Mike Savage

So there's this guy in the US - he has or had a national syndicated radio show where he is known for controversy etc. So in 2008 he said:



"in 99% of cases (autism) it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act"



This quote enraged people who protested his offices in NY and demanded he be fired. You can search the story on Youtube and hear the clip.

At first when I saw this - I got angry. I wanted to haul him off into a back ally and teach him what the face (and fist) of autism really is.

I was thinking about this as I watched my son playing on the back swings. I thought about how Luc has nothing against anyone in the world, and he's already being bullied by a grown man. I realize that it's just because people don't understand.

Luc is very gentle. He doesn't interact with people. However he does like to please people and knows that interaction is far more important to us then it is to him. A good example of this is each day his bus driver says goodbye by holding out his fist to do the "fist thing". Luc doesn't know the fist thing - so he gently puts his hand over the bus drivers fist to acknowledge him, and gently pets his fist twice.

If Mr Savage came to my backyard, and pushed Luc on the swings, he would likely be impressed by Luc's sence of balance. As Luc Stims all the time, he hands are almost always in motion. So on the swing he holds on - lets go to stim for a quick second - holds on as the swing reaches it's high point - lets go to stim for a quick second - etc.

It's likely that Luc would smile at the person who is pushing the swing - and might even hold his hand as he walks around the backyard. When it's time for bed, Luc gives hugs, even to people he doesn't know well. I think Mike Savage could learn a lot if he spent some time with Luc. Mostly what he would learn is these kids aren't loser, freaks, actors or fruads. They are kids like you and I were, who need an extrodinary amount of help.

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In other autism news - a strange thing happened to me. One of the On-Air personalites I work with was promoting his show and said he was going to talk about autism at 6:30pm. I stopped him in the hall and asked him a few questions about his show and what he was going to cover at 6:30. He told me the answer to my question and pointed out that he knew that I had a son with autism.

I found this odd.

Although I work with this guy, we have only spoken once before. It made me wonder if this is how I'm known around the work space. If people whisper as I walk by "he's the guy with kid with autism, don't say retard around him -he's prone to violence". I was in no way offended that my co-worker knew about my family life - in fact I want to be known as a parent with a child with autism. I'm just a little suspicious on how that conversation went when he was told by someone.


OK THAT'S IT TODAY

Big Shout out to Kelly - my latest follower - old friend - and someone with a very interesting family life.

So far I believe people reading this blog go (in relation to Toronto)

Furthest North : Sudbury
Furthest West: Vancouver
Furthest East: Ireland
Furthest South: Toronto Island

feel free to email me if I got this wrong -

alexstephensmedia@hotmail.com