Jenna McCarthy was on CNN last night.

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Its so nice that jenny mc carthy knows so much more than the center for disease control. Her child did not die... i hate it when parents say that autism 'took' their child away. their child has not gone anywhere, the parent obviously has written them off as such. Why would someone give up like that ? Maybe that is how she feels describes it, but then there has got to be a way to listen to these children. Why do they assume that the child is supposed to bend to the whims of 'normal' or they are 'dead'.

THere are reports and i have seen numerous youtube videos of parents teaching their autistic kids how to type on the computer... Many times they are amazed at how intelligent these little people are. I am not a parent and i dont know the difficulties of parenting an autistic child. It seems like it is partly the attitude a parent takes in raising the child that makes a difference. that is with any kid. I hope she is discredited and soon.

Interesting point, NPBDude. I didn't remember about that. But it goes to show how much damage overly dramatic terminology can do - because so many parents have referred to the onset on autism as the "loss" of their child, it was a very easy assumption for people to make, that Jenny wasn't describing a medical event, but the onset of autism.

I don't know what to think of her anymore. The first article I ever read from her was fine, I didn't have any major issues with it, I was happy to hear that a diet change had helped her child so much, and while her and I weren't on the same page overall, I thought she could be an effective advocate. But she isn't all that consistent, and I really don't remember her being on the vaccine bandwagon before. How can I trust her "instinct" when it keeps changing? It's not as if her speaking style implies a slow evolution of opinion; it's far too absolute for that.

I am very curious to learn more about her ex, and his position on it all. I never hear anything. But wasn't he rather quirky? Just the kind of artist that may be Aspie himself?

I don't have a problem with someone who says they worked on finding an alternative medicine and/or dietary treatment for their autistic child, and they had very good results with that child. Okay! I don't have a problem with her questioning the medical authorities on certain issues regarding additives and vaccine schedules. A good parent should ask questions and be concerned about anything that goes into their child's body. And there have been in the past some real concerns about such things. I don't trust all doctors or medical treatments, though I know there are some excellent ones out there, and there's been some treatment programs that benefit the autistic person, and not just everyone around them.
Not that I advocate for the "curebie" mentality, by any stretch of the imagination. I would like to see a generally happy, well adjusted and self confident autistic child with parents who accept him or her as is, than one who is guilt ridden about having this terrible "illness", feels like a defective creature, and is the cause of the poor martyred parents' woes.

The problem I had with her interview on Larry King was the manner in which she presented her case. Her attitude turned me off. She was rude, and interrupted what the other doctors were saying, and made remarks that didn't make sense to me. I don't know her that well, but she came across as a celebrity who is stirring up controversy to get more media attention.

Eh. My dos pesos, is all.

Thing is, if she's trying to do a good thing, she should realize the responsibility of being a high profile influence on many of those who watch her, and behave accordingly.
I know some parents are highly emotional and defensive about their autistic child, I know one mother from my kids' school whose son has AS. She couldn't talk about him without crying, because his diagnosis was still new and she was trying to adjust to it, but she liked talking to an adult with AS to understand him better. She even asked me advice on how to deal with his behavior issues.
Being a parent myself, I told her how I would probably deal with it, but that I was no expert, I only know that many times when I was punished for "bad" behavior, I didn't even know what I was being punished for, because I didn't know it was bad, even if it actually was.
The only thing I could actually come out and say was, "Never assume you know what your child is thinking, let him/her tell you, and when he or she tells you, believe what your child is saying." You know, open communication lines, with a child who is precocious enough to do so, like he is. That tends to work for most people, anyway, who can communicate.
Oh, and the other thing is, show respect.

Again, I don't know Jenny McCarthy very well, except for her behavior on Larry King, it just really turned me off to wanting to hear what she had to say because she wasn't being very respectful of the opposing views.
She came across as someone who has something diagnosable, herself, and I'm not saying that to be derisive, just trying to put it into some sort of perspective.

Don't mistake me, this whole "cure autism now" crusade really rankles. I don't want to be cured, just respected.

Do you non-Canadians even know WHO Jenny McCarthy is?

She's Jim Carrey (the comic)'s girlfriend/fiancee. She's doing a book tour to promote Louder than Words.

She believe that the therapies have "cured" her son in one breath, but in the next statement will say that if she lets her guard down, that Evan (her son) can revert back into his Autism.

She believes that his gastrointenstinal problems ARE NOT related to his autism.

And she believe that the vaccines caused his autism: why? Because a Mom knows.

She's dangerous because she has no idea that a little boy exists inside his head that she needs to learn how to communicate with. And worse, she is dangerous, because every time she speaks she inadvertently throws in a plug for Autism Speaks' eugenics program.

I see.

Any time someone talks about "eradicating autism", I see it in no other way than their message to me being that they don't want people like me to exist, at all.
I've heard that kind of talk, and seen those conversations on Usenet discussion boards, websites, and other places. The commercials disturb me, because they echoed things my mother wrote in her journal, that I found after she passed away, that if she had the legal right to take me out of this world, she would have, because she brought me into it in the first place. Chilling words from one's own mother. What if Jenny's son didn't respond to the treatments? The point is, it worked for now, but what if it didn't?
The other thing is, how some people view "defective" people. They don't want to deal with people who are going to be a problem for them, they want to see them disappear.

It's the "Yuppie perfect world" mindset that bugs me so much, if something is ugly, or not useful, defective or different in a way they don't like, then they want to throw it away. That's the kind of school system my kids had to attend, full of parents who acted like Jenny McCarthy. I've been yelled at by parents like her at a special ed parents support meeting because I had said, in introductions, that not only was I the parent of two kids with significant needs, but that I had AS. To explain further, I said it is a type of autism, and I was unable to say more, because I was shouted down. So, I'm a bit gun shy of parents who think liek that.
But I wanted to withhold judgment on Jenny until I knew what her agenda truly was. Sometimes it takes me a while.