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Thinking Mom: "How I Gave My Son Autism"

Stories for thinkingThe Thinking Moms' Revolution website put out an amazing piece on Feb 20, 2013. (And seriously, the mothers in the autism community are the smartest women around since they're dealing with a disaster that the world has yet to recognize.) 

It's by someone named only as "Mountain Mama."  The title is heartbreaking.  She calls it, How I Gave My Son Autism. 

Mothers who understand the real reasons behind that autism epidemic will easily identify with what's written here. 

"I am admitting here for all the world to see: I gave my son Autism. I did it. Me. And no one can ever take that away."

Mountain Mama continues,

"So . . . how did I give my son autism? I wish I could say it was one thing - one thing that I could take back that would make things neat and easy, but it wasn't. It was mistake after mistake, assault after assault. The following are the biggest mistakes I made to which I attribute my son's descent into autism. I'm going to provide links that are easily readable and understandable that contain links to the research rather than providing links to the research itself. A simple Google search about any one of these topics will provide more information than you could ever want. Here goes . . ."

Then she lists the recommended products, medical procedures, and drugs that are harming the health of children.  This is a list of items familiar to lots of moms.  They trusted.  They believed they were doing the best for their kids.  They believed these things were safe. 

Our children are more fragile than ever.  Our schools are filled with kids on behavior meds for ASD, ADD, ADHD, and more, kids with asthma, allergies, diabetes, seizure disorders and the list goes on and on.  Health forms take up several pages now because there are so many things wrong with kids today.  While health officials and mainstream medicine have yet to notice all the sick kids everywhere, moms know the truth.

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.

Comments

Benedetta

"Formal training in thinking and statistical reasoning"

Mary; you are aware that those formal training in college that involve statistical training is now including with in the title at any rate -- ethics.


Go figure!

All that striaght line stat and number thinking and they still have to try to trian people to be honest.

Can you train a person to be honest?
Do they have formal training that will do that?

Linda

"she should try a course on critical thinking and statistical reasoning"

Because we all know that one cannot possibly get through life without formal training in thinking and statistical reasoning. You have to wonder how man ever survived and evolved through the thousands of years before these courses were invented.

Quite Contrary

Ah Mary, the old "Correlation does not equal causation..." How many times we've heard it. And "Propaganda laced blog." You have no intention of starting a dialog you have your eye wide shut. Your comment is at THIS blog - feel better?

Mary

I posted this directly to her blog replies but she deleted it...hmmm, I wonder why!

Wow! Correlation does not equal causation. She's clearly attempting to incite panic based merely on speculation. Neither personal opinion, nor experience equal valid or reliable research or evidence.

The author wrote nothing about the links between autism and bio-engineered foods (she should look into Monsanto!), hormones used in our meat & dairy supply, or even the most conclusive evidence—that autism is a genetic disorder. These just scratch the surface. This author only wrote a list of correlations professing each was the cause of her child's autism. She was not speculating. She was stating facts.

This concerns me because some could rely on her propaganda laced blog to make decisions, which could potentially risk one’s life or mental capacity. There is no way, if she’s sane or educated, that she can dispute that the majority of her list of items has also saved numerous lives, potentially even her own child! Forgive me for putting this bluntly…would she rather have a child with autism or a dead baby?! A c-section or a still birth? Would she really try to dispute that c-sections have saved lives; mother and babies? I shudder to think if she would! Would she rather have an autistic son or one with polio? Would the world really be a better place if polio were still running rampant? Antibiotics, c-sections, and (although hotly debated) vaccines have saved how many lives? Even fluoride (contested by some) and acetaminophen (a fever reducer) indirectly save lives. She ought not to forget the benefits of most items on her list.

I could profess that regularly eating from the garbage could increase our body’s natural ability to fight infection (by exposing our body’s to germs, thus increasing our immunity). And I could surely find a link to research on the internet that professes the increased need for germ exposure. But it doesn’t take into consideration all the other deadly bacteria we could pick up from the garbage. Stating this belief and providing a link doesn’t make it fact. It still makes it a speculation. Without replicated evidence the author has nothing.

I saw a lot more “selling” than “proving” in her blog. She has a right to her opinion, but it should be stated as such. She stated it as fact…very biased fact.

My biggest concern was the scare tactics the author used, seemingly to induce panic. I believe parents need all the help they can get and we already carry with us a guilt button the size of Texas. I believe MOST parents do the best they can with the tools and skills they have available to them at the time, in every situation. I am positive (although I am clearly stating this as my opinion) that rarely does a parent say, “You know what?! I think I’m gonna screw this kid up!” She should be helping parents make fully informed decisions, not scaring them into seeing life from her supposedly factual perspective.

I’d be ignorant to state that there are not risks associated with each of the items on her list, but in many (except for HFCS) and in my opinion, the benefits far outweigh the risks. And just because I wouldn't do something, doesn't mean nobody else should. Different is not wrong. I just encourage taking educated risks if necessary. And now that she and I agree that we should all be educating ourselves, she should try a course on critical thinking and statistical reasoning.

Robin Stettnisch

I've read that sometimes a child with PANS/PANDAS (please google for lots of information about this controversial illness)can be misdiagnosed as autistic or having OCD etc. I've also read that an autistic child's symptoms can be exacerbated by PANS/PANDAS. VERY IMPORTANT - a negative strep throat culture and/or negative blood titers tests does NOT necessarily mean a child does not have PANDAS.

Greg

Listening to people ignore vaccines and speculate other causes of the autism epidemic is so frustrating. Its analogous to a murder investigator who has a suspect seen running from the scene with blood on his clothes while clutching a weapon, and the investigator throws his hands in the air in confusion because there may be other suspects. What is so confusing about countless of parents -- some compensated in vaccine court-- who report that their child dramatically descended into autism shortly after vaccination? Perhaps, even more frustrating is the talk that a non-verbal, headbanging, screaming autistic
who is still in diapers past early childhood does not 'really' suffer from a disability but is just 'different'.

Greg

Listening to people ignore vaccines and speculate other causes of the autism epidemic is so frustrating. Its analogous to a murder investigator who has a suspect seen running from the scene with blood and his clothes while clutching a weapon, and the investigator throws his hands in the air in confusion because there may be other suspects. What is so confusing about countless of parents -- some compensated in vaccine court-- who report that their child dramatically descended into autism shortly after vaccination? Perhaps, even more frustrating is the talk that a non-verbal, headbanging, screaming autistic
who is still in diapers past early childhood does not 'really' suffer from a disability but is just 'different'.

Leonard Oestreicher


The cause, I believe, of the pandemic of ASD is something so simple and so modern and is easily preventable. Two-way communication is face to face interaction while one-way is the kind we get from TV, Video, books, radio etc. where there is no place for social interaction. The first year of life is the critical time for infants to be exposed to and get interested social behavior. In the last 50 years and especially the last 20 years our infants have ever more been exposed to and enchanted by sources of one-way communication, the Pied Pipers of Autism.

Lou

"They trusted. They believed they were doing the best for their kids. They believed these things were safe."

NO MORE!

We KNOW we are dealing with DELIBERATE MAJOR lies and PERVASIVE deception. How in heavens name can you "trust". Simpsonwood demonstrates all this in spades.

"Trust" is over forever.

Please spread the word especially to young mothers.

mary maxwell

Imagine BOTH parents being accused of "Munchausen syndrome" in regard to their son with CFS. I offer this link to a new website in which people report judicial (or medical) corruption. Most helpful thing I have seen in years. It is called Lawless America. The mother's name is Lisa Baldwin. Please spare 5 minutes for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR9P31OIgiI

Greg

I am a firm believer in the notion that the simplest answer is usually the correct one. With respect to all the things suggested as contributing to autism, none appear to be as significant as vaccines: Thousands upon thousands of parents do not report that their children dramatically regressed into autism after drinking tap water. The autism epidemic does not correspond as precisely in time as with the use of antibiotics. Seizures, brain inflammation, and other autoimmunity issues that autistics suffer from are not as closely tied to c-sections and pitocin use. We should be careful not to get ahead of ourselves lest we start living up to our 'psuedoscientists' billing.

Gi. Yo.

Autism has been around long since any vaccinations have been. So the vaccination thing to me is not cutting it. Autism is not an epidemic, it has always been around. It was always classified as something else. I know kids, unvaccinated who have Autism so to me it really doesnt make sense to me. I beleive my sons as well as others Autism is genetic. I beleive my father had Autism among other family members but went undiagnosed. I think honestly people are putting too much on this whole "The Government is trying to kill us thing" I dont neccessarily think thats true. I would love to know what caused my sons Autism but heres the thing, im not focused on a cause, or a cure. Im focused on how to get my son where he needs to be. People put way to much negativty into Autism, yea it does have its bad days, but it has many more positives than negatives.

Jen

Jeanette, the "theme" (parents are just looking for something to blame) is just bullcrap. You or any of the other parents don't even have to justify why you came to the conclusions you did. We always want to know "why" things happen; that's what makes us human. It's why docs go into medicine.
Lately I was talking to a Ped and I was absolutely taken aback with how cooly non-chalant this person was about my grandmother's Guillaume Barre after her flu shot. S/he completely aknowledged this as a known side effect, yet without one once of sympathy or compassion. Contrst this to their absolutely passionate account of dealing one time with a case of necrotizing fasciitis (I'm not even sure if it was related to a case of chicken pox) but apparently you have a 50% greater chance of being struck by lightening than developing flesh eating disease). 110% sympathy for anyone suffering from disease, 0% for anyone suffering from any vaccine side effect. I even got the 'it's worth it for any side effects for us to prevent this one case' of necrotizing fasciitis line. It really was something to be present for this kind of double standard. My grandmother made a full recovery, not that this Ped even asked or cared about, but clearly they are fully indoctrinated to ignore any and all side effects.

First Do No Harm

Thank you Laura. I'm posting some of the studies below on risks of ultrasound if anyone wants to further investigate.

I think Mountain Mama does a good job of reviewing some of the medical pitfalls women face (i.e. risks to their infants) during pregnancy, however I object to self-blame for the harm done by mainstream medical practices. I consider myself no more responsible for damage done to my child by doctors than I would consider myself responsible if a licensed plumber were to come to my house and reroute the waste pipe from my toilet into my living room. If we can't trust trained and licensed professionals to do their jobs, then we need to work for reform. But blaming ourselves is counterproductive.

From Laura's link:

A summary of the safety of ultrasound in human studies, published in May 2002 in the US journal Epidemiology concluded:
…there may be a relation between prenatal ultrasound exposure and adverse outcome. Some of the reported effects include growth restriction, delayed speech, dyslexia, and non-right-handedness associated with ultrasound exposure. Continued research is needed to evaluate the potential adverse effects of ultrasound exposure during pregnancy. These studies should measure the acoustic output, exposure time, number of exposures per subject, and the timing during the pregnancy when exposure(s) occurred. (Marinac-Dabic 2002)

Studies on humans exposed to ultrasound have shown that possible adverse effects include premature ovulation (Testart 1982), preterm labour or miscarriage (Lorenz, 1990; Saari-Kemppainen 1990), low birth weight (Newnham, 1993, Geerts 1996), poorer condition at birth (Thacker 1985; Newnham, 1991), perinatal death (Davies 1992) dyslexia (Stark 1984), delayed speech development (Campbell, 1993) and less right-handedness (Salvesen 1993: Kieler 1998a, Salvesen 1999, Kieler 2001). Non right-handedness is, in other circumstances, seen as a marker of damage to the developing brain (see Odent 1998, Keiler 2001). One Australian study showed that babies exposed to 5 or more doppler ultrasounds were 30% more likely to develop intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR)- a condition that ultrasound is often used to detect. (Newnham, 1993)

barbara j

I was watching Dr.Wakefield's presentation from January, and had a voila moment. All along I've listened to everyone telling me it had to be the mmr, and my son did not have his mmr until after his symptoms. Then I listened to Dr.Wakefield, and the puzzle piece fell into place. Something I had considered, and likely mentioned over the years, now has roots in truth. My son was a young toddler when I took him and his older brother for their shots. He received a dtap and others, the older son received his mmr. The oldest boy was wracked with gastro pain for four months he was violently ill. The baby, a full month after his brothers symptoms ,rashed, started with violent vomiting and diarrhea and lost his language. He stopped speaking , his eyes were so sick , when he received his own mmr at age two months shy of his fourth birthday, he developed identical illness. Already potty trained, I slept with him and changed his briefs as diapers three to four times a night, within weeks he had his first meltdown. I thought it was just behavioral reaction to being so sick, of course time told the story. HOWEVER I did not understand the possibility that he had reacted to his brother's mmr through horizontal transmission perhaps explaining why many un vaccinated siblings develop autism .

ANGUS FILES

I think pharma try to posion the mother before giving birth then it is harder to prove vaccines.."as the baby was born that way"..probably, but many parents just dont want to believe they have caused the disabillity,the autism,the Aspergers..I know becase we were one as well ..it took us about 6 years to accept that ...denial nothing to beat it beleive me I know..its a happy place to be not knowing ..now that I do know I am just greatful for the knowledge..

Angus

Laura Hayes

Here is a link to a Sept. 28, 2010, article by Sarah Pope, of The Healthy Home Economist blog. In the article, she provides links to ultrasound-related articles. This is in answer to First Do No Harm's request. Hope it helps! http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/prenatal-ultrasounds-risky-proposition/

Jeannette Bishop

All the claims that run along the themes of "some parents just can't accept the way things are, and are just looking for something to blame" really fall flat. I know how long it took me to look at this and evaluate the likelihood that the exposures I introduced into my child are involved, and I know how painful it was as these things, like nothing else, fit into place with observation and study. I guess that's the silver lining of all the pain.

First Do No Harm

I wish the ultrasound link provided links to the studies it refers to (or even the names of the studies). Perhaps Mountain Mama can give us the more back-up to that link which states "Research shows populations exposed to ultrasound have a quadrupled perinatal death rate, increased rates of brain damage, nerve cell demylienation, dyslexia, speech delays, epilepsy, and learning difficulties." I would like to know more about this. Thx

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