Some things I wanted to clear up about this post….
- I, personally, do not believe that Jenny McCarthy is exploiting her son’s autism to promote her book. I truly believe she feels she is raising awareness. (Although, it is not very hard for me to see why many people do think that.)
- I do not believe Ms. McCarthy’s choices of therapies are what make her delusional. I believe that the Glucose Free Casein Free diet (GFCF) has been shown to be helpful in a multitude of situations, not only autism. If The Boy had less eating issues, I would be apt to try it for him. She did mention using various other treatments that are more mainstream, which no doubt, were a huge factor in her son’s progress.
- I am hardly any expert in autism. I simply read the studies and information available to everyone. One of the strongest influences to my opinions on Autism, is reading and watching what Autistics have to say about autism. Who better to speak for Autistic people than Autistic people? I also spent a great deal of time studying to be an ASL interpreter. I find many parallels between the Deaf community and the Autistic community. If the people in question do not feel “broken” or desire to be changed…how dare we suggest otherwise?
Okay, that’s all. It is such an important topic, I just wanted to make sure I was all clear.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Kelley // Oct 7, 2007 at 1:24 am
You are an expert. You are an expert in your son. ASD is such a huge spectrum no one can say they are an expert in everyone.
I haven’t seen the Oprah show, nor care to read her book. From what I have heard though, concerns me. There is no ‘cure’ for Autism. If your child is cured then they didn’t have Autism in the first place. The dangerous thing is parents that have a child just diagnosed and still in shock will try anything to get ‘their child back’ because Autism in the media is scary sh!t. I know people that have subjected their children to horrendous ‘treatments’ on the road to a cure. That concerns me. Autism can be managed, I believe, with structure and understanding.
My biggest concern is people believing that if they do the ‘diet’ they will cure their son like Jenny did. That just makes me mad.
2 Tom // Oct 7, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I never considered Autism to have a “community” as such. However, since My Darling Wife’s entre into the deaf community and my subsequent immersion, I can see how there might be those similarities.
I don’t believe there is a cure for Autism, and I don’t think that Jenny McCarthy can even start to put herself forth as one, nor should she, even on her own son when she can only parrot her doctor’s words. If she wants to be seen as an expert, she needs to complete the studies on Autism on her own.not just hire a writer and show him her doctor’s reports. It’s not TV or movies, you can’t fake this. It’s your kids life.
3 Tangerine // Oct 7, 2007 at 6:04 pm
I haven’t read the book yet, but I did read your post and shared it on my SN board because it showed a much more moderate opinion (IMO, of course) of her book and publicity tour than I’ve seen yet.
Don’t let the haters get you down
4 Casdok // Oct 8, 2007 at 9:13 am
I also havent read the book.
But its good that people are talking about it! Regardless of what we think!
5 Heather // Oct 8, 2007 at 1:35 pm
“If the people in question do not feel “broken” or desire to be changed…how dare we suggest otherwise?”
This is the line I try very hard to walk with my son. When it is something that is making HIM unhappy, then we work on it. If it is something other people find uncomfortable…well, that’s the tricky dance where I try to protect Payton from simple minds and help him see the truth. Then let him make his own decisions.
As far as Jenny being an expert or just repeating what doctor’s tell her. Well, um, doctors are not experts either. No one is. Just because Jenny doesn’t have an M.D. or Ph.D. behind her name doesn’t mean she should keep her opinion to herself. Oh what a sorry world it would be if we all followed that line of thought. I may not agree with her but I admire her for speaking out.
6 Daisy // Nov 16, 2007 at 5:10 am
I heard that she was a big fan of N.E.T, I have to say, I’d say a lot of it wuold be to do with that- I don’t have any kind of “disability” (I don’t believe that autism is a disabilty, a friend of mine has a mild form and she is the absolute best person I know, and it doesn’t stop her from achieving anything) but I know how much I have benefitted from the treatment. It is amazing how much psyhcological stuff our body physically traps.
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