Why It Hurts Your Child to Be an Autism Cure Chaser

Susan Walton This week in a local parent forum, a member spoke up about MMS, a “treatment” that TPGA has examined (with horror) in the past. (See TPGA science editor Emily Willingham’s Dangerous Interventions: MMS and Autism.) A TPGA Editor was present during the MMS forum discussion and suggested we are reprint the conversation, with permission from that forum’s Moderator. Maybe there should be a 12 step program for autism parents who have fallen for misguided and misdirected “hope.” —- I am the father of a 5.5 year old ASD kid. He was diagnosed with autism three years ago. For the last three years, we tried many “treatments” including Andy Cutler protocol [chelation], multi-vitamins, Methyl-B12 shots, GFCFSF diets and various therapies. At one point in time, we were giving around 35 supplements and medicines per day. We saw some improvements for each of the above therapies. But they were MINOR.…

What Reading Self-Advocate Blogs Does

Alyssa yesthattoo.blogspot.com Trigger Warning: Mentions of abuse, tragedy/burden talk There are plenty of autistic people blogging, mostly adults since it’s mostly adults who blog. Most of the blogs I’ve read, most of the autistic adults who are involved in advocacy that I’ve talked to, most of the parents who “get it” say how important it is to listen to autistic adults. Some people might take the “what’s in it for me” approach. I’d prefer that self-determination and the right to be included in conversations that concern your own future be reason enough, but just in case it isn’t, here are some answers of how it really does help parents to read self-advocate blogs and how it really does help kids when their parents “get it,” which is a pretty common result of reading them. You can have hope. Too many of the resources you will find about autism paint a…

The Miracle by the Lobster Tank

J. Lorraine Martin cheeselesspizza.blogspot.com It was a typical, suburban day at my local grocery store. Besides loading up on Mad Housewife wine, I had other highly important plans: channeling the wisdom of Pavlov on aisle 12 as I held up a bag of Skittles — think mad housewife becomes mad scientist. What can I say? An autism mom often reaches new heights (or is it lows?) to help her child step outside of his self-imposed postage stamp zone of perceived safety. In case conducting Pavlov experiments isn’t in your shopping repertoire, allow me to explain. You see, my oldest son, at the age of nine, developed some intense fears at our local grocery store. Despite uneventful years of happy grocery shopping experiences up until that time, he one day became dramatically frightened over the thunder sound in produce when the water sprayers came on; not much later the mooing cow…