Some of us were discussing this on a non-medical discussion board, and one person referred to Jenny McCarthy as "the self appointed Jonas Salk of autism."
I have to say, I don't disagree.
One has to wonder about a doctor who would walk into a room, see the otoscope caps lined up, and say "Your child is autistic". This is what McCarthy says happened. People I have known who have been through this have said that their children required multiple evaluations, or even an inpatient evaluation, before autism was even suggested as a diagnosis.
I do have a Web friend who is a nurse, and she tried the gluten-free diet. While her son is not cured, he's had a dramatic improvement and she said it's not that hard for the whole family to follow. I have another friend who had chronic sinus infections until he discovered he had a wheat allergy, cut that out of his diet, and no more sinus infections!
As for the doctors' attitudes about MMR and some people believing that it's a conspiracy to produce a generation of disabled children, has anyone else observed that the physicians, and especially physician couples, seem to have the highest number of really severely autistic children? And I know of several families who have this in their families, and we can't blame modern vaccines because these people are middle-aged or older.
I'm talking about people who IMHO should be institutionalized as soon as the diagnosis is certain. Before flaming me, read this and then tell me how any family could benefit from having someone like this living with them.
http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/featu...ndex.html?pn=2
I got that story from a link that said, "Here's a story about autism that will never be in the mainstream press because it isn't all warm and fuzzy." The message board had a post stating that the author did not express any love for his daughter or joy in her companionship, and this is true so please be forewarned.
As for McCarthy's divorce, there is considerable chatter about the real reason, which I heard about even before I learned of her son, and it's quite scandalous. PM me if your inquiring mind wants to know. I'm under the impression that her ex-husband has no contact with his son, and her prior books implied that he wasn't all that interested, ever.
I do think Holly Robinson-Peete is more sincere. Her son may have had a decline in function after getting the MMR, but from what I have heard, he was clearly not normal before.
I have NEVER spoken to ANYONE who said their child was left disabled by the MMR, although keep in mind I'm not a nurse. Has anyone here seen this, or experienced it themselves?
Would you like to comment?
