Your pretty red house is engulfed in a roaring fire. You keep feeding the fire. Maybe petrol will help. Pour it on. Maybe some oil. Pour that on too. You don’t know. Nobody knows. Some guy you met on the internet tells you he’s a fireman and that the best way to stop a fire is to try and smother it with bone dry hay.
Your burns are bad. Your kids burns are worse. Do you throw them out of a window where a few other ‘firemen’ are holding on to a sheet made of melting plastic? Or do you push them down the stairs, where the rest of the injured and dead families are?
Thats my response to the utterly asinine response Kim Stagliano posted on the Age of Autism blog today to the Chicago Tribune’s series of articles on the quacks and hacks infesting the autism community. She wheels out the same old strawmen…
That’s my response to the Chicago Tribune accusing us of performing “uncontrolled studies” on our kids. (Our medical doctors are thorough and safe, by the way.)
I know of at least two doctors associated with the biomed movement who are on sex offenders registers. I know of one DAN! doc who is associated with the death of a child. I know of one other who hospitlaised a child. I know another who performed exorcism on autistic kids. I know another who is under investigation for more than one complaint.
And why does it bother journalists like Trine Tsouderos and Pat Callahan that some of us are improving our children’s lives?
I can’t speak for these journalists but I’ll speak as the parent (and step-parent) of two autistic kids. You’re not improving your childs autism. Thats the claim that these journalists are challenging. I challenge Kim Stagliano or Mark Blaxill to show the autism community where a biomed treatment discussed by the Tribune led to a measurable and scientifically documented improvement in their child’s autism. In fact, I can’t think of a child belonging to the founders of Autism FAIR Media, Generation Rescue, Age of Autism, SAFE MINDS or the NAA that has either been cured of their autism or made any sort of progress towards that end result as a sole consequence of biomed treatments. Why? Because in terms of curing/recovering/treating autism *they do nothing* . As a direct consequence of that obvious fact, parents continuing with detox, urine injections, exorcism et al are – as the Tribune indicate – experimenting on their children.
Left Brain Right Brain 
How dare you say we are not improving our children! Do your real ground level research,,,go into the communities and meet these kids for your selves ..I will personally introduce them to you, YES, RECOVERED AND RCOVERING KIDS…MINE IS ONE!,,,don’t spill out bullsh#t on bad doctors in the DAN movement…please, how many mainstream doctors are crap? Give me break..some journalist you are!
Lets get real..and have a real discusions with real people who have recoverd their children,,,why are you so afraid of the truth…Thank god for KIM STAGLIANO and all the others who for no gain of their own are out fighting for our children! You can keep your children and grandchildren on a path of institutionalism…I WILL NOT ACCEPT THAT, AND DO NOT DARE ATTEMPT TO KEEP ME FROM SAVING MY CHILD!
I’m blinded by the peer-reviewed journal references that andrew whacked us all with!
Oh wait! No. It’s just another parent who confuses intent with effect.
Ho hum.
Kev, in your rogue’s gallery of autism quacks, you forgot Scientologist and DAN! practitioner David Minkoff, a participant in the death and subsequent cover-up of Lisa McPherson. I refer you to your own invaluable post:
https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/?p=463
Andrew, as a parent I’d love to “recover” my child. However, I don’t believe in Santa Claus, Easter Bunny nor snake oil cures. Autism treatment should not be about faith or belief, but about seriously tested and researched medications and therapies. I’m sorry but the DAN movement doesn’t pass muster if you have minimum standards for reputation, credentials and ethics when it comes to making healthcare decisions for your family. I do not trust “doctors” that have an agenda, a bias and that are selling products, which is a conflict of interest.
When real doctors and scientists come up with effective treatments to improve language, social skills, sensory issues and repetitive behaviors, I’ll be lining up for that. Meanwhile, we are doing our best to improve my son’s chances with ABA, Speech, OT and a very cooperative school environment. His regular pediatrician addresses his health issues.
If there are so many children recovered with biomed, why is it that when GR or DAN! try to document the cases, they can’t produce more than a handful of narratives? None of them very convincing either.
Age of Autism, of course, is funded by the quacks, and by a so-called “compoundung pharmacy” which is little more than a retailer of quack products.
All the anti-vax organizations and conferences are funded by the quacks.
No surprise how they react to the Chicago Tribune reports.
No parent of an autistic child would allow their public school to work with the child and produce no hard data showing progress is being made. Lawsuits are filed over this kind of thing all the time. It’s not enough for the school to just say “He’s doing great! We’ve all noticed it!” But some of those same parents authorize DAN treatments simply because it’s said they might work, or because a random claimant says they have worked. Public schools would love to have that kind of lackadaisical attitude come their way for a change.
Thank you, Kev, for addressing Stagliano’s histrionics; they absoutely needed to be challenged.
Leila, Louise, well said.
I am sorry Andrew, did being a parent means you can play mad scientist and turn your child into a lab rat out of your own matyr complex?
How many kids of biomed moms, know their dignosis or why they are being treated with everything under the sun.
There’s a theme in fiction I call the “chain of catastrophe”:
1. There’s a problem
2. In attempting to fix the problem, someone creates a new problem.
3. In solving the new problem, the original problem gets worse.
4. In attempting a new solution, all hell breaks loose.
Is comedy the basis for biomed?
Andrew,
What exactly is it you are trying to “Save” your child from? Your child is on the spectrum – not posessed by evil spirits. Perhaps if you took a little more time addressing your own attitudes towards your child and his/her autism, you could address your own denial. Whilst you are throwing all of this time and valuable energy into fighting the bogeyman, you are missing what’s there. A child, a human being.
Firstly, “How dare you” suggest that because I’m not prepared to put my child through the misery and risk of unproven quackery that I am “keeping her on a path of institutionalism” and secondly, “How dare you” assume that your child wants to be saved?
I suggest that you put some of the money and time you’re wasting on DAN doctors and their witch doctor cures and get yourself some counselling. Address your denial, accept your child for who they are and improve both of your lives in the process.
Thank goodness for Kim and her unwavering stand to protect our children.
I don’t know of anyone who has made lab rats out of their children with biomed. BUT I do, however, know of many children, mine included, that were lab rats for the pharmaceutical industry.
Years of therapy and vit. supplements later, my son no longer meets the requirements for 75 percent of his diagnosis. Without Kim and AoA, I am not sure that I would have had the ability to navigate the world of vaccine injury.
GR, AoA, and all the folks working there and supporting us…THANK YOU!!!
lilandtedsmom,
My son was never possessed, but he is vaccine injured, and I went in after him…and guess what, I got him back. So for all who say it can’t be done…there is a beautiful boy in Kentucky that is proof that for at least some, IT CAN be done!!! I will be glad for you to meet him, anytime. He might have bitten you in the past, but today, he will say hello, show you his favorite toy, and yes, he may just give you a hug. Without a doubt, he will LOOK you in the EYES and smile.
If anyone wants to say I believed in snake oil salesmen…go for it, call any doctor who helped us what you want, my son is back, and I pray for the same joy for all other families with vaccine injured children!!!!!
lilandtedsmom,
You state:
Firstly, “How dare you” suggest that because I’m not prepared to put my child through the misery and risk of unproven quackery that I am “keeping her on a path of institutionalism” and secondly, “How dare you” assume that your child wants to be saved?
Can’t the same be said of you here? How dare you, you are every bit as accusing as the person you are accusing!
Another parent announces that their child was vaccine injured and is now recovered with biomedical therapy. But where is the proof that the child was vaccine injured in the first place? What possible biological mechanism explains how a vaccine can cause a child to develop autism? And why should recovery take years of treatment? What are these biomedical treatments supposed to be doing to undo the alleged damage and why does it take so long?
I see young children with severe autism and other developmental difficulties every day. I watch them grow and develop and smile and give hugs and eye contact and learn to speak. They stop being violent to self and others. They become social. They develop and learn and they do this without the dubious benefit of unproven biomedical treatments. We call it education.
Especially when they praise Kim Stagliano, who has three autistic daughters. The funny thing is that her youngest has never been vaccinated. Kind of hard to blame the vaccine, but it does look lots like genetics.
Kat,
Yes but I am right :0)
“We call it education.”
Thank you, Mike!
Thank you!
When someone screams at me in capital letters asking how I dare accuse them of abusing their child when in fact I’ve simply questioned whether what they are doing is in the best interest of the child – I am not convinced they ARE abusing their child, but I’m quite sure that they are not completely sure they are not.
Or in other words, if you feel the need to abuse people who are questioning your reasoning – your reasoning is questionable, and you need to face that fact. And thank those courteous and caring enough to point it out to you – for most will simply shrug and let you proceed as you are, without much care as to where you and your child might end up.
The proof, dear friends is in sight…come see my kid when he’s graduating from college, and living out his full potential..your all invited!..And to “lilandtedsmum”.. Hell-yea..I am very proud to be “saving” him from “banging his head against the wall, running into traffic, cronic constipation, screaming & laughing in the middle of the night, being abused ..etc.” ..should I go on?)..you ought to be ashamed of yourself!….Be happy!…we live in the USA, let me take care of my business, and you can take care of your’s…Best to all!
I’ve known autistics who’ve graduated from college without any help from a DAN! practitioner. They’re not automata, after all. They’re capable of learning. They just have to go about it the hard way. It’s sad that some people don’t believe that, and rip the credit for their achievements away from their own children and ascribe it instead to a therapy which cannot plausibly do anything helpful at all.
Precisely.
There are a number of autistic adults online who have attended and or graduated from college. It is pretty clear that they didn’t get the full “biomed” approach, as it is a fairly recent approach.
I could introduce Andrew to a number of children who would be considered “recovered” who were not “treated” with biomed. There are numerous examples of non-recovered children who have been given the full gamit of biomed. Does biomed help recovery? Does it hurt? That’s the real question. Read the online groups for any length of time and you will see numerous examples of bad reactions to biomed. If alt-med doctors want to throw darts, they can find a different dart board than my kid.
Andrew,
As a toddler my child was non-verbal, had chronic ear infections and disordered sleep patterns. He learned to speak, his health settled down and he went to school. He was bullied by pupils and misunderstood by his teachers. He had terrible tantrums and rages. He suffered from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder and stopped going to school.
With guidance and counselling we weathered the storm. He has graduated from college with a foundation degree. He is active in the community, has a driving licence and an active social life. He has friends and is seeking work in his chosen profession.
So we also have proof; proof that autistic children develop and make progress over time. What we do not have is proof for the reasons why this happens or why some children make more progress than others.
My child’s progress without biomed does not prove that biomed is false. Your child’s progress with biomed does not prove that biomed works. Proof depends on science properly done, not our anecdotal evidence. So far the record is not good. Every time independent scientists look at the science behind the biomedical movement in autism that science is found wanting.
So I can rejoice in your child’s progress while remaining unconvinced by the reasons you give for his success.
Well said, Mike.
Andrew,
My daughter used to head bang – she no longer does. My daughter used to run into the road – she no longer does. My daughter used to wake during the night – she no longer does. My daughter used to have no verbal communication – she now communicates efficiently, my daughter used to ignore other children, she is now interacting. My daughter started at a special needs pre-school and is going to attend main-stream school.
All of the above without a single DAN practitioner or BioMed treatment in sight. All of the above without risk to my child.
So your point is?
I’m delighted at the improvement that your son has shown, I’m just not convinced in the slightest as to your reasons for this improvement.
As for me being ashamed of myself. I’m not. I fully accept my child for who she is. I have never put her at risk by using unrpoven methods or “remedies”. I have worked hard using education and proven therapies to help her to develop to the best of her ability but I also understand that above all I want her to be happy and not to feel pressured in any way by other people’s expectations of what a child should be.
If you google “thimerosal” with “IVIG” there are a couple of sites that state IVIG should not be given to individuals who have a sensitivity to thimerosal. If some preparations of IVIG contain thimerosal,how are these docs recovering children by infusing them with the same product they claim is causing the condition?
Seriously, the basis for biomed and DAN is nutrition. I am not harming my child by changing his diet, and giving him nutritional supplements that labwork has proven he is deficient in. Traditional doctors have very little education in nutrition and the healing effects that it has on the body. They know drugs. There is no autism drug. But there is nutrition. There is no harm in feeding your kids right and giving them some extra help to help their bodies work correctly. My son has made great improvements with these changes alone. Yes, we do the traditional therapies as well. We’ve so far seen more improvements with the dietary changes. Now he is in a better place to let the traditional therapies help him. It’s all about balance and finding what works for your child. Is DAN alne the answer. No. Is ABA alone the answer. No. but the right combination of unique therapies for each child leads to success. It is a spectrum disorder after all. Remember, no two children are alike, autistic or not.
I have no problem with supplements when there is a clear need. The idea that a “traditional” doctor doesn’t understand that is not something I will take seriously.
If I am told by a non-specialist–like a DAN doctor–that my regular doctor or my specialist “doesn’t understand” what he/she is doing, I am out the door. Fast.
“Seriously, the basis for biomed and DAN is nutrition”
Is chelation “nutrition”?
Is lupron “nutrition”?
Are antifungals “nutrition”?
Is IVIG “nutrition”?
Is HBOT “nutrition”?
The answer to the above is all “no”.
Have I seen evidence of alternative medical practitioners prescribing megadoses of supplememnts–well beyond the need to balance a measured deficiency? Yes.
Are there any real studies which can allow me to judge what the adverse reaction risk is to the therapies offered? No.