And so, this was the week that the anti-vaccine/autism hypothesis got its first real airing in a public arena. Jenny McCarthy went on US TV and told her audience that her son was her science (quite possibly _the_ silliest thing on the show since Tom Cruise’s couch/brain malfunction).
I’m going to level with you here. I don’t really care too much about Jenny McCarthy spouting on about the evils of vaccines. She’s not the first and she won’t be the last. Despite the raptures the anti-vaccination people are having over her appearance she wasn’t on Oprah because of her vaccine ideas.
This is what bothers me: she was on Oprah because she was famous. It scares the _shit_ out of me that we can only apparently have a conversation about something after a celeb has let the light of their countenance shine down upon it.
The UK is just as ridiculous about this whole thing as the US. Its got to a stage whereby the subject under discussion doesn’t even seem to really matter to Joe Public – what seems to matter is that there’s a famous face pontificating on a subject that, in all honesty, they’ve probably only recently begun to get a firm grasp on themselves.
To put it another way, the Oprah show wasn’t about autism. It was about Jenny McCarthy. It was to sell copies of her book. Her appearance on People magazine is to increase book sales. Her upcoming appearance on Larry King is to increase book sales. None of it is about _autism_ . None of this will help the autism community. Even that subsection of the autism community who are anti-vaccine are kidding themselves if they think that after the dust settles on Jenny McCarthy’s book she will be around to lead them in their fight. Until its time for the sequel of course.
Is the autism community really so shallow that we are going into raptures because a celeb is speaking about a subject that vast majority of us could speak much more accurately and eloquently about? It seems some of us are.
In the meantime, whilst Jenny McCarthy is being lucratively controversial on Oprah, the vast majority of autistic kids are still not getting the right kind of educational placement. Whilst Jenny McCarthy’s Media Clean Up Crew are attempting hoover away every mention of her Indigo Children beliefs from the web lest they affect book sales, autistic adults are still struggling to get into appropriate work and living accommodations.
I would urge autism parents to spend the ten quid they were going to spend on Jenny McCarthy’s book on something that might actually help autistic people instead of helping line the pockets of Jenny McCarthy.
Left Brain Right Brain 
Aspiemom said:In her book, she characterizes the mothers who aren’t into the “alternative” therapies as glum and gloomy. Maybe compared to moms who are like her (borderline nuts), we who are rational come off that way.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I love this! I’m glum and gloomy?! Really? That’s hilarious! I’d better run out and get myself and my kid some crystals right away!
Not only can she “cure” autism, she can cure depression too! It’s a miracle!
Okay so your dismissing what she says works for her child. If it works what he wasnt really diagnosised correctly?
Let’s run some numbers, shall we? Her kid is what, 5 now? He has been getting an intensive program for 2-3 year, right? Some of the comments out there have stated that she is paying $75/hour for a 40hour/week program. $75/hour is an accurate estimate of a therapist cost for the higher end in California. That is about $150,000/year. Figure $100,000 per year and 2.5 years to be conservative.
So, figure she has spent ~$250,000 on 1:1 therapies for her kid.
OK, I get it, the extra few bucks a week for rice milk over regular milk plus substititing GF bread and pasta…yeah, that balances well against 5200 hours of therapy at quarter of a million dollars.
Jenny has put her money on the table big time. She just isn’t putting her money where her mouth is.
Damn. I wish I had that kind of money. Good math there, Matt.
Here’s the next big question – are any of the proceeds of this book of hers actually going to autism research or support? I’m not seeing anything on her publishers’ website.
If not, then that’s all we need to know. And yes, you’d be completely correct, Matt. She doesn’t put her money where her mouth is.
Chapter 13, jenny says “I hope you realize that this is NOT a book about autism. Its a book about faith….who never stopped looking for answers. Evan and I willhave our ups and downs and obstacles to face.
Page 200: paraphrasing here “vaccines are a highly controversial subject, and I am not trying to tell you how to treat your child.
Last page: THE AUTHOR WILL DONATE A PORTION OF HER PROCEEDS FROM THIS BOOK TO THE UCLA EARLY CHILDHOOD PARTIAL HOSPITALIZATION PROGRAM. THE FUNDS WILL HELP BUILD ADDITIONAL CLASSROOMS SO THAT MORE AUTISTIC CHILDREN CAN GET THE HELP THEY DESERVE.
This is directly word for word from the actual book.
Gonzo “she doesn’t put her money where her mouth is”
Guess you spoke too soon.
Only thing left to say is “lighten up” she’s not spouting her way is the only way and what worked for is gospel.
She’s aware of the heated debates, she’s aware of her fortunate ability to pay for things most can’t and she’s aware that much is still needed to be discussed and tested and learned.
No reason to bad mouth her because of that.
To Tammie (and any other newcomers who may fall into the current McCarthy-inspired autism “knowledge-trap”)-
Please realize that since Jenny M’s son is doing well – and there is not one person who visits this site who would want to see it any other way – does not mean that a) recovery has happened or that b) anything she did such as diets that she thinks resulted in his presumed recovery actually did do anything.
Case in point – my son has followed virtually the same trajectory (speaking in generalities, as I do not know Jenny or her son) in terms of behaviors. Without any diet, without any other ‘biomedical interventions’.
Jenny is mistaken on several points which lead to her ill-founded beliefs:
– That an autism diagnosis spells a lifetime of profound disability with no possibility of improvement (I can understand this, since it is pretty much what we parents are told at the time of Dx)
– That a ‘treatment’ is necessary for improvement (In truth, the natural maturation that occurs between ages 3 and 6 can easily account for the changes seen in her son, though this certainly is not true for all kids.)
What the newcomers are perceving to be mean-spritedness or close-mindedness in their brief perusals of this site are actually responses to the predictable outcome of Jenny’s foolhardy proclamations about autism, which are directly opposed to prevailing scientific evidence, by people who have spent much time evaluating the available information.
Case in point are the comments being made here, which show a significant lack of knowledge of many aspects of these issues.
The point is this – do not believe everything Jenny M says! Do not believe everything bloggers say either! Take the time to do some research, apply critical thinking skills, and see what happens.
In the meantime, don’t experiment with any old ‘cure for autism’ that comes down the turnpike – none of them have been shown to work, many of them have been shown to NOT work, and some are very dangerous.
As for proceeds. She’s going to need “work” to keep the Hollywood face going. She’s 35. 40 is ancient down there, especially if you’ve spent any time in a tanning booth.
Nice accounting, Matt. Why isn’t all that therapy getting the main focus? How is it that the meds for his seizures aren’t credited with helping him to develop? Maybe because you can’t bash vaccines by promoting Floortime.
“Gonzo “she doesn’t put her money where her mouth is”
Guess you spoke too soon.”
No, I didn’t. I was talking about how she gives credit to the biomed side of her approach but doesn’t play up the part she
When it comes to what she actually does for her kid, she is stressing 1:1 therapies. When it comes to the parts that she talks about in the interviews and the parts that the Biomed parents are hanging on, it’s diet and vaccines.
She’s aware of the heated debates, she’s aware of her fortunate ability to pay for things most can’t and she’s aware that much is still needed to be discussed and tested and learned.
No reason to bad mouth her because of that.
I don’t care that she can pay for these things. Not the point. The point is that she is paying a lot and her kid is spending a lot of time in therapies. But, the credit goes to GFCF?!?
And you wonder why I question her logic when it comes to vaccines? (well, besides the fact that I have probably put in a lot more time researching it than she has)
I am thrilled to finally see somebody validating what I have been doing w/ my daughter for 4 years. The GF/CF diet has not cured my daughter but it has significantly helped w/ her stimming and behavior issues. I applaud Jenny! She’s right the pediatricians make you feel like an idiot when you tell them your doing the alterntive route. My experience has been traditional medicine wants to put our babies in chemically induced mental straight jackets. I went that route w/ my daughter and it was horrific. If it works for some children then thats great. It DID NOT work for my daughter. If you havent tried GF/CF, you should. It’s not easy but it is effective.
Well we will agree to disagree on the point that any thing she tried did not actually help to create the results she wants.
And to the point about vaccines – my belief is that there is a combination between an issue with the shot and the person receiving it and if we could do something, some sort of testing prior to the shots that could sort of give an alls clear might help.
Let me first say I do not have a child with autism. I do however, or did, have a brother who in the mid 70’s received a vaccine as a toddler, and a 2 days later had a seizure – the doctors told my mother it was pneumonia, my mother said no it isn’t. No autism in my brother however, other issues did come of it.
Just so you know where Im coming from and would never ever try to speak for parents who are concerned about autism but this dismissing things and calling them coincendence or that it would have happened anyway sits about as well as reports that mothers are looking for blame or are hysterical.
So are you saying autism clears up on its own? Often? How come the media never reports that?
I want to second Steve D. I was going to post something similar to what he wrote, but he’s said what I intended to say much better than I could, so I’ll just say that I agree with his post.
I have twin 5.0 year old girls who, at 2-3 would have been considered severely autistic but are now sitting in a mainstream public kindergarten with minimal supports. They are doing as well as any of the ‘recovered or recovering’ kids from the many autism cure sites on the internet and have developmental histories similar to many of the anecdotes of recovery.
This is not intended to defame Jenny M. or biomedical interventions – I haven’t much knowledge of either – but it is important to realize that autistic kids progress on their own and most do gain language and skills and can even mature to the point that most folks would no longer view them as disabled.
If I had been subjecting my children to “treatments” for the past two and a half years, I would probably also believe that whatever treatment I had been giving to them was actually affecting their development positively, too.
I’m happy that her child is progressing, but I agree that it is wrong to credit her treatments and therapies (and by proxy, herself) with his development because these sorts of anecdotes are used as fuel to lure parents into treatments that have not been proven safe and effective.
Tammi,
Autism doesn’t “clear up” on its own, but most autistic kids do progress and gain language and skills with maturity, and some progress to the point that the symptoms that led to their diagnosis have faded to the extent that they would no longer be considered autistic.
There’s a few studies on outcome that I’m aware of (pubmed is down for maintainence right now and I’m at work, but you could find some of them if you hunted around) and that most autistic kids develop and “improve” with maturity is well known in science, though it doesn’t seem to get much play amongst those who promote autismt treatments.
To Steve who thinks the newcomers are falling into the “Jenny McCarthy trap”. We are only saying what we’ve believed for years! And now Jenny is validating that. It is too bad that it takes someone of a celebrity status to confirm what we’ve been saying for so many years. I don’t know how people can say chelation, DAN, biomed treatments are harmful. They have only helped my son so very much. For those of you (Steve, Matt, others) who don’t, have you had your kids’ labs done? Have you collected their hair samples, urine, fecals to see what sorts of toxic metals are in their little bodies? We did this & found that our son’s porphyrins & copoporphyrins were so high, it was unreal. He was also hospitalized for unexplained diahrrea & vomiting. The “real” MD’s said he had a bad case of the flu (after 4 weeks) and sent us home, where he continued vomiting/diahrrea around the clock. Tell me what you would do to watch your son deteriorate before your eyes & have the drs. tell you nothing is wrong. The ped. gastronologist even told me not to do the GF/CF diet as it wouldnt help. I took him home & started the diet & w/in a few days he was no longer vomiting or having diahrrea & was back to playing. Why did he begin vomiting & having diahrrea in the first place? Because his gut was so leaky from the gluten & casein in his body that he could no longer tolerate these proteins. The poor boy was literally getting “poisoned” from his food. Prior to the diet he definately was addicted to milk, he would drink about 1 gal in 2 days. He also was very “stoned” in that he seemed drunk & appeared like a drug addict, high on drugs. On the diet his speech increased from 19 mos. to 26 mos. w/in 4 weeks & he was also in an ABA program at that same time, which wasnt helping him at all. How can they learn when they don’t feel good, they’re tummies hurt & they can’t tell us what’s wrong? Think about this, it just makes sense!!!! Lab tests don’t lie and my son is getting mercury & lead out by doing chelation. I didn’t want to believe people like me before I tried DAN, simply because it sounded overwhelming & I didnt want to do it. It helped him so much that I, like Jenny, want the whole world to know about it!
like it or not which if you have a loved one with autism or any other disease where little hope can be found you should be happy that there is someone actively looking for something that works and not just taking what although well educated one train of thought or way of thinking.
What’s the factual basis of there being “little hope”? For that matter, what’s the factual basis demonstrating autism is a disease?
If it works what he wasnt really diagnosised correctly?
No, I don’t believe you understand. An autistic child can make all kinds of progress (in fact, all do one way or another) just like a normal child can make all kinds of developmental progress. This in itself does not prove his diet or vitamins he was taking or whatever “work”.
The only way to really prove something “works” is to do a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. This is especially true in autism, precisely because the kids “improve” on their own.
Check out the histories of some of the first autistics recognized by Kanner, which I write about here:
http://autismnaturalvariation.blogspot.com/2007/09/take-guess.html
“To Steve who thinks the newcomers are falling into the “Jenny McCarthy trap”. We are only saying what we’ve believed for years! And now Jenny is validating that. It is too bad that it takes someone of a celebrity status to confirm what we’ve been saying for so many years.”
Rose, reread your own statement.
She confirmed what you have known? How? Did she add any new information?
I don’t need or want celebrity validation. I want real research into real issues concerning autism.
I also want to avoid vaccine preventable diseases…
Have you collected their hair samples, urine, fecals to see what sorts of toxic metals are in their little bodies? We did this & found that our son’s porphyrins & copoporphyrins were so high, it was unreal.
Take a search through this and other blogs on the Autism Hub. Take a look at how these tests are, quite often, wrong.
It has been pounded into the ground so often that there is little value in going over it again.
copoporphyrins were so high
Was that ratio to creatinine? I take it mercury and lead levels in blodd were normal, since you didn’t mention it.
Rose –
It consistently amazes me that people are so derogatory in their analysis of mainstream medical practitioners (such as your description of your son’s doctors) but place blind trust in nameless lab techs they will never meet. There are significant reasons to doubt the validity of the test results you are referring to, particularly if they were completed at Doctor’s Data or Great Plains Laboratories. Comparing provoked (via chelation challenge tests) to unprovoked in the results is the most significant problem.
And for some great analysis of porphyrins, search the archives of this blog. Let me know what you think.
By the way, I absolutely acknowledge that a GFCF diet can reduce discomfort in people – and that GFCF is not an autism-specific issue. Futhermore, I believe that, in cases where GFCF is successful in decreasing discomfort in an autistic child, that child is more likely to respond in a more positive way to their environment, be it verbal communication or sensory regulation or whatever, as a result of improved comfort. But from there to “I rescued my child from autism by switching him to an elimination diet” is a huge leap. The GFCF diet is not a cure for anything other than GI discomfort.
It may surprise you to know that real scientists have put the GFCF theory to the test as a treatment for autism.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=16555138&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus
The authors state that this a preliminary finding only, but their study concludes that “…Group data indicated no statistically significant findings even though several parents reported improvement in their children.”
No one here wants to stop looking for ways to support and improve the lives of autistic people. To imply so only indicates that you have not taken the time to understand the discussions that take place here.
“I also want to avoid vaccine preventable diseases…”
No argument here. And I don’t think anyone is saying at least here on this board to do away with them.
But because something does more good than harm doesn’t mean you sit back and close your eyes to improving on something. It is not an argument for staying the same course.
“No one here wants to stop looking for ways to support and improve the lives of autistic people. To imply so only indicates that you have not taken the time to understand the discussions that take place here.”
Okay thats what you say – but instead many earlier posts went right for the throat that what JM is doing is only making things worse and that she’s just some hysterical rich nut.
And the implication is that those who felt she was right in speaking what worked for her were just as crazy.
Tammie said “But because something does more good than harm doesn’t mean you sit back and close your eyes to improving on something. It is not an argument for staying the same course.”
What does more harm than good?
Do you mean bad news reporting or vaccines?
If you mean vaccines, could you back that up with some kind of evidence? I know I asked you before, but you seem to be unable to answer that question.
Here, I’ll try it another way: What vaccine in the present pediatric schedule is more dangerous than tha actual disease? Be sure to include all relevant documents (these would include stuff like papers from reliable journals… for instance MMR Vaccination and Pervasive Developmental Disorders: A Case-Control Study
Authors: Smeeth L, Cook C, Fombonne E, Heavey L, Rodrigues LC, Smith PG, Hall AJ
Source: Lancet, September 11, 2004, Vol. 364(9438):963-9).
So if you say that the MMR vaccine is more dangerous than mumps, present the documentation. Something that would counter this:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm55d518a1.htm … which has in it “However, complications have included 27 reports of orchitis, 11 meningitis, four encephalitis, four deafness, and one each of oophoritis, mastitis, pancreatitis, and unspecified complications. A total of 25 hospitalizations were reported, but insufficient data were provided to determine whether mumps caused all the hospitalizations.”
hn sorry I missed that part of your earlier post on backing up issues on vaccines.
I am certain that anything I put down will be quickly shot down.
But here is what I do know, there is no other reason to have to initial a form prior to giving vaccines (which the did not always do) than to save the medical fields butt – I can hear you yelling :o) the so called list of what you can expect after receiving the shot only goes so far.
There are too many of the same stories of kids receiving shots and soon after having a seizure – do all turn into autism – no – do they tell you that a seizure is a possibility – not always.
The shot is giving the child what it is trying to protect them from – okay – I get it, perhaps it is a result from the said disease that we are trying to combat – I could see that as well.
I’m not spouting that it is the metal or some other chemical because I don’t believe it is one smoking gun otherwise the numbers would be much larger – I realize that.
I’m just saying that I do believe the shots play some part and that I can see the powers that be justifying that in their eyes a few “bad reactions” are worth the rest of the people not having whopping cough or measels and so on.
Now I realize if you believe your child has had this from day one and you believe the child had this before receiving any shots then again it is only a piece of the puzzle.
And by the way all 3 of my kids have had their shots. I’m just asking and amazed at the rage that seems to spew forth when we question the vaccines.
And if we are to listen to the reports that I would assume the doctors receive as well that some kids come out of this or grow out of this – why isn’t that one of the first things communicated by said doctors who give this diagnosis? Aren’t these same doctors aware of all that great reporting?
Jenny might of been up there for herself and her book and so on, but she brought to light alot of good points that most people don’t even think about. Like looking into the diet of our children and what the so called healthy food is full of. For example, pasturized milk is full of sugar, but you always hear “drink your milk its full of calcium and vitamin d”. Well you can get more calcium from numerous vegetables and fruit, and the best source of vitamin d is from the sun. Vaccinations are full of dangerous things. For example latex rubber, aluminum, mercury, phenol/phenoxyethanol which is used as ANTIFREEZE, plus many more. This information was found @ korenpublications.com and was writen by Harris L. Coutler, Ph.D. Vaccinations are linked to asthma, allergies, ADD & ADHD, chronic illnesses, and much more. Autism is being linked to family, diet, and VACCINATIONS. Knowledge is power and regardless of how this information is getting heard, its getting heard! In our society today famous people are looked up to, listened to, and idolized, so who cares if she did it for her book, people listened to her. Autism is very common in our youth, our young children and in our babies. Autism effects about 1 in every 200 children. These children are our future. We should be doing everything possible to protect our children. Education and awareness are the keys to this, and if it takes a celebrity to start the buzz about something then so be it.
“Autism is being linked to family, diet, and VACCINATIONS.”
the correct way to put this is that people have been trying to link autism to vaccinations for a long time.
It hasn’t happened yet.
Autism is very common in our youth, our young children and in our babies. Autism effects about 1 in every 200 children.
Autism most likely affects about 1 in 100 people. Not just children. That message gets lost much of the time, not just in your post.
While this post is supposed to be about Jenny on Oprah I am curious based on those who have commented what their views are on “autism spectrum” do you believe that there are varying degrees or is this just something new that has cropted as a way to explain things?
Lack of actual evidence and non-answer to my question duly noted.
Just see what Sullivan said, and you should check out what this guy says:
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/vaxliars1.htm
I am SOOOO disscussed at mainly all of you that are trying to tear Jenny Mc.apart for what she has experienced with Autism, I’m almost positive that ALL of you with a child with Autism would go to these measures(if you had the $)to see a diffrance in your child ,So why may I ask would someone critasize another for what worked for them??She is not say go out and do what she did right?There still is NO cure for Autism so any info is good info RIGHT?
Tammie, you asked about the autism spectrum… Yes, it is new. It is something I’ve seen happen over the last 15 years. The DSM changed drastically in 1994 to include several different kinds of autism.
Here is something about it:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/autism/complete-publication.shtml
and more at:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/117/4/1028
Did you see Jenny today on THE VIEW proclaiming HER SON IS NO LONGER AUTISTIC?
Shes a JOKE!
“I am SOOOO disscussed at mainly all of you that are trying to tear Jenny Mc.apart for what she has experienced with Autism, ”
no one is tearing her apart for what she has experienced. People are rightly upset that she has drawn flawed conclusions from her experiences.
Very different situations.
More accurate (even though they are fiction!) and interesting reading on autism:
_The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time_ by Mark Haddon
and (this has some interesting insights on curing autism) _Speed of Dark_ by Elizabeth Moon (whose son is autistic):
http://www.elizabethmoon.com/autism-general.htm
Another very interesting NON-fiction book by a dad whose son was diagnosed is _Not Even Wrong, Adverntures in Autism_ by Paul Collins.
I would also like to repeat the recommendation of _No Time for Jello_ by Berneen Bratt.
More accurate (even though they are fiction!) and interesting reading on autism:
_The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time_ by Mark Haddon
and (this has some interesting insights on curing autism) _Speed of Dark_ by Elizabeth Moon (whose son is autistic)
Another very interesting NON-fiction book by a dad whose son was diagnosed is _Not Even Wrong, Adverntures in Autism_ by Paul Collins.
I would also like to repeat the recommendation of _No Time for Jello_ by Berneen Bratt.
Thanks hn I’ll check those out. I didn’t think that was something that had been around. I had read a while ago that some felt that autism and schizophrenia and alzehmers were really different names for similar “issues” based on age. Not sure if that is completely true but still fasinating.
Okay so I’m not quoting facts and number for you on vaccines however, when I tell you that a child has had a seizure 2 days after receiving the shot – I get nothing, same for mothers who state that something changed after their child received it yet if the doctor tells you “no that had nothing to do with it” or better yet “it was a coincendence” how can reports be accurate?
Also, just so you know I’m not a government and medical folks are always wrong, or always right for that matter. But I’m open to learning more.
RELAX… OPEN YOUR MIND. Jenny almost lost her son… more than once. His heart stopped. She has put her energy into her son’s health. If you read her book you will see why she doesn’t trust the Medical Professionals. She is trying to help others by speaking and I’m sure doesn’t mind making money along the way.
My healthy 6 month old son had a severe stroke 1 week after his DPaT vaccines. I was sent home by his Pediatrician and two hourse later I was sent home by and ER Physician. The next morning he was having seizures. We spent 5 terrifying days in the hosptial. We are VERY lucky he is doing so well. He is now 14 months old. Do I think it had anything to do with the vaccines? Maybe. Maybe it was too much on his little body. We follow up with his Neurologist, see specialists and research constantly. I will do anything to give him a long, healthy life.
Kathy
http://www.BabyFrankiesStroke.com
A long time ago autism was called a form of childhood schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is completely different, in that is usually starts in the late teens, is genetic and does occur in about 1 in 100.
I am also not the best person to pull the “the child had seizures 2 days after something”… My son had neo-natal seizures when he was 2 days old (48 hours old). This was before he had any shots, jabs or anything of the sort. The seizures started out as little shivers, only to come more frequently, stronger and longer. He was transported by baby ambulance to a children’s hospital where he was put into infant intensive care, then given phenobarbital. Fortunately, that stopped his seizures.
He was weaned from phenobarbital when he was a year old.
Then a month later he had another grand mal seizure when he was dehydrated with a nasty gastrointestinal infection (possibly due to a rotavirus that there is now a vaccine for).
You see, seizures happen. Seizures have happened even before there were vaccines. Sometimes the timing is just a coincidence. Sometimes a vaccine will cause a fever and then there will be a febrile seizure. But they often do not cause permanent harm.
But there are other seizure disorders that do cause developmental disorders (Landau Kleffner Syndrome), and some that are due to abnormalities in the brain that occurred before the child was born.
In other words, anecdotes are not evidence… and anecdotes about something I know all to much about.
Tammie says:
Gonzo “she doesn’t put her money where her mouth is”
Guess you spoke too soon.
Nope. I didn’t. Spending her portion (how much of a portion? 10 percent?) of her book proceeds on a small portion of the population in her backyard, rather than contributing it to a national organization still smacks of eliteism to me.
To Steve:
I just dont understand how you think a lab test or urine test are just “significant reasons to doubt the validity of the test results”. This is BLOOD WORK of what is actually in our own bodies!!! Or a urine sample, something that pregnant women do every day for a pregnancy test (some are up to 99% effective) and also sugar, excess yeast, just to name a few for urine tests. Doctors do urine tests every day & you are telling me that now these are invalid? Ok, that is fine to think like that but I won’t buy into that. I know when I continue to repeat these tests on my son every 2-3 months & the levels in his mercury are going down from chelation. The same person isn’t in the lab saying “oh, here’s this same kid from 2 months ago, let’s show his mercury & lead have gone down…”. What is, is. My son has done all of the “mainstream” therapies, ABA, speech, ot & continues to receive speech & ot in school. However, he would not be where he is today w/out help from our DAN doctor (who does write out scripts for our labs & then calls to explain them, I’m not just “floating out here” trying to figure out what they mean because some “nameless lab tech” took my kids’ blood or urine!), chiropractic treatments and gfcf diet. I know some of you on this board don’t believe in biomed but it really is amazing. My son is for sure my proof, as where he was before DAN was a very scary place for us as his parents to be. Now we are so looking forward to our son’s future. He is thriving in a mainstream kdg. class & doing so great. I just hope your kids are doing well. I know what I will tell newly diagnosed parents if asked. I’ll give them the name of my DAN dr. & tell them to start biomed treatments asap. Sorry you are so negative to this very effective treatment protocol.
Does this mean that Evan is no longer an “Indigo child”? Is she still a “Crystal”
I heard she had to “come clean” on the ASD diagnosis since word was getting out that her son was receiving therapies related to autism.
I just watched the Oprah show with Jenny McCarthy. Prior to this, I had not heard much on Autism. I thought it was rare since I had only encountered 1 autistic child in my 35 years.
Whether you all would like to believe it or not – that show helped more than it hurt. I was stunned to learn that 1 out 150 children develop Autism. It moved me to this blog and to research Autism. It has also moved me help people get the CDC to find the cause of this disease. My hearts goes out to all the parents whose child is affected by this.
I am sure that I will get a lot of backlash from bloggers who feel that since I am not personally effected by this disease that I should not have an opinion or anything to say.
Well, this is my opinion. I am glad I watched the Oprah show today and was made aware of a disease that is effecting so many children. I am not saying that Jenny’s opinion of Autism is correct. I am saying that it brought awareness to Autism.
Rose –
“…Now we are so looking forward to our son’s future. He is thriving in a mainstream kdg. class & doing so great…”
I am, I really am, happy to hear that your son is thriving. Its all I wish for all people.
Kanaan – there’s awareness and awareness. What autistic people need is awareness of their needs (educational, human rights, therapeutic). What they don’t need is someone with a book to plug with a rent-a-story from an antivaccine viewpoint.
I’m glad you were moved to find out more about autism, I really am but I am worried as to how that desire has shaped your forming opinions regarding the nature of autism.
Kanaan –
Just to educate you a little further, autism is *NOT* a “disease”. It is classified as a neurological “disorder”. Those two words have very different meanings.
If Kanaan’s opinions of his interpretation of the autism world, as taken from Oprah and Jenny McCarthy, is indicative of a small sample of the population, we are in big trouble.
This is my biggest issue with Jenny right now – that she is being interpreted as a savior for the autism world because she was on Oprah. Oprah has far too much say and pull today (see book sales of her book club and potentially the 2008 US presidential election for proof) and a lot of people watched that show and are coming away from it misinformed.
There were no opposing views offered by people at the show (indeed, shows, as we’ve seen no one given the opportunity to speak to oppose her on any of the shows she’s been on. Just when did talk shows get so lame?!) aside from a piece of paper from the CDC which couldn’t defend itself. That’s hardly a way to inform the public.
And Google searches are just as worse.
Kev is absolutely right. The way she presented her information was one-sided. There are other therapies out there and they deserve just as much air time as hers. They work just as well for other children.
Please, keep researching Kanaan. There’s nothing wrong with that. Just please know that there is more out there than Jenny McCarthy as a resource.
My son has done all of the “mainstream” therapies, ABA, speech, ot & continues to receive speech & ot in school. However, he would not be where he is today w/out help from our DAN doctor
I always find this sort of argument perplexing. If you’re trying multiple therapies, how do you know which one is “working”? Does it depend on your preconceptions of what autism is? Never mind the unpredictable variables: the child’s natural development and your own subjectivity.
Hn again thanks for the links in the earlier post.
One thing I found interesting though is that the link to NIMH under treatment specifically tells parents to do just what JM is doing – searching.
To have the NIMH, and I’m paraphrashing under Treatment Options tell parents to search out answers that work for their child and that there is no one package (their word) to fix, cure, improve whatever word you want to use. Their statement is then followed with the following questions parents should ask prior to starting different treatments:
Will the treatment result in harm to my child?
How will failure of the treatment affect my child and family?
Has the treatment been validated scientifically?
Are there assessment procedures specified?
How will the treatment be integrated into my child’s current program? Do not become so infatuated with a given treatment that functional curriculum, vocational life, and social skills are ignored.
JM stated that during times when her husband watched their son he would incorporate things she had taken out of her sons diet only to see a setback, and then a return to progress when she removed it again (like dairy).
She’s doing what the NIMH recommends – not the specfic treatments but to go out on your own and find what works for you.
I’ll grant you that perhaps she did not do enough in explaining her views when on tv on vaccinations as she does in her book but the anger in some of the earlier posts by some here towards her I find incredible.
If the anger is that we shouldn’t be talking about vaccines at all then I guess I’m odd man/woman out.
If that is indeed the advice that the NIMH are giving out then I really think they need to think again.
Medically speaking, ‘trying things out’ is commonly referred to as ‘experimentation’.
I have a son with high-functioning autism and I related directly to several things that Jenny McCarthy said in the recent People article, which like many of you I encountered at a doctor’s office. Yes, some of her comments seemed shallow, but I understand all too well having to use the “University of Google” while waiting an eternity to have your child diagnosed.
I also witnessed firsthand the very dramatic impact of nutritional therapy. Three days after my three year old son began DMG therapy, he went from total echolalia (no original speech) to asking me “What are you doing, Mommy?” The treatment for yeast overgrowth that McCarthy described was recommended by the specialist we finally found, and we saw dramatic improvement from that, as well. We never tried the wheat and dairy free diet because my son ate only chicken nuggets, jalapeno pretzels and chocolate milk at that time and it seemed too drastic, but we give him an enzyme that helps him break these substances down. Cod liver oil corrected his problems with maintaining eye contact within a few weeks. He’s in a mainstream first grade class and doing wonderfully. Some of th other supplements we’ve tried haven’t seemed to make much difference, although magnesium has a good effect on temper tantrums. He is doing very well in a mainstream 1st grade class now, with only minor assistance from occupational therapists. He still stims and he still has wonderful little quirks that we adore, but he’s interactive, inquisitive and outgoing — a far cry from the child who just walked in circles and recited the multiplication tables at age two.
My anger in reading the article was *not* at the comments made by McCarthy but those in the little sidebar by the token physician who spoke dismissively about everything that worked for McCarthy’s son and my own. It is *not* just an issue of the child being more comfortable and therefore more susceptible to other therapies. That doesn’t explain the rapid and dramatic changes many parents have seen. And of course it hasn’t been tested — there’s no *money* in testing nutritionals and our government currently places many, many things above the health of our children, so there’s little hope of extensive studies being funded there, either.
Nutritional remedies don’t work for all kids — and I’m convinced that this is because autism has multiple causes. For some kids, that cause *might* be vaccines and we don’t help solve the problem by ignoring that. (Other kids, like my son, seem to have been born with autistic tendencies.) Nutritional therapies *do* work for some of kids, however, and anything that helps to get that message out is unadulterated good. My husband and I both have graduate degrees and that helped us to do our own, admittedly unscientific, research when looking for help for our son. Many parents of autistic children don’t have the resources that we do, and if Jenny’s comments in her book, magazine articles or on Oprah point them toward the relatively affordable alternative of nutritional therapy, then she has done an *immense* service.