From the New York Times, ABC News, Newsday, Boston Herald, New York Daily News and elsewhere:

As autism advocacy organizations voiced outrage over his comments calling autism a “fraud” caused by poor parenting, nationally syndicated radio personality Michael Savage issued a statement defending his remarks.

“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,’ Savage wrote in a statement on his Web site and read on his broadcast Monday. “Many children are being victimized by being diagnosed with an ‘illness’ which may not exist in all cases. … Let the truly autistic be treated. Let the falsely diagnosed be free.”

Aflac insurance pulled its ads from the show and issued a statement saying that “… we found his recent comments about autistic children to be both inappropriate and insensitive.”

An estimated 40 people turned out for a protest outside the studios of WOR in New York, one of more than 350 stations that carries Savage’s show.

See also:

Other Savage episodes: Radio host’s controversial remarks (Newsday)

Earlier post here.

(Photo from New York Daily News)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 11:39 am and is filed under autism, celebrities, media, NOT2BEMISSED. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.