I watched Oprah today and Jenny Mcarthy. Subject: Autisum?

Question

Jenny mention that if she has listen to her motherly instinct then she would have picked up austism in the earlier stages. My son will be one and I do not want to panic "what if it happens to him"? For mothers who have autistic children or work with children. Is there any advice or signs to watch out for. Should I really hold back on vaccines? I'm just concern and want info/ tips. Thanks

i am all for vaccines. I had my mother in law telling me to hold off for a bit and i looked at her like she was crazy. I am 21 years old and I feel that if vaccinations were the cause of autism then people in my range group would have been affected more because medcine back then was not as good as it now.

Answer 1

At one my son rarely responded to his name, repetivly lined up toys, and did not attempt to engage other kids in play. I did not realise this was a problem until he was about 18 months. we were lucky that he was dx'd at 18 months and got early intervention. He is 5 now and doing great.

PLEASE vacciante your son. It has been completely disproven that vaccines cause autism. The presiding theory is that there is a genetic propensity towards autism, and an environmetal tirgger, but we have not been able to put the two together yet.

Answer 2

I thought today's show was worth watching and informative. My nephew has autism. Also, at 18 months he was dx'd. He was completely normal. However, something happened to him before he was 2. Very similar to Jenny's son.
The best advise I have seen in response to your question is from moonstar925.
I applaud Jenny's honestly and wanting to tell her story.
I must also stress ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

I know that I didn't have as nearly the amount of vaccines children are given these days. It's too many and why are they combining multiple viruses into one vaccine? As for the the people who say their children were not affected by the vaccines and are normal...then thanks to GOD. Try walking in a parents shoes who has a child with autism.

Here's more food for thought:
I was at a fundraiser for disabled children and spoke with a mother whose daughter was completely normal until she had the MMR vaccine. The daughter did not get autism but got brain damaged and is totally disabled.

Answer 3

No, do not hold out on vaccines. I saw the show too, and she's very charasmatic but it does not make her correct. There is nothing but fear that drives the rumor that autism is caused by vaccinations. There IS new evidence that it is several genes that are damaged appearing together in one person that's out there - I read that off of Web MD.

Personally I'd vaccinate my child -- in fact I did and all went well. I did not give her more than two shots in any one day -- I came back a week later and got one more but the doctors office will happily stack them to get them over with for the child. I just didn't like that idea. I further gave my daughter tylenol ahead of time to take the edge off the shot after she got it. We had no problems at all.

You could perhaps put off the shots until just before school age, but one case of whooping cough, chicken pox, polio or diptheria and you'll wish to God you had vaccinated your child. I know it's scarry but you'll be just fine.

Answer 4

I wanted to respond to your post because I have a 2 1/2 year old son that was diagnosed about a year ago and we struggled with whether or not he was autistic since about his 1st birthday - and he was diagnosed at 22 months. Unfortunately, I didn't see the Oprah show with Jenny McCarthy, but I feel her pain. It is hard to accept at first, but soon, you begin to realize that these kids are very, very special, not "broken" :) I've attached a link below to a video on YouTube that says it so much better than I could here :) -- http://youtube.com/watch?v=G7kHSOgauhg

Now, to answer your question.... Remember, every child is different and the pieces individually don't make the child autistic, but look at the package as a whole. Here are the signs we saw in our son:

1. He never played with toys, much less appropriately. Instead, he spent the vast majority of his time looking at books upside down.

2. He avoided eye contact with people other than mom and dad - he even got upset when others came to the house, such as grandparents or aunts/uncles.

3. He was a late walker - didn't take his first step until about 15 mos.

4. He had 8 ear infections between 8 and 11 months - since then he has had 2 sets of tubes and his adenoids removed.

5. He never pointed at anything, especially things he wanted or things in a book.

6. He never asked for anything - we could tell (by vocal inflection) that we "guessed" wrong, but he would never let us know what he wanted.

7. He spent a lot of time opening and shutting doors or turning lights off & on. By a lot of time, I mean, if left alone, he'd spend about 45 minutes doing it.

8. As for development - he'd do something once, not do it again for a while, and then suddenly start doing it again. He continues to follow this pattern to this day.

9. The most telling thing - he didn't talk. He didn't say his first word until he was about 25 mos.

Now, almost a year later, we have had him in a special school for autistic children with 1:1 instruction called The Mariposa School located in Cary, NC. We are also lucky enough to live near Chapel Hill NC, so we have him involved with the TEACCH center here. Since then, he has really emerged. He is narrating everything, has some 2-way conversations, loves to play with his little brother, loves to drive cars (and make sound effects) and is a happy, smart little guy who gives us absolute joy. He and his brother are the lights of our lives :)

If you are concerned, now is the time to talk to your pediatrician about your concerns. Remember (and I don't want to scare you) sometimes the kids seem "typical", but suddenly "check out" between 2 and 3. We did notice our son's symptoms got worse for a period shortly after his 2nd birthday, but since we've been very aggressive with his therapies, we think he has overcome some of his challenges with intensive training.

Finally - about the vaccines thing - I honestly don't believe that vaccines have anything to do with autism. I know there are several schools of thought on that. However, my philosophy is that, with out them, he might be sicker or even dead from a childhood disease that could have easily been prevented.

Good luck with everything :)

Answer 5

I didn't get to see Oprah today due to bad weather but it's just as well because it upsets me soooo much. I've seen enough of those shows on Animal Planet and it makes me sick every time. I was thrilled when I read that LA passed the spay/neuter law and I wish we could get more cities/counties/states to do the same. Most people don't realize that over 100,000 animals die or are put to sleep each year, maybe more. A nearby town tried to enforce that rabies shot requirement several years ago and would you believe that hundreds of people took their dogs to the local shelter and dumped them rather than spend $9 for a rabies shot? Can you believe this? All my pets are menbers of my family, I just don't understand some people.

Answer 6

Would you rather take the chance of your youngster getting the horrible diseases that these vaccines prevent? That show was not what it was advertised and it really upset me. My boys have all been vaccinated and have been fine. Everyone I know has had their child up to date with no issues. The children that we would see in our practice had other factors that caused the Autism and it has absolutely not been proved that vaccines cause it.

PLEASE have your child protected. There are too many unauthorized people in the country carrying these diseases that your child's body has no way of fighting.

Answer 7

I was a nanny for a little boy with autism for 3 years. When I started watching him, he was a normal, happy one year old. He had an ear infection and went to the doctor. The doctor decided to give him his MMR while he was sick. When he gave home from the doctor, he was "different". Later that evening, his mom called me and told me he had a rash from head to toe and was not acting like himself.

He was saying words like "Sponge Bob Squarepants" clearly at 1 and then within the month, he wasn't even able to say mama or daddy anymore. They took him to a neurologist and sure enough...Autism.

I would definitely follow a delayed vaccination schedule and more importantly, separate the MMR and get them in this order when separated: measles, then rubella, then mumps. Doing it this way and at separate times while not giving too many vaccinations at one time or while the child is even slightly ill will help prevent (but may not completely lower the risk of your child getting autism).

Also, I highly recommend the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations. It has a delayed vaccination schedule which I will be following for my baby (due in October) and any subsequent children since I have seen the effects first hand.

I agree that you should get your child immunized, but delay it and follow the steps in the book I mentioned above.

To the lady above me: Some children are prone to Autism and getting certain vaccinations puts them at risk. Your sons may be fine because they were not prone to getting autism in the first place. You never know if your child is prone to Autism (except for watching for small signs: talking in a sing-songy voice, grinding teeth, etc.) until they actually get it.

Answer 8

In opposition to the others who said your child will get a "horrible disease" or that they have vax'd 3 kids and they are "fine", the original question was put out there for mothers who have autistic children and I am one of them. I have 3 children, a girl and 2 boys. I vax'd my daughter without thinking about it and she did ok. Looking back, she had repeat ear infections and overuse of antibiotics because she couldn't fight off infections because all those vaccines weakend her immune system. When I had my son, of course I vax'd him. He had 2 flu shots one month apart and then had his 2 year shots a month after that. As Jenny Mcarthy said, the soul was gone from his eyes right after that. He stopped answering to his name, he had chronic loose stools, he had no eye contact, he started to bang his head against the wall til he was bruised, he started lining up toys, had rashes on his body and got the chicken pox 6 months after the vaccines, all of the classic autism symptoms that Jenny talked about. Every child reacts in a different way!! Jenny's child had seizures, I know of another child who stopped breathing after having bug spray applied. Vaccine reactions are completely different. With my son, I did call the pediatrican because I knew something wasn't right and I was dismissed. It wasn't until my brother, who is an educator, gently said something to me and showed me the list of signs and symptoms. I immediately became a "google" head and looked for anything I could do to help my son. I put my son the gluten free/casein free diet and he doubled HIS language in a week, just as Jenny Mcarthy said. He stopped banging his head, had more eye contact, and generally most of his symptoms went away. I knew in my heart that he was not autistic, he was toxic! We have been in biomedical treatments for just over 2 years and they have saved my son. He is also in speech therapy, OT, PT, social skills classes, etc. BUT, those therapies would not have worked without healing his body FIRST! He was heavy metal toxic from vaccinations and I have the test results from the hair analysis to prove it. I have the stool analysis to prove he had yeast in his intestines. Jenny Mcarthy said what all of us moms who have been through it have been saying for years. She is a blessing to all of us who have these precious children who will always be recovering. I can proudly say that my beautiful son Daniel is now almost 5 and in regular preschool, and will go to kindergarden next year with his friends. Two years ago, I could only have a glimmer of hope that would happen. To those moms who are leary about the vaccines, I urge you to do your own research, don't be intimidated by someone who has M.D. after their name. Our children are bombarded with vaccines and it has only been in recent years that the vaccine schedule has been increased. I am 38 and didn't get a fraction of the vaccines that are out today and I am "fine" as our children will be too if we don't give them all of these toxins. The doctors need to respect you and your choice for YOUR child and NOBODY knows your child better than you.
Francesca, Ohio

Answer 9

my oldest has aspergers which is a high functioning level of autism and i always knew something wasn't quite right with her (i never felt anything was outright wrong though) anyway it took a few years of different doctors trying to figure out what was going on, but the biggest cues were lack of safety awareness, lack of social skills, odd behaviors like playing with spit, eating paint etc., she never cuddled as a baby, never wanted to be held... that sort of thing.

but with her occupational therapist and now medication (we wanted to avoid it but weren't able to) she is doing wonderfully!!!