Autism: Surviving and Thriving

Fourteen years ago my youngest 3 boys were diagnosed with autism within a 9 month span. Devastation and grieving followed. Doctors gave me little or no hope, but they didn't know me very well. I refused to believe that my boys were doomed.

My boys are now young men, adults with autism. They are thriving, but every day presents its turmoil and challenges.

My family: husband Mike, sons Ryan 23 yr, Nicholas 21 yr, and Cameron 18 yr. (Ryan and Nick have autism; Cam has recovered from autism.) Our oldest sons, Michael 34 yr and Stuart 25 yr, moved out of the house. Ryan has also moved out, and is still working towards complete independence.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Autism Now 1 in 100


Copy and paste to see video if necessary. Autism is on the rise. (REALLY?) When my oldest son was born in 1984, only 1 in 10,000 had autism. Now it is 1 in 100.

Also, they are reporting that it is not just genetics, but environment. (REALLY?) In our extended family, there is no autism. Therefore, autism can not be purely a genetic mishap. In our immediate family, all four of our younger sons had disabilities related to autism. We stopped all shots with our youngest after 13 months. He had intense therapies and early intervention programs. We, as parents, chose what programs and therapies he'd follow. He has recovered and is in a mainstream classroom with no aide.

With our other children, we chose to take them off the prescription drugs after two years. We saw that we were only treating the symptoms and not the problems. It was only after following our hearts. doing our own research, and implementing our own programs that we starting to see glimpses of potential.

What will happen if the government takes over our health care and demands that our children receive vaccines or must attend certain programs? Autism will sky-rocket, and these children's potential will not be discovered.

I do want to point out that I am not anti-vaccine. I am pro-vaccine with a plan. Do one shot at a time and see if there is a side effect. Insist on thimerosal-free shots, which still has thimerosal in it, but in smaller quantities. There are other ideas I could list, but it is quite extensive.

How are these children going to function? How is our society going to welcome them? The impact on families is unfathomable. My heart cries.

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