Chris is up north hunting in Lewiston this weekend and it is HOT here!!!!! We played outside for most of the day soaking up what is left of summer weather.
Karli started riding a big girl bike today with training wheels. She actually rode this bike at Grandpa's cabin forth of July week and did very well.
Cameron had a low grade fever today, the day after his shots, I think that is why he has this glazed look in his eyes.
Over the weekend I also read Jenny McCarthy's book Louder Than Words. I'm not much of a reader, but I thought the book was very good. It is about her son who was diagnosed with Autism and her journey in healing him. I was shocked to find out how common this developmental disease is. 1 out of every 150 kids is autistic. That is HUGE! Working in a pediatric office, this book opened my eyes to exactly what these kids go through and what they understand. The help that is out there for Autistic children is supposed to be wonderful, unfortunately there are some long waiting lists and treatment can also be very expensive.
3 comments:
Autism is very common. In fact there are at least three alone in our small congregation and so many more in our community. Our church, with the help of the parents, has started a group called HOPE. It allows autstic children to interact with other children like them and gives them a haven to come to.
Unfortunately although there is help out there you are right that it is either expensive or unaccessable to most families.
There is no cure for Autism and although things like diet, environment and such can help to contol the symptoms it never goes away. And since it is a spectrum disorder(meaning there many levels) you may even know a child who is autistic and not know it. Did you know that they think Bill Gates and Einstien were autistic? Autisim is a genetic disorder and often runs in families and is more prevelent in boys than girl, but girls do have it.
I am glad that you are becoming aware of the disease. It will help you in dealing with the children who visit your office.
Sorry, I didn't mean to dump all of that but we just had a HOPE committee meeting and talked about a lot of these things. None of my kids are autistic, but some of my close friends children are so it is a topic that hits home for me. I wish there was more support out there, in the schools and in the government, but unfortunately there isn't. That is why we started HOPE.
Anyway... congrats to Karli on the big girl bike. She looks so big!! This weather is crazy but I am not looking a gift horse in the mouth. Enjoy it while you can!!
Robyn, just curious, do these people in your HOPE group think the vaccines are to blame?
No they don't believe the vaccines have anything to do with it. The research says that Autisim is a genetic disorder. The vaccines become the blame because they are given at about the same time as most children are diagnosed as being autisic. There is no scientific proof that Autism is a direct result of the vaccines. They are reexaming the data going all the way back to 1940 just to be sure.
They are looking to see if the vaccines are the "trigger" in children who are already predesposed to autisim. Example: You have the gene for autism but until you get the shot there are no symptoms. It hasn't been "triggered". This is only speculation and all research so far does not indicate the vaccines are to blame.
With autism most children have it from an early age it is just that the signs can be so minimal that until they truly start to hit large milestones it is unnoticable. Those milestones happen around the age of 2 when the MMR is given. Do you see the correlation and why the vaccine has become the blame? Autism is often misdiagnosed as ADD or other mental disabilities. And again there is a wide range in Autism. Some children can become functunal others never will.
If you are interested in finding out more let me know. I know some other books you may want to read. Larry King did a show on Autism and had several stars whose children are autistic on. Some are like Jenny and others like Gary Cole take a different view of the cause and "cure". Im not sure how to get a hold of the show but if you ever get a chance it was very good.
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