McCarthy was at the latest TACA bunfight recently and took to the stage to give the crowd some of her patented Sale Increasing Controversial Big Fat Mouth. Her victim was a long time favourite of American news, Barbara Walters (whos now deceased sister was born ‘developmentally disabled).
About 3:15 today at the picnic on main stage jenny mccarthy in the most lisa ackerman style of feisty adorable commented that barabara walters said our kids CANT EVER GET BETTER and called her a bitch and said something about naysayers can stick her microphone up their BUTTS!
PRICELESS. This is perfect way to get sensationalistic 6:00 news attention to get this aired NOW!!!!!!!
Isn’t that lovely? I hope all those who were puzzled by the series of posts on here decrying Mccarthy’s self-appointed role as autism advocate can begin to appreciate why I – and plenty of others – feel as we do. That McCarthy is doing no favours to the autism community with this sort of behaviour. of course, some people, even within TACA realize this probably isn’t the best course of action:
What Jenny said at the picnic was for the benefit for TACA families, not for the 6 o’clock news or Entertainment Tonight. Jenny is doing a beautiful job of being our spokesperson, so let’s let her publicist and TACA’s publicist handle the media for right now. I know it was exciting stuff but let’s let this issue rest for now.
Well, no, actually. I don’t want to let the issue rest. This person has appointed herself spokesperson not just for TACA but apparently for autism itself. She needs to back off, grow up and start thinking about her actions for those of us without a celebrity income. Calling someone ‘a bitch’ at en event that you _know_ will be covered by the media is a stupid thing to do and gives the general public the idea that we’re all as childish as Jenny McCarthy. I would like once again to distance myself from this person publicly.
In the meantime, please enjoy this blog entry I found today. I don’t know who it is but I liked it.
Left Brain Right Brain 
I agree, a very senseless comment to make – you’d like to think the general public will eventually see things for what they are, that there is more to the autism community than childish behaviour.
Wow. How charming. Some “spokesperson.”
Oh yeah, Jenny. Let’s get your ridiculous behavior put on the 6 pm news so you can embarrass not only yourself (again) but the entire autism world.
i watched that show on the View and I don’t recall B. Walters making statements such as Jenny is claiming. she was incredulous though but it is her job to question it is called interviewing. TACA should be embarrassed but i bet they aren’t
I see that she has picked up the Party Line:
“there is no cure” = “these kids can’t ever get better”
We now know (OK have confirmed…OK, confirmed again) that Jenny is using the same flawed logic common to the mercury moms as her “mommy instinct”.
She knows that she is fairly invincible in an interview. Anyone who would seriously interview her and pose real questions would be roasted for abusing an autism mom. It wouldn’t be accurate, but that’s how it would play out.
That said, I bet Jenny’s publicist is not happy that this remark has gotten out. One has to think that the number of couches open during the “my book is in paperback” tour has shrunk.
Obviously someone who isn’t much into rational thinking must have transformed what Barbara Walters said into “our kids CANT EVER GET BETTER.”
But what is it that she said anyway?
if you didn’t see it, see on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc8QETKbquc
there she goes with the bus analogy.
I thought Barbra did her job.
gotta turn it off… pass me that “bucket” jenn… I’m about to hurl
“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc8QETKbquc”
Check out the magical thinking at the beginning of that. McCarthy also says that DAN! has “research” on recovery. Is she referring to the 8 autistic kids they parade around who they claim are recovered but who actually don’t look recovered?
The expression “feisty adorable” to describe someone who calls a septuagenary lady a “bitch” in public and wants a microphone shoved up her behind… Who ARE these people?
Thanks for linking to my blog. I’m just an old man trying to make up, just a little bit I admit, for the mass media’s sorry attempts at reporting the news.
Anyone who would seriously interview her and pose real questions would be roasted for abusing an autism mom.
Sullivan, you’re absolutely correct. She’s a celebrity and she should be equally responsible for the BS she’s been saying, regardless of whether she’s an autism mom or not. And calling a respected journalist (or even anyone) in public a “bitch” is not only immature, but doesn’t help your cause at all.
Heck, I’ve had people come to my blog and tell me that I’m horrible because I don’t support Jenny. Uh…why should I? She’s not supporting autism or increasing awareness. She’s supporting her own -brand- of autism, complete with book, crystals, speech therapy techniques for sale on the web and weird followers that could almost be distinguished as “cultish.”
Zoo, you made me completely crack up with the lineup of panelists! Thanks for the laugh.
I am less surprized by what she said than by the fact that she was able to say it at a TACA event and get such a positive response. The only objection was that it might not sit well with the general public followed by the admission that paid publicists were the best ones to ‘handle the media.’ So much for the science.
Apparently Barbara Walters is becoming the new bete noir for the biomed parents, along with the CDC and others. This is the e-mail being forwarded in biomed circles these days:
“Do you like what Jenny McCarthy is doing this past week? If yes, keep reading because this is important we need your help.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO? Your help needed is a quick email to Barbara Walters at the View. Jenny needs our help.
WHO SHOULD EMAIL: Anyone who has a child affected by autism and has either
a) benefited from biomedical treatment GREATLY (the definition of greatly is up to you, the parent)
b) or HAS a recovered child
WHY:
The View folks think Jenny’s message is an anomaly. Recovery is not possible. Biomedical intervention does not work.
IF you disagree with this opinion – we need your help. It is urgent.
The View main web site
http://abc.go.
theview/index>
com/daytime/ theview/index
Ask the View
http://abc.go.
theview/ask>
com/daytime/ theview/ask
PLEASE address your message to BARBARA WALTERS
PLEASE DO NOT HOLD BACK YOUR EMOTION. PLEASE SPEAK FROM THE HEART. It is imperative that family’s stories are heard from those affected.
IT is time to share information about your child and tell your story.
Your help is needed today. Right now. Please take the time if you qualify for the WHO SHOULD EMAIL”
“When you have a child with autism, it’s not carry on luggage, it’s check in luggage.”
Wow, I never would have thought about my child that way!
Joe
“benefited from biomedical treatment GREATLY (the definition of greatly is up to you, the parent)”
I see how that works. Greatly coud be “not sure”. Shouldn’t emails from parents of kids who’ve completely lost the label be enough? That’s right; they would get about 5 emails total.
Poor Barbara Walters.
Never mind her own life experience. She dared to question Jenny McCarthy, Professor of Google U, so have at her.
I wonder how the “bitch” and microphone ploy would have gone over on Oprah, as opposed to the sweet and earnest Jenny?
What a scam. Based on the shifting persona, and somewhat shifting message, one gets an impression of…whose show am I on, who shall I be today? I am guessing that the TACA face is hitting closer to reality.
Jenny, don’t speak for our family. We are just hoping to weather through this current wave of nonsense and self-publicity as we have past ones.
Joseph, the quote you chose is the same that bothered me most. It’s as if they admit how subjective, or even dishonest, their definition of recovery is.
The thing in the biomed circles is that one of them misconstrues what a public person said, e-mails are spread all over, and all of a sudden they create a new villain whose mailbox will be flooded by the whole herd of DAN followers with their naive and misguided views. I can’t even accuse those people of intellectual dishonesty because most of them are really, really naive – or sometimes not that smart.
Perhaps if more than one of you had seen the show, you would know that Ms. Walters’ treatment of Ms. McCarthy was incredibly rude. Ms. McCarthy was invited on the show to discuss her book, and whenever she tried to say something, Ms. Walters began talking over her guest so that no true exchange could occur. Had I been in Ms.McCarthy’s shoes (figuratively speaking, of course, as heels do nothing for me), I’m not sure I would necessarily used the same words, but I’m not sure I could have waited to get to a private event to make my feelings known. But that’s just me.
So much for Wade’s Southern Gentleman’s manners.
Jenny got her slimy version of things out on The View. Barbara didn’t stop Jenny from bashing who Jenny wanted to bash or from promoting falsehoods Jenny wanted to promote.
Barbara Walters shouldn’t be verbally abused that way in public, no matter what. It’s below sleezy, and Jenny’s a past master at sleezy. But there’s your girl, Wade. Enjoy her as spokemodel while it lasts.
The YouTube video of the exchange is linked in one of the comments here. I watched the first few minutes. Jenny was getting confused trying to explain that there’s no curing, but there’s recovery, like when you get hit by a bus (nice!), but actually they do get cured; the usual nonsense. Barbara Walters just seemed to be trying to get clarification on that, and she of course must be aware of the scientific reality that there’s no proven or even a theoretical cure for autism. How that got misrepresented into “our kids never get better” is beyond me. That kind of misrepresentation is what is generally referred to as intellectual dishonesty.
Ms. McCarthy was invited on the show to discuss her book, and whenever she tried to say something, Ms. Walters began talking over her guest so that no true exchange could occur.
She was also out to make a splash for TACA. She’s the TACA spokestwit and TACA decided to announce that and their decision to go national at the same time as the book-tour.
Jenny got off easy, no doubts. No one challenged her on the chelation portion of TACA’s message.
Also, just because you are out there selling your book doesn’t give you a pass on the contents. If your book says something stupid (or if you do), you have to be ready to hear about it. If you make a bold statement about “recovering kids” you have to be able to defend it.
Waiting a week and calling the other person a bitch in public is not defending yourself.
Let’s face it, Barbara Walters vs. Jenny McCarthy. Which one has more class and which is smarter?
Maybe Waid can lay some biomed on Bawbwa to help her with that silly speech impediment.
OK, I bit the bullet and watched it.
She got mad at that? She was totally treated with respect. If she couldn’t handle that, she has no business on the talk show circuit.
She had a nice quote of Wakers in there (defending the gut/brain connection with the beer arguement).
But, again, if she got mad at Barbara for that, she is a total lightweight.
Ummm…was there more to the interview than what was on the YouTube clip? Because I thought Barbra did a fine job, and was not at all abusive. Good grief. Is the lady supposed to be a journalist or a cheerleader? (I used to do t.v. reporting–has it changed?)
I’m still just stunned that McCarthy took offense at that interview. Did someone forget to tell her that on television there are strict time constraints? Or was her bunny suit just too tight?
Barbara was perfect, and only did her job as a journalist when she confronted Jenny with the mainstream doctors’ opinion, and didn’t even question the BS regarding vaccines. She did not “keep interrupting” Jenny as Wade says. Go see the YouTube video linked above. Jenny just got spoiled by the other show hosts who let her talk non-stop. And still, she was able to repeat everything she said on the other shows on The View.
If I were Barbara, I’d be really upset at Jenny calling her a bitch after all the help she gave her promoting the crappy book.
I meant to say “I wished Barbara had questioned the BS regarding vaccines”.
I refuse to click on the YouTube link… but I am more than willing to accept Barbara Walters as more educated on children and what can go wrong.
Ms. Walters has personally lost three babies through miscarriage:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123612&page=1
Plus in her decades as a news reporter has probably seen more than enough of children affected with measles, mumps and polio! She started her career at the time there was a rubella epidemic. She must have known about the scores of children being born deaf, blind or dead.
From what I read here, she showed great restraint. If I were in her place, I would be in Jenny’s face yelling at her idiocy (and if that young lady is so foolish as to show up at my local Barnes and Noble I will be sure to question her, though I might face competition from the staff of the local Children’s Hospital!).
What the hell has happened to you Wade? The guy I used to think of in predominately friendly terms two years ago would never have condoned the public abuse of a 70 year old woman.
Knudsen, your piece was 100% genius (by weight).
Is not the animosity toward Jenny McCarthy misplaced. She autism believes biomedical treatments recovered her son from autism and is going on various shows to talk about it and plug her book.
If you think, she doesn’t believe in what she is saying, then I can understand the hatred. However many posts questioning her credentials, if not her intelligence, woud lead me to conclude most people believe that Ms McCarthy believes in what she is sayng.
If you believe than curing autism via biomedical meansis impossible. Then shouldn’t your anger be directed at ABC for not having someone on to refute the claims. Shouldn’t you be upset with ABC for broadcasting a dupe for quackery
The real problem here is one of philosophy. It is not that Jenny McCarthy is pushing quackery, but that to mention autism and cure in the same breath is considered evil.
Kevin, it seems to me for someone who says they are not a religious man, Iyou have become a high priest of one.
The religion which teeaches
“You cannot hate the autsim your child has without hating the child.”
“”There really is no spectrum. All people with autism are the same no matter if they are skillfil evangelists for the religion or are greatly delayed in their development.”
“No autistic could possibly want to be cured. Because of that, if a cure was produced, giving it to even the most afflicted would be a deplorable act.”
Kev, I have learned quite a bit from this site. I’d love to meet you face-to-face, and especially to meet your daughter and for you to meet mine, even though, perhaps especailly because I don’t subscribe to the tenents of your philosophy
i thought that was the View’s thing. Talking over guests and all talking at once. its supposed to be like a coffee click or something isn’t it? that is why I do not watch the view, the show is annoying. JM is a celebrity though and should know how to handle herself in a public way. afterall she is getting the expected treatment on each show depending on its flavor.
Ian MacGregor,
You don’t understand how Kevin sees autism and autistics, you have misrepresented his approach to autism, except for your first statement (framed in a deliberately insulting way)
“You cannot hate the autsim your child has without hating the child.”
That is true. Hating autism is like hating the child’s gender or even hating the child’s flat feet. If you hate something that is intrinsic to the child, you will communicate hatred of the child to the child. There’s no stopping that spill-over.
And hating anything about a child is pointless and a waste of energy. Parents in a battle against a child’s cancer are stupid to hate the cancer. It’s a waste of precious energy. The cancer isn’t a person deliberately trying to kill their child. Why hate something about your child that has no idea that you are hating it?? That’s totally stupid. My kid has several disablities, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (a connective tissue disorder) is one of them that could potentially shorten the kid’s life. I don’t hate the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome that would be idiotic. It’s here. It’s part of the kid. We deal with it.
Jenny is not only pathetically stupid, she’s misleading people. She may believe parts of what she is saying, but she is also lying and bending parts of it to make a story. She also has some kind of responsibility to check what she is saying with reality before going off blathering it everywhere.
She looks down her nose, and derides people who don’t agree with her approach (in the book). If they aren’t willing to try all of this garbage, including potentially dangerous prescription drugs on a preschooler for no reason at all, then they are just whiners who aren’t willing to go to the mat for their kid.
The media has been exceedingly irresponsible for giving Jenny a platform. That’s part of what is discussed here.
Notice, Mr. McGregor, the thing is– **We say, “The media is exceedingly irresponsible.”**
Whereas, Jenny the sleeze says a 70 year old woman who is a respected member of the media, who gave Jenny’s ideas respect enough to discuss them with her, called Barbara Walters an expletive and said she “should stick a microphone” somewhere that I can’t even repeat.
And you are more than willing to ignore that, apparently, and instead make this about your bad understanding of what Kevin and his blog are about. You might want to read the “Canards” section of this site, go to the top of the page and click on Canards.
When people are refusing to have their children vaccinated “because of Jenny” (as I heard from my pediatrician yesterday – I wrote about it today on my blog), not only is Jenny is total nitwit, but she’s completely irresponsible and downright dangerous.
The platform that the media has given to Jenny has now -influenced- scared parents to the point that they are now telling their pediatricians that they don’t want to vaccinate their children AT ALL. And if that’s just one pediatrician that is saying this, you’d better believe that there are more out there that are having the same issue.
Animosity towards Jenny McCarthy is not completely misplaced. She has a mouth. It’s huge (even she’s admitted to that!), it’s out of control and she needs to learn the responsibility of when to shut it.
“it’s out of control and she needs to learn the responsibility of when to shut it.”
Unfortunately, having found a platform more promising than the Indigo/Crystal one, I hope that I am only being pessimistic in believing that we will be hearing more “advice” and “advocacy” from JMc.
_”most people believe that Ms McCarthy believes in what she is sayng.”_
Ian:
It’s not about belief and, moreover, I do NOT think Ms McCarthy “believes in what she is saying” because she has shown that she gets swept-up in things and then moves on. Case in point: _The Indigo/Crystal Child Movement_
She dumped the I/C kids and those families so quickly, and without an apology or an explanation, once Ms Ackerman and Dr Jerry got their fame-grubbing hands on her. NO more ‘higher-level being’ philosophy for Jenny, she moved straight to the hard-stuff: _Poison_
So, ‘belief’, from what I’ve seen on McCarthy’s part, does not play into it.
Anyone care to make a wager on how long Ms McCarthy remains the TACA Spokesmodel until she gets swept away by the next wacked-out trend?
Ms Clark, at times in my posts, I have been deliberately provocative in trying to discover if there are any limits to the philosophy subscribed to by many members of this site. I do this to better understand it. I need to be shown where I erred in the formulation of the creed I posted.
In what way was I insulting in what I said. You said that I phrased something in an insulting way, and then went on to say that you agreed with the statement.
I know the statement is false. I don’t hate my daughter. I don’t spend my days in despair over her autism. I don’t even think of her as autistic but as my heart’s delight. When I took her to see a pediatric geneticists, she spotted her mannerisms which I don’t even notice anymore, much like I don’t hear my wife’s English accent.
Cancer nearly took my sister a few years ago. She was saved by what was an experimental surgical technique which was her only hope. Yes, I hated thqt she had cancer. I don’t view my feelings about the cancer is an indicator of my intelligence. Was I to remain completely detached?
If, a legitimate cure for autism, was available I certainly would consider it. I I’d much rather have an autistic daughter than a dead one. I don;t believe that ending her autism would cause her harm. I don’t think it would take away her soul. I think it would benefit her greatly.
If a cure were available, and completely safe, remember this is a hypothetical, would my giving to it my daugher be tantamount to murder?
Ian: I don’t think you’ll find there’s a monolithic viewpoint in this group, although there are some common themes in the views of people posting here: Valuing the scientific method, disdain for quackery, skepticism of magical thinking, respect for autistic people. That’s about it.
I personally do not believe the medical model has served or has a good chance of serving autistic people, and find that the social model of disability is the model that must be pursued in order to help autistic people. Wishing that a mythical cure existed is not going to help anyone. Furthermore, as someone on the spectrum, I would be totally opposed to a cure for myself. That view probably colors all my other views, no doubt. I don’t necessarily speak for others here.
Ian,
I believe you “framed” your restating of Kevin’s stance as his “religious” beliefs. That was deliberately insulting, or as you put it now “provocative.” It’s a stupid trick, in my opinion, if you are insulting someone by calling him a “high priest” just in order to “feel out the parameters” or whatever you are doing.
Why not show some respect and ask Kev what he thinks, instead of saying, “you believe this!” and you exploit it in some way as “high priest.”
Hating that your sister had cancer is NOT the same as “hating cancer.” I hate the idea that my kid is more vulnerable than others because of some genetic problems. It’s not fair, but stomping my feet and saying it’s not fair and hating the situation get me nowhere. Believe me, when we were actively dealing with life and death issues in the past, I would have given anything to get out away from the risk of death. It was a nightmare…
I still don’t think “hate” is the word to describe how one feels about the disorder or disease. It’s a stupid way to think about it, in my opinion. Hate the fact that the person could die, but don’t hate the disease and don’t hate autism, it’s pointless. If your sister had a cancer associated with being a woman, would you hate the fact that she was a woman because it made her vulnerable to breast cancer, for instance? I hope not, that would be stupid.
I just hate it, absolutely hate it, when people start saying, “if you do biomed you don’t love your child or accept the autism.” And, “if you don’t do biomed you don’t love your child etc.”
Its horrible, just down right horrible. Why can’t people have differing opinions and co-exist nicely, one of my closest friends is a biomedder whereas I’m not, we both love our children and love each other as well.
**Some** “biomed,” some of it, is purely abusive. I’m going to assume that your friend is not doing any of that.
I refuse to “play nice” while doctors promote dangerous “treatments” aka torture and/or poisoning of autistic children in order to make **some** (not all) parents feel like they are “doing something” or “doing everything.”
_”Is not the animosity toward Jenny McCarthy misplaced. She autism believes biomedical treatments recovered her son from autism and is going on various shows to talk about it and plug her book.”_
I wish it were that simple.
My first issue with McCarthy is her original beliefs. That she is an Indigo and her child is a Crystal child, given instructions by an alien overlord. that indicates to me that she’s less then stable. No matter. As I know well, less than stable is not always an issue.
My second issue with McCarthy is the utter airbrushing from history of these beliefs now that she has a book to sell. If it weren’t for my and others blogs no one would know McCarthy ever believed these things. I bet its not in her book and she certainly never mentioned them on Oprah. Why? This indicates to me that she is willing to ditch beliefs solely for financial reasons.
My third issue with McCarthy is that she has simply swapped one form of silliness for another and is equally assured and assuring at its ‘truth’ despite knowing herself to be wrong previously.
My fourth issue with McCarthy is that she seems to be a self appointed spokesperson for autism parents solely because she has written a book. Where were the non-famous autism parents on Oprah? Where were the ones without a book to flog?
_”The real problem here is one of philosophy. It is not that Jenny McCarthy is pushing quackery, but that to mention autism and cure in the same breath is considered evil.”_
Not by me its not. I have a totally neutral view on cure, one well documented on various websites including this one. I simply don’t believe it matters one iota if one is pro or anti cure. Its something driven by science. It’ll either happen or it won’t. My worry is how such a thing would be used. That is (IMO) an ethical question that needs addressing.
Further, I would say that despite my own beliefs that a cure is not _necessary_ , if my own daughter communicated her desire to have one (should such a thing ever exist) then I would move heaven and earth to ensure she got it. I would do that as I recognise that whatever my own personal feelings on necessity, an autistic persons own feelings on the matter are of paramount weight.
_”Kevin, it seems to me for someone who says they are not a religious man, Iyou have become a high priest of one.”_
In another life my username was ‘flashswami’. This was because I was considered an expert on the use of the design software called Flash. Thats about as close to divine status as I’ve ever got ;o)
_”You cannot hate the autsim your child has without hating the child.”_
No. To me its more like – you cannot feel anything about autism. It is what it is, but it is part of the make up of my daughter and I accept that.
_”There really is no spectrum. All people with autism are the same no matter if they are skillfil evangelists for the religion or are greatly delayed in their development.”_
Well, thats a point of contention. In my experience, the concept of a spectrum is close to right but not exactly right. I fully accept that there are adults who function at a different level than my child but I think thats as much to do with the fact that they’re adults as it does that they’re autistic.
_”No autistic could possibly want to be cured. Because of that, if a cure was produced, giving it to even the most afflicted would be a deplorable act.”_
No, I’ve never thought that way. What I think is that, should a cure ever become available, we need to be fully aware of all the ethical issues and the lessons history has to teach us.
_”Kev, I have learned quite a bit from this site. I’d love to meet you face-to-face, and especially to meet your daughter and for you to meet mine, even though, perhaps especailly because I don’t subscribe to the tenents of your philosophy”_
Sounds good, if you’re ever in the UK, email me :o)
Sharon, I agree with Ms Clark. Whilst there is definitely a ‘spectrum’ of biomed (we give both our kids Fish Oil for example), there are a core bunch who are doing little more than child experimentation.
I blogged awhile ago about a woman who was intravenously chelating her autistic son with garlic and vinegar. Like Ms Clark, I don’t think I could ever play nice with those type of people.
The thing that really got me is when she said she cured him and emotionally he changed, all of us on the spectrum know how ever much we change, the emotional part is part of us and its learning to except and understand ourselves.
I’m not saying that diet can not help some children, of course it can on the spectrum or not. Still if it opens discussion and helps raise awareness then I guess it could do some good and maybe the governments will start to fund and help more. But when someone sits there with a big smile saying this is all you need to do, really doesn’t help. Would love her to have to look after just one extreme autistic child for a week, I think the smile would fade fast…
Sorry but I believe she needs to learn the responsibility of what she is saying and just shut up.
Aspergers Parallel Planet
http://www.asplanet.info
Ian,
Amen, brother.
Welcome to the private little war on autism being waged on the internet. This blog is dedicated to those who believe that autism is largely genetic and any environmental or biological influence is relatively minor. Your child is autistic and there is nothing you can do about except to accept it and love them. This is the world of neurodiversity. The opinions are largely dominated by those with Asperger’s.
On the other side, you have the Mercury Moms who are now being championed by Jenny McCarthy. They believe that their children were born with a genetic susceptibility to environmental toxins and diseases. It is the overload that causes the autism.
As you can see, the neurodiverse world is raging with anger because the Mercury crowd has a celebrities to champion their cause. What bugs some of them even more is the fact that Jenny’s kid is actually getting better. That’s not supposed to happen. ABA doesn’t work. Biomed doesn’t work.
The debate for the most part is foolishness in action. It is a spectrum. Autism is not one thing. It is not cause by even one gene or even 10. The best science that I have read says there are over 100 genes already identified that play some role. Treating ASD as one disorder is like treating cancer like one disease.
It does not sound to me that Jenny McCarthy has done anything dangerous to her child and he is improving. Her message is a positive one, but the focus for many on the internet is purely on causation. She says biomed helped her child. You can chose whether to believe it or not.
There really is no spectrum. All people with autism are the same no matter if they are skillfil evangelists for the religion or are greatly delayed in their development.”
I’d like to address this. First, I don’t think anyone is saying that all people on the spectrum are identical, and if that’s what you’re implying, then you’re misrepresenting the views of people, Ian.
What some of us do believe is that we’re all equal, in the sense of human equality, civil rights, etc.
The other way in which the notion of a spectrum has been challenged is that it’s not one-dimensional as some would have us view it. You have, for example, kids like Amy Holmes’, with an IQ of 150 but non-verbal. If I may, Tito, who’s been posting here recently, is another autistic like that. So it’s clearly more complicated than “low functioning” vs. “high functioning”.
Now, I would’ve preferred to ignore Sigma at this point, but let me just answer this:
She says biomed helped her child. You can chose whether to believe it or not.
Michael Menkin says the thought screen helmet helped a bunch of kids, even made one talk. You can choose whether to believe it or not. I, for one, don’t take him seriously, for the same reason I don’t take any anecdotes or testimonials seriously.
“Your child is autistic and there is nothing you can do about except to accept it and love them. This is the world of neurodiversity.”
This is the world of misrepresentation. You have been responding to posts on this blog for a while. Haven’t you ever read them?
Thanks for the feedback. Ms Clark, of course you are right, I hated that my sister had cancer not the cancer itself. But, it is nort illogical to hate something inanimate. Love, the sinner and hate the sin teaches me that. No I don’t think my daughter is autistic as a punishment from God.
So if you prefer, I strongly believe my daughter would be better off without autism. I cannot see her reaching her full potential and living life to its fullest as heavily afflicted as she is. I view her autism as cripplling. I would see a cure, or a move up the spectrum as an answer to my prayers.
Comparing the views on this site to a religion was not meant to be insulting. It was meant to make people think. Religion is not a bad thing, unless it makes you closed-minded.
Kevin, thanks for the reply. It is very true that I misundertood your views. I was guilty of transfering the views expressed by others on to you. I apologize.
Joseph, In mant ways I agree with you. My daughter academic progress has been nil, but behaviorally she has made huge strides. Perhaps more progress than some children who have grown mentally. Her communication skills consists of staning next to a cupboard, the fridge, or the DVD and clapping to indicate her want. It is the inability to communicate which is the hardest. We;ve tried and retried all sorts of things without success. The other part which is most difficult is we have found abolutely nothing to stimulate her interest in learning. We worry what this portends for her future. I do see autisitcs with can communicate, read, play computer games, etc as better off than she. But I am also thankful her days of attacking us fang, tush, and claw are primarily behind her.
I learned something, I had not considered. Just as Kassie’s aggressive behaviors can return temporarily without notice, chldren who have progressed mentally may also lose those abilities temporarily. I also did not know tht for adult autistics the ability to handle certain situations or do certain things can evanesce
For Sigma. I don’t believe biomedical treatments can cure autism. I do not deny that some autistics have comorbid conditons which may helped by dietary changes. What I don’t like about the biomedical community is that no matter how much data is compiled against a treatment they still cling to it. It’s also the notion that you must give your child a complex array of treatments for it to be effective. If the child is nor tesponsive, then the treatment array neeeds adjustment, becuase every child is different don’t you know
I don’t understand the anti-ABA crowd. I have not seen that here, mre on the Diva’s site. There are times, when to me, advocates for autistics become advocates for the disorder.
If we can reach kid’s early enough and start them on a program which ABA TEEACH (sp?) floortime, etc. then the chances of them moving up the spectrum are much better. Kid’s are getting better now, because of the earlier interventions. Pediatricians are now educated in spotting the disorder, and advising parents where to get help.
As you can see, the neurodiverse world is raging with anger because the Mercury crowd has a celebrities to champion their cause.
Raging?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!!!
Raging!? That’s hilarious! If this is your “champion” you can have her!
HAAHAHAHAAAAA!!