autism and vaccinations (part two)
Jun. 25th, 2007 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kippurbirdLA 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.
"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.
