Katie Wright: Autism and Amanda Peet, By a Parasite
By Katie Wright
After reading the inane interview with Amanda Peet (who referred to parents who veer from the vaccination schedule as "parasites" in Cookie Magazine earlier this year) in this month’s “Self” magazine, I was compelled to satirize the piece in order to better reflect the full scope of Peet’s absurd and pompous proclamations about autism and vaccine safety.
Hmmm…. I am not a doctor, but I know one at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. I am not the parent of a child with autism but I know all about what causes it and what doesn’t. I am not the parent of a child with a life threatening infectious disease but I have read about how prevalent this problem is in the THIRD WORLD.
After hearing many scary stories about the prevalence of infectious diseases in the Third World I have decided to aggressively make the case for all American babies to be injected with 38 vaccines (healthy, unhealthy, premature- whatever!) by age 2. I have “done my research” and “know the facts!” Sure I am the parent of one healthy, non special needs toddler but I am the expert here to tell all parents of autistic kids I know best.
Some parents of autistic kids “say” they saw their kids regress, losing words, skills and their health after multiple vaccinations but I know better! These parents “haven’t done their research” because I know multiple vaccinations are 100% safe! Those parents should be grateful their child does not have the measles! Did I tell you Paul Offit, multimillionaire, vaccine patent maker, is my mentor?
Dr. Offit and I firmly believe that there is no risk whatsoever to injecting babies with an unlimited number multiple vaccines. Immune system, shummune system! In fact Paul and I are initiating a new campaign for the company I represent. Sure, this organization is 90% funded by vaccine makers but we have no bias, I promise! Our new slogan is based on Dr. Offit’s proclamation that a baby could be vaccinated 100,000 times in one day. We are calling it: “Every Child 100,000 Vaccines by 2!” How is that for a time saver! Great, right?
Sure Offit and I are not clinicians. Offit and I never treated autistic children. Nor is either one of us the parent of an autistic child. But we know better than all those sad parents “looking for something to blame!” The fact that Offit holds the patents for many of the vaccines he has shoehorned into the immunization schedule is not a conflict of interest!
Just a coincidence, like all those febrile seizures occurring right after multiple vaccines- a crazy coincidence!
Anyone who dares to question the sanctity of vaccines is a big troublemaker! I don’t have the answers to all those pesky scientific questions (damn those annoying TV reporters and their complicated questions!). That’s why I sometimes say don’t take medical advice from me, I’m just an actress. But wait, scratch that! Yes, do take medical advice from me, you must get your infant fully vaccinated and on schedule or you are a really selfish and irresponsible parent. Forget about all those parents asking why doctors give newborns a vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease that 99.9999999% of them do not need. Those questioning asking parents are just crazies looking for “conspiracies” that do not exist! We don’t owe them any answers!
All those autism parents with their sick and suffering kids live in a “rarified universe.” Yuck! I wouldn’t want to go there! How dare these parents not vaccinate their younger children! Don’t they know I disapprove?
In this evil “rarified universe” families are advocating for safer vaccines, a saner schedule and a more transparent vaccine safety testing process. How dare they! “Every Child 100,000 Vaccines by 2” must put a stop to all this question asking and calls for government accountability! Offit and his friends at the CDC should be able to do whatever they want and should not have to answer to anyone, least of all the public. Don’t people understand that only vaccine makers know “The Science” and how to care for your child better than you do?
So I hope all you parents reading this have learned something:
#1 Trust vaccine makers, not yourself
#2 Ignore your instincts and don’t ask questions
#3 Vaccinate your baby as if you live in Sub-Saharan Africa
#4 Think of all those pesky trips to the doctor’s office you will avoid by getting your baby all its vaccines on one day. Now that’s progress!
Remember our new slogan: “Every Child 100,000 vaccines by Age 2!”
Katie Wright 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.
COMMENTS
Dear Jacqueline,
You say your son regressed within hours of birth...why? Did doctors give him a vaccine?
AND
I saw my son regress within hours of birth, I asked the doctors, while crying and screaming, what they had done to my baby they assured me he was perfectly healthy with ten fingers and ten toes.
OBSERVATION
Reminds me of a case I studied where in the first hours of life a baby got the HEP B vaccine + MERCURY and the nurses dumped it on the mum who had to endure that baby cry for hours until exhausted. And no the baby didnt get autism but lives today as a VEGETABLE. With the dad in prison for harming the child. With some help and no publicity the mum eventually cconvinced the authorities that vaccines shhh dont tell anyone and that one at birth within hours was not good in this RARE instance.
I WONDER?
Posted by: John Fryer | August 06, 2013 at 05:48 AM
Dear Jacqueline,
You say your son regressed within hours of birth...why? Did doctors give him a vaccine? And when did the self injurious behavior begin? How severe was it? Has it occurred to you your son may have had severe allergies> Or another disorder (s)? I find the story of the autistic man on you tube (listed under autism and self injury) interesting, as the mom has written he's been tested for gluten, casein, yeast, etc..and it's always been negative. Likewise, tests for Lesch nyan, rett's, tuberous sceloris, numerous genetic epilepsy genes, angelman's syndrome, prader willi, etc...have all been negative. So, when you look at a severe case of autism such as this one on you tube (it's quite shocking) you can see that we have here a family who has obviously done a lot of interventions...many of the same ones so many people are believing can cure autism, and yet there son is still severely autistic and suffers from episodic severe head punching fits rooted in "multiple antecedents." After watching these videos, it's clear to me that autism is probably more misdiagnosed than ever because when I see this video it clearly shows what autism is in raw form.
Posted by: oldbehavspecialist | December 22, 2009 at 09:33 PM
I saw my son regress within hours of birth, I asked the doctors, while crying and screaming, what they had done to my baby they assured me he was perfectly healthy with ten fingers and ten toes. He has never been healthy since. I was a skeptical parent and continued vaccinating him, until 2 1/2 when he within 3 weeks lost all speech and ability to play or even pull up his pants. He regressed so far into autism we never thought we would get him out. He was diagnosed with low functioning autism at 18 months and severe mental retardation just 5 months ago. This was the motivation for us, he wasn't born this way and we saw him regress into this starting shortly after birth with every vaccine getting worse and worse and I vowed not to let my baby die this way. Now at the age of 5 we have been doing Chelation therapy for the last 4 months. Colby is doing better than ever but his bowels still don't move and he is still allergic to casein, gluten, dyes, and preservatives and has issues with yeast and bacteria. He is still mostly nonverbal, but he has learned to immitate a few words, and he can do some sign language, 4 months ago this was impossible, I thought we were going to have to have put him in a home to keep him safe. But now, the self injurious behavior has lessened as he finds ways to ask for help and to comfort himself. His anxiety is gone and he is happy. He has gained some weight and no longer looks immaciated with dark circles under sunken eyes, the ADHD has lessened and he is focusing at his special education school. Teachers who were once against biomedical treatment are now crying at IEP's and encouraging us to continue for Colby's sake. I just want to tell all of you parents of autistic children that there is hope and even if my son doesn't lose his diagnosis he is a happier child and any progress is better than none. For us it is the difference between visiting our son in a home, and having him here with us in HIS home.
Posted by: Jacqueline | December 17, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Today a woman came into our clinic complaining of severe pain in her left arm, rating the pain at a "10". She said ever since she received her seasonal flu vaccine in Sept. 09, she has had severe pain in her shoulder and arm. After receiving the injection her arm swelled up and turned red. She thought it was just a local reaction to the vaccine or the injection. The doctor told her that her pain must be caused by something other than the vaccine. Why? If someone stepped on something sharp, with swelling and redness, I think the doctor would blame the injury on whatever they stepped on.
Doctors cannot admit to any problems associated with vaccines. Our clinic alone made $17,000 from the seasonal flu clinic. We are now making money giving the H1N1 vaccine. It's all about the money. The whole ugly vaccine fiasco is about making money.
Posted by: bev/jean/ann | December 15, 2009 at 09:36 PM
Randi your post prompted me to google the Dutch vaccine schedule:
http://www.euvac.net/graphics/euvac/vaccination/netherlands.html
It is indeed quite a bit "lighter" than the U.S. schedule, such as no birth or infant Hep B vaccine unless the mother is Hep positive, no chicken pox, no polio, no flu, no hep A, etc.
The Dutch have a much more reasonable vaccine schedule. You are very lucky.
Posted by: Sylvia | December 05, 2009 at 11:40 AM
I have 2 children, one with autism. Both are vaccinated. I see no link. It took until our suspicions at age 5 until the confirmation 2 years later. You want to be careful and not jump to conclusions, I would think. Putting it all together, there was a clear path from his birth and a possible genetic link, which would be me. Eventually I was diagnosed with Asperger.
Everyone in my extended family and that of my wife, plus all friends, has been vaccinated. My and my son are the only ones with an ASS diagnose, no-one else is suspect. For completeness, this is the Dutch vaccination schedule, which is somewhat lighter than the American. I add this because I like to get as much facts in as possible, unadorned by sarcasm, satire and other such noise.
How is my opinion of less value? Because it doesn't agree with the official standpoint of Age Of Foundation organization? (apologies for allowing myself some sarcasm - I hope to show certain arguments can be used equally to both sides and have no value in the debate).
Posted by: Randi | December 05, 2009 at 06:12 AM
Jane,
It's interesting you post a link to a story about metals in children's toys as the "true link" to what causes autism. How in the world can the metals and toxins in vaccines directly injected into the bloodstream of an infant get a free pass from you???
So it's *not* okay to (maybe, possibly) ingest a itty bitty amount of mercury through toys, but it's damn sure okay to (definitely, without question) inject mercury directly into babies. Perfect sense.
Posted by: Jessica | December 03, 2009 at 07:03 PM
Loved your post Katie...I just saw 2012 and had no clue she was in it. Had I known I would have boycotted....
BTW, I live in Norwalk CT and my good friend was the Clinical director of the SACC in Stamford as well (about 2 yrs ago.)
Posted by: Marnie | December 03, 2009 at 04:08 PM
This was a great piece! Thanks Katie for keeping it real.
Posted by: Barbara | December 03, 2009 at 03:48 PM
Jane, I wonder do you have an autistic child? I do agree that there are many environmental toxins out there that have the potential to harm our kids, and your link is an excellent example. However, like me, there are many parents out there who saw there child regress into autism shortly following an attack on their immune system via an immunization. It may not be the vaccine exactly that caused the regression, but the inability of the child's immune system to metabolize the vaccine effeciently. So is it their a link between autism and vaccines? Hell, yes.
Posted by: Natasha | December 03, 2009 at 01:56 PM
Maybe you guys should finally give up on the vaccine-autism NONLINK and look into some of the true environmental dangers to genetically susceptible children:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091202/hl_afp/healthconsumerchildrenus
Posted by: Jane | December 03, 2009 at 12:38 PM
Why in the world would Amanda Peet be against parents that want to gain KNOWLEDGE of what these doctors are putting in our childrens' bodies??? I wish that I had known all the facts BEFORE my son was born...who knows, things might have been different!!!
But in Peet's world we are only good parents if we do everything the CDC and vaccine makers tell us to do. In other words, follow them blindly and NOT try to research the TOXINS going into our children.
Tsk Tsk...naughty educated parents!!
Posted by: Erica in Alabama | December 03, 2009 at 09:08 AM
I have an unvaxxed 17 month old who I just took to one of those pesky third wold countries - we went for 5 days,played in the dirt, swam in the sea and returned. Except for a nice tan and some mosquito bites, my little one picked up nothing form his trip to India. We live in the UAE.
Nutrition, hygiene, clean water and actual exposure to the disease play a far more important role in spreading infectious diseases. The required fear mentality and the ridiculous concept of herd immunity that they shout from the rooftops to promote their crazy schedule onto parents is the thing that prevents parents from thinking and blindly vaccinating little babies who cannot complain or speak.
I remember being a lot more frightenend when my baby was a newborn - but as he grew healthier and stronger without any well baby visits- well we are definately not scared of infectious diseases any more
Posted by: supriya | December 03, 2009 at 07:23 AM
Catherine Tamaro:
Thats pretty amazing that Amanda "I know nothing" Peet is the national spokesperson for a vaccination propaganda organization.
Peet's "I know nothing" is deliberate, just like Sargeant Schultz learned, "to ignore the evidence". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Banner
Posted by: michael framson | December 03, 2009 at 12:46 AM
It's not too late to have Peete's kid injected with the Mercury that was removed. If she's so trusting of the vaccine manufacturers and how safe they are, then surely she'd have no problem giving her child the same Mercury that was removed for her kid but not for mine!
No, I would not want that for her child, by the way, but I am sure she wouldn't either. This makes her and all the rest of them evil in my mind.
Posted by: Irene | December 03, 2009 at 12:40 AM
I'm just going to go ahead and PURGE out the garbage that Amanda Peet puts into me. It shouldn't require too much effort to gag, as her statements are dry-heavingly repugnant.
I'm going to stick my finger down my throat and gag away and hurl and hurl until every single (calorie) syllable is up and out of my system. And if any gets into my intestines, then I'll guzzle fistfuls of laxatives to expel the rest of it.
There.....now I feel better.
Sound familiar Peet?
Posted by: Bitchorexia | December 03, 2009 at 12:28 AM
Love it, Katie!!!!!!!!!!
OK- let's have Amanda Peet put her money where her mouth is: someone should challenge HER to receive 36 or so vaccines in 18 months...let's adjust the dose for body weight, and through in Thimerosal for good measure.
Then we shall ask her just how she is feeling then. Let's have Paul Offit join her, too. Maybe HE can take 100,000 shots and see how his immune system reacts!
Action, not just lip service. Let's see it. Those cowards would never do it. Didn't someone once offer, a few years back, a $75K reward for anyone who would drink a cocktail of all the vaccine preservatives? So this would be similar...
Posted by: Janet Sheehan | December 02, 2009 at 10:59 PM
Does Amanda Peet know about this new study (or the numerous previous similar studies) just out in the journal "Brain Research" Dec. 2009, revealing striking findings about thimerosal (which is in most H1N1 and almost all seasonal flu shots--at the level of 25 mcgs. of mercury):
Vaccine Adjuvant Alters Neurological Function in Rat Experiment, Symptoms Identical to Autism
November 30, 2009
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disability characterized by social withdrawal, communication deficits, and repetitive behaviors. Both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated as causes of autism, moreover a high body burden of mercury and other toxic metals from vaccinations and environmental exposures has been increasingly given more attention.
Thimerosal is mercury containing vaccine preservative added to many childhood vaccines. It is widely suspected as a cause of an increasing widespread epidemic of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.
Now, a new study shows that administration of thimerosal leads to long lasting neurological impairment in rats, specifically by altering the neural process of handling noxious stimuli.
Analysis also shows that significant amounts of mercury from thimerosal accumulates in the rat brain and remains long term. The mercury is not readily cleared, as was previously believed. Though mercury readily leaves the blood stream, it does not leave the body. It is now recognized to accumulate in brain tissue.
Additionally, this research is supported by various prior studies which show that children with autism suffer from a weak ability to excrete mercury and that the weaker the ability, the more severe the symptoms of autism.......
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/130605
Posted by: Lynn | December 02, 2009 at 10:28 PM
Good picture, Kim! Amanda Peet is a parrot and a pretty dull one at that. Thanks, Katie for your hilarious look at this bargain basement spokesperson - yikes what a loser.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | December 02, 2009 at 06:14 PM
"What I really found out is that I have no aptitude for science and that I know nothing."
Amanda Peet describing herself, in a Spring 2009 interview with Stanford Medicine Magazine.
Posted by: Catherine Tamaro | December 02, 2009 at 05:06 PM
Well done Katie, we saw our now fortyish autistic child deteriorate from within hours of the vaccination to be admitted to hospital and not released for seven days.
When she came home she was not the same child and even in one only attribute she has never changed in the forty five years that have elapsed since. Never once has she slept through the night in the same way that she did up to her third month of life.
Claire was diagnosed autistic at around 22 months and has remained profoundly disabled ever since. Some coincidence, as the medics claimed, but not when I have personally heard the same story hundreds of times. As a Vice-Chairman of the National Autistic Society in the UK I got to know many parents and this amazing coincidence is remarkably widespread I have to say!
Tony Bateson
Oxford, UK
Posted by: Tony Bateson | December 02, 2009 at 03:43 PM
Katie
Great piece, and you certainly did nail this women to the truth wall...I am in the camp that no vaccine can be made safe.
http://www.communicationagents.com/chris/vaccine_contamination_mcrearden.pdf
I think we have to rethink our trust factor...even if we ask them to take out things like mercury, aluminum and hydrolyzed protein (code word for MSG), I would still have problems, if not more problems with vaccines by their known replacement items, such as 2p-e. I would never assert that all children have the same healing capitals, and I would never assert that the cookie approach to medicines in any form are safe for everyone...this is where these people really really fall short of...
I don't like my kids to suffer...I know I would have handled a measles rash, or whatever, with TLC, and given them of course lovely nutrients like CLO (which disarms the virus), Selenium, VIT C, VIT D, homeopathics/herbs etc...and I know I would spend a week on healing...
Now, I have a life time of healing to look forward to. Do they forget we trusted people like Offit once? That we partook the bitter cup and did shrink?
And the herd immunity they speak of is only derived by NATURAL infections, the ones you get that lasts a lifetime...
I am sorry, but, once you study how the immune system works, and should work, you realize the whole witches brew is a foreign protein/antigen, and should have never been injected into our kids, let alone experimentsl programs of mass vaccinations.
I would love to take to task all these points on the creeps, but for now, I ignore them, and move on, and tell my story to as many parents, friends, and strangers I can. Just this week, I gave lectures to three different people...and they changed their minds on vaccinating...woo hoo...three, just three...but if we did that every week, and they told people, then other people...why do you think pharma and these people are SOOOO afraid of us? Because truth spreads like an epidemic...and the truth is, autism is an epidemic...and people see it...hear it,and know the parents are speaking out of their asses, but from pure personal tragic experience.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | December 02, 2009 at 02:07 PM
You make my so angry with your ignorant,doctor comments.First have a child with AUTISM and then decide for someone"s child.
Posted by: Liliana Crisan | December 02, 2009 at 02:06 PM
Thanks Katie, I do get tired of hearing how 'rare' a reaction is. My first was a happy baby boy talking regularly even excelling for 1 year old. Then came his shots and at 13 months he was absolutely silent. He also got sick when he got his vaccines every time. He was injected four times in one visit, with who knows how many vaccines in each shot. This was considered perfectly safe. Right.
Posted by: Leasia Korbel | December 02, 2009 at 01:59 PM
You would think Amanda, Dr. Nancy & P Offit could find a few dozen toddlers to come on the Today Show and be shot up with a 50x dose of mercury to make their point.
Offit could dress up as Santa and shoot them up as they are about to give their Christmas wishes ...
Posted by: cmo | December 02, 2009 at 01:34 PM
Katie, this is an awesome satirical synopsis. Thanks for taking the time to write it. We have to keep fighting this blatant misinformation.
Posted by: Rachel | December 02, 2009 at 01:30 PM
People like Amanda Pete and Dr. Paul Offit have not witnessed what I saw happen to my child in my own house. So, in case they are interested, which I doubt, but here it is anyhow. My son was given a Hep B vaccine an hour after birth and was under the jaundice lamp within hours of it. I may have written off as coincidence had he not had 2 subsequent vaccine reactions.
He was such a physically strong baby. On the video we took in the hospital my mother is holding him and my son is literally pulling his head away from her hand so he could hold it up to look around. He rolled over at 4 weeks of age, no kidding. Does this sound like a child born with a neurological condition that includes significant developmental delays?
My son would not nap unless he was curled up next to me. Seriously, I'd put him in the crib asleep and within 5 minutes he'd be yelling for me. Then I'd lie down with him on the couch and he'd sleep for hours. Does this sound like an infant who is born with a condition that puts him in his own world?
At six months my son was so sick and wasn't getting better so they actually had to inject him with Roceferin. Once he started recovering he was given an DPT shot. Suddenly my physically strong baby couldn't even sit up on his own. He began sleeping in his crib alone for naps, but he also would never have noticed if I never came home again!
You like to tell us we parents just think it has something to do with the vaccines because Autism "sets in" around the time vaccines are given. Okay, well then why don't you explain to me exactly when "the time Autism sets in". Why did it set in for my kid at 6 months and another at 18, and still another at 2 years of age. That's a pretty big window for you to be talking about "the time Autism sets in". If were indeed "a time when Autism sets in" then shouldn't it be roughly the same for each child?
Posted by: Autism Mom Rising | December 02, 2009 at 01:23 PM
Thank you, Katie-- you have a natural talent for capturing the other side's total absurdity. I can't wait to get the magazine.
Rarefied (def. "of, interesting to or pertaining to a select group; less dense; higher")...if only! Autism is hardly "select" now and neither is the response. Why do 75% of families with children on the spectrum use some form of biomed and why do 50% cease vaccinating subsequent children?
Front line witnesses, I know...not credible sources. If 100,000 people saw you rob a Brinks truck, a great defense strategy would be to argue they were all clouded by trauma, subjective, deluded, in a "fervor".
I'll repeat this until I'm blue in the face-- it's not as if the third world needs all these vaccines either more than they need plumbing, fresh water, etc. My husband's family had to leave Argentina for a third world Caribbean country when he was five. He'd had only three vaccines-- this was pretty normal for the kids of nouveau-hippy academic parents and most of the people he grew up with were "undervaccinated". But they were never sick because they were all middle class.
Because everyone understood that clean water, good food and not having to live in sewage made all the difference, disease was such a non-issue that it wasn't even discussed in my husband's family. This is unfortunate because when my mother-in-law finally did hear about the gigantic US vaccine schedule- and when she did gasp and protest that most of these diseases were hardly issues with healthy, well-fed children- it was too late and both kids had succumbed to vaccine injuries.
So personally, I'm sick of the "third world" example. Even in developing Africa- as I just found out from one of John Stone's epic debates- Aaby discovered that clean water and hygiene made the difference in mortality for measles.
Posted by: Gatogorra | December 02, 2009 at 12:05 PM
I love "rarified"! Its as perfectly ironic as "Precious" since my world with an 11 year old damaged by the full pre-thimerosol removal vaccine schedule includes middle of the night poop wakings, administering MB12 shots and downright antagonistic meetings with school administrators. Katie, what a wonderful job of voicing their silly little puppet to broadcast the between the lines vitriol, arrogance and ignorance.
Posted by: Ben's Mom | December 02, 2009 at 11:59 AM
Ms Peet and Schneiderman, will soon be opening off Broadway in a production called...Just get the damned shot shuffle. F them.
Posted by: K Fuller Yuba City | December 02, 2009 at 11:58 AM
I just love you Katie!! Perfection, always!
Posted by: rileysmom | December 02, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Nice piece, Katie, but I would be wary of the 20 vaccines between 0 and 14 weeks (with mercury still in them) that children get in the developing world - if its bad for our children what will it be like for those trying to survive in compromised conditions? What they need are the real things brought disease under control in the "developed world" in the first half of the last century: clean water, hygeinic living conditions, decent nutrition.
http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.com/graphs/
If we cannot provide those then over-vaccinating will probably only escalate the misery.
Posted by: John Stone | December 02, 2009 at 11:33 AM
Who is Amanda Peet?
Code word for:
Our cousins and sister-in-laws with more perfect than perfect children who send USA Today/Tribune Tripe articles - that vaccines (or any environmental factor) do not cause autism - that it is genetic and the rates are because of better diagnosing.
Our sisters who yell at us that we are not vaccinating our children.
Our aunts - who claim that your child never had autism and you are making it up (while he still stumbles about, cannot throw, write, stutters, etc. and who has a temper that goes from zero to eleven in a nanosecond. All evidence that, obviously, I am a horrible mother).
Our mother-in-laws - who "know autism and this isn't autism" who looked like they were going to punch us when you told them their grandchild was on spectrum - and again - that we are making it up (yes, it is hard to make up a toddler not pointing/not waving/not imitating/echolalia/pronoun reversal)
I have TONS of Amanda Peets in my very educated, "I am right", "I am smarter than you", argumentative family (can someone say glutamate receptor in spades... lol).
Thankfully, not my mother, my other sister or my other female cousins.
Interesting that I have ZERO male Amanda Peets - nor ZERO male defenders for that matter. And, I actually have tons of male relatives... hmmmm.
It really is other mothers who are sooooooo vehemently angered by our existence.
Amanda Peet disgusts me (all of the Amanda Peets).
Posted by: Henderson | December 02, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Thanks, Katie -- this is excellent!
Posted by: autism expert | December 02, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Many moons ago (pre-children and pre-internet) when I moved to the US I had my own Amanda Peet moment as I heard a commercial on the radio for Every Child by Two. I clearly remember thinking “why would you need a commercial for this? Is it a reminder for lazy parents? Who wouldn’t vaccinate their child”.
Fast forward a few years later to when I am the mother of my first born (and I did not question when they gave him a Hep B vax at birth even though in my homeland it wasn’t given until junior high). I had another Amanda Peet moment when I was visiting the chiropractor and he mentioned that they were not vaccinating their children. I clearly remember thinking, “Oh it’s alright for some because the rest of us are protecting your children by vaccinating ours”. It never even dawned on me to ask “why not”? I couldn’t even fathom that there were any negatives associated with vaccines.
Well, the joke was on me! So not only did we get autism but my son, in spite of 2xMMR, has no immunity to measles. Sorry, who did I think we were protecting?
We are in this position because we all drank the same kool-aid that Amanda drank. So I can’t fault her for that. I can however wish upon her a Raspberry award or a much magnified picture of her bottom’s cellulite on the cover of a supermarket tabloid for her very haughty and very public comment of calling parents “parasites” and the disingenuous apology that followed. May her “career” soon be relegated to the “where are they now?” pages.
P.S. I very much doubt that Peet followed the vaccine schedule.
Posted by: samaxtics | December 02, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Well done Katie!!! Thank you for yet another great piece. I wish this woman could spend some time with autism parents and kids and see the truth for herself. Hear the stories and see what these children really go through. Does she even know what is in these vaccines she promotes so passionately?
Posted by: Kristin | December 02, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Did anybody catch Amanda Peet's current interview in Self Magazine? More brilliance:
“This is about children’s health. This is about the future of our children’s health. It’s about what happens when you become complacent and you’re not vigilant as a community. It’s about the fact that I don’t think parents feel like they’re part of a community anymore. We all have to make this barricade together and if anybody drops hands, it’s like…I always think of it as a door opening. With polio, they were able to eradicate it in this country, but if the door opens even just a little bit, our children are at risk and we are at risk.”
Here's the kicker: Self Magazine has listed ECBT on its list of "Charities we Like."
http://www.self.com/health/2009/12/charities-we-like
She has two school pals on the staff of Self Magazine, which may explain how her Pharma lobby front group ended up on Self's list of favorite charities. Tell Self Magazine editors what you think of ECBT being a "Charity We Like" here:
http://www.self.com/contact/emailus
And tell Self readers what you think of Amanda Peet here: http://www.self.com/magazine/2009/12/amanda-peet-slideshow#slide=1
Posted by: Madvocate | December 02, 2009 at 11:06 AM
You know, I laugh when people use the whole "Jenny McCarthy was a Playboy Bunny" ruse in order to discredit her and trivialize her son's injury.
You know what I tell them?
"And? Amanda Peet took off her top in several movies. I guess that means we can't trust a word she says either."
Posted by: Craig Willoughby | December 02, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Thanks Katie, laughed and cried all the way through.
Posted by: kathleen | December 02, 2009 at 10:42 AM
When celebrities endorse vaccines or drugs, they are getting paid handsomely. Think of Salma Hayek with Pampers and each pack of Pampers will buy a vaccine for a child in a 3rd world country. Sally Fields and Boniva. Lance Armstrong and BMS. There are many actors promoting prescription drugs on tv, why should vaccines be any different? Wonder how much Amanda Peet is getting for her 'appearances?'
Posted by: Celebrities are paid | December 02, 2009 at 10:16 AM
I certainly prefer your style over JB's
Posted by: KD | December 02, 2009 at 10:16 AM
If it weren't for that pesky unethical aspect, I'd propose that Amanda's perfect toddler be injected 100,000 times in one day. Surely her buddy Offit would make a housecall for her!
Kidding aside, I wouldn't wish that on any child, regardless of the resentment I have for the mother.
BTW, I saw "2012". It sucked.
Posted by: Katie | December 02, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Thanks Katie! Delicious bit of sarcasm with some devastating points!
Posted by: Erik Nanstiel | December 02, 2009 at 09:59 AM
Katie, you nailed Amanda's holier than thou - self rightous attitude perfectly!
Posted by: Sylvia | December 02, 2009 at 09:44 AM
Thanks, Katie, for reading between the lines and filling in the blanks.
Some public figures like Peet and Offit make so much chatter and clatter that initially one fails to notice their omissions and deficits... namely a lack of understanding and compassion. They promote vaccines not so much to save others from misery, but instead to protect themselves from perceived hordes of filthy underlings.
Posted by: nhokkanen | December 02, 2009 at 09:31 AM
Amanda Peet's blood-chilling comments are worthy of condemnation. Neither her nor Offit have any clue of what they spew! Amanda is merely a "talking head" for hire - shamelessly shilling for vaccine manufacturers.
As always, Katie - you are a true hero! Thanks for taking the time in your very busy schedule to bless all of us! Your commitment to both of your children is a great example for all of us.
Posted by: Mercury Dad | December 02, 2009 at 09:31 AM
Amanda and her daughter were pictured on the net. My comment never got published. "I would like to see Dr. Andrew Moulden take images of Amanda's pretty daughter to see if the vaccine schedule she promotes for the AAP has damaged her precious daughter in anyway." After all early intervention is what it is all about. Right?
Posted by: Holly M. | December 02, 2009 at 09:28 AM
If her child turns up with autism, I wonder what she will think happened? Thank you, Katie, I got a little giggle before I got angry again...
Posted by: kim | December 02, 2009 at 09:19 AM
Who's Amanda Peet?
Posted by: Maggie | December 02, 2009 at 09:17 AM
I always love Katie's posts. Thanks for reminding me why I did not see 2012. I wonder if Amanda deviated from the vaccine schedule at all. She probably did not as she doesn't seem that bright and completely self-righteous - a deadly combination. I can see why Offit and the others w/ a vested interest do what they do but the only explanation I can come up with for her is what Casey said "Shit for Brains."
Posted by: JulieC | December 02, 2009 at 09:01 AM
Picture Perfect, Katie. I hope this piece will silence Pesky Peet once and for all.
Thanks, Maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | December 02, 2009 at 08:51 AM
Well, I guess that makes it official- Amanda gets the prestigious "Shit for Brains" award.
Posted by: Casey | December 02, 2009 at 08:34 AM
I just watched The Grinch cartoon again. You think there is anyway ever that Amanda & Paul's tiny tiny tiny heart would ever grow to normal size? The thing they do not realize is the whos will keep singing... Keep singing Katie You are awesome!
Posted by: Tanners Dad | December 02, 2009 at 07:59 AM
Amanda Peet is no different than CNN's Campbell Brown, who offered a "no bias, no bull" report on Vaccine Court decisions that found against parents claiming vaccine injuries caused autism. While Brown didn't call parents "parasites" as did Amanda..she none-the-less viewed parents not vaccinating their children as being a "threat" to her own.
At the very least, someone in the main-stream media should ask these two "vaccine experts" if THEY think THEIR child benefitted from having received vaccines that had far less thimerosal (mercury) in them than did the children of others only a decade ago?
In my opinion, these "experts" will forever be in debt to those courageous parents who fought for "safer" vaccines...including THEIRS.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | December 02, 2009 at 07:40 AM
Still can't stand the sight of Amanda Peet - she's in the new movie "2012" btw. Had I known this in advance I would not have gone anywhere near that film over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thank you Katie - you are a bright light in this not-so-"rarified" universe! :)
Posted by: Parent | December 02, 2009 at 06:21 AM