Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Autism community outraged at Autism Speaks response to Savage

Here is the response from Autism Speaks in regards to the comments from Savage:

"One important goal of increasing awareness about autism is to foster a greater level of acceptance and understanding of the very real and significant challenges it poses to individuals with the disorder and their families. The good news is that we see more and more expressions of this compassion every day and everywhere, from classrooms and playgrounds to ballparks and supermarkets. Unfortunately, there are those who are apparently incapable of feeling compassion. They deserve our pity, not our scorn."

I, like everyone else in the Autism community, can not believe this response. Uuhhh wrong. Savage doesn't need a pat on the back accompanied with pity. We have to teach our world today, for those that don't "get it" or understand, what is happening to this generation of children. Where, on a daily basis somewhere or another, we are hearing news stories of our autistic children being kicked off planes, banned from churches, voted out of kindergarten classes, and asked to leave restaurants and retail stores. No, it's time the world wakes up and opens their eyes to an overwhelming epidemic.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Michael Savage - ...autistic children..."brats"

For those of you out there that have not heard the news media yet about the rude and insane comments from radio broadcaster, Michael Savage, well...here is the story.

Quoting Savage exactly...

"I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot."


So yea. I am sure there was more to his radio broadcast from that day, but this quote is all that is remembered. When I heard about this my first reaction was "holy cow, I can not believe that someone would be so insensitive and say such a thing". But the more I though about it the more I was reminded of the kind of world we live in. The "all about ME" world where the only thing people care about is themselves. That is exactly the reason for Savage's comments. He doesn't want or like being bothered with having to tolerate the "behaviors" of autistic children around him. It is also obvious by his comment that he has no experience or even any idea why autistic children have the behaviors that they do. If he did he would not have even thought what he said, much less say it on national radio.

Anyways...enough of my thoughts and reactions...for now. There have been tons of responses to all of this. Here is one that I want to share...

Dear Mr. Savage,
My name is Shannon Johnson and I am the proud parent of a 13 year old son with autism.

If you met my son, you would probably think that he was very funny, as he would not hesitate to smile and call you weird, which is his best attempt at a compliment. He would find you intriguing because you have facial hair and he would want to touch it with his sticky fingers that usually smell like his last meal. He seems taller than he actually is because he walks on his toes. It makes it hard for him to wear shoes, but he will tolerate flip-flops in the summer and slip on shoes in the winter, as long as he can take them off as soon as he gets in the car or enters the house. Although he eats like a horse and I literally have to keep a lock on my refrigerator door, he is skinny and underweight, probably in part because of his severe digestive issues. Without a special diet of gluten-free and dairy-free foods, and a multitude of supplements, enzymes and medications, he wouldn’t even digest a fraction of the food that passes his lips. For the majority of his life, he has experienced more restrictions, seen more physicians, been poked more with needles and been tested more by psychologists than most adults can ever imagine. Through it all, he has been braver and more courageous than anyone I have ever met.

Naturally, it disappoints me to hear someone of your intelligence and of your influence describe children with autism as “brats”. I can only assume that you are referring to the fact that some children with autism are known to have behavioral meltdowns or tantrums.

Honestly, my son is one of those kids. If you saw him in public having a meltdown, you would probably deduct that he was screaming because he couldn’t have a new toy or another ice cream cone; that he was using his lungs to manipulate his parents into giving into his selfish requests. However, you would be completely wrong. Instead, he might simply be reacting to the fact that the sights and smells, the sounds and colors in the mall, or at the grocery store, have overwhelmed his already over-stimulated sensory system and he needs to retreat to the safety of the car right away. In this heightened moment, his anxiety would be revved up and he would lose his ability to verbally communicate his needs. He would then rely on his tears to inform me or his father that his system had had all that it could take, no matter what goodie we might offer, no matter what reward lay in our cart….And then, once he was safe away from the sensory assault, he might ask, as he has in the past, “What can we do next time so that it’s not so loud in the store?”……Certainly, we have even sat in the rain to eat a meal outside when the restaurant lights were too bright or the music inside too loud for our very sensitive boy.

If you stood outside my son’s door sometime, Mr. Savage, as I invite you to do if you are ever in my neighborhood, you might hear my son ask God in heaven to “please make me get better soon.” Not really the words of a “brat”, Mr. Savage…Only a very affected child who doesn’t feel good most of the time, and would do just about anything to just be like everyone else.

Sincerely-Shannon Johnson

(Taken from foggyrock.com:
http://www.foggyrock.com/MyPage/wynnsmom/Composition/1830#showcomp )

Here is another response that I found. This was a response to Shannon's post from here: http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2008/07/shannon-responds-to-michael-savage-with.html

"How sad that autism families have to deal with fighting with doctors who have their own agenda, school officials who don't care and are overwhelmed, neighbors who don't get it, government officials who don't want to offer services, unsolicited parenting advice from every granny in the supermarket, idiots on airplanes, in restraunts, and elsewhere...and now, Michael Savage is inspiring a whole new slew of people to make life even harder. (Not to mention the actual struggles of dealing with the autism and therapies, etc.)"

And now from me....not to just Mr. Savage but anyone out there that feels the same..."until you live in the shoes of the parents/caregiver that walk the fragile roads each day of raising a child with autism, you have no place to judge us or our children. You are ignorant and have NO idea what you are talking about. "

You can read more of the news stories on this here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25804382/#story

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25788692/

Monday, July 21, 2008

A study on Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated Kids...

The question came up a few days ago as I was reading through some comments on this person's blog... "I wonder if there have been any findings of children who have NOT been immunized, and developed autism?"

Well, I recently found a report out that shows findings/results of studies that were done on children that were vaccinated versus children that were not vaccinated. It is not specifically looking at just autism but many different illnesses in children. It was done in the Netherlands. The details of the report speak for itself and can be seen here.

http://www.vaccination.inoz.com/Vacc%20vs%20unvacc%20results%20survey.pdf

Thursday, July 17, 2008

New Hair Cuts


Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Bowling - the new family sport

So, one of the activities that we have taken up while on summer vacation is bowling.


One of the many certificates that the boys brought home for all their good grades and attendance awards, at the end of the school year, were bowling certificates. I have to say, I was not too thrilled with the idea of spending time at a bowling ally. However, after finally giving in and taking them...well...I have to say, we are hooked. Here are some pictures of the boys bowling.

(Kyle's picture is with the score board in the back ground because he broke his high score that game. New high score: 88..way to go Kyle)







Another vaccine reference

Here is another reference on the whole topic of vaccines...no it is not another web site, but rather a book. It is a dated reference, from 1996, although it still has some great information and facts regarding vaccines in the US today.

It is The Vaccine Guide: Making an Informed Choice by Randall Neustaedter OMD

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The other side of the coin

It seems that my Autism post has stirred in the minds and blogs of others recently. Here is some more of my opinion and the "other side of the coin".

So the issue: Are vaccines safe? For such a small three worded question there are many variables, many facts and many opinions.

Here are some facts on the "other side of the coin" and why I have the opinion that I do.

Ooohhh...where to start? There is so much out there on this topic not to mention our personal experiences....I have already touched a little on our personal lives. Let's go to some information that I just recently found that I thought was very interesting.

The first is a "Blog spot" of a mother who's son has autism. Her site is not just devoted to talking about her son but rather all the things that no one wants to talk about. She talks a lot about vaccines and anything vaccine related, vaccinations, the CDC, vaccine related injuries, pharmaceutical companies, vaccine patent holders, etc, etc....

Here is part of a post from her blog in which she documents a newspaper article and an editorial response to it from a mother of a child with autism. The article was part of a four-day series of informational stories about autism and profiles of people who are afflicted with the condition.

You can read the full post that contains the article and the response here. For now here is an excerpt from the editorial response that was written.

.....Those like Dr. Paul Offit, owner of a vaccine patent, like to attempt to scare the American public with threats that if autism or other serious immune system diseases are connected to vaccines that people will stop vaccinating their children and serious childhood diseases will return. Just talking about vaccines and Autism, he speculated could destroy the health of American children. UH, Hello. It seems Dr. Offit is a little out of touch with reality. He is assuming we have some gold standard of health in our children today that merits protection. Yet new studies just today from Offit's very hospital and designed and run by Harvard University say our children are sicker than in any generation. Perhaps Americans aren't buying it anymore. Parents see their children's classrooms with Medicine "cubbies" where nearly half of all student have regular medication including the devastating numbers of children on anti-psychots, risperdal, ritalin, and more. Children with ANA kits, inhalers, and insulin injection kits. When you look at the life-shortening devastating lifelong illnesses children are now suffering from it sure makes a week with the measles look like a picnic. If Dr. Offit was more of the same, protect the great health of American children, no thank you. If he is proud of the ranking of 37th in the world of infant mortality...no thank you.

I saw a mainstream media poll the other day in which 89% of respondents replied that they believed in a link between vaccines and autism. Maybe all of us parents aren't such fringe whackos after all. The pharmaceutical companies have proven their motivation with lies and falsifications of drug trials and Americans are rightfully sceptical of all their claims now.

Just like global warming, the debate is over. In fact, besides government denials, there never was a debate. Injecting mercury into childrens' bodies is criminal, no debate. Mercury is a known neurotoxin, no debate. Mercury causes neurological damage, especially in fetuses and children, no debate. Only in corporate America can there even be a debate over injecting babies with the 2nd most toxic substance on earth. There is no debate, only corporate greed and self-preserving denials. An Autism Mom said the other day, "Autism spilled on a school room floor is a toxic event, the schools are shut down, the hazmat team called in, young people decontaminated, health screenings are done, and a major long term clean-up occurs. But, inject mercury into an infant and it's called a well baby visit". ........

Kendra PettengillRoseburg, OregonMother of a recovered child, formerly diagnosed with Autism

Taken from: http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/


Another website with more information on this topic is http://generationrescue.org/

Generation Rescue is a parent-founded, parent-led organization of more than 450 mentor families and leading researchers and clinicians from around the globe. Our mission is to continue to discover and share the truth with families about the potential cause of their child's NDs so they can focus on effective treatments.

(NDs: neurological disorders)

Ok...here is some information (very startling information at that) from the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Statistics Reports. The most alarming is the chart on "Claims Filed and Compensated or Dismissed by Vaccine". It shows the compensated and dismissed vaccine injury/death claims that have been filed with the department from 1988 to present day. The highest death number is shown to be related to the MMR Vaccine (the one that most believe was/is the cause for their child's autism due to the high amounts of mercury in it). Over all vaccines together there has been a total of 982 related deaths. (and those are just the documented cases)
These Statistics are at: http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation/statistics_report.htm

Yes, I have been made aware of the recent measles outbreak where there was a 127 people affected though out 15 states. Here is my take on it. I look at the numbers and the odds...ok, the current ratio of typical functioning children to autistic children is 150 to 1 (some findings are now even showing a 98 to 1 ratio). The odds of my child becoming infected with the measles, today, is 127 to billions of people spanning 15 different states. UUhhmmm. And on top of that...my child's odds of surviving the measles, if he were to get it, is very high. On average the number of people that die from measles is very low compared to the number of people that have had the disease. And on top of that, measles is curable and does go away in a fairly short amount of time. Autism, on the other had, for most people will live with it for a lifetime!

So what about "in between the 2 sides of the coin"? Here is a web site for everyone. The National Vaccine Information Center. You can read more about them and get more information from them at http://www.nvic.org/ Thier Mission statement is:

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and deaths through public education and to defending the informed consent ethic. As an independent clearinghouse for information on diseases and vaccines, NVIC does not promote the use of vaccines and does not advise against the use of vaccines. We support the availability of all preventive health care options, including vaccination, and the right of consumers to make educated, voluntary health care choices.


To wrap this up for now I will sign off with a couple other web sites that I did not get to discuss.

They are: http://www.putchildrenfirst.org/ and http://www.nvic.org/Issues/HgCalculator.htm


As I have said before.... don't be a leming and remember there are 2 sides to every story...or coin!