By day the full time mother of an autistic toddler. By night the full time mother of autistic toddler. I am AUTISMUM! (less superhero, more side-kick).
Initially, I had no clue what to do with this site. I write for Nerditorial and Seek the Evidence and it was just going to be a way of housing my articles by topic and having them all in one, online, place. Now I have a much clearer plan for this blog. Over time, this will, no doubt, evolve but, for now, I have a place to start.
Recently, I’ve noticed more and more ‘mainstream’ autism websites carrying ads for supplements and for clinics offering all kinds of tests and treatments. Some even have advice pages within their site on topics such as how to implement gluten and casein free diets despite zero biological plausibility nor evidence for their efficacy in relieving the symptoms of autism. This gets Autismum mad!
The USA has given us here in the UK many wonderful things. My favourites are soul music and my friend Julia. In return for us giving them Andrew Wakefield and the MMR-causes-autism fraud they have given us and the rest of the world a whole load of websites full of ‘cures’,’treatments’ and ‘therapies’ for our autistic children. The American anti-vaccination movement is going strong and its effects on public health and the lives of children with autism has been nothing but negative. Here are a few articles and websites (many by Americans who are above all that anti-vax nonsense) just to get you started:
- Jenny McCarthy Body Count
- Measles Returns, Autism Never Went Away
- The Strange Science and Ethics of the Anti-Vaccine Movement
- Just the Vax
- What’s the Harm in Vaccine Denial?
- Mercury Autism and Chelation: A Recipe for Risk
Mothers who identify themselves with the anti-vaccination movement and autism’s biomedical fringe often like to refer to themselves as ‘Warrior Moms‘ and defer to their great leaders Jenny McCarthy and Kim Stagliano. Their contempt for parents who take an evidence based approach to their children’s health is staggering as is my contempt for those who propegate dangerous myths and encourage parents to inflict potentially harmful treatments upon their children.
Many would argue there is little danger in a lot of the therapies McCarthy and the UK’s Polly Tommey publicize. They are wrong. The fact that parents are trying to purge their child of characteristics intrinsic to who they are belies a deep fault in the relationship. Most other treatments and curatives they push are more hideous still and do, indeed, cause physical harm.
Myself, I am not autistic. I have an autistic child who cannot speak for himself but please don’t presume I believe I am speaking on his behalf or for any other people with autism. This site contains my views and opinions and like every other blogger on the planet, I am arrongant enough to think I should share them.
Autismum 