About Me

I am the proud mother of 6 children. 5 of our children have autism. We do not feel our world has ended, but just begun. We do not chelate, intervene biochemically, give shots of any kind, practice ABA, etc. We treat them as we treat any humanbeing. We treat them with kindness and respect and expect the same from them. They are exceptional children.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

LAYING IT OUT....

After I posted my blog today..I received a phone call from a person who thought they were anonymous.
This "anonymous" caller told me..

1. I had no idea what autism was.

2. I did not have autistic children to begin with.

3. I am doing a disservice to people with autistic children who are trying to
help their children...

Let me lay out my feelings...

Let me get this out on the table...

I do not believe in this autism hype of recovery or curedom...
I do not believe the GF/CF diet will cure your child with Autism...yes,
the diet will alleviete symptoms of distress in your child with bowel problems
but....bowel problems are not autism...

I do not believe a B12 lollipop is worth crap.

I do not believe a B12 shot is worth crap.

I think you are doing more harm to your child if you do chelation.

I think you are doing more harm to your child if you do Hbot.

I believe Jenny McCarthy is a joke...and I do not mean she is funny !!!!

I believe a whole lot of physicians are making a whole lot of money off of a
whole lot of parents with children with Autism.

I feel badly for parents who log on to the computer looking for answers find
scare tactics and propaganda.

I feel badly for the parents who buy into the hype that they can cure their child.

What I do know...
I know that kids with Autism grow up and get better with traditional therapies.
I know through inclusion...kids with autism will be educated better than those
without inclusion.

I know that parenting a child with autism is hard...but not impossible.

I do feel sorry for the parents of children who have autism and truly believe their
has been a "conspiracy" from the government. Really gifted journalists have started
this theory and have had a really hard time holding up their end of the conspiracy.

The saddest part is, these really gifted journalists have sold their bill of goods to some
parents who sold everything they own to buy into their crap.

And, in the end....these people have made a butt-load of money and the parents
have lost the same amount.

I have said my peace for the time being, but believe me, I am not done....

I am ticked off.....

I am sick of the media spewing this propaganda crap and the sane one's of us
have to sit back and listen....

Our time has come....
As Jenny McCarthy said on the View a couple of years ago.....
"I am going to use my big mouth to educate the people about Autism".....

13 comments:

kathleen said...

I am on your team. I think that there are more people who think the way we do than not. I also believe that there needs to be some common ground...
"parenting a child with autism is hard...but not impossible"
I think that this is one of THE most important truths that there is. Yes, it is hard-but it is also wonderful...my kids are who they are-incredible, different, joyful, funny, decent human beings..who happen to have autism.

Squillo said...

Brava!

I think there are lots of families like yours and mine, living our lives as families first, and autism families second, who aren't angry, who aren't desperate for a cure--just looking for ways to make our kids' lives better.

Maybe because they aren't angry, and aren't searching for something to blame or some way to cure, they tend to go along quietly doing their thing, and it allows the louder, angrier voices to seem more prevalent than they perhaps are.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Kim Wombles said...

Jeanette, I too am squarely on your team, as you know.

We welcome other team members to www.counteringageofautism.blogspot.com and to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=91368243169.

kathleen said...

YES!!! kwombles blogspot is so very important!I love it. She is excellent at countering AoA-and she does it so eloquently.

Mom26children said...

Kathleen,
I love KWombles and her attitude. So much so...I searched for her and called her. She was welcoming and pleasant.

I have become very disappointed in the Autism community lately. There is a local mom who has done everything imaginable to her 2 children with autism and so very disappointed that her son is not cured.
She is now using Hbot and writes that his ears hurt...what can she do???
Take him out of the Hbot, you idiot !!!!
He has been through chelation, b12 shots, the elemental diet, wearing nicotine patches (I kid you not) and over 50 different supplements and medications.
The mother writes about this and gives advice to other parents....I think she should have the kids taken away from her...but, that is my opinion.
Sorry to rant...but, this is why I am fighting mad !!!!

kathleen said...

We need people ranting! I was writing to someone the other day saying that people get this pretty picture in their head of what having a child is...and when something happens-like autism,they take on the victim persona..the "this isn't what I expected" "This isn't the child I was SUPPOSED To have" So they spend most of the time dedicating their lives to "curing" this "Tragedy" and being martyrs.
As for all the woo "treatments"-I went head to head last week on Orac's blog with Dr. Jay Gordon (jenny Mcidiots pediatrician)I asked him how he could promote unproven therapies..etc.etc. He evaded every question-and when pushed got very nasty...He is making a bundle promoting cures and victimhood. Have you ever seen his website? If he weren't so scary it would be quite funny. It is an homage to his perceived greatness. I was discussing with kwombles how to better promote her blog...and how we need to unify with like minded parents. I also think we should wear super hero capes...but that is beside the point. I started an additional blog as well-I wanted to have a middle ground where parents etc. could share positive stories...I have invited the folks at AoA to participate...so far I haven't heard back from them. Pretty telling don't you think? Anyway-come check out www.kickingkittens.blogspot.com
I would love to have you participate there as well. We need to unify-so lets unify...wow, I ranted right back at you! :) Kathleen

Kim Wombles said...

Kathleen and Jeanette,

Thank you for the kind words. :-) It's always nice to have positive feedback.

Here's to figuring out how to counter the woo while building bridges to parents who are obviously struggling and in pain!

Unknown said...

Jeanette,
Thank you for doing what you do.
Parenting the way you do,
and speaking up the way you do.

Unknown said...

Yeah! I just joined the Countering AoA Facebook group.

Janet said...

Thank you for writing about what autism is for your family. Our family has Asperger's running rampant through the generations :-) Life is different for those on the spectrum, but it's still a life worth living. In our experience, you are absolutely correct, traditional therapies and time have worked to make a major improvement in our son's life.

Nostrum said...

Hell yeah! You're not alone on this. We need to make our voices louder. I'm thinking about ways to do this.

Lyn said...

I'm with you. If mercury causes autism, wouldn't most of the people in Mozart's era have been autistic?
They used mercury to treat various diseases that people are embarrassed about these days, but they seemed proud of them back then.
Isn't chelation kind of dangerous too? I like the attitudes of people like you and the folks on change.org better because it's not one of hopelessness and despair but acceptance and understanding.
That seems healthier

Anonymous said...

I think extremes of any kind are unwise and dangerous, and that parents of kids with autism should do what parents of kids who are neuro-typical should do - treat individual health problems in the best way they can. In our case, our autistic son happened to be born with multiple protein intolerance, diagnosed by his docs while he was still in the NICU because of very visible blood in his stool. It was so bad he couldn't even tolerate the casein in breastmilk, much less milk or soy based formulas. The GFCF diet makes him so much more comfortable, and therefore his behavior is better when he eats the way HIS body dictates he should. The danger in some treatments is, I think, that they're done without solid evidence to support taking the risk, or done with the idea of "cure." Recovery from individual health issues, which may or may not be cormorbid with autism, needs to be understood as helpful because they contribute to overall health (any hey, who isn't helped by that?) and help a person be the best they can be, but are not a "cure."