"Last year we at ABC news ran a series on autism, and new methods being used to diagnose it which are--to say the least--controversial. The medical community and established autism community tried hard to get us to kill the report..."
Must read.
News and commentary on the autism epidemic and my beautiful boy who is living with autism.
"Last year we at ABC news ran a series on autism, and new methods being used to diagnose it which are--to say the least--controversial. The medical community and established autism community tried hard to get us to kill the report..."
With autism awareness month approaching in April and in light of the recent court ruling regarding Hannah Polling's vaccine related autism, I thought it might be interesting for Oprah to host a debate on the topic of vaccine safety.
Some suggested guests might include; David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, Dr. Robert Sears, Author of The Vaccine Book , Dr. Boyd Haley, head of the Chemistry Dept at Kentucky State University, Dr. Jerry Kertzinel, the DAN! Dr. treating Jenny McCarthy's son and Barbbra Lowe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Ctr. on the Critic side.
Possible panelists who support the current vaccine program might include, Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC, a representative of the American
Academy of Pediatrics and/or a representative of Every Child By Two.
With autism awareness month approaching in April and in light of the recent court ruling regarding Hannah Polling's vaccine related autism, I thought it might be interesting for Oprah to host a debate on the topic of vaccine safety.
Some suggested guests might include; David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, Dr. Robert Sears, Author of The Vaccine Book , Dr. Boyd Haley, head of the Chemistry Dept at Kentucky State University, Dr. Jerry Kertzinel, the DAN! Dr. treating Jenny McCarthy's son and Barbbra Lowe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Ctr. on the Critic side.
Possible panelists who support the current vaccine program might include, Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC, a representative of the American
Academy of Pediatrics and/or a representative of Every Child By Two.
I bet I can guess which side of that panel would decline the invitation. If they do all agree...it would certainly make for great television.
Jenny McCarthy on Oprah
Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
When she was not yet a superstar or even broadcasting nationally, in early 1985 a friend gave Oprah a copy of "DPT: A Shot in the Dark," which was the first report of an association between autism and vaccination. "We're waiting until it comes out in paperback," a producer told her friend. The paperback version was published in 1986 but, by then, Oprah had starred in "The Color Purple," her show had been nationally syndicated and the vaccine safety debate had become a heated controversy. Over the last two decades, many parents of vaccine injured children have written letters to Oprah in hopes that she would do a show about vaccine risks.
Yesterday, after 22 years, Oprah finally talked about vaccine injured children when she interviewed Hollywood Moms, Jenny McCarthy and Holly Peete. Jenny has written a book on her experience of watching her two and a half year old son regress into autism after an MMR shot.
On the show, Jenny talked about the increases in autism among children and asked what parents of vaccine injured children have been asking for a quarter century: "What number will it take for people just to start listening to what the mothers of children who have seen autism have been saying for years, which is, 'We vaccinated our baby and something happened."
Jenny says even before Evan received his vaccines, she tried to talk to her pediatrician about it. "Right before his MMR shot, I said to the doctor, "I have a very bad feeling about this shot. This is the autism shot, isn't it?' And he said, 'No, that is ridiculous. It is a mother's desperate attempt to blame something,' and he swore at me, and then the nurse gave [Evan] the shot," she says. "And I remember going, 'Oh, God, I hope he's right.' And soon thereafter-boom-the soul's gone from his eyes."
The CDC's prepared response to a query from the Oprah Show staff about whether there is a link between autism and vaccines was "CDC places a high priority on vaccine safety and the integrity and credibility of its vaccine safety research. This commitment not only stems from our scientific and medical dedication, it is also personal-for most of us who work at CDC are also parents and grandparents. And as such, we too, have high levels of personal interest and concern in the health and safety of children, families and communities. We simply don't know what causes most cases of autism, but we're doing everything we can to find out. The vast majority of science to date does not support an association between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. But we are currently conducting additional studies to further determine what role, if any, thimerosal in vaccines may play in the development of autism. It is important to remember, vaccines protect and save lives. Vaccines protect infants, children and adults from the unnecessary harm and premature death caused by vaccine-preventable diseases."
It is curious that the CDC would confine its response regarding the autism-vaccine connection to thimerosal, when MMR vaccine has been strongly associated with regressive autism and live virus MMR vaccine never contained thimerosal. The National Vaccine Information Center, which has operated a Vaccine Reaction Registry since 1982, continues to receive reports from parents describing how their children regressed after receiving live virus or non- mercury containing vaccines, often after being given 8 to 12 vaccines on one day. The most heart-breaking stories are when children are vaccinated over and over again despite deteriorating health because their pediatricians are in denial about vaccine risks.
Jenny McCarthy gave a star turn on Oprah when she clearly, simply and passionately described what happened to her son after vaccination and how she was empowered by information she found on the internet to find ways to cure his vaccine-associated regressive autism. She listened to her mother's instinct and pursued a course of treatment that involved nutrition and other alternative therapies. It is a story of a mother's love and determination to heal her son after he was given the diagnosis of autism, a neuroimmune disorder that so many pediatricians are taught is untreatable.
In the early 1990's, a mother in California, Cindy Goldenberg, was the first Mom to cure her son of regressive autism by listening to her mother's instincts and doing her own research into vaccine-induced neuroimmune dysfunction. Her son experienced regressive autism after receiving MMR vaccine. Cindy sought out IVIG therapy as well as nutritional and probiotic therapies that she said "healed his gut." Her son was soon in a regular classroom and this year he graduated from high school.
As of last night, there were nearly 2,000 messages, primarily from Moms, for Jenny and Holly posted on Oprah's website at http://www.oprah.com/community/thread/1812
Bravo, Oprah. You allowed Jenny to tell it like it is. You have helped millions of Moms across America understand what happened to their children, who changed physically, mentally and emotionally after getting vaccinated, and now suffer with autism and other kinds of vaccine-induced brain and immune system dysfunction such as learning disabilities, ADHD, seizure disorders, asthma, and diabetes.
If your child stopped speaking, wouldn't look you in the eye and completely ignored the world around them, what would you do? In her new book, Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism, actress Jenny McCarthy shares her emotional story of diagnosis, hope, faith and recovery-a journey many thousands of parents now face.
National Vaccine Information Center
email:news@nvic.org
voice: 703-938-dpt3
web: http://www.nvic.org
Katie was told by the producers before the show was filmed that if
she mentioned vaccines she would be off the show.
While taping, the pediatrician made the misstatement about vaccines
and autism (that whole "no connection" reassuring bullshit), and,
during break, Katie appealed directly to Oprah to let her respond,
as you saw on the show.
However, Oprah's response to Katie about "opening the can of worms"
and the audience's applause after what she said was actually based
on a much longer exchange, all of which was edited out of the final
cut of the show.
After the part you heard Katie say, Katie went on to say that the
preservatives in the vaccines made her son sick and that the
combination vaccines and the vaccine schedule were grossly unsafe.
Everyone's favorite pediatrician then jumped in and said that if the
schedule were changed there would epidemics. Katie responded by
saying there already is an epidemic and that our kids are not
disposable so the CDC can perpetuate irrational fears of the measles
and the flu.
I think this highlights a number of things:
- The censorship most media outlets give to this issue is very high.
My personal opinion is that this is due entirely to the power of
pharma advertising and to the fact that the media outlets hear
directly from pharma in advance of these shows and get warned. The
fact that the daughter of NBC's FORMER CEO must be deeply troubling
for pharma because this is going to be one very tough person to shut
up.
- Oprah over-ruled the directive Katie was given because she is
Oprah and appears to have strong moral fiber. If Don Imus is a 10, I
give Oprah a 5, which makes her second-best for national
personalities dealing honestly about our kids, although it is almost
incomprehensible to me that this is Oprah's first show on autism.
- The lame doctor saying "if the schedule were changed there would
be epidemics" has no idea what she is talking about. It is
unbelivable that it is NEVER reported that in the mid-1980s there
were 10 vaccines on the schedule and today its 36. We were not
having massive epidemics in the 1980s and the schedule has more than
tripled due to money and recklessness, with no monitoring system
that could ever catch a delayed-onset condition like autism.
- Katie is a true warrior for her son and all of our kids. She said
so much more than America got to hear.
JB
Katie Wright-Hildebrand and Becky Grant-Widen
Join NAA's Board of Directors
The National Autism Association is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors, Katie Wright-Hildebrand and Becky Grant-Widen.
Katie is the mother of two boys, Mathias, age 3 and 5 year-old Christian. Christian regressed into autism at 2 ½ years old. Katie completed her under-graduate studies at Boston University and received a Masters in Education from Columbia University. Studying counseling psychology, she received her professional license in 2000 and was the Clinical Director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Stamford, CT providing free and confidential counseling services to male and female survivors of rape and sexual assaults. Katie resigned her position when Christian became ill and now, with her husband Andreas, is dedicated to working to improve the lives of children and families affected by Autism. Watch for Katie on Thursday's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show!
Becky comes to NAA with 13 years experience in public health non-profits, with a history in tobacco control and community health program development. She currently works as a public health consultant, focused on grantwriting for local and national autism organizations. As the parent of two boys, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, Becky is committed to using her experience to benefit children with autism. In her home state of Maine, Becky has organized local autism events, testified before the state legislature to eliminate the use of mercury in vaccines, and helps guide parents just starting out on the autism journey.
Everyone with NAA looks forward to working with these talented and dedicated parents as we carry out our mission of providing support and hope to all families affected by autism.
Together, anything’s possible.
SafeMinds is pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Wright-Hildebrand to the board of directors.
Katie is the mother of two boys, Mathias, age 3 and 5 year-old Christian. Christian regressed into autism at 2 ½ years old. Katie completed her under-graduate studies at Boston University and received a Masters degree in Education at Columbia University. She studied counseling psychology and received her professional license in 2000. She worked as the Clinical Director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Stamford, CT providing free and confidential counseling services to male and female survivors of rape and sexual assaults. Katie resigned her position when Christian became ill and now, with her husband Andreas, is dedicated to working to improve the lives of children and families affected by autism.