Your Opinion Requested: Larry King Live's February 27 Autism Show
Thursday February 28, 2008
Did you see last night's Larry King Live show featuring various voices from the autism community? I'm embarrassed to say that I completely forgot to watch... but would love to know what you thought, and whether you felt there was anything interesting presented about autism or people with autism to the general public.
On a related note, I did see that Jenny McCarthy is featured on Larry King's website... and recently received an email to the effect that she will be organizing a June march on the CDC. I'm guessing we'll be hearing a lot more from Jenny on autism and vaccines in the near future.
Comments
While I think Jenny has her heart in the right place she is just another confused mother. She needs someone to blame.
Jenny is going through more than I am. My child has no seizer disorder and smiles and laughs.
I wish Jenny would be pro immunization though.
I am not going to attack her personally because I disagree with her.
Thank God for Jenny — we need some celebrity voice to get attention. The public and other large groups don’t listen to individual parents with no notoriety. And fyi, she IS pro-vaccination. She just wants a safer vaccination schedule, and no thimerasol in them. I didn’t see the show last night, but I do know that I don’t care for Holly Robinson-Peete’s viewpoint. She’s all caught up in not calling a child ‘autistic,’ when there are much bigger battles. She also is too behind the curve on biomedical treatments, the vaccination issues, and other autism news to be the speaker for the rest of us. Jenny may have a questionable acting history, but she’s a nice lady (I’ve met her personally) and genuinely cares about the cause.
The show was quite interesting. Jason McElwain was inspiring to see. If anything, that basketball day for him must had given him such self confidence. It was also neat to see video of him as a toddler.
I do not agree with what the guests said were symptom’s of autism. Some of them of course many share but they’re not actual criteria at all. Doug Flutie said he believes there are two types of autism, those born with it and those who developed it. Holly Robinson said she never met any yet that wasn’t regressive autism. I wonder if I should schedule a meeting with her! She said most had been developing correctly then all of a sudden they were not. The suggestion certainly was vaccines, and one doctor suggestion it’s also related to the many gastrointestinal issues and once you remove that, most symptoms of autism disappear. Well, my son also had gastrointestinal issues and once that was taken care of, he still has autism. That same doctor did say the important role vaccines has played. Once the Hib b vaccines were created, he has never seen since something or another. But he also suggested there is a need to look further into the vaccines as a cause. Holly Robinson did make the comment of awareness, as did Jason mcElwain.
I myself don’t really go for any main speaker or representative of autism, be it Holly Robinson, Doug Flutie or Jenny McCarthy. Those individuals can represent their own child, and the more they talk publicly the better and that’s all that matters. I don’t think any one’s personal experience with autism, as an example Jenny McCarthy, is going to reflect my own child or my child’s autism.
For anyone who didn’t see the broadcast, look to the left of this site to the videos Larry King Live: Autism
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links: