Managing Editor’s Note: Jenny McCarthy is hosting a stand-up comedy party in San Francisco on September 11th to benefit autism charities The Ryder Foundation, and Generation Rescue. The event features comedians Gary Valentine, Heather McDonald, Whitney Cummings and Josh Wolf. Tickets adn details, including sponsorship opportunities available online: Comedy For Kids SF HERE. Thank you to Alix, of the MedNauseam blog for the post.

By Alix, editor of MedNauseam Blog

Two moms in Northern California are on a roll. Jenny DeMaria and Maureen Block, co-directors of the Ryder Foundation , once had children diagnosed with autism. The boys are now socially indistinguishable from their peers.

Block says both school-aged boys still have “educational challenges, but they have been recovered.” The rapid changes both mothers saw in their boys after trying a gluten-free diet motivated them to try different diet and biomedical interventions. And, the myriad interventions all add up. Block says, “Treating autism is like trying to get a train back on its tracks. It’s gone off-track and you need to get each train car, one at a time, back on the track.”

DeMaria’s son was diagnosed as moderately autistic. Now he would be classified as having mild Asperger’s. “Ryder's challenges are now barely noticeable to an outsider,” De Maria said. "There were days I thought my child would never be able to dress himself or brush his teeth or sing a song or make a friend. Now he is the happiest, friendliest, most vociferous child I know. He keeps astounding us with his progress."

After their rapid, and continuing success with their own sons, DeMaria and Block quickly got involved with Generation Rescue , Jenny McCarthy’s autism organization, volunteering as Rescue Angels to mentor other parents who were beginning the journey toward recovery. But that wasn’t enough ‘giving back’ for them. They wanted to do more. In 2005, they joined forces with two other women to found the Ryder Foundation in recognition of DeMaria’s son’s recovery.
 
“We have helped raise over $800,000 for autism charities,” said Block, “and we are hoping to move that number to $1 million with our next event, this September 11th, to benefit the Ryder Foundation and Generation Rescue."