Holly Robinson Peete Defends her Autism Vaccines Position

Please click over HUFFINGTON POST (that's a live link) to support Holly Robinson Peete as she defends herself against charges of being a vacuous Hollywood type who has no right to talk about vaccine safety. Here's a taste of her post.

Ms. Sally Pipes recently wrote an opinion piece for the New York Daily News - Celebs, Stop Taking Poisonous Shots At Vaccines - in which she wrote me off as a vacuous Hollywood type who has no right to express or share my opinion about my family's arduous journey with autism. Somehow I lack credibility because I happen to be on TV.

Outside of the mindless, irrational Hollywood celebrity you want to depict me as, I happen to be more than just a veteran television actress. At 44 years old, I am also college-educated, married for 13 years, a mom of four, and for the last 10 years have run my own non-profit, HollyRod Foundation.

Comments

[D.Dear]

Hello Holly,

I enjoyed reading your story about the challenges your families will face having a child with autism. I can tell you as a parent of twins with autism, it gets better over time. Today, my sons' are a few credits away from receiving their first college degree. As a person currently employed in the field of working with young and older adults with special needs, I believe my experiences will benefit many families. So, I'm interested in starting a not-for-profit organization that will focus on those diagnosed as mid-high fuctioning on this spectrum. As you might know there are not many programs available nor job opportunities for them once high school is complete.

Keep up the good work, and your advice is welcomed

D.Dear

[Media Scholar]

I found something previous:

http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2007/05/rodney_and_holl.html

That change happened when he was about 2 1/2, very soon after he had received his inoculations for measles, mumps, and rubella. I noticed he ceased making eye contact and responding to his name without loud repetitive shouts. 'RJ, RJ, RJ!' we would scream helplessly.

I called Rodney, who was traveling. 'Something's going on with RJ.' And he said, 'Maybe he can't hear. Get his ears checked.' But that wasn't it. Rodney, like every man who felt helpless when he couldn't fix things, called again. 'Everything's okay, right?'

But it wasn't. Together we took RJ to a specialist. She was a rigid, hard-looking woman who sat us in this icy office. The room was cold; the toys were cold. I hated everything about the place. Even the diagnosis was cold. She said, 'Okay, here it is. He is a mid-to-high functioning autistic child. Here are a few phone numbers.'

[Angela Warner]

I posted this over at HuffPo and I'm not sure if it will go up. I tried to post it last night too... so I'm posting it here.

Perfectly said Holly!

I am still trying to swallow the "vacuous" adjective used to describe you. If you are "vacuous", what adjective should be used to describe Amanda Peet? Good Lord!!! Amanda has one child, and she and her child are lucky. But she has not battled autism for the health and well being of her child(ren) as we have.

One of the issues that you brought to light was the fact that many of the children who had the measles had been obviously vaccinated. Back in 1984 I was one of those kids. If you look at history, there was an "outbreak" that year. I was vaccinated and still got the measles. It never ceases to amaze me and tick me off, how the numbers of vaccinated during outbreaks are never mentioned. The spread of the "disease" is always the fault of the unvaccinated! I was 14 so I have no idea how many other people or kids I gave it to...

I am no longer a poisoning parent, nor am I a parasitic parent. I accept full responsibility for the healthcare decisions I make for my children. I have especially done so in the past five years when I made the educated decision to have my youngest two children at home and in water.

Parents who choose not to vaccinate are not parasites, but are willing to accept responsibility for the outcome of their children's health because of their decision.

Thank you Holly! You are a Warrior Mom!

[Elucidatus]

Holly Robinson Peete is a great actress! She even go to act with Johnny Dep on 21 Jump Street. She looks great! Keep up the good work Holly.

[Jeanne]

Here is the comment I left on HuffPo for Holly:

Bravo Holly! Thank you for being brave enough to share your story and the truth of what happened to your son, as you have these past years. When you tell your story you tell the story of thousands and thousands of other families.

Our numbers are growing. The question is, what is the magic number? How many childrens' lives must be affected (and in a lot of cases RUINED) before action is taken?

And for those of you who take issue with us, the parents of these VERY SICK children, because you think we are saying YOU are poisoned or damaged... stand down. We do not know you, so we are clearly not talking about you. What we do know is our children. Our children who have severe diarrhea many times each day; projectile vomiting; seizures; constipation to the point of impaction and beyond; ulcers up and down the GI tract; self-injurous behaviors; screaming nonstop for no apparent reason; loss of language; loss of eye contact; loss of emotion; loss of sense of pain; loss of interest in human contact; rocking; spinning; and the list goes on.

My point is, to those of you who claim we are trying to include you in our "autism community," we are not. Our autism community is not your autism community. Unless of course you have the health problems listed (or any others I've left off). Somehow I doubt you do. For if you did suffer from bloody diarrhea 10 times each day, somehow I think you would leave no stone unturned to determine what ails you.

And this is what we parents have done. We have turned over every stone and we have found a way to help our children. And not only help them, but bring many of them back from the hell in with they were living. Ending the pain. Repairing the damage caused by vaccines. Giving them a chance of a life without the misery of their ailing bodies. We do this for them because it is our job as parents to protect, care for, and prepare our children for what life has in store for them.

Not our children with autism; but, our children with VACCINE INDUCED AUTISM.

So again, thank you Holly. Thank you.

[Tanners Dad]

I will say it very loud that I am very proud of the celebrity parents that come out with a powerful voice for these poisoned children. The resources you have, give you the ability to heal your children and then go back to your life. Who needs the hassle of being called names and your character attacked. I know that it takes guts to live the life of a parent of a child with autism no matter what your economic status. Even recovered children will always have issues. Thank you for being so eloquent in spelling out the demise of our forgotten children and fighting for my son Tanner.
It breaks my heart that I was able to recover him to the point of getting a "Hi Daddy" after six years of silence, only to have him potentially revert back into his cell because I do not have the resources to continue therapy. It is a sin. It is a disaster. It is the holocaust over again. It is a crime.
http://www.causecast.org/member/tanners-dad

[Dolores]

Mrs. Peete has been very outspoken. She talked about this on Oprah, Larry king Live several times, People Magazine, CBS Early show, etc, etc,........

[Stagmom]

Wait! I'm confusing my Peet(e)s. I'm referring to AMANDA PEET. Media Scholar, were you talking about HR Peete? What are the chances of the two women having the same sounding last name?

Media Scholar, I don't think so. I'd hate to pry into her personal life. Remember those fleeting Britney rumors? Not our business unless the parents want to "come out." But if there is any chance her child has signs of autism, I can guarantee you that our community would extend a hand to help her and help her child. That's what it's all about after all. The kids. We'll have another child warrior here tomorrow, in fact.

K

[Media Scholar]

Has Mrs. Peete previously said anything in public concerning the relationship of vaccines and Autism, inparticular to her own child?

"I hope our consortium will purchase, or at least threaten to purchase ads in USA Today an elsewhere saying "Defeat the (Pretend to) Combat Autism Act"." - the late Dr. Bernard Rimland