A Very Fond Farewell

[Guest guest]

Happy Holidays Jo, we will miss you! I hope to see you on the list from time

to time. Thank you for all that you have done for our kids, you have done so

much for them.

Vicki 's Mommy HFA/Mercury Poisoning Turning 9 December 29th

[Guest guest]

A Very Fond Farewell

It’s Feb 2000 and I’ve just found out my son has autism. The hammer falls, it’s

deafening. So what do I do from here? There’s no where to turn. No one wants to

talk about it. Hopelessness is everywhere I look. Why did this happen to us?

What did I do wrong?

Nope, I’m not going to accept this. To do that would be to accept that my son

will never get better. I pour over the Internet night and day. What’s this I

hear, a preservative in vaccines may have caused my son’s autism? Could this be

possible? No one would willingly put a neurotoxin in vaccines would they?

So much dirty legislation trying to get passed and like many others I find

myself growing angrier and angrier. I join many of the boards including

, GFCF and many others. So many people on these boards, why are

there so many damaged kids? Great people everywhere, support is a beautiful

thing, I’m not in this alone. I feel like I know these people and their kids and

I’m growing to care about so many of them.

Senator Frist is at it again. I find out that a rider is attached to the

Homeland Security Bill that will protect drug companies and take away our

children’s rights. It has passed. Please fax I say in so many emails that I’m

sure I drive everyone crazy. We can’t let this happen! Too late, the damage is

done. Can’t accept that, it’s time for the “Know the Cause, Find the Cure” rally

and although small has done the trick and with everyone’s efforts there and

around the country we’ve changed history. The rider has been taken out…

It seems so long ago, a blur and I look and see that my son will be eight soon.

I’ve enjoyed every second of advocacy that I’ve been blessed to be a part of.

I’ve crossed paths with people that I once only knew from a research paper who I

now consider close friends. I’ve had the pleasure to work with some of the

greatest minds in the country. Most importantly, I was able to fulfill my vision

with some of the most hard working and caring people out there. Only God could

bring these people together.

I founded the National Autism Association and through an obsession that only

other parents/caregivers of children with autism can understand, it’s become a

force to be reckoned with but it’s also taken its toll. I will be stepping down

as Executive Director on December 31, 2005. I’ve enjoyed so many years working

beside all of you. I was blessed with a husband who never wavered in his support

of me, and worked right beside me because he knew how much it meant to me and

all of our loved ones, but as a family of six we’ve realized that it’s time to

take a break from such a demanding job and concentrate on our family.

To be a part of so many of your lives has been a blessing and your kind words

and encouragement through the years was what kept me going and I can’t thank you

enough..

There’s still so much to do and I may be in the background for a while but I

will never give up fighting. My main goal has always been to fund biomedical

research so if you feel that you’ve benefited in any way from my efforts, my

only last request is that you help NAA in our year-end efforts. We’re about

$10,000 short of our budgeted goal and to know that we reached that before I

left would mean everything to me. You can go to

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/proddetail.php?prod=ResearchDonation to

make a tax-deductible donation.

Wishing everyone the happiest of holidays.

Jo Pike

National Autism Association

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your excellent work, JO!

Barb

[ ] A Very Fond Farewell

A Very Fond Farewell

It's Feb 2000 and I've just found out my son has autism. The hammer falls,

it's deafening. So what do I do from here? There's no where to turn. No one

wants to talk about it. Hopelessness is everywhere I look. Why did this

happen to us? What did I do wrong?

Nope, I'm not going to accept this. To do that would be to accept that my

son will never get better. I pour over the Internet night and day. What's

this I hear, a preservative in vaccines may have caused my son's autism?

Could this be possible? No one would willingly put a neurotoxin in vaccines

would they?

So much dirty legislation trying to get passed and like many others I find

myself growing angrier and angrier. I join many of the boards including

, GFCF and many others. So many people on these boards, why

are there so many damaged kids? Great people everywhere, support is a

beautiful thing, I'm not in this alone. I feel like I know these people and

their kids and I'm growing to care about so many of them.

Senator Frist is at it again. I find out that a rider is attached to the

Homeland Security Bill that will protect drug companies and take away our

children's rights. It has passed. Please fax I say in so many emails that

I'm sure I drive everyone crazy. We can't let this happen! Too late, the

damage is done. Can't accept that, it's time for the " Know the Cause, Find

the Cure " rally and although small has done the trick and with everyone's

efforts there and around the country we've changed history. The rider has

been taken out.

It seems so long ago, a blur and I look and see that my son will be eight

soon. I've enjoyed every second of advocacy that I've been blessed to be a

part of. I've crossed paths with people that I once only knew from a

research paper who I now consider close friends. I've had the pleasure to

work with some of the greatest minds in the country. Most importantly, I was

able to fulfill my vision with some of the most hard working and caring

people out there. Only God could bring these people together.

I founded the National Autism Association and through an obsession that only

other parents/caregivers of children with autism can understand, it's become

a force to be reckoned with but it's also taken its toll. I will be stepping

down as Executive Director on December 31, 2005. I've enjoyed so many years

working beside all of you. I was blessed with a husband who never wavered in

his support of me, and worked right beside me because he knew how much it

meant to me and all of our loved ones, but as a family of six we've realized

that it's time to take a break from such a demanding job and concentrate on

our family.

To be a part of so many of your lives has been a blessing and your kind

words and encouragement through the years was what kept me going and I can't

thank you enough..

There's still so much to do and I may be in the background for a while but I

will never give up fighting. My main goal has always been to fund biomedical

research so if you feel that you've benefited in any way from my efforts, my

only last request is that you help NAA in our year-end efforts. We're about

$10,000 short of our budgeted goal and to know that we reached that before I

left would mean everything to me. You can go to

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/proddetail.php?prod=ResearchDonation

to make a tax-deductible donation.

Wishing everyone the happiest of holidays.

Jo Pike

National Autism Association