support, and everything in between. As part of the show, he interviewed Professor Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University, who has tested and treated children with autism for over twenty years. Camarata has stated that “because there are no reliable biomedical markers for autism, diagnosis must rely on subjective rating scales making it difficult if not impossible to conduct accurate screening in toddlers or preschoolers.”
Camarata told Savage on the air that he feels “It is absolutely crucial that we come up with and follow specific, consistent guidelines [for diagnosing autism].” The professor continued, “If we expand the autism spectrum…this broad definition…then we are including people who only have maybe one or two of the symptoms and don’t have the core symptoms of autism in our genetic studies…our neuron-imaging studies.”
When asked by Savage about the oft-cited statistic that one in one hundred and fifty children is autistic, Professor Camarata disagreed. He told Savage that “Because the spectrum does not have a standard definition [that of the American Psychiatric Association], it is hard to know what that incidence is.” Camarata also cited a study in the Journal of Clinical Pediatrics last year that said that thirty-four percent of the children using an autism screening questionnaire were in fact over-diagnosed as being autistic.
Obviously, the topic of autism is fraught with emotion, particularly for those afflicted with it or by it…children, their families, and those who know and love them. With the attention that Michael is calling to this topic, he has opened a public forum via talk radio for the discussion of it. Hopefully this will help to educate us all…Savage included!
It should be noted that WOR is neither responsible for nor endorses the views of Michael Savage. This is a syndicated show that WOR airs for our listeners’ enjoyment.
WOR is in the business of serving the community in which we broadcast. That is our stated goal, and we will continue to do so. We regret any consternation that Michael Savage's remarks may have caused to our listeners, and we hope that the ensuing dialogue will lead us all to a better place.
Sincerely,
Jerry Crowley
Vice-President and General Manager
News Talk Radio 710, WOR
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