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, July 01, 2009

Eric London Resigns from Autism Speaks.....

I had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Eric London, and his wife Karen, in 1998.
My husband, my mother, Caitlin, Deirdre, Erin, baby Meaghan and myself traveled
to New Orleans, LA to attend a NAAR gala.
I had called Karen, on the phone, prior to the engagement to tell her how excited I
was that NAAR was started and to tell her a bit about my family.
You see, we were in the process of having Erin diagnosed at the age of 18 months.
We had 2 kids with Autism, which was unheard of at the time.
The NAAR benefit was held in New Orleans...one of my favorite cities. The gala was
held at Ann Rice's mansion. John Goodman was to MC...I love him from Roseanne.
Delta Burke, from my favorite show, Designing Women, was to attend also. In attendance,
was also to be Joe Montegna (who has a child with Autism)....
We arrived at this black tie affair...my husband in his rented tux..and me, in an evening
gown and a borrowed mink coat. We felt like royalty.

The evening started and we were told that John Goodman, Delta Burke and Joe Montegna
were all stuck on location somewhere, and would not be attending.
Dr. London took over as MC....and you know what..?? We did not miss Mr. Goodman AT ALL!!

Dr. London grabbed the microphone and began to tell a story. The story was about
their child who was diagnosed with autism. Tears began to fill his eyes...and the whole
audience listened and cried with Dr. London. He told about his passion in finding ways
to help his child. He told about his feelings and shared his soul....that was incredibly
brave of him....
My husband looked at me...because I tend to well up when I see people cry (especially
men) and asked if I was okay...
I was !!!
I was, because I was in the presence of a man who was not going to give up finding ways
to help his son and not give in to the pressures of those who are wrong.

This week, it was announced that Dr. London was resigning from Autism Speaks for
reasons that are his....not the cronies at Autism Speaks (yes, poor little Katie Wright
is bitching and moaning about this), or the martyrs who feel it is okay to demean and
belittle other parents over at the AS forum.....
The comments on the AS forum are as low as you can go....they do not know Dr. London.
They judge him because he does not believe the way they do...WAY BEYOND PATHETIC !!
Dr. London owes no explanation to you...but, I will say...he has done it with dignity...
something I think the people over at AS need to acquire.

Dr. London...I wish you and your lovely family all of the best. I hope you can continue your
work in Autism with your new endeavor....
My family and myself thank you for that !!!

5 comments:

Socrates said...

Most of the people that populate the Autism Speaks board are, umm...., Well I don't know what to call it; but they seem to exist is a parallel universe of conspiracies, and the disavowal of the scientific method.

They spend their days in what is likely to be a fruitless ambition of 'recovering' their children.

It's harmful to their children, themselves and society as a whole.

And I despair.

leila said...

You conveyed the emotion so well, even my eyes welled up imagining the guy up there on stage... My best wishes to him and his family. May autism science advance in order to improve lives of autistic people that are growing up and need relief of their symptoms.

Nostrum said...

And it tends to reflect my increasing disillusionment with AS. I don't even want to know how bad the comments were.

kathleen said...

Don't despair Socrates!! There are plenty of parents out there who accept and love their children...who are looking for knowledge and ways to help them navigate this world that we live in..Parents like us are too busy having lives and raising the incredible children that we have..too busy living and loving our kids to even consider the "fruitless ambition of recovering their children" Their(cure/victims) numbers are small..unfortunately, their vitriol is loud.I can be louder!
I commend Dr. London for resigning..Autism speaks has done a few good things...but lately...sigh. Their stance on vaccines is deplorable and dangerous..I am hoping that Dr. London's resignation has an impact..

Anonymous said...

Hey, I saw your family on Extreme Makeover Home Edition the other day and I thought you were a truly remarkeble mother. I was wondering if you've ever heard of a little girl named Gina Marie Incandela. She is 7 years old and is from Kisimee, Florida. She has autism, more specifically PDD NOS. If I am not mistaken, two of your children have that type of autism. So anyways, Gina is an AMAZING singer, and she coudn't even speak until she was about three years old.
If you want to check her out, look at her youtube channel, it's: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProdigyGina

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR KIDS :) YOU AND YOUR FAMILY ARE AMAZING!!