Jenny McCarthy opens her idiot hole again

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I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry because of Jenny's ignorance... she can't consider that, if her child is even autistic - likely CDD if he is, epilepsy is common in such children! Again, I'll reference my own brother! She has convinced herself it's autism, that autism us a deadly, end-all disease that killed her "real" son - leaving, if anybody had been following events, her "shell" child in neglect. I'm just waiting for the news report when one of her fringe theories kills the poor kid.

I had trouble seeing the video (it must be too far for the packets to travel) until just now.

Eventually I managed to see it. I did catch... she said that everyone should get on the various quack bandwagons, including "getting rid of heavy metals", but then quickly and quietly slotted in that she "obviously" hadn't done the chelation thing.

And... now the video has disappeared.

Shell child topic

Epilepsy is a short circuiting of the brain's neuro network (electrical system) due to direct trauma, developmental differences, drug overdose/abuse and lack of oxygen. Sometimes epilepsy coexists with Autism. Sometimes the etiology is unclear.

The vasovagal response Mage posted can be severe in some cases, and I have seen it in non-Autistic people getting vaccinated, and getting blood work done.

The link in the first post is not working anymore.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health ... carthy.cnn

"ihatejennymccarthy.com" is gone, too.

Sorry, I guess CNN doesn't keep their videos up that long. Couldn't find the same clip on youtube either.

She doesn't mean the autism, she means, if I remember correctly, a temporary cease of life functions after which the child was revived.

However, to say "die" when a child is alive is still incorrect. Death is permanent. It is wrong to phrase the temporary cease of life functions as death, and I hope people here will stop repeating that terminology. There was no Jesus bringing the child back from the dead; he simply wasn't really and fully dead, so that medical invention was able to save him.

My issues with Jenny are two-fold:

First, she uses terminology that is feeding an unhealthy fear and hysteria among parents of very young children. I don't think she means to, but this is the effect of her word choices. Fear and hysteria are negative, and do not lead the way to productive and rational solutions.

Second, she speaks in absolutes about autism, and her knowledge of it, when reality is she can only speak to what she felt helped her child, and she pushes for expensive and difficult to adhere to interventions that for some families will be chasing rainbows. Which is fine, when you can afford it, but I worry that the energy so misdirected will keep parents from doing the things that parents in this forum KNOW help kids on the spectrum. That one on one time from someone who loves the child that remains THE best therapy out there.

I don't hate her like many of this forum do, I just think she is a poor advocate for families affected by autism. But she is pretty and she is famous and so the more rational but less attractive voices of people on the spectrum with a different point of view never make it to public attention.

Last edited by DW_a_mom on 02 Oct 2008, 4:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

My responses are in italics.

[i]

I'll repeat from my post above:

... to say "die" when a child is alive is still incorrect. Death is permanent. It is wrong to phrase the temporary cease of life functions as death, and I hope people here will stop repeating that terminology. There was no Jesus bringing the child back from the dead; he simply wasn't really and fully dead, so that medical invention was able to save him.

Death isn't always permanent. People have been revived after their hearts stop beating.

Then I don't consider them dead.

You are dead when the spirit, the core of you, has left your body forever.

Right. There's a certain point-of-no-return beyond which oxygen starvation causes the brain to die. And once the brain is dead ...

LeKiwi, I couldn't have said it better myself. I feel the same way.
DW, I agree with you about her wording of things.

Using absolutes is one of the things that annoys me the most about Ishmael. He says things like "Vaccines don't cause autism." end of story. He still has failed to show any credentials to make such a statement. Therefore it would appear that Jenny McCarthy's big sin is disagreeing with him, not anything else. He has no more credibility than she does. Less, actually, since she does have a child who, if nothing else, has had some sort of autism-like issues. He has himself and a brother and in my opinion, while they matter, a parent/guardian's love and need to protect and help the children under their care tends to lead to the kind of enthusiasm Jenny shows.

Orwell, thanks for actually giving some credentials, that gives you somewhat more credibility in my book. However, the fact that people give their children MMR vaccines doesn't compare with the fact that in America we give children vaccinations starting the day they are born and continuing from there. And yes, there is some peer reviewed evidence that our vaccine load can be contributing to autism.

http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/05/sick-monkeys-st.html


In the interest of clarity, my family has a strong history of autism too. My grandson, who has had all recommended vaccinations, by the way, was born autistic as far as we know. I don't blame vaccines for his autism, but I'm not ruling them out either. Just because there's a clear biological predisposition towards autism in my family it doesn't follow that there isn't an environmental trigger too. It could be vaccines, it could be plastic, heck, it could be pesticides. Until more is known absolute statements should be avoided by both sides. My son and daughter in law are considering having another child, and I can promise you that this one will have a different vaccine schedule than her brothers did. I'm not anti-vaccine, but I am pro- intelligent vaccines. Does the average newborn need a Hepitis B shot at birth? Not likely. Do they HAVE to have the measles, mumps and rubella shots all in one vaccine? Nope. Could we come up with a method, like the nasal flu vaccines, that more effectively stimulate our immune systems the same way the disease in question would? Undoubtedly. So, Ishmael, until you've established some credentials, perhaps you should realize that your opinion is of no greater or lesser value than anyone else's, including Jenny McCarthy.

Finally, I think that some of you who do not have children affected by autism do not realize that seeking to "cure" the child is done out of love and not rejection. My grandson is a precious boy and I love him dearly. I love him so much that I will do anything necessary to give him a chance to live an independant and productive life. I love him so much that I will be there for him whether my efforts are successful or not. I want everything good in life for him, and right now he has no chance to achieve those things. He is 5 years old and not even potty trained. However, he has been in programs since he was 3 1/2 and his progress has been encouraging. He talks, he makes eye contact, he shows imagination. I'm grateful for all of that, not because it makes him "normal" or "acceptable" but because it means he has a shot at a better life than he would otherwise have had. My adult cousin with autism lives in a group home and works in a sheltered environment. Is he happy? We have no way of knowing. His communication skills are very limited. So please, don't decide that autism is great for everyone. If you're happy with yourself I think that's wonderful, but you can only speak for yourself, not for every person with autism.

Rebecca, I really couldn't have put it better myself. Thank you.

I just hate the way everyone is so spiteful towards Jenny. She's just a mother trying to help her child and stop other parents going through a really horrible, awful nightmare that she's been through herself. Any parent would do the same. And yes, I'm sure as Rebecca says any parent (or grandparent) of an autistic child would do absolutely anything to help their kid, just as they would a non-autistic child. And again, I agree, autism affects every person differently, and I really don't see the problem with trying to (as in your example) potty train children, or help them behave better by improving their diet, or trying to get them to communicate better, or whatever else it is. Autism isn't all sunshine and roses for a lot of people and a lot of families. It can be a horrible, horrible condition. It can be a great condition. It's all down to the individual. We can all only speak for ourselves.

And I definitely agree about Ishmael - as far as I see it, from the evidence so far, there's probably at least two major causes of the pattern of behaviour we term 'autistic spectrum disorders'; one environmental/chemical (i.e. environmental toxins or those directly injected/given via drugs or vaccines), and genetic. It's a pattern of behaviour we're talking about primarily, with some common physical traits as well - who's to say there's not several causes? And all that aside, the facts are people are being harmed by vaccinations - why are you so opposed to her demanding safer, more effective jabs?


WillThePerson - again, read the post. She is not referring to autism killing her child when she says 'he died in front of me', she's talking about him going into cardiac arrest and being resuscitated!!



DW, once again I think you've hit the nail on the head. The language is wrong; he didn't die, as such. But to the lay person death often does just mean heart and breathing stopped (I realise death is more of a process, as such, from when those functions cease to when all signs of life are gone and resuscitation fails - and I agree, when the soul/essence/spirit/whatever leaves. Though various near death experiences could perhaps say otherwise, depending what you believe!). I don't think she's a great advocate, but as you say, she's pretty and she's famous and she's a woman on a mission, as I'm sure any other parent would be if they'd been through what she had.

Rebecca, LeKiwi, I'm with you on not hating Jenny. Is it productive, really, to level every insult in the book at this person whom non of us has actually met? Is it productive to use every expletive and obscenity you can think of to spill out your hatred of someone you don't know and have not met?

As I followed this thread, I couldn't believe the hatred and bile.

Last edited by slowmutant on 02 Oct 2008, 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've heard this one before and I think it's interesting that you would say this, Rebecca, because the attempts of prominant people like Jenny McCarthy or the leadership of Autism Speaks to speak for everyone on the spectrum often touch a nerve with adult Aspies unlike anything else. I feel like parents' groups and adults on the spectrum are arguing about different sides of the same coin here.

Parents certainly have a special love for their children, like you also mentioned, but unless they have an ASD themselves, they only have a second-hand understanding of the condition. They cannot speak for every person with autism or prescibe what is best for every person with autism, either. It's arrogant and, in some ways, potentially dangerous for them to think otherwise.

When someone on the spectrum claims that autism shouldn't be described as a living death or says, like Ishmael, that he doesn't want Jenny McCarthy "calling my abilities a disease that drains the life out of people" they are just reacting against the hurt and the disrespect inflicted by her words, not criticizing her for having good intentions and wanting to help her child. Please don't trivialize their everyday challenges by saying they've decided autism is "great for everyone" just because they feel they have a right not to feel degraded or marginalized. We do have that right.

I have to agree with you there. I understand that this is something a lot of us feel strongly about, but I wish people wouldn't react to what they perceive as hurtful or demeaning language by using it themselves.