Jenny McCarthy & Son(Evan Asher)

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I'll have to disagree with you there. Someone as loud as Jenny invariably draws attention-- but it is possible to maneuver around them.Difficult but not impossible. What has she argued thus far? That autism is bad, vaccines cause autism, and therefore if you get rid of the evil of vaccines one can separate autism from the autistic?One who raises awareness that "autism exists,be afraid" by means of sheer visibility and abundance of decibels will damage their credibility quite effectively without outside assistance.The "facts" and logistical fallacy of her ideas are painfully obvious. Furthermore, there ignorant people everywhere. When one falls in popularity another grows. If you try to expose them all, you'll have less resources available to reach people who basically good but more vulnerable to their emotional responses than an more logical, intellectual might be.

What remains now is to influence ideas and feelings.Both in our individual spheres and the world at large.To blur the lines of disability and ability. To stretch it to include more than what one can directly observe--and beyond childhood. To challenge the notion that abstract, language thinking and the multitasking social brain necessary to work the McDonalds-drive through is the ultimate good. And most of all, bring people together to care for other people's worth and dignity simply for the reason that we are all human.

In this process, going over someone bulldozer fashion will not serve. Reaching other people effectively requires one to act with deliberation and forethought.Connecting with other people requires a purpose in mind.

I feel like eating Roast Jenny for dinner, tonight. Oh, yeah...she doesn't have any meat on her bones. Throw her in the garbage. She's just a skeleton with a skeleton brain.

You can never be too rich, or too thin...right, Jenny?

She is a frontwoman for the "autism exists, be afraid" movement. Silence and/or avoidance may be an idea, but it's not always a good one. Many people who follow her are ignorant - these same people mistake silence/avoidance for agreement. So while I see the logic in your argument, I'm afraid I cannot concur on the basis of the people's general consensus surrounding their flawed thought process.
Normally I wouldn't care what they thought, but many vote - and since they will vote on issues directly affecting me, an autistic, then I have to step in and intervene - not only on my behalf, but on others as well.
Sure, there will be others like her - but what other choices do we have? It seems as if it's down to the old "fight or flight" adage.
This isn't about our favorite TV shows or movies or games or even the latest fashions - it's about our rights, freedoms, respect and independence as autistics and members of society.
I'd rather fight than stay silent and watch as people who don't have autism and claim to know what's best for me take away what I can and cannot do, place stereotypes about who I am, and destroy any major progress for independence among us.

I understand her panic and worries as a mother. But that gives her no right to trample on my life or someone else's either.

* thinks for a moment*

If I gave the impression of advocating passivity and inaction I apologize. What I was driving at is this:

Addressing her in particular skirts the issue. By focusing one's energies on discrediting her and/or her ideas, it shifts the attention to her person. To her errors. I don't want to dilute my efforts and voice with the particulars of one person's erroneous reasoning. I want to assert and expound upon why the entire idea of "autism exists, be afraid" credo is counterproductive and destructive. I want to challenge the general public's assumption that their quality and quantity of social contact is *the* standard for quality of life. I want to question, why is language honored far above all other modes of expression?

Debunking one person's version of autism mythology (even someone as loud as she is) doesn't educate others about the truth. Only educating others on what is true does that.

Bottom line:

It's using energy intended to counteract her, inadvertantly giving free publicity to her erroneous reasoning that I object to. Not taking an active stance in protecting our rights and freedoms.

Good point.

Jenny McCarthy gets on my nerves. I find her to be hypocritical. She blames vaccines for her son's autism, yet she has also said that signs of his autism were present before he had the vaccine. She has also described her son's father as 'aloof' which makes me wonder whether the boy's father is on the spectrum too, especially given that autism is hereditary in most cases.

My GP has also complained to me about parents refusing to vaccinate their children.

OMG she irritates the snot out of me. The vaccine thing has been DEBUNKED and because of her woo-woo I've SEEN kids have to go on the equivalent of cardiac bypass (called ECMO) due to pertussis. Like DEATH is preferable to the (non-existent) causal relationship between vaccines and autism. Argh.

Kate steps off soapbox....

I couldn't agree more! There was an epidemic of pertussis in some parts of australia over a year ago, which some think was caused by a drop in vaccinations. I caught it and was sick for eight months!

He has HFA.

I have no respect for Jenny McCarthy saying that vaccines caused her son to have autism,and making it sound that all children will get it automatically.The only 'cure' for autism is to comprehend child.person and teach him or her to improve social skills and behavior.

(There is no clapping emoticon or I would have chosen that)

How I wish we could gather as a group and get the same amount of attention and point out that she's wrong about everything and give CORRECT information.

IMO, her son is autistic, but as this is a developmental disorder, many children who are diagnosed with LFA often move to HFA as they age and/or get appropriate help. And by appropriate, I am referring to some of the early intervention treatments such as teaching social stories etc.

Ooh, Time Magazine SKEWERED Jenny in an article just a few days ago:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article ... 96,00.html

Here's a quote: "To McCarthy's opponents, from the public-health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the pediatricians of the American Academy of Pediatrics, this makes McCarthy much worse than a crank: she's a menace to public health."

It's about time.

Does McCarthy even acknowledge the existance of HFA or even understand that it's a spectrum? I haven't read anything about her adressing that, all I read so far is mainly "autism did this, autism did that" as if it's an independant disease rather than the integrated disorder it is.

Here's another nice quote from McCarthy herself in that article that ought to tell anyone all they need to know about her.

"I look at autism like a bus accident, and you don't become cured from a bus accident, but you can recover."