Lately, I have had several people ask me my thoughts on the whole Jenny McCarthy/Autism thing. To be honest, I had no idea her son even was autistic until it began being plastered all over People magazine and the Oprah Winfrey show. Rather than continue on in my clueless shrugging, I decided to look a bit more into Ms. McCarthy and her role and self-appointed spokesperson for autism. Although I usually tend to ramble, in this case, I have no inclination to beat around the bush. What do I think of the whole Jenny McCarthy/Autism thing? She is delusional. Her book and her running her mouth is a detriment to autistic people everywhere. (So Mel, tell us what you really think.)
There are so many people who have not had the experience of knowing someone who is autistic, and in turn, may not know much about autism at all. I would hate to have the opinions of one sort-of celebrity be someone’s sole exposure to autism.
The fact that the introduction of her book, written by the “doctor” who treated her son, says…
“Autism, as I see it, steals the soul from a child; then, if allowed, relentlessly sucks life’s marrow out of the family members, one by one..”
Dr. Jerry Kartzinel, Introduction to Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism
Um, last I checked, The Boy was far from soulless. And he may, indeed, suck life’s marrow out of me, but it is not due to the fact that he is autistic….it’s because he is a kid. The Girl, who is neurotypical, does her fair of marrow sucking as well.
Well, that’s easy for you to say, Mel. The Boy has Asperger’s Syndrome. That is “high-functioning” autism (useless term). Imagine if your child was “low-functioning”, would you still feel the same way? Yes. I would. Just as these people do. Read here. Watch here. Soulless? Please.
I do agree with Jenny McCarthy on two points, early intervention and being an advocate for your child. Early intervention benefits kids with autism. Now as to what constitutes proper early intervention is up for much debate. Early intervention can include a wide variety of things. All parents have to make the decisions they feel are best for their child. Jenny McCarthy’s choices of treatment have been criticized by many people, but that isn’t what bothered me the most about hearing what she had to say. It was her statements implying that with proper treatments, one may “recover” from autism. To me, the idea of recovering from something automatically implies sickness or disease. I simply do not believe either one of those words has any place in describing autism. Ms. McCarthy, on some occasions, claims her treatment choices have cured her son. In her interview on The View, September 25, 2007, Barbara Walter says, “Your son is no longer autistic?” and Jenny McCarthy answers, “That is correct.”….and at other times, actually even in the same interview, she states that you can not be cured of autism…only recovered. Huh? Well, which is it?
All in all, I think that while Jenny McCarthy is a well-intentioned, obviously loving and devoted mother to a beautiful son, that she is simply feeding into all of the misconceptions people have about autism. She can, and should speak about her experience with her son, but her experience is being made the gold standard by the media. People who do not have any experience with autism are taking her words as gospel. (Lord knows whatever you hear on Oprah must be true, right?) While she is doing an awesome job being an advocate for her son, I do not want her to be viewed as a voice for mine. For many people in the Autism community, what she is advocating for is unwanted and insulting. The Boy was born Autistic. It was passed on to him genetically. He does not need a cure. He does not want a cure.* He is not sick. He is not broken. He does not need recovery. He needs strategies to help him thrive in a world that can be overstimulating to him. He needs support. He needs tools he can use to help him be the best he can be. He needs understanding, acceptance, and room to be himself.
* We have discussed it before. His learning disabilities cause him great frustration and he wishes he could be rid of them. His autism has never invoked those same feelings in him. In fact, he considers it a superpower. 
Soulless? Trapped inside himself? I don’t think so.
24 responses so far ↓
1 Heather // Oct 5, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Right there with you. It makes me nuts to hear terms like “broken” and “soulless” applied to my sweet guy.
2 kristen // Oct 5, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Rock on, Mel!! YOU can speak for me any day of the week.
3 Tom // Oct 5, 2007 at 1:16 pm
*Blink Blink*
What!?
Jenny McCarthy, the epitome of blondeness everywhere, is being the spokesperson for autism?! In order for her to be the spokesperson, she has to use the words of her doctor, who himself doesn’t seem to have a clue what he’s dealing with. Has he ever talked to a child with autism?
And don’t even get me started on whatever is on Oprah. The woman who thought Dr. Phil gave such good advice, he needed to be on TV. Puh-Leeeeeez!!!! By that standard, her and Dr. Phil’s advice to Ms. McCarthy would be to just “Get Over It!” That seems to be the advice he give to everyone.
I too have a child with autism and one that has
AS and, believe me, neither one is soulless!! I tend to question any doctor that catagorizes anyone as soulless. It takes energy, but in the end it may feed your soul.
4 andi // Oct 5, 2007 at 1:56 pm
So, if her son is “cured” did he even have it in the first place? Or was she perhaps trying to find a way to extend her ever dwindling fame for a few more years? Ah, celebrities and their causes. Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a bitter skeptic, but there it is.
And I love that picture of the boy. So full of life and not soulless.
5 Heather // Oct 5, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Yes, I’ve been resistant to reading her story, though I could never put my finger on why. Something just didn’t sit right with me….now, thanks to you, I know what it was!
It’s just more of the whole mentality that these traits are something to overcome…something to change. And that pisses me off. Because simple minded people have their paradigms of normalcy that everyone must fit in. Grrr.
Where are the people advocating for acceptance and helping to change the mindset that you are either just like everyone else or there is something wrong with you? Where are the people who believe there is more than one way to do something?
Oh, I know where they are! They’re our kids.
6 Suzanne // Oct 5, 2007 at 3:34 pm
The Boy looks neither trapped nor soul-less from where I sit. Oh and Moms for Modesty! man, do we ever need that in the USA!! uh, as long as Jenny McCarthy doesn’t try to be the spokes-woman.
7 maman // Oct 5, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Hmm, you are a much kinder person than I am… I think Jenny McCarthy is a self-absorbed twit who is using her child to aggrandize herself. But that is just me. Soulless is the worst description I have ever heard… What a jerk.
8 Maddy // Oct 5, 2007 at 3:58 pm
The ’souless’ is one of my pet peeves.
Best wishes
9 Dory // Oct 5, 2007 at 4:42 pm
This Jenny McCarthy produced crap makes me crazy-mad. She sure as hell isn’t speaking for MY autistic sons. Bitch.
10 Jen P // Oct 5, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Great post.
11 Autismville // Oct 5, 2007 at 5:46 pm
What an incredible photo! I love it.
My little guy, who is on the severe end of the spectrum, is the absolute soul of our family unit. He’s a joy!
I must confess that I am a card carrying curebie … I would like to determine what caused his autism and I do dream of a cure for him … But the cure is for the paralysis of his communication system … much like if his legs weren’t working and he was in a wheelchair… I would never, ever want to change his humanity or quirky personality …
Sorry for rambling … Just wanted to thank you for your powerful blog and that incredible photo.
Judith
http://parents.com/autismville
12 wskrz // Oct 5, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Fantastic post!
As long as there are people out there who claim that our kids are “soulless” or “broken,” our job as their parents and those that love them are to prove them wrong.
Jenny and her book is not the awareness that the Autism community needs right now.
Great site, Mel! I’ve bookmarked it so I’ll be back again to visit.
13 Carrissa // Oct 6, 2007 at 3:33 pm
I’ve been trying to avoid the whole Jenny McCarthy deal a lot lately. To me, it feels like she’s exploting her son to gain her an extra 15 minutes in the spotlight. Obviously she is doing nothing to help educate the public regarding the real facts surrounding Autism.
The fact that anyone would use use the word “soulless” to describe an autistic child disgusts me! And what kind of person quotes that as a preface to a book about their own child. Grrrr, it makes me want to hit someone…..
Great post. Thanks for always being a true voice, and an example of a loving wonderful parent. You totally kick JM’s ass…..
14 JaniceNW // Oct 6, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I saw Oprah the day Jenny was on. Two immediate thoughts I had 1)give this woman Xanax. She was starting to jump out of her chair like Crazy Tom Cruise. and 2)since when are seizures a symptom of autism? She talks about calling 911 and her child almost dying and I’m thinking WHA DA? I had a child with a disease that caused intractable seizures. I know the drill and my son had many different varieties of seizures, nothing so simple as grand mal or petit mal. My child died in my arms despite my ardent desire to “cure him”. I’m rambling like Jenny did, sorry. The whole show came off as fake to me and it did not fit my understanding of children on the spectrum.
15 Some Clarification…. // Oct 6, 2007 at 11:02 pm
[…] ← The Hollywood B List and Autism […]
16 Big White Hat // Oct 7, 2007 at 3:22 am
My boy is just as severe of low functioning as any of the folks he would call souless. And I would never dream of saying such a thing.
I made a joke about this. The hateful hordes are already filling my moderation queue.
17 candace // Oct 7, 2007 at 3:22 pm
so very well said! all the things that bothered me about it too. plus the fact that she went to Google University.
I get my info there all the time too and it not ever accurate! I like that she’s shedding light on the issue but “sickness, recovery, etc” shades of tom cruise “healing” ppd with herbs and the treadmill!
18 Matthew // Oct 8, 2007 at 4:55 am
I can see both the good and the bad from Jenny McCarthy’s public stance. I choose to think that she’s doing good - mainly because if more people speak up to doctors who continue to tell them that nothing’s wrong with their child when deep in their heart they know there is… then Jenny McCarthy will have made a difference.
My son has a sensory processing disorder (something I’ve never written about on my own blog) and we went through the early intervention early on only because my wife and I demanded it - and paid for it ourselves.
I also laugh that so many people, including the early intervention specialists themselves, seem to doubt if there’s anything that can be done. I’m convinced that our early detection and insistence on therapy really helped my son.
19 Another Autism Mom // Oct 8, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Your boy surely has a soul - not to mention movie-star good looks!
One thing that bugs me about the Jenny media blitz is the fact that this quack doctor will become even richer with all the new patients that will come knocking at his door. That so many autistic children will undergo his quack treatment protocol for no reason.
I do think it is possible that many autistic children may have intolerance to gluten and casein. But this should be assessed and addressed by the child’s real pediatrician, and not a DAN quack.
20 Kristi // Oct 11, 2007 at 6:44 am
Holy cow, your boy is handsome. He’s marrying my Juliet. No doubt about it.
21 kellypea // Oct 12, 2007 at 12:13 am
I hate it when things are stirring and I haven’t a clue. I don’t even know who Jenny McCarthy is. But her doctor sounds like an ass. Why is it that a “celebrity” has to be a spokesperson on the subject of autism? Is the thought that no one will listen otherwise? How bizarre.
Um, can you please run for President, Mel?
22 cakehead // Oct 14, 2007 at 5:31 am
OK, I seriously have zero clout on the subject; but I do think that calling anyone soulless is just plain ignorant. That is shocking for anyone to hear. I’m sure she means well, but if I were putting out a book that were sensitive to my personal life, I would certainly have taken offence to that opening statement and asked that it be left out.
Soulless? Are you kidding me?
23 Redneck Mommy // Oct 22, 2007 at 2:24 pm
My son was VERY low functioning and the last thing I’d have called him was souless.
What a bunch of asshats.
Just wanted to let you know how well said I thought this post was.
Well done. And cute kid!
24 Tim // Oct 31, 2007 at 4:38 am
I hope Ms. Mccarthy and Oprah are ready to be held responsible for the upcoming outbreaks of vaccine preventable childhood diseases.
By the way, Psalsm 139 tells me that my son’s (PDD-NOS) days were written down in a book before he was ever born and that he was “wonderfully made”. He is full of life and soul. I wouldn’t change him if I could.
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