Michael Savage tries to clarify...

...but it's hard to tell exactly what he's clarifying.

A friend of mine called to say that she'd listened to Savage today on the radio--ears of steel, she must have--and that he'd suggested that people read a complete transcript of his comments, that what he'd said had been taken "out of context." My friend also said that Savage had had an excellent spokeswoman from an autism organization on the show, a woman who articulated calmly and clearly what people really ought to know about autism, and for that, I'm glad Savage put his foot in it so profoundly. He's much heard across the land, so I'm hoping some people much heard what this woman had to say.

In an effort to have an open mind about this somehow--in spite of the vitriol of his original comments--I sought around the Web for the "complete transcript," curious more than anything how what was quoted could possibly have been out of some context that wasn't immediately obvious.

I did not find it. If someone finds it, I'd like to see it.

I did, however, find his "clarification" of his comments on his Website. It is quoted below:

The Autism Controversy

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.

Michael Savage

It's difficult to tell how this explanation dovetails with what he's quoted as saying previously. How can being derisive about girls, saying that we should return to calling our children idiots, fools, morons, and putzes, and stating that we're turning ourselves into a nation of losers and beaten men somehow be cogent observations on the subjects of overdiagnosis and manipulation of You by the Drug Companies?

One thing I note is that Savage says, because of his brother's horrific experience, that he knows what "true disability" is. That's the only phrase I see that relates at all with his previously quoted remarks. He seems to continue to believe that much of what we know is autism isn't "true" disability. His brother's sad story notwithstanding, the relative severity of what his brother's situation was notwithstanding, disability is disability. His vitriol, his rejection of compassion, his call for a return to some nonexistent time when it was OK to emotionally abuse children, his assertion that overdiagnosis leads to a nation of sissy girly men...these have nothing to do with drug company manipulation.

He also has said that his observation that "99%" of cases of autism are overdiagnosed was "hyperbole." I've yet to see anything supporting that any substantial percentage of diagnosed cases of autism are misdiagnoses. Again, if someone locates that, I'd like to see it. My own anecdotal experience--from the blogosphere, personal acquaintances, the waiting rooms of therapy centers, etc.--is that it is actually notoriously difficult to obtain an autism diagnosis. We had two pediatricians dismiss the idea out of hand before TH was three years old, in spite of our concerns about his lining up toys, obsessing over spinning objects, echolalia, and interaction difficulties. Their explanation was that he was on target with language.

I also am at a loss about the involvement of drug companies in autism. Are there FDA-approved, Big-Pharma drugs out there for autism? I'm only aware of the cottage-industry snake-oil biomed stuff that doesn't ever seem to work for us. The "company line" I keep reading on autism spectrum disorders is that there is no drug-related treatment for it.

Is Savage just making shit up? Ya think? "Cartel" of doctors and drug companies working together to manipulate us into thinking our children are autistic because...what? I've never had one single medical professional offer me one single drug therapy for our children's developmental disorders. Not. One. There aren't, to my knowledge, any formulations specifically for autism.

I'd say I'm confused...but I'm really not. News reports state that this man is the third-most-listened-to conservative pundit on the radio. A savage nation, indeed. I'm not going to say that I was surprised by the reactions to Alex Barton's situation in Florida, but it's disheartening to have confirmation that the comments that accompany these stories may reflect the sentiments of millions of people who listen to these savage words on the radio, nodding their heads in silent, intractable agreement.