Jenny McCarthy and Autism
 

Can autism be prevented and helped....Her answer..

Without a doubt, I know that it can," she said. "I am witness to my own child being fully recovered from autism. He's 6 years old now -- he completely lost his diagnosis."

I think its so amazing how she has been a voice for autism. Her son went from saying one word to now full communication and as she said, lost his autism diagnosis. There is a new book out that she and her doctor have written. If anyone has a child with autism or knows someone who does, I think this book would be worth reading. :)

It's wonderful that her child "lost" his Autism diagnosis, and as a sister to an Autistic brother...it brings hope to many people. I worry very much about false hope that she may be stirring up with people who are deperate to find answers and treatment.

The thing I don't like about Jenny is that she single handedly propagated an anti-vaccine movement based on un-scientific and unfounded information which could potentially create more disease in our country because of people not vaccinating their children.

I don't know about you, but I would rather prevent life threatening diseases than blame vaccines that have been through extensive research and study and been proven by countless scientists that there is no relation to autism.

Who do you listen to? Your pediatrician and other doctors who have dedicated their lives to your children's health, or a playboy bunny?

JMHO...I hope I don't make anybody mad, just wanted to give my 2 cents on it.

I think it's wonderful that her son has recovered and I'm sure it is thanks to the intense hands-on approach he has received. I think she is wonderful for spending time making parents aware of the early signs so that they can get intervention as quickly as possible. But I agree with tmatherly about the vaccinations. Just like I space out my dogs' vaccines, I will ask my doctor to space out my children's vaccines as to not overwhelm their body. But vaccines are DEAD viruses that anyone with high school bio should be able to understand the mechanics of.

I read a study once that said that it's possible that television viewing under the age of 2 is correlated with a higher incidence of autism, which I thought was interesting. The same explanation that they use to denounce vaccines - the fact that the Amish do not have an outbreak of autism, would also explain this. But they also do not eat highly processed foods either, and I question preservatives and other junk they put in our foods and even our makeup and face creams, etc. We try to eat organic and use natural products as much as possible... Also with the TV thing, I'm sure there would have to be some pre-disposition, just like things can trigger epilepsy and migraines in some people and not others. I don't think we know the answers but I think like 1 in 100 kids is being diagnosed with autism and it's very important that we DO find out why it is happening!

Jenny is wonderful! I think it is absolutely amazing how much time she spends doing research. Good for her and AMAZING for her son! Wow!

I just heard Jenny speak on the vaccine thing recently.

She said she is not against it. She does want to know why they have tripled the amount of the program in the last 10 or so years. She wants that to be looked into and perhaps children are better served with it being more spread out.

I admit to not knowing much about autism but I think it is great that Jenny McCarthy has increased conversation about the possibility of over vaccinating. Nobody should take medical advice from an actress but I think her ideas could be a great starting point for personal research and conversations with one's doctor. I also think she's adorable and funny.:D

My son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2, I have endless evaluation reports that made me shed countless tears. He is now 8 yrs old, attending regular ed class, has "regular" communication skills, and is your "normal" 8 year old boy. He lost his diagnosis as well. I thank god everyday for my son and dont know if it was early intervention that helped or the fact that he was misdiagnosed. I think they are sometimes too quick to label our children. I do hope that they find a cure, and find it soon.

That's fantastic that he's OK!

I agree with the labeling, especially with ADD, but sometimes it goes both ways. The only way for a kid to get services is to be labeled. Many parents fight the label and let their kid struggle without extra help which is sad. Some parents also take it too far and won't let their kids take responsibility for anything because of their label. Some kids at the school I worked at had IEP's that said they couldn't be given regular consequences (like detention) and that they had to be given extra time for homework even if the teachers knew the kid wasn't trying... We also had parents who would routinely miss IEP meetings! So sad... if only every kid with special needs had parents who were so involved. I really hope those parents can be reached by Jenny's celebrity status. Maybe if they hear on Oprah that they can help their kid... i dunno...

The only way it works is if parent, teacher, doctor and school all work together for the benefit of the child.

We had a class of 10 or so autistic kids (middle school age) at the school I worked at. I was in the office and we worked with one kid every day all year just to get him to the point where he could come in by himself while the teacher stood back and ask for his lunch card every day (we had a free lunch program for special services kids) and then go through the lunch line and hand his card to the cashier. It took this boy an entire school year to do this, practicing EVERY day, but he did it. There are good programs and dedicated teachers out there, we just need more of them so everyone has access. I've seen the effects of kids who don't get early intervention and EVERY kid who needs it should get it...

htt://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/should-not-vacc.htmhttp://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/should-not-vacc.htm

Not all vaccines are dead viruses! And it is not alway's "safe" for a few groups of people to get an immunization. Before I had my second son I thought NOTHING of following the set Immunizations for my first born son. That all changed 11 months later when My second child son was born with a Immune Defect. He can't have a few of the vaccines that are given out. None of my 3 other children can get the vaccines that my Immune compromised son can have, so they follow his immunization routine set out by our Ped Immunologist. I have to sign a waver for them to be allowed at school with out fully immunised for the shots they can not get every school year. I also have to have a note from his Ped Immunologist along with it since it is a medical reason..But religious and Other are also an option on it. I am told by the school nurse you would be surprised with how many parents have other or religious marked.

I agree.

Well, minus the adorable and funny part. I think she's borderline annoying. :p

here are the correct links to my post.

Vaccine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chapter 9 - The Immunocompromised Traveler - Yellow Book | CDC Travelers' Health


I think it is great that Jenny MaCarthy has brought the possibility of over vaccinations to light with her being a celebrity she has more of an opportunity than most parents would. She did not come up with this belief herself its ben around way before her son was even born. I have a friend with a girl now 16 years old who was found to be Autistic at age 2 years and 8 months of age, and she really thought their was a link with her getting the MMR vaccine because that is when the family started to see a change in their baby girl. When she had her other 2 children, she did not get them vaccinated for MMR based on her belief and her Doctor. Their are quite a few doctors that support this issue of a link with vaccinations and Autism.

I saw an episode on TV yesterday where a couple has 5 kids and all five have varied degrees of autism. I hope they can find a way to help them. I wonder if Jenny's book could help?

I'm a teacher, and I think it's great that she's advocating for autism....BUT autism is not something that can be "healed" and I worry that she could be providing some people with false hope. Children CAN learn coping mechanisms and strategies, and ways to effectively communicate. As for the correlation between autism and vaccines, many parents who do not want their children vaccinated would also not want their child diagnosed and labeled as autistic.

I'm just wondering why you say this... What are you basing this on?

Because autism is such a complex disorder, and it still has scientists pondering it's exact causes (gene mutations, etc) you cannot "cure" something which has an unknown cause. This is not to say that you cannot significantly reduce the symptoms by teaching social scripts, modifications, and effective ways for that particular child to communicate, it is just saying that autism is not something that can be "healed." While some people are disputing the fact that Jenny McCarthy's son ever actually had autism, very few scientists are using this as an opportunity to look into it, and if he did in fact have it, how can we benefit from the strategies she's been utilizing with her son that have been effective and reducing the severity of the effects. I have taken 2 SPED courses, and even with the extensive time devoted to autism, since it is such a HUGE spectrum, I still feel that there is much I do not know. There are many reliable journals on the web if you want to look into this more.