Oprah today!
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Oprah today!
| Thu, 04-05-2007 - 10:02pm |
Just finished watching Oprah on Tivo. Saw a lot of overlap betwen what she showed and The View last mionth, except I thought she was more informed and seeemed more focused than Rosie et al were. Quite impressed with Oprah. I was interested in the vaccine issue coming up and how O handled it; way to go!!! In case you don't know I have always thought Liam's dtap and mmr at once exacerbated his already emergng symptoms. Yes I said it.... so there:)
This is why Cian will get no more vaccines and Roan gets nought until 2 years and then we follow the DAN regiment. Still a good show. Amy what did you think?
Dee








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I'm so glad I didn't waste my time watching it.
I agree Dee. Not only do they say "but they are so verbal" but also I get alot of oppinions that I am lucky that they have AS. The media has almost romanticized it. It is more the quirky, rich, very smart person to be idolized. I have even met people who hope their babies are AS, WTF?
I also liked the ABC spot where while it didn't dramatize the whole thing as this awful death sentence which must be erradicated, it did speak about the struggles of those with AS AND what some are doing about it. LOVED that one psychologists class there with typical peers and teaching the AS kids how to have conversations. Very cool!
Actually, on autism recently, my favorite show was the MTV one. Who'd 've thunk that?!
I was impressed that the showed the entire spectrum, the emphasis was on the humanity of the individuals and their lives not just autism and therapy. It was about Jeremy's birthday party and asking a girl on a date, that middle boys art exhibit, and about Elijah's comedy. It didn't sugar coat it and yet didn't dramaticize it as some evil either.
Renee
I set my dvr to record the show, but now that I've read the responses about it, I'm glad my machine malfunctioned and didn't record it. I'm so glad to know that there are others out there who share my opinion about the vaccine issue and all the talk about how autism is so much more prevelant now. I sincerely believe that Lily's PDD-NOS has nothing to do with vaccines. She seemed "different" from her older sister (who also had all her vaccines) almost from day 1. I used to think that Lily's ASD had something to do with the genetic syndrome that she has, but after much research, I've had to conclude that they are two separate issues. As far as the prevalence of autism goes, I agree that there are more children dx'd with ASD's now that there is a much broader spectrum. My late grandmother was the head of the special ed dept for a local school district many years ago. She told me that when she first started the program, she and others who worked with her actually had to go and find the children in local neighborhoods that would benefit from school. Back then, any child who was "different" for any reason was just kept at home. Many of the children with HFA were considered to just have behavior problems. I'm so grateful for the progress that has been made in the field of autism. I know that if my grandmother were still alive, that she would be so amazed that things such as ECI even exist. I think that the most important type of research that can be done in the field of austim is to continue to try to find ways to help our children, instead of focusing on the reason behind the autism. I try daily to not have any pity parties about Lily's autism. To be truthful, Lily just wouldn't be Lily without it, if you know what I mean. But, I'm sure that if she were low-functioning it would be harder for me to not feel sorry for her or for our family. Still, I would hope that I could be more positive eventually than the lady who was on Oprah. For her sake, I hope that she can move forward in her grieving process at some point in the future. Sorry, this turned out a bit longer than I intended. I tend to get a little too wordy sometimes.
Amy~Natalie and Lily's mom
Just want to clarify; I don't think vaccines cause blanket autism per se. I do think some invdividuals have genetiuc predispositions to damage fro certain virus's and metals pushed into the body when the blood brain barrier is so fragile. I can tell you when dh received the new dtap shot last month he got a fever of 103 and could barely move his arm. I had the same shot a while ago and I was fine, it all comes down to the enigma of each individual genetic makeup I guess.
Liam wasw quirky from birth but I noticed he reacted worse to certain shots (fevers stomach issues etc). ah sure who knows....just not willing to play russian roulette with triggering possible genetic factors.
Dee
Rina,
I enjoyed the ABC special more myself as I could Identify Chris with Daniel, the 21 yr old. If I tell Chris something he has a compulsion to tell everyone else. So if I tell Chris he has Aspergers, then he would tell everyone he meets that he has this.
He does this with his teacher and doctor appts, and with other kids when we found out he has Dysgraphia. He just has to tell.
I told him I thought Nicholas (his younger bro) has Tourettes (mainly to get him to understand why his bro does what he does) and he has to tell his little bro (who ignored him because he didn't understand) and has to tell everyone that he has this.
Its like a compulsion.
But like you I could so relate to him with my own son.
The problem I have with the View and the Oprah show is that they mainly showed lower functioning kids.
It was a good show, alot of info, but you know we have kids on the spectrum that arn't recogized as easily as lower functioning kids.
I mean come on, you guys know what I'm going thru with my 11 yr old on my other thread, because he's much harder to detect. If someone had said just one thing when he was a toddler then I would of persued it. But all I got was "Don't worry, its a boy thing..."
Oprah and other shows need to show the higher functioning ones, just like the lower functioning ones just because these kids need early intervention too. If no one see's it, including his parents (us) it's a sad thing.
I thought Chris's speech delay meant he was working on another skill and honestly I didn't know what to think about his obessions on balls, board games and he had to have his baby blanket laid on him the same way everytime, face up, and in a certain direction.... (He's 11 and he's still attached to this blanket) then that makes it much more difficult.
Anyway, I really like also what Amy says about the show. I couldn't agree more.
Lainie
Well, but there you have it in a nutshell --- >"I know that for the sake of raising money Autism Speaks (and organizations like it) have to focus on the most extreme cases and all of the "negative" aspects of the disorder<" --- you got it, Amy, this is what they are doing and exactly why they are coming off the way they are.
We all know this fight personally on so many fronts because autism a) isn't life-threatening, and b) isn't curable, thanks insurance companies. And in the cases of the schools, c) too much work, and the struggles are intangible and invisible, and anyways, we are all bad moms. But there is a bigger fight on a much bigger front when it comes to charity money and government spending, fighting for a piece of "the pie".
AutismSpeaks is being run by big money people, people who have it and know how and where to get it. Having done some fundraising, I know that most of it has to do with going after where the big money is and that is what AutismSpeaks is doing. They are trying to shame lawmakers, budget decision makers, foundations, corporations into giving bucks, big, big bucks, fast. Maybe they could use better spokespeople than the grandmother and mother, but make no mistake, using them is strategy, and also what and how they are saying it. They are also VERY interested in education, BTW, but this will be a harder sell for purse strings.
I agree with everything everyone has said, and in our case Malcolm was hitting all his milestones, there are no cases of autism on either side of the family besides our ds (although I see traits everywhere), and ds did get sick with that vaccine, although he didn't exactly seem to regress, just slowly sorta stall. So I still think vaccines is not yet proven clean...
I also don't like the doom and gloom picture, but I do believe we are having an epidemic and there needs to be action, as I walk down the streets of NYC seeing kids I recognize their symptoms left and right. I feel the need for revamping services and education is MUCH higher, but at least Autism Speaks really agrees with this and it is part of their mission. they are just not as loud about that one. But if they spend it there, good.
Oh, and I didn't get to watch the show at all, I meant to for once (I REALLY dislike talk shows) but just was too busy, period. The subways were running SO slow that I ended up late to a client, late back home when show was almost over, then had to run out the door to take DS to another therapy.
Sara
Edited 2/22/2008 12:31 pm ET by littleroses
Sorry to chime in so late.
Yea Debbie!!
If I hear one more rellie chime in with "but Liam didn't have a speech delay..."
If I were going to try to pass blame for environmental triggers, I'd say it was mostly the food/sugar/coloring that Isaac has eaten his whole life.
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