How Thoughtful House and Drs. Wakefield, Krigsman and Jepson Helped My Son
By Katie Wright
My son Christian would still be living in horrible pain if not for the wonderful doctors at Thoughtful House. After enduring 2 years of nightmarish, non-stop diarrhea and traveling all over the country meeting doctor after doctor who pronounced Christian “autistic but fine” or “he’s autistic, what do you expect?” or “he definitely isn’t autistic but we don’t know what’s wrong” Christian finally got the medical help he needed at Thoughtful House. Dr. Wakefield, Dr. Krigsman and Dr. Jepson were the ONLY physicians with the courage to address the autism/ GI disease and help kids like mine. While the AAP and the rest of the medical community turned their backs on our children for fear of uncovering why so many children were regressing into autism with GI disease, TH opened their doors and actually treated our kids. This determination came at great personal and professional cost and I know I speak for so many parents when I saw we are infinitely grateful.
Katie Wright is a Contributing Editor to Age of Autism. She has two young boys. Her oldest son, Christian, is severely affected by autism. He developed normally; smiling, talking, walking; only to lose every skill and every word by the age of 2 and a half. Upon the advice of medical professionals Katie and her husband were advised to pursue only high quality behavioral therapy, speech and OT for Christian. It had no meaningful impact on Christian until his parents sought help from DAN! doctors who treated the underlying causes of Christian's descent into autism. Christian has improved but still has far to go. He has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, the measles virus in his gut and an immune system akin to a late stage AIDS patient. Christian does not have a psychiatric disorder. Before autism, Katie Wright was the Clinical Director of Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Stamford Connecticut. Katie is proud to serve on the Boards of NAA and SafeMinds.
Scientists at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa better be careful. Even though their results are preliminary they could be in the crosshairs of the enemies of the Age of Autism.........
This may be little off topic, but there is a possible element in the study linked below that has a real potential to lend weight to those us who maintain wheat is involved in somes autism and by extension that immune assults are involved. This could provoke attack on the study from those who seek to protect the political hegemony surrounding autism causes and treatments. I have seen what wheat, synergistically with other co-existing problems, can contribute to severley alter one person's mental state and have no reason not to accept the testimony of others that wheat is harmful to autistics for which they care and observe. Now this study linked below comes out suggesting a very possible connection between wheat and type 1 diabetes via an immune reaction. I would think such a study may be attacked by the medical quackhunters as they have ridiculed those who made a similar connection to wheat and some cases of autism. This wheat{gluen association} is also thought by some to be involved in some schizophrenia, MS, and other conditions. I know of no one who is part of the mainstream medical world that has asserted that vaccines could be directly or indirectly linked to this possible wheat immune reaction in some cases of type 1 diabetes, or any almost anything negative for that matter, but there is surely a danger to this hegemony in that this notion, if unchecked, might lead to research by "the right people" about this possibilty. This particular gut and other disease connection pushes the autism/gut/diet/immune association into the sensible realm and anything that gives credence to the laymen, parent, or other proponents in this issue enhances the crediblility of their obervations concerning the effect of vaccinations. This is in additon to the aforemention weight of the strengtened plausiblity of immune reactions and the gut/wheat assertions in the minds of the public and fair minded medical people. How can it not be reasoned that since wheat was never before contemplated by the rank and file of the the medical world as remotely involved in this type of diabetes{at least until this study} that the same rank and file may be wrong in rejecting the wheat association to autism? This rank and file will not remotely take seriously the plausibility that other conditions may, to some degree, be related to wheat in their development or worsened by a similar assault against other tissues such as myelin and neurons as proposed in some cases of other disease processes as is autism in many cases. For the record I can't give any personal testimony to vaccines as my dealings with all the biological problems in one I care for were understood in seeing them in a person I did not know until she was 16 years of age. But, I do have a strong desire to know if vaccines were involved in the start of her condition and a stong desire for others to not be harmed. I have seen the effects of diet/gut/immune reactions and I wish for the Dr Healy's of the world to have full sway in dealing with the vaccine question{s}and research.
I told a young man back in 1997 or 1998 who had type 1 diabetes that he should go off wheat as it could be contributing to his diabetes and later he did and his condition improved a great deal.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090820124038.htm
The possible wheat connection has already been made in another study that has even more direct connections for co-existence of ASD. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090714104002.htm
Of course if study bears out then the experts will say that these children who were previously labled ASD were not autistic in the first place.
Posted by: Nick | September 01, 2009 at 02:50 AM
Is Christian verbal? My daughter Candace lost everything at 2 1/2 years old??
Posted by: Sandy Waters | August 31, 2009 at 10:34 PM
CBS Sheryl Atkinsson "How Independent Are Vaccine Defenders?" Awesome.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/25/cbsnews_investigates/main4296175.shtml
Posted by: julie | August 31, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Thoughtful house is not just autism either. We first went there for my son's medical issues that were spiralling out of control. He was on about five different meds for his asthma, yet we were still at the ER every few weeks. Then, there were so many medicines that his behavior declined to the point he was about to be expelled from first grade. I weaned him off the meds, but knew another asthma attack was just around the corner. Since starting with Dr. Jepson at TH, we have only been to the ER once in the last 3.5 years for his asthma. A year later, we did obtain a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, but we knew something was coming and only got the diagnosis so he could get help at school. After talking with Dr. Jepson, we realized ( on our own) that our son had lost language after his first MMR. He was so young and only had a few words, so we didn't really get it till much later. My son never had clear vaccine reactions, they were always delayed by about 6-8 weeks, so we did not make the connection until we really looked at his records. He is diagnosed ADHD, Aspergers, Asthma, Hypothyroidism, mild neutropenia, chronic constipation, defective binocular vision, and possible mitochondrial dysfunction (waiting on results)...Thank goodness doctors like Wakefield, Krigsman, Jepson, Frye and so many more are out there. I don't think my son would be alive today if not.
Laura
Posted by: Laura | August 31, 2009 at 08:35 PM
And here is Dr. Wakefield's statement that he issued today as well.
http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/newsletters/2009-08b.pdf
Again please pass it along to others.
Posted by: Kecia | August 31, 2009 at 08:13 PM
thanks for the link to Thoughtful House's response to Matt's (NBCs') presentation, Kecia. I hope NBC gets lots of constructive criticism. The fact that this show aired at all is an amazing feat. More and more questions will be asked!.. trust... Roger, I think you make some good points. Unfortunately, I believe both scenarios are points of departure for vaccine related injury. You guys all deserve a medal for your dealings with the "medical system" over all this!
Posted by: jen | August 31, 2009 at 07:15 PM
“he’s autistic, what do you expect?”
“he definitely isn’t autistic but we don’t know what’s wrong”
You do realize that this sort of stuff is nothing new.If my mother and I were told this by doctors as long ago as the late 60s/early 70s,it may have been going on right after Kanner's first study,and doctors learned what autism was.
It has only been very recently that I have begun to see an outstanding DAN! doctor,that I believe I am finally going to get some answers.I have inflammatory bowel disease myself,and all sorts of medical issues.I was diagnosed with IBD at 19.I can tell you all sorts of stuff about medical symptoms,and their relationship to autistic symptoms,that a nonverbal child never could.You'd be surprised how wrong a lot of parents get it sometimes.
Up until I was in my late 20s,what I had was a lot like a primary immune deficiency.In the past few years now that it has come back,it has been more like systemic lupus,with flares.
"He has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, the measles virus in his gut and an immune system akin to a late stage AIDS patient."
This gets to a point that I think needs to be addressed by autism researchers,bloggers,parents,etc. .
When we are talking about "vaccine damage" are we talking about mercury and metals in the vaccines,or are we talking about autism caused by an autoimmune reaction,as a result of vaccine induced illness? Both are vaccine damage,but they are not the same thing,and are not treated the same way.Before you start posting angry responses,I would suggest you ask your pediatrician first.Especially if (s)he is a DAN!
Posted by: Roger Kulp | August 31, 2009 at 03:37 PM
PS from below;
The nurse practioner said
"I feel there are children who are probably genetically susceptible to Autism since we know that it is not just autoimmune"
she is sitting there telling me that and her child had Kawasaki's- and she don't know that by the grace of GOD - where do I begin with her!
Posted by: Benedetta Stilwell | August 31, 2009 at 02:06 PM
Statement issued from Thoughtful House today following the Dateline special last night. Please read and pass it along.
http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/newsletters/2009-08a.pdf
Posted by: Kecia | August 31, 2009 at 02:01 PM
I have a nurse practioner giving me problems about the vaccine/autism deal. I wished I had not used the word autism and just said stroke. She as I both had a child that had Kawasaki's yet she can't seem to put together the fact that autism is the same inflammatory disease as Kawasaki's.(probably because I used the woud autism) She says I am cynical????
She tells me that she has a family that has six kids that all have autism and the last four was not vaccinated at all???
I think she is right I am cynical - Although I did not tell her to her face, but I don't believe she has six kids in her practice that all have autism. Does anyone have any thoughts on this and what I should do?
Posted by: Benedetta Stilwell | August 31, 2009 at 01:47 PM
I don't know if we can be middle ground any more....I think we have to question all the vaccines our kids get, not just the MMR, and we don't know what reacts with one another (think Michael Jackson here), and, we don't even know, that spacing them out makes any difference. In the environment of non trust I have in the whole manufacturing process let alone the business model of vaccines, the ingredients in them alone, the INTENDED immunocompromise that follows, I question whether or not we should be so pro vaccine, or appear to be workable and middle ground, and go to, let's question ALL of them. I do think that less is more with vaccines, but I think what's better, for all of us with bent and broken methylation and healing capitals, and the amounts of toxins in our bodies at present (philip langren cedar siani NY), not to mention a newborn with no viable immune quality to fight of the DOSE they give, there is not a safe vaccine (s_). There is that one child who may handle them, but, I frankly see more than autism damage in our generation of children...I see the spectrum, from the dark circles under eyes, the behavior intolerances, and allergies galore, to full blown neurological collapse in it's many forms, and oft systemically ruining the liver function, thyroid and the gut.
I don't want one more R and D/stock holder vaccine persons laughing at us, scorning our children like this. I want a proud army of mothers, to forget that the mainstream media has any interest in exposing this GIANT SECRET, and go to the mothers, the very ones who will MAKE THE DECISION, and tell our stories...this is our only last and true hope left. As for me, that's my mission anytime someone asks why, or, if I am in a situation to do the vaccine story missionary work.
If autism is so genetic, my three grandboys would have it...coming from having two from me...it's just nuts...I see them...they are doing SO well, no ear infections, no gut problems, TALKING, PLAYING, conversing with their mothers...this is a testament to me, that TOO MUCH, TOO SOON, is ruining our children. The mothers had to be vigulent...they had to make sure THEY were not mercury toxic (and they have the MTHFR..they even had lyme, and had to treat that...they had to eat organic, nothing MSG or GMO and did home births and minimally evasive births with no immediate cord clamp or drugs. This is what WE have to do, to cirumvent our world and the way it damages our children.
I very sure, that if we don't stop this misinformation, and spread our own truths amongst mother to mother, we will continue seeing kids being damaged.
We got our kids scoped with a GI who was on the phone with Thoughful house...the GI guy at first wouldn't believe my story...but agreed thankfully to the procedure. My kids had Hyperplasia, and the measles virus genome in their guts. They also had Lyme spirochetes (oft not thought of) as another ocntributor to SIBO. Treating that, and getting certain enzymes and protein rich meals made my kids sleep through the night, have less seizures in one child, and treating the infections with monolaurin, antivirals, and antibacterials for the lyme, also helped them tremendously. Since they were OLDER in their teens at that time, I was unable to get them ALL THE WAY BACK, but if I didn't, I would have children going psychotic, loosing bowel control, and thoughts of me not dealing with it, and having to put them in an institution. Thoughtful house saved my kids, and that is what should have been told last night.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | August 31, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Ditto to what Katie said.
My son received his MMR booster at age 5 (why I allowed that to happen I don't know, it's a decision I GREATLY regret), he regressed immediately after the vaccination and within 6 months he went from being completely potty trained to completely bowel incontinent. We saw doctor after doctor and all we heard was it's behavioral due to autism spectrum disorder. One GI specialist after 18 months of seeing my son determined that 'until he had a developmental epiphany and chose to oblige to normal toileting protocol he would continue to be incontinent'. That's right, blame having diarrhea 5-6 daily on my son...it's all behavioral, he's acting out for attention. He then went on to look my son (8 yrs. old at the time)in the eyes and told him "If you don't stop pooping your pants I'm hooking you to a bag for the rest of your life to poop in, maybe then you'll decide to act better." This is the type of treatment that we are receiving from these 'specialists'. Nobody to listen, nobody that gives a shit that our kids are suffering on a daily basic.
Until we found Thoughtful House...Dr. Krigsman, Dr. Jepson, and Dr. Wakefield. My son has been under their care for 2.5 years and has made amazing strides. My son's pillcam showed some of the worst GI damage Dr. Krigsman had seen. He was diagnosed with Autistic Enterocolitis (and screw those that don't believe this disease exists. I offered many a time to those that question it the opportunity to come do my laundry for me and THEN tell me it doesn't exist). With care under these doctors the disease is becoming more manageable. He went from up to 3 accidents a DAY for 5 YEARS to now only 3-4 accidents a month. So while he is not completely in remission he is getting closer. These doctors know what they are doing. They stand tall in the face of adversity and speak LOUD and CLEAR that our children are sick. Believe it.
Posted by: Kecia | August 31, 2009 at 11:14 AM
I get so damned enraged at this coverup. It is just infuriating what they've done to our children and continue to hold their pompous rich heads up slanting and twisting this ... Andrew Wakefield and all the other doctors who are helping us are the most caring and thoughtful people who have risked so much to step up and help our sick children. There will be a day that the truth will come out and they will be recognized by ALL not just us.
Just holding my breath to find out what damage the addition of the swine flu will do to more children ... certainly not mine.
Posted by: Kathy | August 31, 2009 at 10:24 AM
I think the worst aspect of last night's show was that there was no message of hope.
Thoughtful House and the other DAN! Drs in this country are doing amazing work with our children. If we were all being duped there would be parents lined up to tell the story of how they were conned out of thousands of dollars but this is not the case.
How the producers could go to Thoughtful House and only report on one patient,t in whom doctor Krigsman found not much, represents an ubalanced view of the work Thoughtful House is doing. To tell the story of recovery would have completely shifted the tone of their show. It would have shifted much more credibility toward Dr. Wakefield and put greater doubt on Deer and Offits perspective.
Posted by: Pamela | August 31, 2009 at 09:24 AM
Katie, last night's report must be so frustrating to you. You had to sit there and watch the company you grew up with, NBC, give little credit to what your family has been through. I wonder what your Dad says about last night's report. Telling your story shows EVERYONE that there is WAY more to this story and for that I thank you!!!
Posted by: kim | August 31, 2009 at 09:21 AM
Thank you Katie, as usual!
And Angela, I completely agree with you. I was so disappointed in Matt Lauer. The show was incredibly biased and slanted. He made parents look like horrible people out to put their children through ANYTHING to satisfy their belief of what is wrong. He should have hit harder on the fact that parents are trying to relieve their children's pain. Something ANY parent would do!!!I was especially disgusted with the lack of following comment to the statement put forth about parents not knowing the science. There are NO parents who know and understand the science more than parents of vaccine injured children. I wish that we could see all the footage that was edited. Is it possible to get the unedited transcripts of the show? And how nice it would have been for David Kirby to have been invited to counter the fact the Brian Deer was allowed to have a say! And certainly his conflicts of interest were NEVER brought to light.
Biased bast&%$#!!!!!!!
Posted by: kathleen | August 31, 2009 at 08:45 AM
Thanks so much for continuing to write. It is maddening to listen to all the spin from those who don't live our lives. Whether it is the neurodiversity crowd or pundits on TV: you were NOT there with our children.
My son, who was developing in a mostly typical manner, lost his ability to walk and talk in the TWO days following a routine vaccine appointment (and various jabs) at 15 months.
The second anyone start denying the damage that vaccines can cause - I stop listening. Your message has lost me, when you deny my son's experience.
Posted by: LivingWithPDD | August 31, 2009 at 08:32 AM
Katie, as always, your powerful way of telling your personal story touches us all.
Posted by: Deb O. | August 31, 2009 at 08:13 AM
Katie, as always, thank you for being braved enough to share your and Christian's story. I'd like to see this post on the Autism Speak's news page on their site. More people need real help for their sick kids.
You're a powerful addition to Age of Autism.
Thank you, friend.
Kim
Posted by: Stagmom | August 31, 2009 at 08:01 AM
Why didn't Dateline interview more parents from Thoughtful House - i.e., the ones who have made significant progress? And did you notice that they gave short shrift to the "after-story" of the family they did interview? I wanted to see more video of that child in the pool!
The "interview" was so obviously slanted it was disgusting and insulting to one's intelligence.
And why didn't they include a middle-ground - i.e., parents who want to space out vaccines and not "rush" out to get 9 shots in one day?
And why didn't they interview parents like me, whose child is not autistic but has weird auto-immune and visual problems? Or my sister's child who came down with Type 1 diabetes AT SIX YEARS OLD? Or my other sister's child with severe asthma?
Why didn't they interview some pediatricians and ask them "back in the 90's and early 2000's, did you advise parents not to vaccinate when their children were sick?" My ped NEVER did - my son had vaccines a week after he'd been extremely ill in the hospital! I recently got a calendar from my insurance company trumpeting the benefit of vaccines with a little * - "don't give when sick." Hmmmm.
And didn't you love when Offit bragged about voting against the smallpox vax? The first thought in my mind was "no wonder, since you don't own the patent to that one."
I will never watch Matt Lauer again. What a boob and a patsy.
Posted by: Angela | August 31, 2009 at 07:07 AM