Combatting Autism
After a particularly difficult week, I knew I needed to make some changes. The biggest change would be about my attitude. It was going to be hard because reminders of why some things are difficult stare me in the face daily. Some of the reminders have me ping ponging from feeling overwhelmed to feeling depressed. The extra stress I carried last week made me want to give up on some of this fight. Not on the fight I will always have to help and protect Ronan, but the fight that inevitably comes while attempting to educate other people on vaccine history, safety and injury.
While trying to contribute the real facts about vaccines with some people, many of whom have become increasingly insulting the longer the dialogue continues, I came close to walking away. I wanted to be done with it and with future conversations too. I threw my hands up in the air and thought it’s not up to me to educate anyone, so why do I try so hard. I’ve been told before “do not engage” and “it’s pointless” and “they’ll just get you all riled up, Cat”. True to form, their same old arguments were indeed pointless, and I did get riled up. I forgot my own advice and regretted engaging with these folks. They proudly hail from narrow minded and one-sided pro-vaccination camps. But something caught my eye. It nagged at me and made me want to come back.
Midway through the discussion, new people chimed in. People I hadn’t expected responded. People who didn’t have kids yet but wanted to know why the fuss about vaccines. People asking why some groups insist that vaccines are a gift to mankind while other groups politely caution the use of them. These people offered a thought or two. They were genuinely interested and clearly following along the conversation. Then they began to ask questions. Questions that made the conversation continue and that brought other people in as well.
I stuck around. I shared my thoughts and linked websites. These folks admitted that while they don’t like the vaccine schedule, they felt like they were unable to do much about it. They didn’t know that public schools still have to admit students who choose to not follow the recommended schedule. They didn’t know that vaccines haven’t truly been studied like the news and some government agencies want us to believe. They didn’t know that with vaccine use, comes vaccine injury and death. They didn’t know that our own government has paid out over $2.7 billion dollars to those who’ve been adversely affected by vaccines. They didn’t know it only takes only a few minutes on a few websites to verify all of that and that they could easily start to search out the truth for themselves.
I was taken aback when the conversation turned as these new people chimed in. They reminded me of myself when I first learned about vaccines. I was that ill-informed person. I was that scared new parent. I was that person who did not know I had rights. I was also that constantly-wondering-what-if type of mom. What if I do vaccinate? What if I don’t? What if he gets chicken pox naturally? What if he doesn’t? What if the vaccine doesn’t work? And, wait just a minute. Why does he need a booster if vaccines supposedly work so well?
These were the same types of questions I had many years ago. Questions I can now answer. Questions about why that one-size-fits-all vaccine schedule can and does do more harm than good. Questions about the specific diseases vaccines are supposed to protect us from, but don’t, and can actually cause the disease to proliferate. Questions about the so called safety of the products being injected into brand new babies. Concerns about the long term effects, some that sound scary and far worse than catching the disease.
I remember how overwhelming it was to be that mom. The mom who didn’t know. Who was afraid. The mom who had questions but hadn’t a clue where to look for answers. I also remembered something else: the emotions that come with the eventual discovery of Ronan’s vaccine injury. Sadness. Worry. Fear. Anger. Betrayal. Those emotions subsided but can surface on the bad days. They creep in during bad weeks, too. Those emotions came back last week and were strongest when I tried to tell Ronan’s story again.
I hated how those emotions brought me down. But, I felt something else and knew I needed to stick around a bit longer. As the conversation got deeper, I looked beyond who was vehemently responded that all vaccines have “saved lives!” and that they are only “safe and effective!” and that vaccines have “eradicated diseases!” and that “the people who don’t vaccinate are putting the rest of us at risk!” and the final kicker, that “lives lost to vaccine injury are acceptable because it’s for the greater good”. For those having had similar conversations with the same close-minded type of people, you can see why I was ready to walk away. Everything I’d learned the hard way was being thrown in my face. It was insulting.
But, those other people. The ones who were listening on the outskirts. The ones beginning to ask questions. Those people needed to know and hear both sides of the story. They needed proper guidance, not a DO IT or DIE sort of reaction my counterparts were offering. Could they benefit from my well thought out and scientifically backed replies? Could I combat the negative energy to answer them? Is it worth my time? Of course. Amidst the show-me-your-studies-and-I’ll-knock-them-out-of-the-park-with-mine commentary, I kept my mind on those innocent lurkers. For the uninformed, it must have been quite a show watching this conversation unfold! I pushed forward. I shared what I could in the hopes that if I reach just one person, that the effort I made would be worthwhile.
Some people think parents like me are full of junk science and ridiculous lies. Some people don’t want to hear me drone on and on. They don’t want to know that the flu shot is bunk and chicken pox is better caught in the wild than through a vial. At the end of the day, it was not to these people that I was speaking to or using my energy toward. It was to the people who didn’t know yet that they have more power than they ever realized—the power to keep their health, and the health of their child, in their own hands. They were my audience now, and they deserved the positive energy I knew I still had.
I learned a hard lesson last week in joining in a conversation about the vaccine debate. I made it my own mission to prove that today’s vaccines are nothing but useless. It may not have been the best decision I have made. But how I feel after doing the right thing didn’t matter. In sharing my experience, in telling Ronan’s story and in supplying facts other groups would rather not share, more of the truth about vaccines and our children’s reactions came out. The truth. That’s what matters.
Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism.
Cathy, thank you for the link. Very grateful to whoever put together the info!
Here's another conversation starter, a book titled "Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice" Book published by Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice; Lo B, Field MJ, editors. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2009.
I found it by googling "medical textbook funding" because of what you posted in your response. Have only read one section of the extract referenced below, but it was quite telling.
Extract available at National Center for Biotechnology Information - National Library of Medicine -national Institutes of Health
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22945/
Quote from extract summarizing this book:
"In one study, residents were asked to empty their pockets of pens, penlights, calipers, and other items ... Ninety-seven percent of the residents had at least one item marked by a pharmaceutical insignia, and about half of the items carried by residents were so branded. More than 90 percent of the residents said that they thought that interactions with drug company representatives influenced their prescribing."
Mama Bear editorializes: we know to be skeptical if our auto mechanic wears hat, jacket, shirt emblazoned with auto maker name. We know to raise an eyebrow if our insurance salesman is making a commission on the policy she's recommending. But do we question our doctors who routinely carry "items ... so branded" by pharmaceutical companies? Do *they* question?
This not to slam all healthcare professionals. Just a reminder that in this monumental struggle to save our children, MDs, nurses, etc, like all people, are best served with the truth.
Posted by: Mamabear | September 25, 2013 at 05:37 PM
Mama Bear and Chrissy D,
Challenge accepted. Take a look at this list. Let us know if it helps answer some of your questions. http://adventuresinautism.com/files/VaccineAutismStudies.doc
And a thought for Mama Bear's friend who may be questioning the role of vaccines in her child's health and ASD diagnosis--I have heard, but haven't had the chance to verify, that med student's medical textbooks (which include chapters on vaccine 'facts') are funded and/or supplied by pharmaceutical companies. If that is true, how can incoming doctors be objective if what they are being told to learn is being written by companies who will later benefit from the doctors' recommendations to their patients (ie, prescriptions)?
Cat
Posted by: Cat Jameson | September 23, 2013 at 10:13 PM
Well,we are the 6-8% whose child/children experienced adverse effects after vaccinations.True understanding of vaccine damage
is complex and lot of the health professionals are trained with big pharma in the background (funding,research,data manipulation,control,false studies,false placebo trials etc.)so
what we need is for Universities to break away from big pharma and become independent.The same goes for hospitals and all research institutions.The power and money must flow to independent research to find the truth. Eg.most of the doctors do not even know that polysorbate can open the blood brain barrier and the boric acid can increase the emulsifying capability of polysorbates and vaccine particles can enter the brain(Gardasil).There are mercury research out there but it appears that knowledge exist in SILOS,and the SILOS do not communicate with each other.The situation in healthcare similar to autism - they do not have the connection/communication/comprehension/taking responsibility of the situation.If you wonder why??? It is very difficult for them to ADMIT MISTAKES;Just remember they had apologized after 50 years (Thalidomide)or remember how hard poor Semmelweis was fighting to prevent puerperal fever.This brilliant doctor ONLY asked them to wash their hands properly and it took them until the 1940's to figure out that he was right all along.I am asking all doctors to stand united,break away from pHarma and demand money from the government directly to establish independent research.Our children must have a high quality of life and humanity must survive.Sickness is part of Capitalism,we have to step up to a much higher level.I do not have a name for that,perhaps new Freedom,new Independence where individuals have rights,knowledge,empowerment and above all choices.
Posted by: oneVoice | September 23, 2013 at 05:59 PM
That's an important lesson and an important reminder for anyone with a vaccine injured child. Simply having a vaccine injured child, is a bold statement to the world that we once believed differently. No one would willingly offer up their child for severe health trauma and lifelong disability. We didn't anticipate this any more than other parents do. We were that parent.
The arguments take on a personal note, about who is right who is wrong, and there's a lot of ego involved, including ego around parenting choices. Maybe it would soften the lines of defense, if we admitted to those parents that we are not better than them; we are them. We are all the same, and some of us suffered consequences for our choices that others did not. And if we were in the group that hadn't suffered consequences, then maybe we would still believe vaccines were safe for everyone. What isn't debatable is our personal experience, and that is one of the best things we can share (along with excellent scholarly links that we don't interpret for them).
Posted by: Mary | September 23, 2013 at 01:20 PM
MamaBear - that is a great challenge. I've struggled with the same thing. Who has the technical info without all the attached rhetoric and blame game and "answers" as to why its happening? My extended relatives don't like the fear mongering from their doctors, and have flat out asked me for info without it.
I think recommending medalert might be a good start where to send someone, along with sourcing the quote that only somewhere between 1% & 10% of vaccine injuries have been reported. Then let them do the math. They themselves can research based on their own family's statistics, and determine what they would consider a serious reaction vs what the gov't calls serious, as well as the hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and recovered or not recovered status. It's an eye opener.
A couple years back it took me almost no time at all to see that if a child had to get a flu shot, the one by CSL might not be the way to go. Almost all the serious life altering reactions that came up in my particular search within only the first 10 pages were way disproportionately listed as the CSL product - which was the one in Australia that ended up s de-recommended for kids under 5 due to seizures.
I know for me it was also a shocker to see "diabetes mellitus" quite often in one of the searches I did.
Posted by: Jenny | September 23, 2013 at 12:04 PM
ChrissyD,
When enough HCP speak up, it will be those who are wrong whose careers will be in jeopardy. What is your career worth if your cooperative silence is enabling crimes against humanity?
Posted by: Linda | September 23, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Yes Chrissy D,
Mis-education and mis-training are HUGE problems.Pharma brain-washes the nurses and doctors "to see things their way".
Posted by: oneVoice | September 23, 2013 at 09:36 AM
nhokkannen, you nailed it with "Others parrot the "Wakefield's debunked study"; their prattle merely declares their receptivity to media manipulation... and their unwillingness to read long, complicated medical articles. The manufactured MMR meme provides mental shorthand for today's ADHD soundbite mentality.”
But this willingness to buy into media soundbites and sling mud on those who question vaccine safety goes deeper than that. There is something deeply religious in that need to believe in the goodness and omnipotence of vaccines, and the readiness of the masses to take active part in burning the witches and dragging their corpse out whenever a whiff of heresy is detected. Vaccines being viewed as an incarnation of our saviour, the God of Science that will protect us all from the dark, evil, diseases-causing forces. Human nature hasn’t changed much since the times when we routinely offered human sacrifices to appease those malevolent gods.
(isn’t it funny though that those who call themselves Sceptic are without fail the most fanatical and rigid purveyors of this fine religion)
Posted by: Rationalist | September 23, 2013 at 07:18 AM
Here is my "i'm a busy, overwhelmed mommy of a severely impacted child that also TRIES to educate the public" response...WAY TO GO AND NEVER GIVE UP!:) Thank you for standing strong and continuing...i am at a breaking point about now in daily life with my daughter (the past 10 months have been the worst yet, she is 12) i think every day i want to give up...you just gave me some much needed inspiration...although we support families in other ways as well..same story...HANG IN THERE LADY!:)
Posted by: Lisa Kelly | September 22, 2013 at 09:47 PM
Mamabear that's me. I'm a medical professional for 20+ years with a vaccine injured son and husband (gulf war vet). It took me two years to finally face the reality of their injuries. I would have believed it sooner but I'd been mis-educated in my medical training. I'm finally brave enough to discuss what happened to my son with some of my colleagues but I'm hesitant to go totally public for fear of hurting my career.
Posted by: ChrissyD | September 22, 2013 at 09:34 PM
Thanks for posting this, Cat . . . very good points made . . . especially for those of us "old-timers" who are truly battle-scarred and burnt-out from fighting this fight to the point where we've recovered our own child(ren) and just want to retreat/relax/live normal lives. I will keep fighting that good fight. -BJ
Posted by: Burnt-Out but Re-Charging . . . | September 22, 2013 at 09:09 PM
Does anyone have good information about the Vit. K shot at birth? Is it possible in the U.S. to get the oral form of Vit. K instead of the shot?
Posted by: Dana | September 22, 2013 at 09:00 PM
OK, here's a challenge. I have a Church friend who is healthcare professional married to another HC pro. My friend let me know, quietly, that their elem school kid is high-func on the spectrum. Told her about our fam history and how we're convinced it was vac injury. Friend is skeptical, vacs are safe, done so much good etc
My challenge: I want to share with friend, preferably single source (i.e., don't want to run all over the internet) something that is
- suitable for med professionals (i.e., credentials, credibility) written in objective language, not subjective
- that does not slam anyone, pro or con
- that does not use pic, video of kids
- that is thoughtful, thought-provoking
- that ideally would help my friend to look at her child and say, hmmmm, I wonder...
You see, I think in her heart of hearts, she's already there, but is carry too much, HC pro license, the western medical school way of study that makes it easy, necessary to prescribe drugs, the conventional wisdom one thinks one knows, being part of a med practice, etc
We cannot possibly have stat of 1 in 50 without having thousands, hundreds of thousands kids of docs, nurses, etc. But who will educate them, if not us? Who will lead them with compassion, charity, out of that hell if not us? And please no ranting about "serves them right!" We are the ones with right on our side.
Look at that brick wall that illustrates Cathy's article. On the other side there are certainly enemies, those who know the truth and are willing to keep building that wall to hide the truth. But there are Lso those who started on that side as healthcare professionals. But now they have an injjured child.
They may need help climbing over that brick wall.
Posted by: Mamabear | September 22, 2013 at 07:51 PM
Thank you for writing this. I struggle with the feelings that come up frequently without venturing online, and almost always when I do. I still try to communicate what I know and not be frustrated that it is more about how little we "know," intentionally it seems, on the part of those recommending the vaccine schedule.
Parents should not be in this situation where authoritarians are willing to twist arms painfully, and rile others up who don't have enough incentive to investigate how much they are being played by the corporate-controlled media, towards exposing their infants and children to multiple rounds of an industrial product in an out-of-control experiment instead of presenting honest data that actually answers their questions and honest representations of what is known and not known and honest respect for parental and individual rights of choice.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | September 22, 2013 at 07:34 PM
"Many parents and grandparents who survived most of the childhood diseases have been comforting themselves with the notion that vaccines prevent the week or so of discomfort they once suffered."
OMG. That week of "suffering" was your immune system immunizing itself for a LIFETIME of disease free living. Today's children know no such protection. "Vaccination" does not confer immunity. Our children are completely UNPROTECTED from ie. the native measles virus.
”When young girls catch measles naturally, they in turn are able to pass this immune protection on to their babies when they are older, both by antibody transfer through the placenta and by way of breast milk after giving birth. Vaccination with MMR prevents girls from getting the measles, and it also keeps their immunity from being transferred to their future children, who are then born utterly unprotected.” Doctor Russell Blaylock MD Note this lack of protection at birth where they are most at risk of death would be unconscionable in an honest country
http://healthyprotocols.com/2_vac_measles.htm
Before we started "vaccinating" for measles there were three forms of the measles virus. Today there are at least 73. What are we creating? I am afraid when the pandemics hit we will find out.
We have created at least two generations with severe immunocompromisation and immunodeficiency. These individuals will be at much higher risk of disease and death in a pandemic situation where medical services are over strained.
God save us this is by DESIGN.
Posted by: Lou | September 22, 2013 at 07:24 PM
"These folks admitted that while they don’t like the vaccine schedule, they felt like they were unable to do much about it."
IMO the very first thing to do is tell your current or prospective "Pediatrician" you will not be requiring his/her services. This will do much for you, your children and children to come. YOU will HAVE to start studying and LEARNING the truth about health and wellness.
There are numerous good books by good Pediatricians and Medical Doctors to help you get a start. That is all you need a start.
A whole new world will open up to you. It is a world that will include few if any "vaccinations"; LOTS of whole raw organic FOOD; LOTS of clean filtered fluoride-less water; LOTS of questions of EVERYONE and the resolve to see through the lies the CDC et al present as purported answers to your questions. The net will rarely lie to you once you learn to use it.
http://www.amazon.com/Raise-Healthy-Child-Spite-Doctor/dp/0345342763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379890738&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+raise+a+healthy+child+in+spite+of+your+doctor
Posted by: Lou | September 22, 2013 at 07:06 PM
The vaccine/autism issue teaches so much about human nature -- fear, loyalty, dominance, control.
Some folks seize the opportunity to feel smug by insisting that reworking the childhood shot schedule will somehow increase disease. The declaration is totemistic rather than realistic.
Others parrot the "Wakefield's debunked study"; their prattle merely declares their receptivity to media manipulation... and their unwillingness to read long, complicated medical articles. The manufactured MMR meme provides mental shorthand for today's ADHD soundbite mentality.
Many parents and grandparents who survived most of the childhood diseases have been comforting themselves with the notion that vaccines prevent the week or so of discomfort they once suffered. Dragging out the topic for reexamination seems at first irrational, but as vaccine injury cases continue unabated the repetition eventually breaks through the mental resistance.
Case after case after case of brain damage tends to get one's attention eventually.
Posted by: nhokkanen | September 22, 2013 at 03:26 PM
I was speaking with an older person recently and this person was definitely in the sceptic camp. We really discussed the matter and I told him about some of the studies and the methodological errors (Thorsen, Fombonne) and asked him if he realized newborn infants receive hep b at birth in USA. I believe he left with a bit of a change of perspective. If nothing else , he realized there is some grey area to the matter.
Posted by: Truthseeker2 | September 22, 2013 at 03:02 PM
Thank you for your heroic efforts Cathy! My son was showing 'soft' signs that 'something' wasn't quite right from day one of his life. That 'something' also seemed to be linked to his immune system (allergies etc) and to his gut function (reflux, foul smelly poos etc) and, although I could not put my finger on it yet, I had a very bad feeling about taking him in for his early vaccines. Something just felt very wrong, and he seemed even more 'not right' after them. But at the same time I was too scared not to take him in month after month - that 'what if I don't' was just too loud and too scary in my head, and I wasn't equipped with any knowledge to fight it back.
By the time his boosters and his MMR were due I'd posted questions on internet forums, and amongst many who shouted about Wakefield being a fraud blah blah blah there was one mum who exchanged a few very polite emails with me and, without ever implying what I should or shouldn't do, provided bits of information that confirmed what I instinctively already new ... that it was just too risky for my son, in his particular situation. Would those extra vaccines, especially the MMR, pushed him over into severe autism? Would they've damaged him so much more, making recovery so much harder than it was? I am glad I will never have to know the answers, and forever grateful to that one mum for giving me the courage to trust my instinct.
Posted by: I was one of those parents | September 22, 2013 at 08:32 AM