Jenny's non-autistic son?

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Link to broken website (wrapped by lau)
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It requires Active Scripting - which I don't have under Linux (thank goodness), and would not dream of enabling (for an unknown site) under Windows, as it is a major security risk.

Jenny McCarthy's Son was Never Autistic? (link wrapped by lau)



^ Anti-autism activist, Jenny McCarthy, with her allegedly "autistic" son.



^ Boy with Landau Kleffner syndrome[1]

The anti-autistic, anti-science, anti-intellectual, and pro-chelation celebrity, Jenny McCarthy, has lead an fear campaign against vaccinations. Her rationale for advocating policies which would increase the death toll is because of her blind faith in the "vaccines cause autism" dogma.

But what if here chief claim to expertise on autism - maternal experience raising an autistic son - is bogus? What if her son - Evan - isn't even classically autistic? What if he's not autistic at all - what if he has Landa Kleffner syndrome?

His symptoms are consistent with the syndrome. Evan's difficulties started out when he had seizures. Once the seizures were effectively treated, his condition stabilized (or - to quote McCarthy's gross exaggeration - he was "cured").

Is the most famous curbie of our generation really basing her beliefs on anecdotes related to completely a different condition?

Maybe we all are.

In days of old, there was a common condition known as “senility,” which was simply attributed to advanced age in all cases. Over time, different cases turned out to be caused by a bunch of different, unrelated problems – genetics, illness, medication, toxins, diet, life-style, depression…

I’m sure that what we now call “Autism” will be similarly broken down into different causes and various contributing factors, some of them curable or treatable, some of them not.

With misdiagnosis being as common as not, whether one type is “real” and another type is not “real” is as much a question of semantics as anything else. I’m sure his symptoms were real.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?

If, when he is older, he still has some residual autistic-like traits and wants to hang out at WP as a "cousin," would he be welcome?

I suspect you are missing the point. Jenny McCarthy is pushing herself as an authority on curing all forms of autism, based on her experiences with a single case, whose condition seems to be largely unconnected to that of the great majority of those on the spectrum.

The confusion is between "has some autistic-seeming symptoms" with "is typically autistic".

No, that is the point.
We don't have a commonly understood definition.
And even the official definition will undoubtedly change.

Clueless people often get things right by accident. Jenny might be one of them.

I can't say I understand that sentence. We have several definitions, all of which are largely in agreement, and are understood by the people concerned - us.


But of course. Things change. It is unlikely for any change to significantly affect more than a small number of fringe cases. The definition may change, but it will be a refinement, not an overturning of the whole concept.


Clueless people rarely get anything right, even by accident. I see that you feel Jenny is clueless.

In the poll I voted other.Here's why:

As much as her well publicized ignorance saddens, troubles, and mildly disgusts me, I think it's dangerous to start speculating the authenticity of another person's diagnosis. Attempts to sort out "genuine" autism from "fake" autism encourages stereotypes and discourages discernment of nuances and complexities--And that's precisely what needs to happen in the societies in which we live; getting others to realize the world is not always easily assimilable.

Thanks for reminding me.... that I had omitted to vote. Of course, it is "Other", for exactly your reasons, Dark_Red_Beloved.

I'd like to flush Jenny McCarthy down the toilet.

I don't know much about the lady concerned.

Is there anything you could post, to establish why you think this child has L-KS rather than ASD? have you seen her child's full biological history somewhere?

agree with tahitii & dark red beloved.

why do you think this woman is anti-science?

some vaccines used in the past became later known to cause a neurological damage.

amongst, classically autistic child/adult, epilepsy is common.

what made you think this person must be having "L-KS" as a differential? a source please? LKS is a heavy weight disorder and are you a qualified neurologist?

I deleted my original post....Im just so tired of this woman and I know this is a free country and she can use her "celebrity status" to say what she wants but the fact remains that children have died because they were not vaccinated. Also there is the fact that she, and many others, have made Autism a bad word.

I voted "other" because I'm sick of hearing about her, and that her anti-vaccine message could lead to diseases returning, such as measles and mumps in people past puberty, where it can cause infertility. Epilepsy can appear to be "cured," but if the medication stops working, then someone can have seizures again. It's also a common comorbid condition for ASD's and other disorders.

From her book Louder Than Words, he sounds autistic, but I'm no expert on Landau-Kleffner anyway.

I just don't know.

But, I would really like to know out of curiosity. And, if it turns out that he doesn't have autism, I hope

that she has the courage to admit this publicly.

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

I'm sick of her, too.

I was autistic before mercury was added to vaccines and before I even had my vaccines.

That theory doesn't work for me.