Friday, March 22, 2013

Enough Awareness. More Action.

Here we go again.

Wednesday, another CDC survey was published stating that autism numbers are continuing to rise.  Last year it was 1 in 88.  This year?  1 in 50.  Click here if you want to read just one of the many articles. 

I'm not going to lie.  

Raising a child with special needs is hard.  

Like mind-blowing, body-aching, brain-sucking, emotion-wreaking, heart-grieving hard.  

And as a mother of two older daughters who are far too quickly approaching marriage and childbirth, I am seriously concerned about the high, high risks of them giving birth to children who are almost destined to be diagnosed with autism, not because of anything genetic, but simply because of the growing numbers with nothing being done about it. 

Most of you know how I feel about Lily and autism.  I don't believe she actually has it.  I believe she is ill and with proper medical treatment, in time, she can recover.  Click here to read the story of the Bird.

When I bring up the story of Lily's regression with most doctors, they don't have any answers for me.  I even questioned a neurologist about it once and her response?  "Oh, lots of kids regress."

Umm... excuse me?  Really?  And don't you think that's strange, Doctor??  I mean, if I was a neurologist, I might be trying to figure that one out.  Just an idea.

Maybe nowadays lots of kids regress but I can assure you that regression has not always been such a common, matter-of-fact aspect of child-rearing.  I certainly never heard anything about it 19 and 16 years ago when I had Ryley and Reagan.

And I can promise you that not one single one of them will ever admit that a vaccine could've triggered something in Lily Bird.  Because even though the number of vaccines we give our children continues to rise right alongside the rise in the numbers of autism diagnoses, by golly, vaccines do not cause autism.  And even when I remind them that I am not saying that vaccines might have caused Lily's autism but rather triggered some kind of negative process in her body, they are just adamant.  Because vaccines are the holy grail of modern medicine.  And the government offers them to us out of the goodness of their hearts because surely they want all of us to be happy and healthy. 

Sorry.  I snuck up on my soapbox for a minute there.

Y'all.  Awareness is not the answer.  It's time for some serious action.

First, let me ask you a question.  If you are the parent of a child with an autism diagnosis, did your child regress?  Was he or she developing normally and then for whatever reason, suddenly start regressing? Losing skills?  Did you watch your child disappear right in front of your eyes, helpless to do a single thing?

Then maybe, just maybe, your child does not have autism.  

And maybe, just maybe, the reason for some of the high number of diagnoses we're seeing today are because what looks like autism may not actually be autism.

Again, I'm not talking about all kids diagnosed with autism.  Just the segment of those who regressed.

Lily is a patient of Dr. Michael Goldberg, a pediatrician in California who has totally narrowed his practice down to treating those children like Lily, who were just fine for a while, and then began losing skills.

If your child fits that profile, will you take just six minutes and watch this video?  

I'm not asking you to become a patient of Dr. Goldberg.  I'm not getting paid to promote his practice.  I'm not selling his book and getting some kind of kickback.  I'm not asking you to change what you're doing, to stop all therapies, and quit all biomedical treatments.

You're already good at thinking outside the box.  I'm simply asking you to do a little more of that outside the box thinking.  To consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, your child could be more successfully helped if you quit thinking of his or her diagnosis as autism.  And if you started demanding real medical treatment for your child who is ill - not with a psychological disorder but a real physical illness.

If we parents will come together and start demanding that our kids receive the medical treatment they deserve, we will be heard.  And when we unite and share a common voice, the right people will ultimately hear us.  And change will happen.  And our children will get well.

Because, really, our children are what this is all about.

My child is what this is about.


And for her, I will do what it takes.

No more awareness.  It's time for action.


6 comments:

  1. Yes. He was fine. Normal baby and toddler. Then the last baby shot. Within three months he was gone. Yet, this is not a popular opinion today. I have no proof it was the vaccine. If it was true autism he would not have made the progress he's made? I don't know. He's still socially awkward, prob always will be.

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  2. Thank you for this!!! My daughter had a complete regression shortly after being vaccinated. Coincidence? No one will ever be able to convince me of that! Last year I wrote a post about her regression, showing it in mostly pictures. The change is haunting. You can read it here if you have a moment to yourself: http://iamjuju.com/2012/02/23/skylars-story-part-1-her-regression-in-pictures-a-few-words/

    We've been seeing a DAN practitioner for years & last year she said that autism wise, she thinks my daughter is doing really well. She really thinks that something else is going on, possibly a mito disorder. We have had multiple neurologists say that they believe she has a mito disorder. After a long road or trying to get approval, & waiting to be seen, we have an appt with a mito specialist next month in Los Angeles. It's a tough road for sure, but I'm hoping that with the proper treatment, she will get so much better! Her little body has been through so much.

    Even though your daughter is quite a bit younger than my daughter, you have been such a source of encouragement to me! Thank you!!

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  3. There is something odd about those numbers, isn't there? I wish all of this money being thrown into silly studies would be used towards a more serious plan of action. Cameron was always a little off, even from day 1 but here is the kicker. He could talk. Let me repeat that again, HE COULD TALK. Granted it wasn't a lot but he said things like mama, dada, hi, bye. While I was already a little concerned about other areas of his development, it became terrified when suddenly out of nowhere someone flicked off the light and not only did my child stop talking but part of his personality was gone. It was so obvious that something drastic happened in a very, very small amount of time. This occurred right after his MMR. The pediatrician became concerned and not only sent us to Early Intervention but asked me if it was okay if we delayed the rest of his vaccines. She was honest with me about her discomfort in giving them to him and said that the medical community does not know enough about Autism. I know some would disagree with her methods but I have nothing but gratitude for her cautious approach with Cam. I too believe like you do that something was triggered. I don't know if it's real true Autism or something that looks like it.

    There is a large, and I mean large, amount of parents who saw regression after vaccines. Why are we not being taken seriously?

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  4. Four words: broader definition of autism.

    Many of the kids now diagnosed with autism wouldn't have been in 1980. Or anytime before.

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  5. The Autism diagnosis has become the catch all! Something else is going on here! Most kids with other neurological disorders are also diagnosed with autism and vice versa. I know now that Sadie most likely has a mitochondria disorder and that the vaccines triggered the autism symptoms. I have a ton more digging to do but someone has to get to the bottom of this! Your so right -awareness is not enough!

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