Writing the Wrongs
By Cathy Jameson
I have many interests, but I tend to gravitate and read conversations about autism and vaccines when I sit down to read. With all the social media opportunities available these days, it’s quite easy to respond to what I’ve just read. I can chime in, leave a comment and get involved in a variety of online conversations. Unbelievers, trolls and those adamantly opposed to parental choice can chime in too, but for the most part, lots of the other readers and commenters on the pages I’ve bookmarked are on the same page that I am – we believe that vaccines resulted in our child’s autism.
The kind of autism my child has isn’t easy. Having started out life typically developing, it was shocking to see my child tumble onto the spectrum as hard as he did. Now at 13 years old, Ronan’s unable to speak and toilet on his own. He’s prone to wander. Despite being on anti-epileptic medication, he still has seizures. Despite years of therapy, he’s still very delayed. Despite all the hardships, I hang onto hope that some good will come from our family’s autism and vaccine experience.
Vaccines aren’t the only cause of autism, but it’s one that can’t be ignored. Learning that vaccines can result in autism shocks a lot of people. But it isn’t just autism that shocks and concerns parents like me. It’s the vaccine ingredients, the vaccine schedule, the mainstream vaccine rhetoric and also the downplaying of how serious an autism diagnosis is that concerns me. I don’t add my two cents on every autism and vaccine thread or convo pops up on my screen, but I do chime in when I have the time and the energy to participate.
Things I want another parent to know is that I, like so many other parents of children who are vaccine injured, speak from experience. We’re not talking just to hear our own voices, and we’re not volunteering our input of some random topic we’ve never heard of. Vaccines have severely altered many family’s lives. They destroyed my own child’s potential. I speak up about that because I don’t ever want another child or family to go through the negatives that Ronan and my family have.
Sometimes my input is greeted with thanks.
Other times, it’s with angst.
Who does she think she is? Who is she to tell me what to do or not do with my kid? She has no right to butt in my health care choices.
And they’re right. I can’t stop another parent from vaccinating. I can warn them of what can happen if the vaccine fails or if adverse events present themselves though. If given the opportunity, I do that. I offer my insight in the hopes of educating a parent and will do so right up until the moment the needle goes in. But I can’t stop them. That’s why up until that needle could go in, I’ll continue to encourage every parent to…
Know the risks.
Know the facts.
Know their rights.
Somedays I get over zealous and think I need to share those points all day long and with everyone I know. I’m sure some family and friends get a little tired of me stepping on my soapbox. They probably say to themselves, Oh, geez. Here she goes again!
No one’s ever said to pipe down or to keep my comments to myself, but I can tell when I become too much. On those days, I transfer my efforts to a different audience. That’s when I find myself leaving little love notes in waiting room magazines:
I’ve left other websites for the next reader to check out: TMR’s, VaxTruth’s, the HHS website. I’ve even jotted down the CDC’s website asking them to look up this little ditty with their own eyes:
Sometimes, when looking through magazine pages where every other page is a pharmaceutical advert, I can’t keep up with leaving little love notes for the next reader.
My daughter, Fiona, got tired of what her science textbook offered when topics like live viruses, disease, and vaccines were mentioned. She found the information to be inaccurate and very one-sided. This was her response to an assignment she had back in 7th grade. I shared it on our AofA Facebook page with this description:
This is Cat Jameson's daughter's science homework. It is her answer to 'Explain how vaccines are beneficial'. She could've written an entire report on how they are not. The sibs know. They KNOW.
Of course they know. My daughter was challenged for adding in her two cents then. She was challenged again in 9th grade when vaccine misinformation appeared in another school textbook. Thanks to Fiona’s bravery, my younger children are preparing themselves for when they’ll need to speak up in their Science and Health classes when those topics come up.
Other kids we know and quite a few parents we don’t know speak up every day. Take a look at these images I saw just last week. Parents are having none of the vaccine bullying that’s becoming more and more common in schools in America. The school system must have thought they could get away with trampling on parents’ rights by asking for this form to be completed and returned. Thank God more than a few parents in Texas reminded the school to never mess with their kids’ health or their parental rights ever again.
(both images seen on Texans for Vaccine Choice FB page)
If other folks in Texas find that form sent home and are as outraged as others have been, Texans for Vaccine Choice has a great write up on what steps parents and guardians can take next.
It’s wonderful to see groups of people standing up and speaking out. It wasn’t that long ago that I felt like I had nowhere to turn and had no one to ask for help, so thank you to those who are stepping up publicly and fighting the good fight.
It’s unfortunate that some of what is happening lately does come with a fight – for our rights, for our concerns to be heard, for our children to be educated. Until all the wrong information is corrected, fight we must and write we must! We’ll right the wrongs of the ever-present pharmaceutical advertising found in all sorts of publications and on the internet, and in response to the No Shots? No School! myth being perpetuated around this time each year so that people can get the real story and the full story.
It’s a shame that fighting is part of this because something as simple as sharing the truth, the whole truth, is the right thing to do. But that just isn’t being done by all of the schools or those administering the shots. How easy it would be to mention the state exemption in any back-to-school health notices, and disclosing that some vaccine ingredients can be considered toxic, and admitting that some cases of autism yes indeed did result from vaccines. Unfortunately, that information is either quickly dismissed or never brought to light. It’s too bad because helping parents be fully informed could quickly ease the confusion that many parents face when it comes to vaccines and autism, vaccines and school, and vaccines in general. That’s why whenever I get the chance – be it online, or on a page in a magazine, or in a quick response to a pushy public school nurse, I’ll continue to write about what’s wrong with vaccines.
Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor for Age of Autism.
Narad,
Thank-you for getting back, and as I promised this is the last time. I never meant to suggest that you change your name! On the contrary.
All I was going to say was never stop being Narad.
Posted by: Benjamin | August 30, 2016 at 06:31 PM
I see what you are saying. I will change my name if you think it would be appropriate. I haven't thought through all of the ramifications of this imposture.
Narad used to posts link to AoA almost daily in an attempt to mock this website. I think that me using his moniker has deterred him from doing so lately.
I will try to post under my usual name from now on.
Posted by: Narad | August 30, 2016 at 06:11 PM
Narad,
I see...but that still doesn't explain why you suddenly chose to humiliate yourself at RI. And what makes even less sense is why you would persist in using the name 'Narad' when you have already been 'exposed' at RI. I mean, surely you can see how that can only figure to RI's benefit - namely, that AoA stand to lose face through having well-intentioned dialogue with someone who has been revealed as an impostor.
You see it's the question of to who's benefit this works that's troubling. And if you'll forgive my being blunt, one reason did occur to me as to why one might choose to expose themselves as you did. If it's possible for anyone at AoA to think that you really are Narad, then it's possible for someone to think so at RI. It works both ways, would you agree? And so by turning up at RI and letting them know that 'Narad' at AoA is a phoney, you effectively alleviate any doubt anyone at RI might have entertained about the motives of 'their' Narad.
You see, both of these things - turning up at RI and continuing to use Narad's name - play to RI's advantage. Can you see the problem here?
Posted by: Benjamin | August 29, 2016 at 07:43 PM
Benjamin. I only took Narad's name to piss him off. He is such an @sshole on RI and I know he visits this site daily.
Sorry if I got anyones' hopes up that Narad from RI had defected.
Posted by: Narad | August 29, 2016 at 06:06 PM
Narad, ah...Narad,
I'd be very grateful if you - just you! - could answer my question posted in the comments in the link below?
http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/05/dr-david-gorskis-unique-brand-of-moronism.html?cid=6a00d8357f3f2969e201b8d2121a1a970c#comment-6a00d8357f3f2969e201b8d2121a1a970c
It should only take you a minute and I'm sure we can clear everything up...
Posted by: Benjamin | August 29, 2016 at 01:29 PM
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NogK9913i0U
Good to see Doctors speaking truthfully. Support them by subscribing and liking their YouTube videos and visit their websites.
Posted by: Jeff | August 28, 2016 at 09:14 PM
Love these samples Cat - I almost want a form to come home now just so I can write all over it!
Posted by: Joanna | August 28, 2016 at 07:37 PM
Ha. Loved the notes on the magazines! It is good to stomp out the propaganda whenever, and wherever you see it.
Posted by: Narad | August 28, 2016 at 04:58 PM
I think I've said too much to my family, ironically in what I suspect are often recorded phone conversations--pharma and other forces couldn't be more wasteful than through investing any "warranted" or otherwise monitoring resources on us IMO--maybe to the point that some of my family might learn less if I say any more. Most of my loved ones seem like they would rather not really know the whys of all the familial autoimmunity and other difficulties, or any hows (not that I'm versed in many therapies) to undo some of it.
I love the notes and bookmarking ideas. I have to thicken my skin and comment here and there online to feel like maybe I'm accomplishing something. The most frustrating is when various unpredictable "moderation" practices waste time, but I try to imagine maybe three people seeing any comment I type (sometimes just a couple of moderators of course) before or despite it's soon-to-be-buried-or-vanished destination, and maybe at least one of them then thinking there is something more here to investigate. Buried post-it notes stuck on a massive virtual messaging wall, I guess.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | August 28, 2016 at 04:31 PM
Here in Colorado the Colorado Department of Health and Environment has mandated a State Vaccine Exemption form with compelled speech which we are challenging. They are also requiring forms that are not authorized by State statute; another challenge. Parents are outraged by CDPHE's egregious abuse of power - an abuse that has come to define most health departments. For those AoA readers in Colorado, please visit our website, www.ccfvc.org for more information on our State activities. Colorado Coalition for Vaccine Choice is a wonderful group of activist parents!
Posted by: Kathy Sincere | August 28, 2016 at 11:51 AM
I've also been known to bookmark the truth. Details here: http://www.cathyjameson.org/2016/01/bookmarking-truth.html?m=1
:) Cathy
Posted by: Cathy Jameson | August 28, 2016 at 11:50 AM
"Things I want another parent to know is that I, like so many other parents of children who are vaccine injured, speak from experience." And, "I hang onto hope that some good will come from our family’s autism and vaccine experience." Yeah...and that's why I can't hush up, either. Thank you for doing what you are doing, Cathy. YOU are a great mother.
Posted by: Sally Rubin | August 28, 2016 at 11:14 AM
Awesome idea! I can't wait to do this! Also put learntherisk.org as they have cards you can leave Etc. Has anyone figured out how much money mandated vaccines cost insurance and how much we pay in that little vaccine tax? Perhaps like epipen people wold care if they realize these insane vax costs add to all premiums. Then we can add on all the medical costs for seizures and other side effects just the ones paid by insurance... Surely the cost benefit is unreal useless . Someone must have done these studies of say the cost of vaccine reactions in preemies z immediately then in special needs costs for school and insurer . Versus what beneifit? We need to start talking showing the economic Argument here and then let the parents know the true cost to them if the vaccine causes reactions. People who don't give a flip about our suffering may actually care about how much of their premium is due to money going to pay for shots . And then Cathy we could add--"that hep b shot at birth could cost your family 300k if it goes wrong... " right on the edge of an add in a mommy to be magazine!
Posted by: Carolyn C Mcd | August 28, 2016 at 10:17 AM
Gary,
"...guerrilla warfare in the waiting rooms." One magazine page, one pHarma ad, one next potential reader at a time. It's so simple. And I just love your description of it.
Thank you!
Cathy
Posted by: Cathy Jameson | August 28, 2016 at 09:51 AM
Cathy,
Love notes in waiting room magazines. GREAT IDEA!
I noticed the fine print at the bottom of your first magazine above:
"Participation by the CDC does not imply endorsement of any commercial sponsors of this supplement."
The gall of these people.
Posted by: Linda1 | August 28, 2016 at 09:09 AM
Tony
The fundamental situation in the UK is that vaccination is almost purely at the risk of the"the patient" and their families. Theoretically you could sue the pharmaceutical companies but the politicised government funding body under its various aliases won't support it - as we have seen they pulled the plug on the MMR litigation, but to put that in perspective they also blocked litigation against Merck over Vioxx (which looked like a sure thing). Of course, if you were a billionaire you might sue although the very rich tend to be remarkably sensitive about their social position (and perhaps by now they know better than to vaccinate more than cautiously). Yes, there was an indemnity situationwith the GSK version of MMR (Pluserix) but presumably it would have meant the government would have had to re-imburse GSK after the trial. I think this is likely the situation over Pandemrix which is admitted to cause narcolepsy. The government as we know is also resisting making payments through the VDPU (Vaccine Damage Payment Unit) max. $190k on apparently the most specious grounds, but presumably any legal suit against GSK would then have to be met by the government afterwards.
The big problem here is though we don't have enforced mandates we also don't have informed consent - mostly the public seem to take it on trust and good information has to be actively sought out. But anyone who looks at the present infant schedule ought to wonder.
Posted by: John Stone | August 28, 2016 at 08:55 AM
Cathy: It's pretty early in the morning here, so forgive me for forgetting to first thank you for your guerrilla warfare in the waiting rooms. You are totally cool!!
Posted by: Gary Ogden | August 28, 2016 at 08:41 AM
Jeffrey Jaxen gave this Howard Zinn quote in a recent interview with Robert Scott Bell:
"We don't have to engage in grand heroic actions to participate in the process of change.
Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world."
Posted by: greyone | August 28, 2016 at 08:27 AM
Michael S: A shocking turn of events; an amazingly ignorant judge. It's as if he heard not a word the plaintiff's attorneys said nor read a word they wrote. It's as if he doesn't give a damn about real human children irreparably harmed by this draconian, fascist law given to us by the cowards and worms in the California legislature and governor's office. There will be a trial going forward on the entire claim, but this judge has already shown himself incapable of giving it a fair hearing.
Posted by: Gary Ogden | August 28, 2016 at 08:25 AM
In Britain there are complexities around indemnities and medical liabilities. No one knows better than the parents and the Pharmaceutical Industry about the causes of autism but the Pharmaceutical industry syndicates risk by interposing the MD/and or Clinic between the parties. Perhaps pressure should be brought to bear on medical indemnity of risk to completely remove potential liabilities falling upon medics. This might require a watertight contract with the patient to ensure they know that risk from vaccination is wholly that of the parents. This might result in new parents taking greater care to be informed about the nature of the procedure they are presenting their child for. It must surely be disconcerting for parents to learn that the Federal Government underwrite Pharmaceutical Industry risks in the use of its products.
Tony Bateson, Oxford UK
Posted by: tony bateson | August 28, 2016 at 08:05 AM
SB277 Lawsuit:
"Grotesquely incompetent Judge won’t suspend mandatory vaccination."
https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2016/08/27/grotesquely-incompetent-judge-wont-suspend-mandatory-vaccination/
Posted by: Michael S. | August 28, 2016 at 07:21 AM