How This Works

i am sorry for those parents who have to watch there children go through this. my four year old cousin, who is like my baby sister was dianosed with autism, when she was 3. I know it kills me to watch her go through this. i cant even imagine what a parent must go through. i again say that every one must have paitent, strength, love, and understanding even when you don't feel it. hope will live. dont give up on her.
posted by morgan on 7/21/08 10:02: AM

Edit: my last comment was meant for Laura who posted on 7/20/08 7:42: AM
posted by CamJam on 7/20/08 8:02: PM

To Laura, who posted on 07/02/2008 at 5:36 pm: Obviously you are not a parent of a child with Autism. You are not a parent of twin boys, like we are of which ONE gradually REGRESSED into autism around the age of 34 months old! This after seeing him achieve all the early developmental milestones right along with his twin brother. HOW DARE YOU spew your "I have Autism and do NOT want to be cured!" message on this beautiful video and the message it is giving! How dare YOU disgrace the parents and calling them selfish. HOW DARE YOU! I am a parent of an almost 5 year old twin boy with Autism - he was diagnosed Aug 13 2007 shortly after they turned 4 years old. WE SAW HIM REGRESS into Autism - he was NOT born like this but that's not the point. We (like the parents of this video) are not asking for a CURE but want HELP!!! And all our KAISER Insurance wants to do is shove DRUGS like Ritalin down our NON aggressive son's throat without even giving our son a chance with Therapy! And don't even get me going on the Public Education system that runs on a shoe string budget! Early Intervention was NOT all that it was cracked up to be - for us anyway, but beggars living on one income for a family of 4 can't be choosers right? We are NOT asking for a cure, but we would LIKE our son to get proper therapy from our insurance (without the Drugs, thank you very much!) and proper help and funding with our public schools for children with Autism. Look up on Youtube for "NO DRUGS for Cameron!" How frustrating it is to be stuck with Kaiser who is apparently above Oregon's mandated Health Parity Law HB 2918 that went into affect Jan 1 2008.. It's another year of help for our son down the tubes. I just hope the public school system does not insist our son to be put on DRUGS. He and others like him deserve better treatment than this.
posted by CamJam on 7/20/08 7:10: PM

How dare you see your beautiful child as marred or sullied by your standards. That you deem her unacceptable when compared to the imaginary perfect children of society. Your child is not 'slipping away' from you. Do not kid yourselves of this. Do not hold a pity party while someone plays the world's smallest violin for you. You are in for a tough life, raising a child like this, but you are in an age where you are no longer alone. THEY are no longer alone. Neither of you need to feel isolated by society anymore, because there is awareness and research into coping. Coping. Not curing. Let me tell you about autism from someone who is capable "of expressing her love to her parents" Autism is not some degenerative disease like cancer. It is a different way of seeing the world. Your senses are more acute, your emotions are more intense, and your view of the world is dynamic. Your child being autistic does not prevent them from loving you. Your child being autistic does not prevent them from thinking or feeling. Rather, they receive information in a much different way than you do, therefore it is only logical that they express their interpretation of this information in a different way than is expected. When I watch this video, I see selfish parents who do not want to face the challenges and rewards of raising a special, unique human being. I see a video that plays to ignorance and fear to garner support. This is the last kind of publicity a person like me needs. For you, the parents, to tell me that the world won't accept me right off the bat, and to tell the world that I am damaged goods. I am an autistic individual and I do NOT want to be cured.
posted by Laura on 7/20/08 7:42: AM

Thanks for doing this
posted by shahnaz on 7/16/08 6:21: AM

My 5 year old son was diagnosed at 2. I cannot say enough about early intervention even when the universe has come crashing in on your reality as a family, please take the help that is out there. Thank you for keeping the awareness and information flowing!
posted by Jill on 7/15/08 7:51: AM

Please view this!! its wonderful
posted by kim on 7/15/08 1:16: AM

Once again this posting is for Nicole and all others who want to read the TRUTH, not some slanted, or conflict of interest version of it. Please go to www.mercury-freedrugs.org. and read some of the articles on that. There is also an article just released on 7/13/08 from the US Courts that isn't even on the website yet, but is entitled "Government's Defense of Mercury in Vaccines Shanken By Withdrawl of Expert Reports". Keep checking on the US Courts website at www.uscfc.uscourts.gov. Hope this opens your eyes, before it affects you or your family directly.
posted by Mark on 7/14/08 10:41: AM

Thanks
posted by peterjohn on 7/14/08 9:12: AM

This post is for Nicole who is getting her PhD. While I may not have a advanced degree in this field, I certainly know when there is deliberate deception going on. The CDC, FDA, AMA, ADA, all of the major pharma companies are all helping to try to sweep this issue under the carpet. Thimerasol is 49.6% ethyl mercury by weight. That is a undeniable fact! MERCURY IN ANY FORM IS THE SECOND MOST TOXIC SUBSTANCE KNOW TO HUMAN BEINGS ON THE FACE OF THIS PLANET!!! It took 5 years to convince me that this is all true, and more evidence is revealed every day. I have never said vaccines cause autism, but I will say without doubt that my son was POISONED BY THE THIMERASOL IN THEM!!! I hope that this never directly affects anyone in your family. As with most people I have met including physicians it took that to convince them. My son developed normally for the first 21 months of his life. After getting 3 vaccines we lost him within 48 hours. THERE IS NO ONE OUT THERE THAT CAN GIVE MY SON BACK HIS LOST CHILDHOOD!!!
posted by Mark on 7/13/08 11:09: AM

I too, have someone in our family with Autism. My grandson, who is 9. With each year, it affect him more. He's in therpy, but most people just push him aside, and make fun of him. He's a very smart boy, and I love him so much.
posted by Diane on 7/10/08 5:48: PM

We need to get our insurance companies to recognize this terrible thing that all our little ones are afflicted with no fault of theirs or their parents. WE NEED HELP............ A Loveing GRANDMA with a BROKEN HEART!
posted by martha on 7/07/08 1:08: PM

My son is now 21 years old. He was diagnosed at age 2 when Autism affected 1 in 100,000. He still lives at home but is self-sufficient, makes himself food to eat, has a part-time job. I can tell you that the school system in Fort Bend County, Texas played a major role in his development. To all of those who never gave up on him, to his siblings who loved him in spite of all they had to endure and to those who think that there is no help, keep on going. My son is proof that good things do come. When he was diagnosed with Autism, he was also diagnosed as profoundly retarded and he was mute until the age of 5. Continue on your path, there is hope and there is a wonderful doctor in Tyler, Texas that provided us with more support than we could have hoped for!
posted by Valerie on 7/07/08 9:31: AM

Children with or without special needs have a life time to grow up. All of us do the best we can or are capable of doing, to help them through as much independance as they will ever have. Who is the more successful adult? The prom queen, valedictorian, sport super star, who becomes a lawyer and becomes addicted to barbituates raising the 2.0 family because she burns out from being "perfect", or the young disabled autistic girl, who has friends, goes to school and camp, does her best, works as a pre-school classroom aide and lives with help, with her autistic brother in a happy fullfilled home. You judge. A legacy of problems to pass on to the children raised by a high-class addict mom, or preschoolers who are impacted by the care and extraordinary patience and attentiveness of a young woman who doesn't judge and accepts unconditionally. The world is full of people who are overachievers and burn out, and special needs children often start slow and shine brightly. Good vaccine safety has been available if not published or promoted for over twenty years. -Get vaccinated -Vaccinate a well child (no coughs/colds/fever) -No vaccines with thimeresol (no flu vaccine) -Seperate out everything, (especially at 18M) Measels, Mumps and Rubella seperate (does not apply to PPD) -For all innoculations after initial have a titer test run to identify which antibodies are still present and in sufficient quantities and do not require additional innoculation. Keep fighting the good fight because we all belong in this crazy mixed up world where success and happiness are often misjudged and misplaced.
posted by Cynthia Laube on 7/05/08 9:27: AM

I believe the major cause is the vaccines, READ ROBERT F. KENNEDY'S JR. (DEADLY AMMUNITY) IT EXPLAINS ALOT! AND THE REASON AUTISM TREATMENTS AREN'T COVERED BY INSURANCE IS BECAUSE THE WAY WE RECOVER THEM, WE DO CHELATION, DIETS, SUPPLEMENTS, AND WITH CHELATION CHILDREN HEAL SO WELL BECAUSE WE TAKE THE DAM TOXINS OUT OF THE BODY THAT THE VACCINES PUT IN THERE, IT'S NO SECRET OUR GOVERNMENTS CORRUPTED, IN 1983 OUR CHILDREN WERE GIVEN 10 SHOTS! AUTISM WAS 1 IN 10,000, NOW THEY RECIEVE 36 SHOTS! AUTISM IS 1 OUT OF 150 SOME BELIEVE 1 OUT OF 64! WAKE-UP AND TRUST YOURSELF! NOT THE GOVERNMENT OR YOUR DOCTOR! I'M NOT RICH BUT ME AND MY HUBBY FIND WAYS TO PAY FOR MY SON'S MEDICAL EXPENSIVES AND AUTISM SCHOOL, YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO
posted by Jessica Garza on 7/03/08 10:00: PM

I would like to say this video is very real in what a parent goes thru. for NICOLE who posted her beliefs, let me tell you this is what it is , parents are told wait and see what happens if these doctors where all educated about autism there diagnosis would be alot sooner and a whole less stress for parents, you see i have a son who was diagnosed at 3 and believe it or not after my son went to a childrens hospital and was diagnosed my sons primary doctor asks me questions about autism she knew nothing about my sons condition so yes best thing i did was get a new doctor. i know the vaccines have a part in autism do you not read a woman just won a big case saying just that mercury in the vaccines have contributed to AUTISM and you should do some more research because no one is saying do get immunizations they need to be altered for different weights of children and spaced out yeah my son had 9 all at once because the month before he was sick (ear infections, asthma so on) you have no idea whats it like for a parent to raise a child who has autism. And you dont know anything, autism is caused by some form of the vaccination because people would not win these big cases in federal court saying mercury caused there daughters autism. You need to look a little harder..Oh yeah it was on tv with katy couric. you should be doing more to help like look up autism speaks and donate or do a walk or order things to support the awareness of AUTISM
posted by Diane on 7/03/08 2:43: PM

As a new father to a baby girl I was a little aware of autism. To be honest I didn't give the disease much thought. This video made me cry and pay attention. I am not blind to autism anymore.
posted by Brian on 7/02/08 10:51: PM

I think that insurance companies should provide care for people with autism. I have had epilepsy for 26 years, since the age of 6 and I know some people who are having, just like you insurance issues b/c they will not accept epilepsy. With the new Americans with Disabilities Act of 2008 that should not be a problem for your insurance to cover the cost of doctor visits, medications and so forth. I know first had that medication and doctor visits, ER visits are not cheap. I wish there was another solution to all of this than waiting especially two years. I will keep you in my prayers and hope that you along with thousands of other people will someday be cured from their disorder.
posted by Melissa Helland on 7/02/08 5:40: PM

I am a respite babysitter for children with autism, and have worked closely with many children and families with autism. I am also getting my PhD in pathology at UCLA. I wanted to point out that, so far, there is no scientific or clinical evidence that vaccinations, thimerosal, or mercury have any link to the development of autism. The cause of autism is unknown. The initial link between the MMR vaccine and autism was drawn by a study which had FAR too few subjects to draw significant conclusions, and was compounded by the fact that children receive this vaccine around the same time that the symptoms of autism become apparent. The conclusions of the study were in fact retracted. I want to stress that THE CAUSE OF AUTISM IS UNKNOWN. It is unfair to parents that there is a need in the scientific community to inflate findings and to create an aura of importance in order to secure more funding. Laypersons in the community who are await breakthroughs by the medical community do not have the experience necessary to judge whether a scientific claim represents a real cure, or whether the claim is essentially just hype. The supposed link between autism and vaccines with thimerosal is an example of this kind of hype, and many parents afraid of autism did not vaccinate their children, to the ultimate detriment of the children. Gerald Fischbach, Scientific Director of the Simons Foundation, an organization that seeks to fund research in basic sciences and mathematics, including autism research, noted “There is no epidemiological evidence of a link between vaccination and the development of autism, and it is exceedingly unwise not to have your child vaccinated, as the consequences of this can be devastating, not just for the unvaccinated child but also others in the community.”
posted by Nicole on 7/02/08 5:36: PM

There is hope! I have a 3 year old son, Dinis, who was diagnosed at the age of 2. For the past 9 months he has been under therapy. He is my prince and the light of my eyes and what I wanted most was for him to greet me as mummy and hug me tenderly. He does that now and a lot more too. He has developed his mental age vs chronological age going from 50% a year ago, to 80% now. He already says 4 word sentences, can use tools, and plays laughing out loud with other children. So, don't give up on your own princess and don't wait 2 years. I was told that part of the success with Dinis was probably due to the fact that we started therapy early on when his brain was still very "elastic" and blank... the more you wait, the harder it will be to reverse the neurological space which will be occupied with tantrums and other things. Fight the system, call it "speach therapy", or "physiotherapy" or whatever other therapy is supported by your insurance company, because it will be used for sure on your daughter any way, but DO NOT wait 2 years to get her into therapy. There is hope !
posted by Isabel on 7/02/08 12:38: PM