This is my nephew, "The Beast". He just turned three & he has autism. I never really got upset over the fact that he has Autism, just shock in the beginning, but he is who he is and I love him just as he is. I babysat him before he had Autism and I watch him all the time now because he lives half his time with my brother and we all live together. I know how to handle his over stimulation and I don't get frustrated when his OCD goes into overdrive and he has to listen to his favorite song which is by "Little John" a million times. He is who he is and I love him more than anything in the world. He's an awesome kid, funny and is very affectionate. He is also adorable. It does suck that he isn't talking yet, but we have our own way of communication. It usually never crosses my mind that he is autistic and any different from any other kid, but last night I had found a tape I made when he was probably around one and we were playing. He was laughing and babbling and starting to talk baby gibberish. It just killed me. This little guy was developing normally and doing all the things that he was supposed to do and that all stopped as soon as he got vaccinated. The days following his vaccination, he was ambluanced to the hospital and was in the hospital for over a week with high fever and an infection the docs couldn't figure out. When he got out, he was never the same. He was diagnosed last November and it has almost been a year. He is getting better due to the fact that my brother and the Beast's mom are so adamant about finding a cure. He is on a very strict diet and is about to start a "treatment" that is brand new and controversial, but we can't give up hope. It makes me sad. I am about to do a paper on it for one of my classes and I know it is going to make me sad and really pissed.
5 comments:
Great post -- the Beastos is so damn cute. I haven't seen him in ages.
I'm not anti-vaccination, and I can see the benefit of vaccinations (polio, anyone?), but I've heard SO many stories like this, that it scares the bejeezus out of me.
I'm also conflicted on the vaccination thing. On one hand, I tend to think the vaccination-leads-to-autism link is more of a modern day hysteria, and some parents are just grappling to find a cause of their child's autism. Stastically speaking, there just isn't the evidence to show a link. (and yes, I've looked this up and talked to doctors about this). What you may be finding is an increase of parents reporting autism, which wasn't so prevalent, say 30 years ago (e.g. when we all got our shots.)
Having a child of my own - let's call him Mensa Jr. - I've definitely considered all this. And I also wouldn't be surprised if a link betweem vaccinations and autism was found. However, not giving shots out of fear can literally be playing with life and death - or a life on crutches from polio. By not vaccinating, maybe you save the kid from potential autism, but you're leaving them unguarded against some very nasty and often fatal ailments. As a parent, would you be able to live with your child being in the ICU from some nasty measels, knowing that a vaccination probably could of helped? Just my $.02 ...
I think that everyone should vaccinate their kids. I know it is important. There is a good website with a vaccination schedule that might be helpful. There are also really good FYIs there. I just know that the Beast was fine up until he got his shots. The Beast’s mom got his vaccination records and found that the MMR shot he got had been recalled almost 4 years earlier. Here is the website www.talkaboutcuringautism.org I know I will absolutely vaccinate my children, but I will also be really careful about it since it is possible that the “Autism Gene” might run in my family. There are a bunch of theories about it, but I tend to think there are some kids who are sensitive to metals and the shots have a high level of Mercury and other stuff in them that might trigger the Autism. I am just hoping The Beast will be healed enough from the treatment to have a somewhat normal life and be able to be independent as an adult.
very nice
luv ya, miss ya
evil betty
This has nothing to do with autism or immunizations, but there's a rad Q&A interview with Dio in the SF Chronicle (Kiki, are you listening?):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/30/PK88SAUFE.DTL&type=music
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