Help Fund Mickies Therapies

Children Forced Into Cell-Like School Seclusion Rooms

This is unbelievable. How could schools still be allowed to to this. Everybody knows, you don't leave kids unsupervised, mush less one with ADHD-which is my opinion is a label, that makes kids who wear it feel really bad as it is.

If this doesn't scare the daylights out of you, I don't know what does. If this boy was able to communicate with his parents and this still happened, imagine the ones like my Mickie, that can't speak a word. I can only imagine what those poor parents must be going through.

This part of the article from the CNN site:

• Mentally disabled, autistic kids injured, traumatized in school seclusion rooms.
• 13-year-old Georgia boy hanged himself in room with cord teacher gave him.
• Autistic Iowa girl confined in school storage closet where she pulled out her hair.

Murrayville, Georgia - A few weeks before 13-year-old Jonathan King killed himself, he told his parents that his teachers had put him in "time-out.” The room where Jonathan King hanged himself is shown after his death. It is no longer used, a school official said..............
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/17/seclusion.rooms/

Temporary Tattos

For parents of children and adults with autism, our worse nightmare, is to think what would happen if our children would get lost or wonder away. In Mickie's case, who doesn't speak a word, I don't even like to think about it. He doesn't like to ware bracelets and he takes them off. I've even tried to buy the fabric ones and sewed them on, but he still ripped them off.

A temporary Tattoo on the other hand, could be a solution. Temporary Tattoos With a Purpose. Placed out of reach could do the job. I haven't tried them myself, by I plan on it. I don't know what else to try to keep him safe in case he wonders away somehow.

Their security is very important in these cases. They don't know how to take care of themselves like other kids and adults can, because depending on the severity, something like these tattoos, could be very helpful for adults with autism also. Temporary Tattoos with a Purpose

ARI-Funded Study Support Hypothesis for A Link Between Mercury and Autism

A study that ARI helped fund, "Biomarkers of Environmental Toxicity and Susceptibility in Autism," (citation below) has added more evidence in confirming the long-suspected link between mercury and autism.

The study is hailed as landmark research on several counts:

* It shows a direct relationship between the severity of the autistic symptoms and the levels of urinary porphyrins associated with mercury intoxication.
* Similarly, a direct relationship is demonstrated between mercury intoxication and glutathione levels (specifically, increased levels of oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and decreased plasma levels of reduced glutathione (GSH).
* In more general terms, the study, published in the "Journal of Neurological Sciences," provides scientific evidence of the effects of mercury intoxication on those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), as compared with the control group.

Soon After the Autism Diagnosis

I was looking through old photos this week and found a few from 1999, right after Mickie's autism diagnosis. He used to let our pets fall sleep next to him. He didn't play with them but he let them be part of his space.

Universal Human Rights Declaration

Vaccines Are Not the Cure For All Diseases!!

I know it was vaccines that caused my son Mickie's autism. He was never the same after the DTP shot, he received when he was 8 months old. As you can see in the photograph on the left. This is a perfect example of the careless behavior in doctors offices. He received three vaccines within 20 days of having bronchitis and taking medication known to suppress the immune system. By the way, this was at Kaiser Permanente, in Fotana California.

It was the MMR, that threw my son over the edge. He was fine until his first birthday, the day he got the MMR. He lost all the speech he had up till the point. He went from talking to not making any sense, to a few words and then nothing. His digestive system is a mess till this day. He is now 11 years old and still having terrible problems. He can't sleep, can't digest his food properly, has no muscle tone, can't talk and has the mind of a one year old. He is suspended in time.

For any new parent reading this, get informed, before you vaccinate. Once you vaccinate and something goes wrong, you are on your own!. Check your babies immune system. Have an immune panel done. I am not sure an immune deficiency can be detected before the age of five, but too many ear infections and colds is an indicator. Check for Mitochondrial problems. Look into your own families medical history. Autism is an autoimmune disorder, just like arthritis, diabetes, etc. If your have those diseases in your family, your baby may me susceptible to the ingredients in vaccines. I'm not against vaccines-I'm against the one size fits all approach we have today all over the world.

And anyhow, what is wrong with getting the measles. I had Rubella, Mumps and Measles. I remember having to stay in my room for two whole weeks during each of those illnesses. I got better and that was that. I never got vaccinated for those 3 diseases. People don't stay home anymore, when they get sick. If your baby or your kids have a cold, stay home. Life won't pass you by.

People need to learn to think for themselves. Vaccines are not the cure for all diseases, that humanity thinks it is. If parents keep trusting their doctors, the CDC, and the FDA, with a blind eye, as if they were God and had all the answers, things are only going to get worse. For all the medical advances, we have today, there are more sick people and disabled children today than ever before.

This CBS interview with Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health

Bernadine Healy: We Need Answers (CBS Video)

Is there a link between vaccines and Autism? The answer is yes!!!
I made this video with a brief description of how it works as far as the MMR is concerned.

Autism Treatments Come With a Hefty Price

Well it has now been eight years since I started on the road to recover Mickie. I have tried most of the treatments and diets recommended and Mickie is not even close to recovery, but wait-I'm not implying that all these alternative therapies don't work. They just don't work for everyone and maybe, just maybe, Mickie is one of those cases.

I have tried a few of the diets-Gluten and Casein free for the past 7 years and "The Specific Carbohydrate Diet" for the past year. He doesn't seem to be in so much pain anymore, but he is still very much lost in his own world. I tried the Dan protocol too and it's very expensive.

I've heard about Stem Cell, but I'm skeptical. HBOT which I hope to try soon. He had one session a year and a half ago and on the trip home, it was the calmest I have ever seen Mickie all his life, but It's expensive and they push for forty treatments in a row, for 40 days, which amounts over 4,000 dollars and I just don't have it. The Autism Research Institute report that about 16% of cases, it causes get worse. I don't think my heart could survive Mickie getting worse then he is. Until I find a Doctor that will allow me to choose giving him a treatment once in a while-I wait.

It's not easy for me to say this, because recovering Mickie has been the driving force behind my determination and the source of my strength. Without the hope, I don't think I would have been able to get out of bed every morning and follow the same routine day in and day out, and almost becoming autistic myself, in other to keep Mickie's world predictable and diminishing the amount of stress he experiences, with not much success, because he lives in a constant state of stress in spite of my efforts.

Recovery comes with a hefty price, so with lots of money it's a real possibility, but without it, it's just a dream.

Thanksgiving with Mickie and Family

The day went well for the most part. Now days Thanksgiving is celebrated at my place as is every other holiday. Its easier for Mickie, since he follows nature's clock rather then the actual time clock. Whenever there is a gathering, which is not very often, Mickie starts ushering people out of the house, when the sun sets.

Today he let me dress him up, but he wouldn't let me put on shoes. We had a really nice time and I thought everything was perfect, then Mickie ran in his room, got naked and ran out to the dining room. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Mickie On Halloween!

A soldier for school

Superman for Tricker Treating!

At least Mccain Responded!!

The following is part of an email I received from the Autism Research Intitute.

In May, Rebecca Estepp of San Diego, who has a vaccine-injured child with autism, contacted both presidential campaigns for clarification on their positions with regard to vaccine-safety reform. She made a plea for two Executive Orders to be issued within the first one hundred days of entering office: the removal of all mercury from all vaccines, and a moratorium on the addition of new vaccines to the recommended list for children, until the current vaccine schedule can be proven safe.

On October 20th, Estepp received a detailed response from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior policy advisor to the McCain campaign, stating that if elected, McCain "will work with all agencies to take all necessary steps in an expedient manner to ensure safe vaccines for every American family." Further, McCain endorsed parental vaccination choice stating, "The key to health care reform is to restore control to the patients themselves."
(http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/10/mccain-senior-p.html)

"In contrast, Senator Obama never responded to Estepp's requests for improved vaccine safety, responding to her only with regard to his position on autism. Estepp is disappointed: "I truly wanted responses from both parties, and while the concerns of vaccine safety and autism overlap, they are in fact separate issues. I didn't ask either candidate for his position on autism. I asked for vaccine safety improvements on behalf of all children."

Earlier this fall, New Jersey parent Claudine Liss attended an Obama fundraiser with the express intent to get answers similar to those sought by Estepp. Liss explains, "He looked right at me and said, 'I am not for selective vaccination. I believe it will bring back deadly diseases, like polio.'"

Estepp extends a final plea to Senator Obama to clarify his position: "This is a party-neutral issue, and many of our parents are waiting to make up their minds on whom to elect. Senator McCain believes parents have a choice in how they vaccinate their children. I sincerely hope that Senator Obama misspoke that night in New Jersey."

Why I trust Sarah Palin

I have found that when it comes to special needs, the only people who really care and understand what we go through as parents of these special children are those who are going through the same thing. Palin's son Trig was born with down syndrome and her nephew has autism.

She knows to well the agony and the joy of raising a child with special needs. She is exactly what our community needs. "We need Sarah in the White House".

In a speech in Pittsburgh, Penn., last week, Palin pledged that a McCain-Palin administration would fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, exempt disability programs from the domestic discretionary spending freeze they plan to institute next year, and will provide school vouchers so families can send their special needs children to the school of their choice.

"Too often, even in our own day, children with special needs have been set apart and excluded," said Palin, whose infant son Trig has Down syndrome. "Too often, state and federal laws add to their challenges, instead of removing barriers and opening new paths of opportunity. Too often, they are made to feel that there is no place for them in the life of our country, that they don't count or have nothing to contribute. This attitude is a grave disservice to these beautiful children, to their families, and to our country -- and I will work to change it."

"That's more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA," she said. "And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good -- things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, or a public policy center named for the guy who got the earmark. In our administration, we're going to reform and refocus. We're going to get our federal priorities straight, and fulfill our country's commitment to give every child opportunity and hope in life."

Sarah carried her son and gave birth to him, with the knowledge that he had down syndrome. Now that to me, is what a real feminist is like. Anyone who puts her down for that is just envious, because they don't have the inner strength to do what she did.

This is why I trust her as the best choice for our kids future.

Disabled Kids Still Digging in the Trash at School

Yesterday on the way home from school, my daughter who took the videos, said that the school says that they want to teach the kids to take care of the planet by recycling, and she said in a really angry voice,

"The problem is that the kids in the Special Ed. class don't understand about responsibility, they just want their ice cream and the regular kids don't do it, because it's not cool to dig in the trash. Responsibility is doing what I did".

They didn't pick anything from the trash that day, and we were really happy, though my daughter was a little reluctant, because she said that that day was Club day, which happens once every two months, and there were no bottle and cans to pick up, because the kids get to buy foods different from the regular cafeteria food. She was right and today she saw them again picking bottles from the trash. How they can justify the treatment of this kids is beyond me. If I catch my son being treated like that, I don't think I could control myself.

Putting these kids in a situation where they are the target of ridicule and humiliation is not teaching them anything of value. If anything they will learn that they are less then the other children.

Disabled Students Humiliated-Update!

I have been digging more and what is happening is that the special ed kids are picking up recyclables. When they collect a certain amount by Friday, they get Ice cream. So after they eat lunch they walk around for the rest of their lunch, with plastic bags picking up cans and bottles from the floor and the trash. Recyclables or not, it's still trash. They are still in the middle of the cafeteria being exposed to the other kids' mean comments.

They dig in the trash and then they touch their face, gross! If I were given an option for or against my Mickie doing that I would oped out.

The regular kids are encouraged to do this too, but none of them do it, because they find it gross and embarrassing. Special kids on the other hand don't understand social subtleties, and all they know is that they might get ice cream on Friday. They should be getting ice cream anyway!!

I still think it's disgusting, humiliating and wrong in so many levels!!

Disabled Students Humiliated!

Last week as I was getting Mickie ready for school, one of his sisters said to me,

"Alta Loma Junior High"

"Mom me and my friend got really sad yesterday", I asked her why, and she said something that really hit home.

Apparently the kids from the Special Ed. class get to go to the front of the line to get their lunch, but after they're done, their job is to pick up trash in the cafeteria, while the regular students eat, make fun of them and throw extra trash for them to pick up.

These innocent kids laugh, while being laughed at, and pick every piece of trash thrown on the floor. All this goes on, under the watchful eye, of the principal and vice principal. This is what my daughter also said,

Video taken on October 21, 2008

" While the regular kids eat lunch, the disabled kids come out 5 minutes before lunch is over and proctors tell them certain areas to clean up trash. Some of the kids keep throwing trash on the floor on purpose and saying, "Hey look at all those retards cleaning up crap, Ha, ha, ha." Then they go up to them and say, “Look there’s trash over there!"


Video taken on October 21, 2008

May be these special kids don't understand what's going on, but that doesn't make it right. What is wrong with our society, that we can't bring ourselves to treat the mentally disabled with the dignity they deserve. The disabled have a right to be valued and respected. All of us should make it our responsibility to watch over them and protect them, not humiliate them. I fail to see what picking up everyone else's trash is teaching them. The brats who are dropping trash on the floor, should get written up for being slobs.

On Friday, I tried to go into the school during lunch to see for myself and was denied entrance.

Mickie Has Been Cranky

Yesterday, when I picked Mickie up from the bus, the driver told me that Mickie looked like he was crying on the ride back from school. I know they don't like him in that class and Mickie like most kids on the autism spectrum, can sense, when someone doesn't appreciate them. Something is not right with him, but I can't tell what it is.

Last night he fell asleep early, without his melatonin, but he was up by nine. I got up seven times throughout the night to check on him and every time I walked in his room, he was sitting on the corner of his bed wide awake and watching TV.

I was so tired this morning, that I woke up late. I didn't think I was going to have enough time to get him ready for school, but I did. I told the bus driver to tell the person who picks up Mickie from the bus, at school to please be patient with him, because he didn't sleep last night. I just feel that he is going to be all kinds of cranky today.

I couldn't be sure that she would remember, so I called his teacher. I let her her know about last night, but she said that he was actually being very good this morning. He was watching Dora the Explorer and was listening very quietly. Well who knew? Maybe he does better on less sleep. I wish I could say the same for me.

Extend Statute of Limitations for Vaccine Injury Claims

I few months ago I started a petition to extend the statute of limitations for filing a claim with the NAICP. I came up with this idea, because for most families, mine included, unfortunately, that statute of limitations runs out by the time we put two and two together and link our children's autism to vaccines. I think this program is designed to protect vaccine manufactures from liability and to keeps us from taking them to court as we should be allowed to do so.

I don't see why they are so shielded from lawsuits when it comes to vaccine injury and specially when autism is involved. The petition reads as follows:

We demand Congress take steps to extend the statute of limitations to allow all children affected by vaccine induced Autism to file in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP). We demand the right to file a lawsuit until our children become an adult.
http://www.petitiononline.com/vaccjust/petition.html

The Art Show

Well in the end I didn't take Mickie with me to the art show. My mom volunteered to babysit and the girls and I went by ourselves. It was nice to spend some time with them enjoying all the beautiful artwork. There was so much of the wrong foods there, that it would have been a disaster, because Mickie has a ravenous appetite, specially for gluten, casein and sugar containing foods.

Mickie did well with his grandma. My oldest son was there playing video games and he was ready in case Mickie got aggressive, but he didn't. Once he was done eating he started to push my mom out the door again, but she told him, "no Mickie I want to stay here", and he sat next to her for a little while and then went to his room, and fell asleep shortly after. We got home around 8:30 and all was calm.

Art Show Reception

Tomorrow night, the Pomona Valley Art Association has it's opening reception for their Annual Juried Show. This is my second year participating in this event. Last year I didn't even get to attend, in spite of receiving an award. I was so busy and overwhelmed with all the biomedical stuff, that I just couldn't leave him.

Since two weeks ago when I went to another art show and left Mickie with my mom, he gave her such a hard time. Tomorrow I will take Mickie with me along with his three big sisters. We will take the Convay Cruiser, which is a big stroller to keep him from running off.

I hope he doesn't decide that he needs all the lights off or wants to eat all the wrong foods at the buffet table. Keeping my fingers crossed, I will report back after the show.

New OCD Behavior

For the last few months Mickie has decided that he has to have his TV and DVD player on all day and night. I turn it off when he leaves for school, in order to give the appliances a break, but as soon as he gets home he runs in his room and turns it back on.

The DVD player plays the same DVD everyday. I don't know what I will do if the disk breaks. I have tried to play other movies. He used to love Ren & Stimpy, Cars, and the show Ed, Ed and Eddie, but now it has to be this one. It's got a blond baby boy and an Asian baby girl, while a really soothing womans voice sounds out single words.

If anyone turns off the TV, he goes ballistic! I can't even turn it off, when he falls asleep, because he instantly wakes up.

Mickie has a new Obsessive Compulsive behavior. Last night he discovered that a switch by his bedroom door turns of the plugs for the TV and DVD player. He turned it off and then back on, but the DVD won't turn on by itself, so I have to go fix it and by then he has started changing the channels and so the movie won't play.

He did this about 50 times in a row, becoming more and more upset each time. I finally stopped fixing the problem for him and just went to my room and waited it out. He cried and yelled and stimmed for 30 minutes by my door and then he stopped making so much noise and walked to his room. I then fixed the TV again and just jumped for joy. He laid down and fell asleep.

This morning at 5 o'clock in the morning, I was awaken by a rattling on my door. It was Mickie and he was trying to get me to fix the TV again, because, you guessed it; he turned the darn switch again. I didn't give in this time and I made him wait until seven. Needless to say he left the switch alone for the rest of the day.

Mickie is Going to Private ABA School!!

This week I recieved a call from Mickie's school district to let me know that they would give the go ahead for him to be placed in the private ABA school I had requested back in May. Apparently, the current arrangement is not going to work out.

Sure I am happy, since it's what I wanted in the first place, but other then asking me to cut his nails and complaining about his farts, I never heard anything from the teacher that could have given me any indication, that Mickie was to much for her to handle.

I was noticing his lack of progress and he was coming home with his cheecks red and raw from stimming, which told me they weren't keeping him busy.

For all the money being poured into Autism, you would think, that our kids out to be making more progress, then they are. Everything he knows, I taught him!

Jenny MacCarthy vs Amanda Peets

Last summer Amanda Peets comments In Cookie Magazine, angered a lot of parents, who choose not to vaccinate their children and others who blame vaccines for their kids autism; She said, "There are a lot of misconceptions about the dangers of vaccinations...but frankly, I feel that parents who don't vaccinate their children are parasites." She since apologized by saying, “I believe in my heart that my use of the word ‘parasites’ was mean and divisive…For this I am truly sorry.” Jenny McCarthy spoke out against her comments and does not accept the apology from Peets.

I belive that Jenny and Peets both have a right to their opinion, but for Peets to call us parasites, was of very hurfull and of poor taste and it brings into question her creditability. Without someone like Jenny to speak on our behalf, we would have no voice.

I do think that Jenny speaking out on a subject that hit so close to home will have an influence on how parents look at vaccinations.The Mercury moms have been screaming for years about what vaccines did to our children and Jenny has the power to relay that message and it will be heard.

In a stament in the next issue of Spectrum Magazine,McCarthy whose 6 year-old son, Evan, was vaccinated and since diagnosed with autism, says, “Peet has a lot of nerve to come forward and be on that side, because there is an angry mob on my side, and I like the fact that I can say she's completely wrong.”

Meanwhile Peets has agreed to become a celebrity spokesperson for rival child welfare group Every Child By Two, which according to Age of Autism, has ties to vaccine manufactures: Read full article here. Since learning about this, Executive Director of McCarthy’s autism advocacy group, John Gilmore, is calling for a boycott of Peet’s films.

A GLUTEN-CASEIN FREE DIET

It was March 2003 and Mickie was now 5 years old and has lost all speech by now. He had started to have these episodes. I didn't know what to make of them. He screams desperation, and as the weeks pass he gets worse. The episodes happen at school, at home, in the middle of the night. Mickie seemed to be in pain, but no one can tell me how to help him. No one in our house has been able to sleep-it's been four months. He would be happy one minute and sad the next. Late in May, I found a nice doctor who ordered some blood work upon my request.

One night I went as far as faking a head injury and taking him to Los Angeles Children's Hospital. It proved to be useless, because the doctor on duty that night refused to examine him. Another testament, that when an autistic person needs medical attention, he or she is treated like just another crazy person. I never took him back there again.

The next day Dr Alejandro, his pediatrician saw him and with the blood work being ready, was able to tell us that Mickie suffered from Malabsoption, but to not worry, that there were no toxins going into his blood. What I didn't know then, was how inaccurate that statement was. His Sed-Rate was at 33, which shows inflammation and It should be under 10. A few days later Mickie saw a Gastroenterologist. I showed him the blood work and he told me that Low IgA would make Mickie prone to gastrointestinal infections and that IgE, Mickie was to stay away from Dairy. Finally there was a reason for his unexplained pain!

I took him off milk and went a step further and took him off cereals. Within days the diahrrea had stopped and his pain had gone away.

The Fire

On February 14, of 06, there was an electrical fire in Mickie’s room. I woke up to a house full of teenagers screaming: "Mom, mom; Mickie's room is on fire". I ran out of my room towards the hallway and I could see the smoke coming out from under his door. Without even thinking, I pushed the door open and saw the fire reaching the ceiling on the left hand corner of the room. The TV was on and Mickie was sitting there on his bed, under the covers. He had no intention of getting out of there.

The fire looked like a giant snake and it was moving towards the closet on the other side where Mickie was. I ran in and tried to pull him out and he started to fight me. I had to grab him by his pajama shirt and drag him out. He still wanted to go back into the room. He didn't seem to have any idea of what had just happened. Danger awareness is one of the most disturbing issues parents with children on the autism spectrum have to deal with. Without a sense of danger our kids are prone to tragic accidents.

Keeping Mickie Safe

People on the autism spectrum, have no fear of death and no awareness of danger. Many are not afraid of large bodies of water. They are prone to wonder away for home. Wondering away is one of Mickie’s favorite things to do. Over the years I’ve adapted the house we live in to Mickie’s changing needs. My father installed two iron gates, one on the entrance to a hallway leading to the living room and the other leading to his siblings’ bedrooms.

One morning, in the spring of 2008, I walked out of my room as I do everyday, at 7 O'clock in the morning to find that the Iron Gate leading to the living room was wide open and the front door was unlocked.I remember latching the lock the night before. Who could have opened it? I asked myself. Then I remembered I had locked the lock, but it was almost dark and only one side of the chain was hooked on to the lock. I didn't even notice it. With all the precautions I take every day to keep Mickie safe, even to have earned the name of camp Gitmo, that mistake could have caused a tragedy. He must have had an angel watching over him that morning.

All I Wanted Was a Tomato!

One day last week, I was making some sandwiches, for my girls and me, when I realized, there were no tomatoes left in the refrigerator. I looked out my kitchen window and noticed there was one ripen tomato left on the plant outside. I almost walked out the door, when I remembered, that every time I walk out the sliding door, Mickie locks me out. I turned around and put the sandwiches away, so Mickie won't eat them, because he is GFCF, I then locked the refrigerator, the cabinet under the sink, the spice pantry, the food pantry, the hallway gates and my bedroom, so he won't eat my hand lotions and spill my hair products.

I grabbed my set of keys and as I walked out the door, I could see Mickie starting to move towards me. Sure enough, by the time I reached the tomato plant I was locked out of the house. I picked my tomato and walked back to the sliding door and proceeded to knock on the door. Mickie just looked up at me from his chair and stimmed. I made the sign for eat, to see if that would work, but it didn't; after all, he had just eaten, he didn't need me anymore.

I then walked around the left side of the house and unlocked the gate, then got back into the house. A few minutes later as I sat there finally enjoying my sandwich, I thought to myself-good greaf, all I wanted a tomato!

Chelation is on Hold

Well, once again, I have to stop "Chelation Therapy" for Mickie. I don't know if I will try again, anytime soon. He seems to become almost psychotic and terribly obsesive during those three days on, but now he doesn't do well during the 11 days off either.

I recall that during the summer I stopped all his supplements and meds for two weeks and he seemed to improve so much and finally gain some weight. I think he needs a long breack. His DAN is not going to agree, but in the end; I know him better then anyone else, and he needs a long break.

Tonight I had the opportunity to get away. I went to an art show opening, while my mom watched Mickie. For two hours I was just me and not the mercury mom or Mickie's mom, instead I was as any other person there, lost in a sea of artists.

I guess artists are the only people besides the autism moms, that I can related too now days.

When I got home I got a dose of reality. My mom said that Mickie practically kicked his respite worker out of the house, then when it was time for his dinner, he wouldn't let my mom turn on any lights in the kitchen, so she had to pretend, to look for something in the refrigerator, so she could see the supplements and medicines, he was supposed to take with his dinner. He then refuse to let her dress him and then took her by the hand and walked her to my little art studio and she had to sit on the couch for an hour until I got home.

Oh well, back to reality.

Jenny MacCarthy on Oprah

Jenny MacCarthy was on Oprah yesterday!! One more successful interview and one more chance for our voices to be heard. I was so happy to see her out there again.

I had to pre-record the show of course; otherwise, I would have missed it. Mickie is home at 3:00 in the afternoon and I stay busy with him until he goes to bed.

I just love her passion and determination for the Autism Cause. I don't think anyone else, could have done a better job, then she has. Jim Carrey was amazing too. Hooray for our Jenny!!!

I just finished reading her book "Louder Then Words". I cried through the whole thing and I can't wait to buy her next book, "Mother Warriors".

I wonder what she plans on doing next. I can't wait to find out.

Need More Coffee!!

Its eight in the morning and Mickie just left on the bus. I need more coffee!!

I have been up since four o'clock in the morning. Mickie has been waking up earlier in the past few weeks. Sometimes he just stims with his voice, and that's okay, as long as I know he is happy, but for the most part, when he wakes up this early, he does it, because of digestive distress, and he cries and runs endlessly.

Some times I wake up to the sounds of his head on the floor. That's when everyone in the house gets up to try to stop him.

In the past month, he has had a few food infraction. He is on gfcf and SCD diet, but last week he ate a whole bagel, when he got into his oldest sister's room at five o'clock in the morning. I woke up to the sounds of him making regurgitation noises, which is what he does every time he eats. All the cabinets, pantry and refrigerator are kept locked, but I just knew he was eating something.

Two days ago, he sneaked a few bites of Mac & cheese out of his brothers plate. I wish, I had eyes on the back of my head, to watch his every move, but I don't, so I have to watch him suffer afterwards, when he is trying to digest all this junk, that his digestive system can't handle yet.

Mickie's Birthday

Last September 10th, Mickie had his 11 birthday. This year, I did better then last year. I was at least able to get through this day without crying. The day before, I went to the Farmer's market and bought the ingredients to make him a GFCF and SCD legal cake. Let me tell you, that it wasn't easy, but I pulled it off.

Mickie's siblings and his grandparents and I enjoyed his birthday cake, along with him. He wouldn't blow out the candles, even thought he can blow into a flute. He doesn't understand the concept of making a wish and blowing a candle, so it will come true. I did it for him and I made the wish for him too. I wished he would get better soon.
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Autistic Enterocolitis

After watching a recent video of Dr. Wakefield; I've been thinking a lot about what he said. He calls Autistic Enterocolitis a new disease. He said that digestive distress is not part of Autism. I guess what got him to take a second look was the fact that parents would come to him, because their children's digestive distress was being ignored by other doctors. You know, that attitude, that a kid with autism, is just another crazy person and therefore don't have pain, they are just being autistic.

This holds true for my Mickie, who has gone through periods of not eating and has lost weight to the point of having death reflected on his face and hearing from the doctor who saw me as a teenager, that he can't help him, because he needed an Autism specialist. Every time I hear the words Autism Specialist I want to scream!! Most autism specialist are not specialist at all.

One thing in particular that Dr. Wakefield said, caught my attention; he said that if not treated early on this disease would become Crohn's disease-an inflammatory bowel disease. Crohn’s disease can affect any area of the GI tract, from the mouth to the anus, but it most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine, called the ileum.

Mickie used to look normal and now he has lost all muscle tone. His extremities are very thin, much like a Crohn's Disease patient. I'm hoping that as time passes, with treatment and the diets, his body will start changing for the better. Someday I hope to be able to take him to Thoughtful House in Austin Texas, where Dr. Wakefield and his collages are helping so many other children like Mickie.

He talked about causation as being the Measles part of the MMR. A multidisciplinary disease needing a multidisciplinary approach.

The last statement he made, was simple, but powerful; he said.....____The child is not defective, he is sick.

~Being Proactive~

I was very depressed back in September when Mickie turned 10, because of the lack of progress I had seen and on top of that he was becoming anorexic, loosing his hair and was becoming very violent towards himself and others. He had not slept through the night in over nine years.

Turned out that he just needed better nutrition and his hair has grown back with a vengeance and even his sister is jealous of his hair now. His aggressiveness was nothing more than his way to cope with pain in his digestive system.

I took that sadness and I turned it around. I started being more proactive. I went to this website: http://www.generationrescue.org and there I found stories of hope and recovery. They also had a list of rescue angels, which are parents just like us who are recovering their children. They will walk you through it.

I know that you must think it's too late, because your son is not little anymore or maybe you think that the window of opportunity has closed, but I am here to tell you it's not to late!

Mickie said Mama yesterday for the first time in nine years. It can happen to your son or daughter too. With digestive enzymes, Probiotics, multivitamins, multi-minerals and diet modifications most Autistic kids and even older ones can have a better quality of life.

You can reverse many of the worse symptoms. So they are still autistic, but at least they can continue to be who they are, without pain and frustration.

Autistic by Injection

April is Autism Awareness month and April is International Autism Day.