Sorry........
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| Thu, 08-11-2005 - 7:28pm |
Hi folks. I really didn't mean to cause strife with my note about Cassian's medication trials, and I want to give sort of an explanation here as to why I answered the way I did to Samantha (mamah) and an apology to everyone I might have offended.
When Samantha posted, I did not recognize her name (mamah, I think). I have a terrible memory for people in cyberspace because I am more dependent on faces to remember folks. It looked to me like this person had dropped in from lurking or even doing a cursory search on what they were politically active in (against giving psychotropic drugs to children). There was no note accompanying the link, so it was kind of hard for me to figure out where the person was coming from. So first off, I'm sorry Samantha, that I did not remember you.
I am also sorry if I offended anyone with my references to credentials. The truth is I never know when to bring these up on this board because, again, I forget who knows me and who doesn't. Being a PHD is so much a part of my personality that when I drop this credential in a post, to me, it is often like saying, "I'm a cancer survivor" or "I'm an Episcopalian." My purpose in mentioning my education in the post to Samantha was to show that I am fairly well read in the subject of psychotropic meds because the information I wanted to convey did expand on the site she provided, and the site itself looked like it had a political, rather than a research angle, to me. I mostly felt misunderstood by the person who posted the link because it seemed like she was flaming me for trying SSRI's with my child, as if I had not done my homework before we embarked on this therapy. This sort of thing was hard to take when her post was one of the first answers I received, so the bulk of my post (if you get past the first paragraph) was really a justification of why we were using this treatment for our son.
If you met me in person, you would see that I am very humble, indeed sometimes even synical, with respect to my credentials. I almost never tell anyone I meet that I have a PHD, and even when I worked in academia, I was the sort of professor who was happy to have students to call her by her first name. I actually poke fun at my education frequently because these days I don't feel I am really using my degrees to their fullest, yet I keep having to pay those #@&*%^ student loan payments. In truth, I think everyone on this board should get some kind of mother of the year award for what they do with their kids, and so far, I only have one kid to worry about. So it was obviously a bad decision on my part to put the credentials info at the beginning of my post, but at the time I posted, I thought I was being slammed by some unknown person.
Anyway, I want to start off on a new and positive note with Samantha, Valerie, and everyone else whom I might have offended with my post. The most important aspect of this board is our support for one another, and I hate to see us lose sight of that. In the end, it will matter little what degrees we have and what therapies we have chosen for our children. What is primary is that we are all living through something almost no other parent could understand. If we lose track of the bond we have with each other based on our common struggle with our kids, then we will truly be alone, and no one should be alone in their struggle with an Autistic Spectrum child.
Peace to Everyone (I hope),
Suzi

:) Thank you. We are all lucky to have this nook and to know one another.
Valerie
Suzi,
I'm sorry it has taken me this long to reply to you with a note. The reason I didn't in the first place was simply I was running out the door in a hurry. I know I should have just waited until I had time to make a full reply. I won't do that again.
"It looked to me like this person had dropped in from lurking or even doing a cursory search on what they were politically active in (against giving psychotropic drugs to children)." I do feel giving psychotropic drugs to kids is risky but I don't see this as a political issue. It is something I feel strongly about. It’s my mission personally and professionally to educate people about the dangers of prescription and non-prescription medications and the alternatives to them.
I posted that link to share with any one who read your thread some personal experiences people have had with SSRI meds. If you read the site you'll find lots of those. Personal experiences are really what matter most to me. Research can be skewed in lots of directions unfortunately. I'd never presume to know what you know or don't know regardless of your education. My doctor prescribed effexor (years ago) to me and never informed me of the side effects. When I had side effects and asked her about them she said she'd never heard of those side effects before. I went home and got on the internet and found person after person experiencing the same side effects I was. I now know I can't rely on a well educated medical professional to know the possible effects of a medication.
I truly am sorry you were offended though. I don't judge you for making different choices than I do. I'm sorry you assumed or anyone else assumed I did. I will keep posting information about meds and alternatives. If you already know the info please don't be offended. Others may not.
Once again I'm sorry for causing all this uproar by inconsiderately posting a link with out adding my personal comments.
Sincerely,
Samantha