autism every day

[Guest guest]

Hi-

I've been thinking how and if I should reply to this email, as I am not interested in arguing nor do I really have much time to do so anyway. But I kept thinking about it, which was taking up even more time than responding- so... ...........

I am the mother of three children who have autism. 1 has been vaccinated, 2 have been partly vaccinated. I am very interested and involved in biomedical interventions. They have been extremely helpful (we have been doing them for over 2 years) but my son, as you saw in the video, is far from recovered. My other 2 children, who are recovering, have been through no biomedical interventions other than changing their diets.

My point is this- when it comes to autism, there is no one answer for anything. Recovery is not only about biomedical intervention- maybe for some children, but not for everyone. Autism does have a genetic component (how do you explain 3 brothers with autism?). I do believe that thimersol is a huge part of the problem (but not the only part)- my son with the most vaccinations is the most affected. But, no, I don't think that all children can recover biomedically. And yes, some children do recover without any biomedical interventions at all.

My life is by no means "pitiful." I wrote an article in TAP (the autism perspective) magazine last year entitled " I Have Three"- talking about just how wonderful my life is with my children. Funny, I actually got flack about that article from some people (who have 1 child with autism, and were struggling to deal with that) saying that I was too positive (or delusional or crazy). I have written several articles since then about all of the wonderful things parenting children with autism has brought into my life. That being said, the reality is that life for my boys is difficult. Most people that I know don't realize that. Happiness is a choice, yes, and we are happy. But being happy doesn't mean that it is easy for my son to sit through glutathione shots, eat special food, or live in a world where he can't effectively communicate. I'm happy, but I'm not happy about that. He is suffering- and I can never sit by and just be completely happy when all that is going on. I'll never settle and accept it either. To quote another mom from the film- "I'm never going to say I quit. It's just not in my vocabulary."

To insinuate that I view my life as pitiful is just a hurtful statement that has no point. What I view as pitiful is the time and energy spent (or wasted) in our community criticizing each other. My own life is an example of both genetic and biomedical causes to autism. My own life is an example of how happiness is a choice- because we have certainly had 4 years from hell, with many medical problems, with three children diagnosed with autism in less than one year, but we are happier than most people I know. We are broke, we hate watching our children suffer, and we go through things that most people- even some on this list- could never imagine. That is the reality- and that is what the film wanted the public to understand.

Let's be honest- life would be easier if our kids didn't have autism, don't you think?

I'm sorry that you did not like what you saw in the documentary, and that you felt that the "drivel" was a waste of your time. It was not a waste of mine.

Although it was hard to let the world into our home to see what some of our reality is like, I am proud and honored that we were part of the film.

-Michele

Message 8 From: " Hooker" sploobnoober@... Date: Tue May 16, 2006 8:42am(PDT) Subject: Re: Documentary on Autism Stuns Internet ViewersOK - get ready to flame me!That video is the most pathetic waste of bandwidth I've ever seen. Rather than depicting how "pitiful" out situations are (if one indeed chooses to see them as pitiful), it would be much more helpful for those moms featured to talk about thimerosal, MMR, DTaP and Proquad, AND the interventions that are indeed working for many children across the USA and abroad, to undo the neurological consequences of this toxin and these vaccines...The drivel shown in the video may move folks to pity "our plight" but it also takes the emphasis off of answers, which is in keeping of the commitment of Autism Speaks to bury the vaccine-autism issue. This is the type of message that their board members Andy Shih (former NAAR) and Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsop (CDC) have done for years.Outside of the vaccine issue, I have to state, "Happiness is a choice," folks. If one chooses to see their situation as miserable, hopeless and pathetic, it will be... Conversely, if we choose to embrace the mission that we have been given, there is a lot more joy in the journey...If the s want us all to be objects of pity, I pity them