NASCAR Dads Respond To Savage's Autism Rant

(Originally published on July 28, 2008)

There’s a reason why the symbol for autism awareness is a puzzle piece.

Merrick native Artie Kempner tries to find the links, wondering what 13-year-old Ethan is thinking while driving him to school. Hermie Sadler ponders how it will all come together in the future: Will 9-year-old Hailie Dru ever walk down the aisle or even drive a car?

NASCAR on Fox director Kempner and driver-turned-commentator Sadler have enough of their lives disjointed as the fathers of autistic children. It got a little harder when one of the few instances in which they’ve found unity—people believing the severity of their kids’ plights—was put in peril. On July 16, conservative radio commentator Michael Savage set off a firestorm when he said, "In 99 percent of the cases, [an autistic child is] a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out.” He added, "What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.'"

“This is something that we in the autism community thought was kind of past history,” Kempner says in disgust, harkening back some 50 years to therapist Bruno Bettelheim claiming that developmental issues were simply the results of poor parenting.

But Kempner knows better, and while he’s likely experienced enough in this disease to produce on demand a study discounting naysayers, he doesn’t need one. Instead, he has two other sons, 15-year-old Matt and 12-year-old Jack, to render that theory useless. To call them “normal” would be to sell them way too short.

“They have more empathy at their age than I had at 25,” Kempner says. “They’ve been around this disability. My oldest, I always say to people, he seeks out weakness, but not the way a bully seeks out weakness. Because he gonna see that kid and he’s going to help that kid. He’s going to befriend that kid that doesn’t have any friends because he knows seeing what Ethan’s like what it’s like to have to overcome obstacles.”

Kempner wishes that Savage shared their sensitivity, but at least he knows that NASCAR has his back. Unfortunately, the garage has become educated at quite a price.

“The sad reality is, since my daughter was diagnosed, a lot of other drivers, media members, team owners, mechanics, crew chiefs, NASCAR officials, it seems like more and more people are now directly involved with autism because somebody in their family has been diagnosed,” Sadler says.

The toll includes the niece of Sprint Cup driver Jamie McMurray, whose foundation raises money for autism research. Jericho’s Donny Lia now runs an Autism Speaks logo on his Craftsman Truck Series ride, spurred by his car chief when he ran on the Whelen Modified Tour who has a son with the affliction.

Kempner knows that the racing community is clued in. But he is concerned that a guy like Savage, who lauds a Ph.D., is taken seriously by others.

“This isn’t an Imus-type thing,” Kempner explains, referring to Don Imus’ comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. “It shouldn’t be confused with the shock-jock kind of stuff Imus said. What Imus said was just sophomoric and stupid. It’s certainly hurtful to the African-American community, and I wouldn’t condone it in any way, shape or form. But it’s much different than not understanding a disability or a disease and commenting like you do. It’s like telling a kid that has cancer, you know, ‘Suck it up and get better, OK.’ That exactly what the parallel is to that. Unbelieveable.”

Sadler, in calling Savage’s comments “pretty idiotic” and hoping for the opportunity to personally educate the talk-show host on the particulars of autism, knows what the reality is. Although his daughter attends a public school, she has to have an adult helper with her at all times. It’s as much about safety as education.

“No. 1, she needs assistance staying on task in the classroom,” Sadler says. “But also, she can’t ride the bus and do stuff other normal kids do. Because if something happens on the bus, or if something happens to her at school, or someone’s mean to her and does something to her, she can’t come home and tell us. She can’t come home and open up and tell us how her day was. She’s not able to communicate with us in that manner.”

That inability to connect can manifest when autistic children act out. Kempner understands that an uncontrollable autistic child in a movie theater or restaurant can disturb others. But he just seeks understanding from the public, something that he says Savage’s insensitive comments could undercut.

“For him to make these comments puts so much pressure on parents,” Kempner says. “And that’s what it does. It makes parents go, ‘Do people really think [we’re bad parents]? I don’t want to take my kid out.’ And that puts us back in the dark ages when we used to keep our children with disabilities basically closeted in our house, or institutionalized them. For someone like Michael Savage to spew that kind of hate, that’s in a lot of ways trying to take away those options [of including autistic children in society]. ‘Take your kid home and educate him. Why don’t you smack him around a little bit? That’ll figure the behavior out.’ It’s not that way.”

Kempner and Sadler are grateful that they don’t have these kinds of battles to deal with when they go to work. The NASCAR Foundation and recently formed charitable initiative Fox Sports Supports have targeted autism research as a beneficiary. (It’s also notable that several of the companies that have pulled support from Savage’s show according to advocacy group Autism United—Aflac, Home Depot, Sears and Budweiser—have extensive marketing ties in NASCAR.)

‘There’s a reason that NASCAR is the quote-unquote most popular sport with the fans,” Kempner says. “It’s because it’s a community of people who care. It really is. The drivers, the crewmen, the people involved with NASCAR, they care about their fans, they care about their community, and they get involved when people are in need. Just like with what Kyle and Patti Petty have done with the Victory Junction Gang Camp. And you look at Jimmie Johnson’s foundation, and Jeff Gordon’s foundation, and they’re really doing significant things to help people in need. Nobody has done more for Make-A-Wish than Jeff Gordon. And I’m so proud of what [Fox Sports Chairman and CEO] David Hill did with Fox Sports Supports. He understood, he said, ‘I get it. I know what you’re trying to do.’ And what we’re trying to do is get that word out and help these good causes to basically help people to reach their potential. That’s where we’ve combined the NASCAR community and the Fox Sports Supports initiative. And it’s been a homerun in every way, shape and form. I guess we didn’t get to Michael Savage, but you know what, we got to other people, and they are speaking out against [him].”