Childhood American Style
Many Aof A readers may be too young to remember the very popular, classic 70’s television show called Love American Style. This show made Friday night sleepovers more thrilling than you can possibly imagine! These were the days before sex saturated the media and the three or four lively and flirtatious vignettes featured each week were funny and oh so titillating.
This last week, (the first official week of school where I live) provided me with four
vignettes in what we could call “Childhood American Style.” These sample stories of
really neurologically ill children who live just in my neighborhood are reflective of
stories playing out all over America, every hour of everyday. It is so awful that I can’t
find the right words to express it.
First day of school: Call from a close friend whose daughter has crushing anxiety and
phobia issues. These have been ongoing for years and so much time and energy has been
put forth by this family to help her function and enjoy life. She has established a fragile
truce with life in a big high school but here she is the first day with extreme anxiety and
panic over a situation you and I would consider nothing. Her parents have to
leave work, talk to counselors and determine how much their daughter can push through
and how much assistance to give. “Childhood American Style”.
Second day of school: A good friend from another school district calls to see how
my son is making out this week. Both her children have autism. She shares
with me that she has found a supported typing therapist in our area who works with non
verbal or partially verbal children. We have a long conversation about this and she tells
me about what a breakthrough this has been for two of our friend’s children. I hang up
the phone reflecting on whether this might be good for my son who talks but who cannot
express complex thoughts. As I ruminate on this I realize that I personally know
NINE non-verbal children. This leaves me a bit stunned. This number doesn’t include
families from my larger biomed support group or local autism community. These are
children whose families I know. I ask some people that afternoon if they realize how
insane it is that I know that many children nearby WHO CANNOT TALK. “Childhood
American Style”.
Third day of school: My husband goes to the gym and sees our oldest son’s close friend.
This young man is dear to my heart because he has gone into special education. He spent
last year getting his graduate degree and he now has his first real job. He is a resource
teacher for 2nd graders with IEP’s in one of our local elementary schools. My husband
asks how it is going. He says, “Well today was a really tough day. I got called into a
classroom because one of my students was tipping over file cabinets and throwing glass”.
He said the file cabinets were so big and heavy he had no idea how this kid did it but
the child was very frustrated due to his inability to communicate properly. He was
removed from the room and our friend calmed him down. This is the third day
of class in a typical suburban elementary school. “Childhood American Style”.
Fourth day of School: It’s Friday—finally, and I stick my head in the office
of the principal of the school where my older children use to attend. He is an old
friend and I wanted to see how his summer had been. His family had taken a
missions trip to Africa and it had been wonderful. My big question though
was about his 17 year old daughter who for almost two years has suffered from
dehabilitating headaches. For two years this perfectly healthy bright, athletic
girl has suffered from acute headaches that keep her from school and life. They’ve
searched everywhere for an answer. Molds, toxins, Lymes, TMJ, food allergies. She is
still not better. “Childhood American Style”.
I know we ask ourselves all the time, but I am asking again. What will it take for our
society’s leaders to truly address the extreme childhood health crisis we face.? When
will the right people with the right influence see that we can’t keep going like this, that
we need real help, real research, real answers, real medicine and a real halt to “Childhood
American Style”.
Brooke Potthast lives with her family in Arlington, Virginia and is the founder
of the Shire School, a school for children with autism.
"an effort to advance predetermined ideological agendas" interesting statement from Obama...does he mean eugenics???
Posted by: Sarah | September 13, 2012 at 03:12 PM
Bob Moffitt for President. I swear, you're a most insightful, precise, articulate mouthpiece for autism. Have you ever considered political life? Please?
Posted by: Zed | September 13, 2012 at 11:09 AM
This article sums up the same speech I give to ANYONE that will listen......SOMETHING is happening to our kids. At an alarming number! I work with the families of children with special health care needs in my state. All of our families are middle income, low/middle and low income and they have some type of chronic illness. I service one county in my state, and at the beginning of each month, I receive a list of new enrollees. On the average, 30 children PER MONTH, become enrolled in our program!!! That is 30 NEW CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN each month, seeking subsidized (some with small copays, others with no copays) healthcare in my COUNTY. I couldn't even imagine what that number is statewide. If that does not qualify as a public health crisis, I don't know what does. These children will more than likely remain dependant on public healtcare assistance FOREVER. Yet, no one asks why/how/what or how the heck are we going to stop this....
Posted by: Arwyn Holmes | September 13, 2012 at 10:40 AM
@ cmo .. you posted:
"A few years ago, the American press used to be the "fourth branch of government" which helped keep the other three branches in check, simply by demanding and printing the truth from time to time."
I agree the pharma industry has far too much influence over what is "reported" in the Fourth Estate. However, they are just one small part of the problem .. the much larger problem was identified by President Obama in his inaugural speech:
"And we have watched as scientific integrity has been undermined and scientific research has been politicizes in an effort to advance predetermined ideological agendas."
Scientific integrity has become an oxymoron.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | September 13, 2012 at 06:54 AM
"... I gotta believe what Mark Blaxill said to me at the IACC press conference. He told me he thinks the truth about vaccines will come about like the tearing down of the Berlin wall. It won't seem possible and then all of a sudden it will happen....
****************
I am sure that Mark is correct on this one. Because until now, I have not had the words to describe how I felt at that exact moment when I realized vaccines had done this to my son.
I thing I knew it was vaccines at a subconscious level, but my conscious mind wouldn't allow me to believe it. I guess I finally reached a point where the truth was just too obvious to ignore.... and it literally felt like an enormous wall had crumbled to the ground.
Vaccines are a crime against humanity, with a particular focus on the most innocent and defenceless. Many Parents are waking up to this truth, and that awareness will eventually start to spread like wild fire.
When the public finally comes to understand what has been done to their children, there will nowhere for the criminals to hide.
Posted by: Barry | September 12, 2012 at 10:11 PM
"Even if Joe MD or citizen doesn't think it is vaccines doesn't he want to know why the kids are so sick and stop it?"
Ten years or so ago I too was puzzled by this.
No longer, HHS is controlled by the Rockefeller clan. The Rockefellers are eugenicists and want less people. Most autistics will not reproduce.
This is a horrible truth but if we ignore the truth we will never solve our autism problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIFpbAxDMYI&feature=related
Posted by: Lou | September 12, 2012 at 09:59 PM
Sadly, this seems to be the case, "the new normal" -which isn't normal at all. I notice that with respect to the 2 new cases of tics in Leroy, the school board is now saying,"we will no longer be commenting on student health issues from within our schools..we have been warned by medical experts that the continued media attention may negatively impact the students." haha, ya I just bet they were warned. The neuros don't want anyone to question their silly conversion diagnosis. Neither do the 'science'bloggers.
Posted by: Jen | September 12, 2012 at 08:17 PM
My kids aren't children, ages 26 and 29, but Andrew the 26 year old developed Autism at 20 months after his MMR vaccine and developed PANDAS 3 months before his 11th birthday. My daughter started having muscle pain at age 16/17.
By her early 20s she had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Now at 29 she has been suffering with SEVERE and DEBILITATING PAIN for over 2 years, with no real answers or help from doctors.
I have 3 siblings in their late 40s and early 50s. We are all for the most part healthy. What we have done to our children isn't new. It started in the 80s and is only getting worse.
Posted by: Jan | September 12, 2012 at 07:09 PM
A few years ago, the American press used to be the "fourth branch of government" which helped keep the other three branches in check, simply by demanding and printing the truth from time to time.
The "fourth branch" has now been completely bought out by Pharma who controls what they say and what they print. Pharma has their own laws they enjoy and their own "Vaccine Court system" which has allowed the Autism disaster to go on for 20 years now.
Without the internet, Autism rates might still be reported as one in 10,000.
The Berlin wall comparison is a good one. the "vaccine wall of cards" has fallen in other countries long ago. Thank goodness we know our 401k's are secure....
Posted by: cmo | September 12, 2012 at 06:45 PM
IMO, this mass poisoning of American children is done on purpose to depopulate and destroy the EMPIRE. The question is : who is behind this crime against humanity. Is it only the medical-pharma Al-kaida, or some foreign US enemies?
Posted by: no-vac | September 12, 2012 at 06:37 PM
Thanks for all the comments folks--trust me I DO BELIEVE it is the VACCINES, although with this post I just wanted to point out (again) this crazy state of affairs and ask why no one seems to give a rip. Even if Joe MD or citizen doesn't think it is vaccines doesn't he want to know why the kids are so sick and stop it? It is hard to believe that our country has fallen so far that greed thoroughly dominates the day. I gotta believe what Mark Blaxill said to me at the IACC press conference. He told me he thinks the truth about vaccines will come about like the tearing down of the Berlin wall. It won't seem possible and then all of a sudden it will happen. He told me we just have to keep at it. Good words that day since the IACC meeting
was SO disheartening. Thanks all for reading--it was fun to watch the clip Kim put at the end of the post!
Posted by: Brooke Potthast | September 12, 2012 at 05:24 PM
That really brought me back!! Thanks for posting the opening theme of Love American Style and describing that Friday night feeling so well. Your description of childhood American style was equally on target, unfortunately. I could tell 10 stories on my block alone, ranging from seizures to ASD to ADHD.
Brooke, why no mention of vaccines? We have more than enough "real research" to know what the primary cause of childhood American Style is. There's no mystery and no lack of "real answers." HHS has admitted vaccines cause autism and other serious health problems numerous times now.
If we're going to end the extreme health crisis, we can't tiptoe around the "V-word." That's what pharma wants us to do.
Posted by: vaccines caused this mess | September 12, 2012 at 03:35 PM
One thing this area here does have -- along with the entire midwest is a bad drug problem.
In the summer time of the year -our house must be in some direct flight path of drug seeking helicopters. Sometimes a whole fleet beat the air above us.
I was out in my garden getting tomatoes just a few days ago, in my night gown (who cares - I live on a farm - in the country - out of sight of road and neighbor) and I still got caught in my nightgown by a low flying drug enforcment officier. I hope he got his eyes full.
Our neighbor who moved in here from Mass after they retired to work in drug rehab programs- said they believed most of the people with the drug problems have bipolar as an underlying cause.
Bipolar; Recent studies show those young adolescents suffering from mood disorders and bipolar have enlarged pitiutary glands - part of the endocrine system.
Yes, I blame the vaccines as I stand -the garden, caught in my flimsy night gown and even holding it up so I can create a pocket for the tomatoes-- if he circled back I thought I might hike it up more, so it could not only hold some fresh eggs but give him more to look at.
When did the War on Drugs begin?
Notice we always ate organic and breathed fresh air -- much better than in the 50s/60s before government regulations for air polution.
It is the vaccines,vaccines, vaccines.
What role pesticides have in all of this?
Only if the kids came down with Kawasakis after walking across a recently treated golf course-- which some did!
However; My kids were playing on a yard that had more dandelions and plantian that grass -- we raised hay - and we did not spray-- because we did not have too, and it was before Round Up was invented.
It is the vaccines and only the vaccines and the fact that Mommie and Daddy was not only fully vaccinated, but had more vaccine in thier late teens and early twenites pior to reproducing.
Posted by: Benedetta | September 12, 2012 at 01:58 PM
A very depressing documentary on what has been and is being done to children, for profit and with the help of corrupt science.
ADHD Ritalin Kids Truth
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=58cOG9z3XkE
Posted by: GennyGC | September 12, 2012 at 01:13 PM
I second everything Terri Lewis has to say and encourage everyone to join this Facebook campaign mentioned
Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children is a group on Facebook. They/we (I wish I had been one of them) are 24,000 and growing every day.
I'm joining up
Posted by: Kim No-Vac | September 12, 2012 at 11:53 AM
I must add that even unvaccinated children will now have brain damage and immune damage in record numbers, since their parents (now in their 20s and 30s, for the most part) have poorly functioning immune systems.
These parents eat GMO foods sprayed heavily with pesticides (neurological damage for them or for the baby), carry a huge body burden of mercury and aluminum (from their own "baby shots," fish, air pollution, and dental fillings), AND have more spontaneous DNA mutations (due to all of the above and more).
Many of them have grown up this way. They have no healthy foundation (organic foods fresh from the farm, etc.). They themselves were BORN with a toxic load. . .this may not have shown up as obvious damage to them (the parents) but it will be big enough to harm their unborn children.
And the cycle continues until WE--individually and together--STOP IT through sheer refusal of air pollution (including huge, polluting cars and factories),refusal of vaccines, refusal of GMO foods, refusal of mercury dental fillings, and so on.
Posted by: Terri Lewis | September 12, 2012 at 11:11 AM
There is ONLY one thing that will stop this: New parents, in large numbers, refusing vaccination more or less completely.
Period.
No savior in the government, big business, or even outside of that little group of informed new parents who will simply no longer have it.
Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children is a group on Facebook. They/we (I wish I had been one of them) are 24,000 and growing every day.
The percentage of parents in the last ten years or so who choose NOT to vaccinate at all or to vaccinate late or partially is growing exponentially, and the true figures are being (as always) suppressed! And simply lied about!
I estimate the number of parents in the last 6 or 7 years to be roughly 25% to 40%. I may be off, and I may be way off, but I simply do not believe the figure is as low as they would have us believe.
They want to shut us up but they never will.
Posted by: Terri Lewis | September 12, 2012 at 11:03 AM
Great article! It never ceases to amaze me how the public can accept the unacceptable. Believe the unbelievable.
A once rare condition that no one ever saw, is now two to three on every block in America. But don't panic - this has always been the case, we've just never really noticed before. THAT IS INSANE!
And all the kids that suffer from the laundry list of health problems and attention disorders add to the carnage. Those kids are even more likely to be blamed for their struggles. If not them - then it is their parents who get blamed. This is truly the definition of a WORLD GONE MAD.
Posted by: Sylvia | September 12, 2012 at 10:58 AM
Brooke, you’ve pointed out the sad reality of American life. We are the nation of the chronically ill and disabled. It’s not recognized as such, but it’s the truth. My son’s parochial middle/high school has a few hundred kids in it. Several kids have diabetes, lots of them have asthma, and one has a life threatening peanut allergy that’s so bad the other students aren’t even allowed to bring peanut butter sandwiches to school. They don’t have the rooms full of learning disabled kids that they do down the street at the public school, but it’s obvious that things are not like they were back when I was in school.
How did we get this way? No one is even willing to recognize the problem.
What can we do to stop it? No one is interested now because entire careers are built around serving this disabled population.
What does this mean for America? No one talks about the future as our schools begin to resemble medical clinics and more and more health care facilities are being built. Endless drug commercials for every conceivable condition assure us that many people don’t want things to change. There’s too much profit to be made from the pathetic state of Americans’ health.
The push for addressing the problem isn’t going to come from U.S. health officials or the mainstream medical community. It’s going to have to be the public and those experts not connected to the industries profiting from this mess. The voices for change will be those who demand we fix how we’re living. We have to stop poisoning ourselves with toxic food, water, medicine, vaccines. We have to admit that officials who were supposed to be protecting our interests have failed. What we’ve seen happen over the last 25 years especially simply can’t continue.
Anne Dachel, Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | September 12, 2012 at 09:38 AM