Book Review: Warrior Mothers by Jenny McCarthy

Truth be told, I find the genre of "heroic, mother-lioness autism memoir" irritating. This book is an entire collection of such stories, all containing the moral that "Moms know best, and pediatricians know less than nothing." In each story, a mom discovers that only biomedical treatments can cure her child with autism, and in each story, a mom goes through hell and back to "recover" her child. If you are inspired by such stories, this book is for you.

Jenny McCarthy has become a prominent spokesperson for the idea that autism is largely caused by vaccines and can be cured through various alternative treatments including special diets, supplements, and chelation (removal of metals from the body). This idea is highly controversial -- but Jenny, along with various other celebrities and autism groups -- has made it extremely popular.

In Jenny's opinion, "recovering" one's child with autism requires heroic measures -- and "Mother Warriors." Mother Warriors never take no for an answer, and are willing to fight tooth and nail, do anything, try anything, sacrifice anything to save their child from autism. Mother Warriors is a collection of essays by mothers, including Jenny, who have fought the good fight -- and, at least according to their own memoirs, have actually cured their children.

In most of the memoirs in the book, children are physically sick -- most with major gastrointestinal issues that range from projectile vomiting to seizures. In almost all, "mommy instinct" leads mothers to find an individual practitioner whose willingness to try unorthodox (and sometimes risky) treatments is what saves the day. In many of the stories, while mom is 110% dedicated to finding a cure, dad is either absent or negative (though there a couple of warrior dads represented).

Warrior Mothers is not a great book. But for anyone interested in autism, the culture and philosophy it embodies is important to understand.