It's been an excrutiating long winter and I'm not sure how much more snow, rain, sleet, and freezing rain I can handle. I needed a break. I needed a night out. I took the opportunity to hand the reins over to Tim and go out. A nice relaxing and quiet (no stimming, screaming, whining kids!) evening at Borders Bookstore . I wanted to take the opportunity to read Jennie McCarthy's book Louder than words. Again, I'm not sure about this whole healing thing and I don't believe in curing autism. I believe that our children are not broken, but just need the right guidance to become funtional in our society. That being said, I was still curious. So I settled in with a cup of mint tea and dove right in.
It was an interesting read and I could certainly relate to some of what she was feeling. My son didn't have life threatening seizures though. That must have been so terrifying for her family. I couldn't imagine feeling as helpless as she must have. The short of it is she believes her son always had a weak immune system and after receiving his MMR shot, it weakened more. It caused him to have Leaky Gut Syndrome . Basically, yeast or candida builds up in the intestines and can't be flushed out. Most of our immune system is in our intestines. Link the two together and there you have it. If you want to know more, then click the link above. Jennie believes that getting rid of the yeast and intensive therapy allowed her son to be healed. She took her son to the top neurologist, the top allergist, a DAN! doctor, so on and so forth.
The thing that really irked me was that she nearly condemed the other parents who didn't want to go the DAN! route. She couldn't understand why some parents didn't want to do everything they possibly could to help their children. Why weren't the pediatricians telling parents about yeast, and GF/CF diets and DAN! doctors, blah, blah, blah!
Now my opinion. Shut the hell up lady. Some of us can't afford special diets, doctors who charge up the nose and insurance companies who stick it to your ass. We are doing the best for our kids. No parent that I have met wants their kid to fall through the cracks and turns their back on them. We don't have a million dollar house to refinance for outside therapies and clinics. And most of all, some of us don't want to make our kids guinea pigs when it's not guaranteed to work. So we've just wasted thousands of dollars with no results and we're back to square one with NO MONEY!
Okay, I'm off my soapbox. I'm sure I'll be blasted and scoffed at for 'not caring about my child'. That's fine. I'm entitled to my opinion, and you are entitled to your own.
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7 comments:
I couldnt believe all the fuss i saw on all the american blogs about this book! Jennie McCarthy is practicaly unheard of over here in the UK!
I also dont believe in curing autism, or that our kids are broken etc. And of course we all try and do what is in our power to help our children. So i will join you on your soapbox!!
My sons headbanging can cause seizures and he knockes himself out, this is life threatening. But he does not have leaky gut.
I must look DAN up as i actually dont know what it is!
So did you feel you had a break?!
DAN! stands for Defeat Autism Now! These doctors are typically naturaupathic doctors and treat using minerals and supplements such as B12. They also advocate chelation and getting rid of heavy metals in the body.
I think the reason why her son had seizures was because he was part of that 10% of autistic kids who experience them. Not because of trauma.
Ya know, I've not read her book because I've never been a big fan of hers. I've heard the same review from others of mom's of kids with autism. And you're right, not all of us are blessed with her resources and we do the best we can. If love could "cure", most would have been "cured" long, long ago!
I've never liked Jenny McCarthy and the message she's sent with her book is an irresponsible one. I remember after seeing her on Oprah the hysteria that occurred on Oprah's message boards about vaccines.
The fact that she nearly condemns parents that don't follow the DAN! protocol is incredibly arrogant. My son doesn't need to be cured. He'll be the first one to tell anybody that. And even if I had the money to tap into the resources she does I still wouldn't do it. J is fine the way he is. He isn't broken; he doesn't need to be fixed.
I agree with you. She needs to shut up.
You know, I actually was thinking of trying some of the stuff like the threelac-I mean she made it sound like a wonder drug-so I thought "Well,gee, sounds like this could be something" so I looked online about it. What I ended up coming across was all the side effects. People were sick for weeks on this drug-they felt awful, vomitting, etc. After I read that I decided Nick does not need to feel like crap for weeks on end just to see if something *could* work. He does not take a huge amount of pills everyday. I agree with you Jessica...she is made out to be somesort of autism goddess. Why don't we see Susan Senator on any of these shows?? Or Temple Grandin?? How about Daniel Tammet?? Why must they always focus on the "Awful Autism"? Autism is not always horrible. I don't feel the need to "cure" Nick-maybe talk a little more, and he is doing that; but quite honestly he is a delightful little boy who is adored by all who meet him. The more I think about it, the more I think the world would be a boring place without those on the spectrum.
Dairy made my eldest (8 - Non-verbal learning disorder w/ S/L delay) stoned... yes, I'm not exaggerating... was it a cure... NO.
He had cronic diahhrea (nasty rashes), nightmares and/or terrors nightly. 48hrs after we got rid of the dairy, they were gone. 7 days later he got a tiny bit of dairy and within the hour was in the playpen, there wasn't a surface hard enough for him to smash his head off of... 24 VERY long hours later, he was feeling better again. He was 2.5yrs old. He's had a lot of speech therapy, tutoring and general nagging by his Mother and is doing VERY well.. but he still has AUTISM.
Food's can and do change our moods. I have a friend that cannot have chocolate, makes her stoned and another that 2 sips of a glass of wine and she's as drunk as if she'd had the bottle.
BUT... it's not for everyone. My youngest, who is lactose intolerant b/c I took away the dairy at 6mths old is still severe non-verbal PDD. It did nothing. What has done something, is parents, school, speech and OT's.. not food.
So you pick and choose those things you wish to try. My goal was to allow us and my son a chance to sleep through the night and to help his upset stomach. No more, no less. Now... if only the anxiety was that easy to get rid of :)
Sheri
Hehe! We don't have that kind of cash either... I did like the book for the personal thoughts on each incident and milestone..she was relatable, but I totally agree with the DAN! stuff you mentioned. Way overboard.
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