Jenny McCarthy Offers Hope To Mothers: Part 2!

I wrote a post about Jenny McCarthy offering hope to some mothers a couple of months ago... Yes, I understand that was risky. You either love her or hate her, right?

Well, it turns out, some thought that opened me up to a debate on vaccinations. The post really wasn't supposed to be about vaccinations... it was about hope, hope that so many in the anti-Jenny camp rape mothers of. Hope that our children CAN function normally...

I understand, our kids will always see the world through different colored glasses, but they can function with proper support and unconditional love. This is the hope I want to instill in others... unlike, the hope that the diagnosing psychologist offered us by telling us our daughter would never have a meaningful relationship, work or live independently... if we didn't do her ABA program!

This post was about the hope Jenny offers. The strength she emits to some. It was to defend a fellow mother who has been criticized for 'speaking outside the box'. My most recent critic responded, "There is NO evidence to indicate that vaccinations cause autism. http://tinyurl.com/ylbnrpc Think critically. http://tinyurl.com/cxnbvv"

Well, I go could go on for a really long time about both of those statements, but this sums up my reaction:

I do think critically -- about a system that deems it perfectly safe to inject mercury into a pregnant woman, yet tell her not to eat tuna fish.

I think critically -- about a system that refuses 3rd party unbiased research.

I think critically -- about the people sitting behind a computer making these comments... I wonder who is paying them.

I think critically -- about the systems (including doctors who chelate) that are taking advantage of desperate mothers and families.

I think critically -- about how there is only one industry that the government says, "Hey, if your product injures or kills a child or baby... don't worry, we have your back. You are not responsible."

I think critically -- about the elephant in the middle of America's pestilence among it's children; and wonder why we continue to tip-toe around and defend it.

I think critically -- about much and often!!

Most importantly, I think critically -- about each calculated move I make in addressing my child's symptomatology (which happens to mimic mercury poisoning- but we won't go there [today]). I think critically about the cost of her traditional and non-traditional treatment, her education, her dietary needs, her spiritual needs, her emotional needs, cognitive needs, physical needs...

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Jenny McCarthy Offers Hope To Mothers!

Have you noticed that people either love Jenny McCarthy or hate her? Frankly, I didn’t know who Jenny McCarthy was until a friend suggested I Google her after she saw my daughter spinning and avoiding social contact more than 3 years ago. (At that point in our life we were still in denial; how dare she suggest my perfect daughter have autism!!)

It was a few days later when I finally asked my husband if he had heard of her. Of course he had… but it was from her MTV days and the description of that Jenny McCarthy certainly didn’t describe the woman my friend suggested I look up. I put it behind me and we continued on with our life.

My friend kept passively implying that Sahara had many characteristics of autism. I was seriously annoyed that this person has obviously reading into the many traits that were “just Sahara” to us. This feeling was only confirmed when the pediatrician said, “some kids just don’t talk until they are six years old... they just have delayed speech. She seems fine to me. Come back in six months.”

I do admit I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. (This feeling began when I was pregnant with her... I chalked it up as typical fear that an expectant mother experiences.) It wouldn’t be until she was 3 ½ that we finally yielded to this maternal feeling to have her tested at the Public City School’s Special Needs Preschool. At the IEP meeting, I hit a brick wall. How could I have not seen any of this? She had delays in everything… socially, physically, cognitively, fine motor, gross motor…! I think I cried for 2 days straight, then pulled MY big girl panties up and became proactive. I knew it could be easy to fall into a poor me attitude and lose more precious time or advocate for my child!

I have to admit that it would be another 9 months before her formal diagnosis. That was the second time I felt like I hit a break wall. However, this time instead of grieving I went to the library and got Jenny’s book, Louder than Words. I read it in less than a day…I kept reading passages out loud to my husband, who, honestly, seemed annoyed by my correlating our daughter to Jenny’s son. However, I shamefully admit that I felt relief that we didn’t experience the medical conditions Jenny described.

Louder than Words allowed hope to trickle in my essence for the first time since the beginning of our autism journey. If anything at all, Louder than Words gave me hope that I didn’t have to accept what the Psychologist reported to us, “most of these kids grow up not being able to live independently, don't have productive jobs, or participate in a intimate relationship including friendships.” Honestly, this statement is what fueled my fire. In the beginning I was out to prove her wrong, and then I found Jenny saying that this attitude was wrong…

...HOPE...

I am not saying I believe everything the DAN Doctors, Jenny McCarthy, or other biomedical supporters say, but I am saying that to stomp out any ounce of hope in a parent is wrong. I have had medical professionals tell me that if you followed biomedical treatments, like chelation, you are putting your child at risk for death. I have read statements from the medical community and from parents that debunk Jenny McCarthy based on her “play boy” history and inability to act. Really?!?! How can we base the validity of her claims based on her professional career?

I don’t care how bad of an actress she is in your opinion— there is no correlation between that and her ability to spread the word about vaccination safety and autism. The only button this pushes in me is that no one is talking about the vaccines containing thimerosal that are given to expectant mothers. I once had a nuerologist suggest our daughter's condition proved that there is no vaccination/autism connection because she isn't vaccinated.... what about the two shots of RhoGam I recieved during her pregnancy?!?!

Could that be why during her pregnancy I had this uneasy feeling something was wrong? Or why she would not make eye contact while nursing during infancy? Or why she slept for unusually long periods of times after birth? What about her 5 month old picture that she has Down's Syndrome features? That the geneticist and neurologist couldn't find a biological reason for the autism?

Another mom on Twitter once said that people like Jenny, who are focused on cures, are instilling false hope upon mothers who are more worried about staying status quo.... She implied that we need to except out plight and cope with it. I rebuke that! Hope is what a mother with a child with autism most certainly needs, hope is what Jenny McCarthy and the biomedical field offers. Hope is what allows us to sleep a few minutes each night.

Sadly, I may not be able to afford all of the modalities Jenny has provided for Evan, but I can give my child hope for a brighter tomorrow on the other side of the spectrum. It is not whether or not Jenny McCarthy is a good actress, a playboy or in a relationship with Jim Carrey— It is about a mother whose journey is touching the lives of a nation facing a pestilence among our youth. And if for a moment, you can be inspired that your child may lead a productive healthy life, then by God, let the woman inspire you and speak for the thousands of children who cannot.

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Julie Gerberding, the head of the CDC

Something to think about....

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Autism Omnibus Trial

Three families (of more than 5300 who have filed a court claim to prove that childhood vaccines caused their children's autism) had their day in court. Last week The US Court of Federal Claims ruled that the Vaccines did not cause the Autism. The cases were ruled by three federal judges who work for the government's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP).

• Denise Vowell, a former U.S. Army chief trial judge
• Patricia Campbell-Smith, a former environmental lawyer and clerk at the Federal Claims Court
• George Hastings, a former tax claims expert

Each judge separately ruled against the defense that autism is directly linked to vaccine injury. The outcome is a victory to the pro-vaccine community, but may bring undue ridicule and criticism to the families living with autism.

After reading several articles on the court ruling, several things stand out to me. The first is that the three judges all work for the government's VICP. Does not anyone else recognize this as a conflict of interest?

Secondly, the Secretary Of Health and Human Services was named the formal respondent in each case. Another conflict of interest?


Lastly, if there is no correlation between autism and vaccines, why IS there a Vaccine Injury Compensation Program? No article mentioned that by August 1997, just 11 years after the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act was passed, that the United States government compensated $800 million to parents of vaccine damaged children or to parents whose children died as a direct result of vaccine injections. These families witnessed their healthy children go in for a wellness checkup with a routine innoculation, and regress into the condition of autism. Many suggest this is a coincidence... Really? 1 out of 132 kids is a coincidence?

The VICP states that there are 5,152 cases in the Autism Omnibus Trial awaiting adjudication. Some families have withdrawn there filings possibly filing claims against the manufacturers and some have been dismissed because of the statue of limitations.

In the mean time, do your own research.

Scientific Studies Linking Vaccines to Autism

Autism Studies & Related Medical Conditions

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