autism and vaccinations (part two)

[kippurbird]

LA times today: High-stakes trial weighs autism claims

"At the center of the case is Michelle Cedillo. At 12, she still sleeps in diapers. She mostly communicates by waving her hands or tapping on a table. She can count to 2 but no higher.

Her parents say Michelle was a happy, normal 15-month-old until she received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, commonly known as MMR, on Dec. 20, 1995.

A week later, she began to have a fever that soared to 105.8 degrees. "She was a whole different child" after the fever broke, her mother said.

Michelle pushed her father away when he tried to nuzzle her. She stopped talking and didn't answer to her name. She became obsessed with watching the same "Sesame Street" videos.

Michelle was soon diagnosed with autism."

Okay. This girl is twelve years old and still sleeps in diapers. Her parents discovered her diagnosis when she was FIFTEEN MONTHS OLD. There are hundreds of available treatments, therapies, medications, what have you today. There is absolutely no reason why this girl has to be this low functioning.

Instead of looking for the cause of this girl's autism, her parents should have been putting her into therapy and trying to help her. Instead they've been clobbing their hearts and saying "oh woe is me" while trying to find something to blame.

Maybe I'm sounding a bit bitchy, but I think I have reason to. I was not a hugger, I'm still not. I hate being touched. Absolutely hate it. I was like this since I was a baby (even though I wasn't diagnosed until my mid teens). But, I'm still a fully functioning productive member of society.

Now, admittedly, the diagnosis of Autism wasn't really given when I was little. But even though my mother didn't have a diagnosis, she still made sure that I got what I needed and learned what I needed to learn.

So, their child is autistic. Big deal. Instead of trying to find a reason for it, what they should have been doing is helping her. What's done is done. The child is autistic. The next step should have been: "How do I help my child learn to live a normal life" not "Who do I blame for this, because it certainly can't be my fault".

When my brother, mother and I were first diagnosed and my mother first started telling people about it. The people on her side of the family would say "It must have come from the father's side" and vice versa. Nobody wants to believe that there is autism in their family. It makes them start to look at their own behavior and children and makes them think that maybe they're not normal. And nobody doesn't want to be normal.

I think I'm rambling now, but still... I think my point stands.

Comments

[authoressarktos.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* Really, some people. I agree whole-heartedly; they should have stopped the pity party long ago and actually tried to give their child the best possible life they could have.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes. Because God forbid they actually managed to ... I don't know... do something for their child instead of trying to lay blame.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes. Because God forbid they actually managed to ... I don't know... do something for their child instead of trying to lay blame.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

When I was a first grader, my mum noticed I had impairments in learning and behavior. She did what any mother in her situtation should do, attacked the problem with everything she had. I got tutored, I practiced my math skills until I cried in frustration, I learned to memorize information and use color coded systems to appeal to my visual senses. When I finally did get tested, it was found out my math abilities should be at a retarded level, but I was a B student in math. When I hand flapped, my mum gently but firmly pushed my hands down. She spent hours teaching me skills. And now I'm a visiting student at Oxford. Now, I was lucky, my problems could be fixed. But seriously, the parents had ten years, something could have been done. Thanks for bringing this up!

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

My mom did the same thing for my brother and I. I swear the amount of screaming fits that the two of us put together must have thrown because of the therapy and things that she did for us must have driven her insane. But we got what we needed.

She says she doesn't understand parents who just sit around clobing their hearts instead of doing something.

But yay to your mom!

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Oh and total Icon <3

[lauramcvey.livejournal.com]

I can't read the article, but I've gathered that the parents are suing the people who gave her vaccines? To be fair, they might be suing for the money to put her in therapy, but that might have been useful BACK WHEN SHE WAS DIAGNOSED.
I have a cousin, Alec, who has autism. He can't carry on conversations very well, and he rocks back and forth a lot. But back when he was diagnosed, doctors told his mother that he'd never be able to function in society. And now he goes out on family outings with us, and behaves better than some ten-year-olds I've seen, mainly because Aunt Jean bothered to get treatment for him. These guys? Whiners.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I posted the article when I realized people couldn't read it. >.>

Yay for your Aunt! She was doing the right thing!

These guys? Total whiners.

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, this is a sad fact of American life. Doesn't matter if the girl had autism or some other condition, they'd still do this. Rather than take responsibility for anything, they point the finger elsewhere. The fact that the action they take is LEGAL action, that cinches it. Leeches.

Personally, I'm skeptical about their claim that it was the vaccine. She gets a fever a week later? I'm no doctor or biologist, but come ON. If the reaction is severe enough to induce autism, or ANY adverse effect, surely it should have happened sooner?

And yeah, there's no excuse for the kid being THAT behind at 12 years of age. That's not autistic, that's lobotomised.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Mm... That reminds me of these case I heard about this guy suing a car company. See, he left his kids -forgot about them apparently- in the car and the kids either died or nearly died from heat. And so he said that it was the car company's responsibility to put in an alarm or something so that he wouldn't forget to take his kids out.

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

Next he'll want clothing companies to install alarms in pants so he'll remember to unzip when he goes to the bathroom...

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

I think people confuse Autism with the really severe forms of mental retardation, and expect their kid to be a barely-cognizant lump. And I think some people figure, if their child can never be "normal," why bother with therapy? Why not just leave the kid in diapers for her whole life?

And sadly, some people just aren't willing to make more than the minimal effort for their children. Some people won't even quit smoking or feed their kids fruit instead of Twinkies, let alone spend all their precious time caring for an autistic child. And while there may be families out there who would care for the kid when the parents won't (I knew a family that adopted a mentally retarded child), the parents don't want the public humiliation of giving up on an "imperfect" kid. Never mind that, humiliating or not, it might be better for the kid in the long run...

[dryaunda.livejournal.com]

By the pit...

Not even my father was this bad.