Jenny McCarthy on her son`s autism and recovery
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Autism Spectrum Disorder has, in recent years, created heated debates between parents, doctors, health authorities, and scientists. Unfortunately, although autism is prevalent (about 1 in 150 kids are affected), there are still so many things we don`t know about it, including the real causes, and treatments. Autism has been linked to many factors, including exposure to pesticides, milk products, genetics, low birth weights, and mobile phones. However, none is more controversial than the role of childhood vaccines in this disease.
The son of actor Jenny McCarthy was diagnosed with autism as a baby. Evan, who is now 5 years old, was one of the very few children who recovered from this debilitating disease. The celebrity parent recently revealed on CNN.com about the details of Evan`s journey to autism and back. They described his “recovery” as regaining many of the skills that he once lost, which include speech.
They attributed this recovery to the following:
• Diet which is gluten-free and casein-free
• Vitamin supplements
• Metal detoxication
• Anti-fungal against yeast overgrowth
One his neurological symptoms improved, he underwent speech therapy and applied behavior analysis. After a year of these therapies, Evan was almost fully back to normal, much to the amazement of this doctors.
Jenny and Jim admit that some of these treatments are not backed by scientific evidence. However, the fact that they worked on the boy was proof enough that they could work.
What frustrates the them is the fact the doctors and autism experts did not acknowledge the importance of Evan`s recovery or analyzed the treatments and therapies that may have contributed to this. Instead, they simply dismissed it as a “misdiagnosed” case.
Jenny and Jim believe that “autism is an environmental illness” and that vaccines play a major role as an environmental trigger. They are not against vaccination as such but they believe that there is a need to re-examine some of the ingredients as well as the vaccination schedule recommended by CDC.
Jenny shares her experiences with other parents in her book “Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism.”
Another recent develop in the battle against autism is the unprecedented decision of a federal court in Georgia – in favor of autism victim Hannah Poling and her family. More families are awaiting their cases to be heard.
Related posts:
Service Dogs: Autistic Children’s Best Friends?
Is there a link between vaccinations and autism?
Autism and Vaccine Link: Get Over It
Mercury in vaccines: why it CAN NOT cause autism
Michele says...
It’s interesting that Applied Behavior Analysis (which is the only data based intervention backed by peer reviewed research, that is know to have a great impact on autism) is almost mentioned as an after thought. That intervention may well have been the one that helped Evan.
baby boy says...
That amazing. I hope we could find a way to help all autism kids.
Autie Mommy says...
Hello, I have a 6 year old son who is Autistic and I have a few things to say as a mother with first hand experience. First of all, please don’t call Autism a “disease”. That’s upsetting to me because a disease is something that is thought of as contagious or “catchable”. Autism isn’t contagious, but ignorance is. Secondly, I have to say that I don’t agree with the theory that early childhood vaccines have anything to do with Autism. My son has been different from the day that he was born, well before he ever recieved a vaccine. There are some out there who believe that Autism can be caused by trauma at birth which my son most definately had as he was an emergency c-section, but there is no proof to back this up as with many of the other theories. I would be inclined to follow along with that theory before I would ever believe that vaccines have anything to do with it. I hope that many parents that are raising an autistic child will step back and wait until more is discovered before they point the finger at any one thing as the cause of autism and that those who are uniformed or ignorant about Autism get some knowledge before they speak. Thankyou for the post on Autism and for bringing it to the attention of your readers. The more who know, the more of the puzzle we can fit into place.
mom3 says...
I also don’t believe vaccines cause autism, but I do think they may trigger autism’s onset in someone genetically predisposed to it. I think it’s important parents do their own research. I would be much more for greening vaccines or using an altered vaccine schedule than getting rid of vaccines altoghether. There is a great debate about the possible link between autism and vaccines here Experts from both sides weigh in, and there’s a guy named Kevin Leitch who is really stirring things up by taking on the groups who believe autism and vaccines are linked.