I'm so happy today!! I've got a new job that allows me to work the way I want to and I saw this wonderful blog post!
From Psychology Today's blog: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reclaiming-childhood/200906/how-the-quack-industry-harms-autistic-children
A quote from the beginning of the blog: Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, author of Defeating Autism, recently talked to me about how raising a child with autism can be made infinitely harder - emotionally, financially and practically - by the charlatanic ‘war on autism'.
Dr Michael Fitzpatrick's Defeating Autism: A Damaging Delusion is not only a moving personal account of the challenges faced by parents of a child with autism. It is also a powerful exposé of the damaging effects of the numerous campaigns that promise to ‘defeat autism now' through various ‘biomedical' treatments, such as special diets and supplements, detoxification and medication.
Please pardon my virtual yell but... FINALLY!
It is about time that someone figured out that the negative language and tactics used by societies and professionals is damaging! Negativity in any context for anything is damaging to any cause! Why did it take so long for someone to finally see it??
If a parent sees nothing but doom and gloom and "combative" and "defeatist" language about autism, how will they react when their child gets a diagnosis of it? Negatively, of course. And what happens from there? That negativity pervades everything within the family's dynamic. And then what? Well... this site has examples of the most extreme cases: http://thiswayoflife.org/murder.html
Three examples of the negative attitudes spewed by societies and well known professionals or "advocates" in the past 2 years:
1. Dr. Jerry Kartzinel from Jenny McCarthy's book "Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey to Healing Autism": “Autism, as I see it, steals the soul from a child; then, if allowed, relentlessly sucks life’s marrow out of the family members, one by one..”
It's not autism that steals souls or sucks the life out of families, it's the negativity.
What blew me away was this other comment of his from the same introduction: "Autism is not a dead end diagnosis. It is the beginning of a journey into faith, hope, love, and recovery.”
So what is autism, Dr. Kartzinel? "The beginning of a journey into faith, hope, love, and recovery" or some soul sucking vampire? Make up your mind already.
2. Even PETA got involved last fall with their "Got Autism?" campaign against dairy products. A phrase from their blog: "Thankfully, there is hope. Testimonials suggest that some people with this devastating disease may be able to find relief by simply removing milk from their diet."
(See it here: http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/09/got_autism.php)
"Devastating disease." is the phrase of the day there.
3. The Ransom Notes from the NYU Child Study Center back in December of 2007.
The one for autism said: "We have your son. We will make sure he will not be able to care for himself or interact socially for as long as he lives. This is only the beginning. Autism"
The one for Asperger Syndrome was not much better: ""We have your son. We are destroying his ability for social interaction and driving him into a life of complete isolation. It's up to you now.Asperger Syndrome"
Those speak for themselves. Luckily, there was enough of an uproar that those got scrapped!
(You've seen these here before)
We're often told that "attitude is everything in life". It's no different in this context, in my opinion. If one is going to look at something negatively, and has only the support of other negative attitudes (particularly by large societies and such... honestly!), it's not going to be a positive thing until that person changes his or her attitude and the others around him or her do too.
People whose children are diagnosed with diabetes or anything else are often told that yes, there will be challenges but that shouldn't prevent said child from living as enjoyable a life as possible. That should not prevent said child from doing the best he or she can to strive for goals and dreams.
The Down Syndrome Research Foundation has this in their vision: "We firmly believe that if people with intellectual disabilities are provided with specific and relevant educational instruction they can reach their potential. This will allow them to contribute to their community thus requiring less dependence on government resources. Without meaningful instruction and interventions, their potential is untapped and they are destined to engage in empty activities."
Notice words like "Potential"?
From the Autism Speaks page: "Autism Speaks aims to bring the autism community together as one strong voice to urge the government and private sector to listen to our concerns and take action to address this urgent global health crisis. It is our firm belief that, working together, we will find the missing pieces of the puzzle."
What do we have here? A "Crisis"
From the Autism Foundation Canada website: "Engage, Educate, Empower and Unite people to find a cure for Autism"
"Empower", yes, but not autistic people.
When autism is the diagnosis, it's not met with the same optimism as other conditions. Sure there are challenges... and the challenges are different for each person, but does it merit the kind of "war campaign" that we often see being waged? How is that helping anyone?
No wonder parents feel so devastated. I can't blame them if that is all they see!
What if parents were told: "Your child has autism, but that doesn't mean he/she cannot be happy or live a good life. With the right attitude and support by you and the people in his/her life, your child might just amaze you. With his/her high intelligence and ability to focus, he/sheis capable of going on to do some great things in the world. All he/she needs is some positive support and ways to work with the sensory or other issues he/she might face in life so that he/she can live his/her dreams in life. There will be challenges, but together, I think we can help your child work with them."
How would a parent handle autism then? They might just be able to handle those challenges a bit better if they knew they were getting positive support and the right kids of support!
Any first year psych student can tell you how attitude affects the things we do, be it positive or negative. It has amazed me that professionals who are university educated are ignoring this very simple fact and putting such a negative spin on things related to autism.
If autism is the worst thing I'll ever have to deal with, I am thankful. There are many people in this world going through terrible and painful things like wars, poverty, terrorism, oppression, torture, nasty diseases, etc.
All I have is autism and I can deal with that.
