Mutterings Of A Mindless Mommy

Hyperlexia: A Literary Journal Celebrating the Autistic Spectrum is looking for your fiction, poetry, and personal essays. Our inaugural issue is planned for October 2008. Send submissions to submissions@hyperlexiajournal.com and please include the full text of your writing in the email if you send a PDF or a Word file. Deadline for submissions is August 31, 2008.

Hyperlexia is interested in honest, thoughtful, well-written poetry and prose about being autistic, and loving someone with autism. Our journal is a celebration of real life with autism, both the good and the bad. We want genuine and truthful writing about autism. You can be serious, sad, or funny. We believe in respecting the diversity of the human mind and discriminatory writing or hatred of any kind will not be published. Submissions should be 1500 words or less.

I just watched a BBC Four Documentary called “The Autism Puzzle” by Saskia Baron and found it to be one of the more balanced documentaries on autism that has been produced in recent years.  The documentary dates back to 2005 and Saskia Baron approaches it as the sister of a profoundly autistic man (Timothy) who was diagnosed back in the 1960s.

In that day and age, children with autism were typically sent away to institutions.  Saskia and Timothy’s father, Michael Baron, ended up co-founded the National Autistic Society in the United Kingdom in 1962.  The documentary had several clips from the autism school.

Saskia Baron touches on the belief that some hold about the MMR vaccination causing autism and explained that there was no MMR vaccination when her brother was young and he was most definitely autistic. 

In watching the documentary - a few things really stood out to me:

An autistic boy of 12 or 13 was working with his speech therapist and he stopped in the middle of his activity to rub his cheek on the therapist’s arm. Watching the way he rubbed his cheek back and forth reminded me exactly of my daughter. She loves to rub her cheek on people and the motions/mannerisms between my daughter and the boy in the video were almost identical!

A common thread brought up by the parents in the video was that their children had major difficulties with sleep. This is something I’m actively dealing with right now - *yawn*.

John Peters, a British man, was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 56. One of his grandson’s was being evaluated for autism and the doctor mentioned the grandfather’s quirky mannerisms. Sure enough - an Aspergic grandfather has two Aspergic grandsons.

A mother of two children on the spectrum stated that if there were a magic wand to take the autism away, she wouldn’t use it. She doesn’t feel that there is a “normal” child trapped within her children like being in some sort of prison. The mother went on to say “I think our job is to learn to live with it, with them and to allow them space to be the sort of people they are.” Talk about accepting autism!

So while watching this video - an interesting ad popped on my screen. 

The Body Ecology Diet - We Have Answers to Heal Your Gut…Prevent & Reverse Autism

Huh?  Prevent autism?  I understand that a lot of people on the spectrum also have gastrointestinal issues but prevent autism?  So I decided to check out the Body Ecology Diet website and there is a link to Autism & ADD with information on a three day workshop - “Taking the Mystery Out of Autism.”  Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad - everyone and their mom is hosting an autism workshop these days.

So I decide to look at the brochure (just curious, mind you) and guess what the price tag on this three day workshop is?  $999.  Yup, that’s right - a smooth thousand dollars to have the privilege of attending a workshop “based on the teachings of Donna Gates, M.Ed. and Leonard Smith, MD.”  So the Body Ecology Diet was created by a person with a Master’s in Education?  Odd.

Back to the $1k price tag - that is outrageous.  Here are some comparisons:  Autism Society of America, four-day conference, $225; DAN! Conference, three days, $425; Autism Summit 2008, three days, $395.  Now I’m not saying any one of these conferences is a great place to go but just comparing apples to apples…one autism conference/workshop to another. 

I may be off base but it sounds like the Body Ecology Diet is just another way for people to profit off of the whole hyped up autism issue.

According to Chelation Therapy: Unproven Claims and Unsound Theories by Saul Green, Ph.D:

Chelation therapy, as discussed in this article, is a series of intravenous infusions containing disodium EDTA and various other substances. It is sometimes done by swallowing EDTA or other agents in pill form.

When my daughter was going through her autism assessment period back in the Fall of 2006, I mentioned it to a naturopathic physician (NMD) that owns a local health/beauty spa that I attend.  I tend to look at things from a natural and holistic approach so it was only natural that I mention this to the NMD.  She told me to come see her after I found out for sure because there was a chelation study being done at our local naturopathic college. 

Although I respect the NMD, I never made that call.  I did my own research on chelation and decided that it wasn’t a choice I wanted to make for my child.  Since that time, I’ve learned of neurodiversity and as I’ve mentioned before I fall on that side of things.  Of course I am a firm believer in to each their own and it is not my place to judge so I still hear/read about chelation on a regular basis.

One of my local parenting email groups had a message go out today about a Newsweek article that hit the online mag today:  Fringe autism treatment could get federal study:  US researchers want to study alternative treatment for autism; chelation called quackery.

The treatment removes heavy metals from the body and is based on the fringe theory that mercury in vaccines triggers autism — a theory never proved and rejected by mainstream science. Mercury hasn’t been in childhood vaccines since 2001, except for certain flu shots.

The article goes on to explain that Dr. Thomas Insel, the head of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), supports the proposed testing of chelation in children. The study, still in its proposal stages, is on hold while the safety issues are concerned.

Here is where *my* personal concern is - the safety of chelation. I’ll disregard the notions of curing vs. diversity as well as the efficacy of chelation, let’s look at the safety of it. Kristina Chew, the Autism Vox, is one of the best autism bloggers in my not so humble opinion. In November of 2007, Chew posted on a child’s death after a chelation procedure: Doctor Faces Trial in Death of Child After Chelation Treatment.

Chelation supporters will point to the doctor’s errors in the process as the cause as oppose to the actual chelation itself. To this I ask, how many times has a child died in a social skills group or during speech therapy? Both of these autism therapies have helped my children tremendously but at no inherent risk to my child.

Kevin Leitch of the UK-based blog Left Brain Right Brain wrote on the same topic today - check out his take on things: Chelation study to be ‘released’?

My aunt forwards me several emails a week.  Admittedly, I don’t read them all.  This one caught my attention and I sat awestruck for over five minutes as I watched Stephen Wiltshire, an autistic savant from the United Kingdom, recreate Rome after taking a 45-minute flight over the city.  Absolutely amazing.

Okay so the video is a year old and I’m sure the majority of the Mindless Mommy blog readers have seen it, but just in case you haven’t - check it out!

Wiltshire also has several other videos up on youtube

April is Autism Awareness Month.  Here is my first contribution to raising autism awareness in April of 2008.  The faces of autism spectrum conditions in my house.  I have never posted a picture of my children before on this blog, meet my two sweethearts.

Easter fun with the cutest little Basset Hound puppy watching.

On a marathon hike with Pops checking out some local wildlife (non-venemous of course).

A lot of media attention this month will play to those that “suffer” from autism.  Autism can most definitely be trying for parents and those dealing with the condition however I wanted to put a happy face to autism.

My Mindless Mommy Blog is one year old!  I’ve had the domain for longer than that but on 3/10/07 I created my Mutterings of a Mindless Mommy blog dedicated to my life as the mom of two children on the autism spectrum.  At the time I started the blog, I only knew I was the mom of one on the spectrum.  Since then I’ve been promoted to mom of two great spectrum kiddos! 

Here’s a look back at some of my favorite and more popular posts.  I’m going to start with March and April of 2007 as I have many favorites and I don’t want to spam them all here in one post. 

An Introduction - My first blog entry!

The Dreaded Autism Tantrum - Blogged from our hotel in San Diego after a fun day at Sea World.

Having Autism vs. Being Autistic - Two completely different statements and one may be offensive to a certain part of the autism community and the other offensive to another part of the autism community.  The power of words, truly amazing.

Autism and Terbutaline- I get visitors to this post every day from Google searches on the topic.  Not many comments but by far one of my most popular posts.

“She Should be Potty Trained” - Not my shining glory moment of educating others about autism, but some days you just have to say what is on your mind.

A Neat Little Package Called Asperger’s Syndrome - This post was made shortly after my son’s diagnosis.

April is recognized throughout the United States and in many countries across the world as Autism Awareness Month.  The symbol most commonly associated with autism awareness is the puzzle.  Sometimes the images have a puzzle piece missing representing that bit of information that is mysterious with regards to autism spectrum conditions.  Some people find the puzzle symbol and even more-so the missing puzzle piece offensive.  While I understand the reason behind this, I kind of like the puzzle symbols (without missing pieces).

Here’s my thinking - my children are most definitely little puzzles.  They aren’t those nice puzzles with flat edges that neatly go together, they are those tricky 3D puzzles.  They aren’t missing anything, well except maybe for some sleep, but other than that they are most definitely whole.  However, I think children are all little puzzles.  Trying to figure out what your child needs and/or wants can be difficult at six months, six years, and even harder at sixteen years from what I’ve been told.  So in an essence, everyone is a puzzle.

My goals, with regard to autism awareness, are to help people understand that autism has many faces.  Yes my little girl who will look you dead in the eye, smile, and say hi is on the autism spectrum.  At this point outsiders see her as a sweet little girl.  I want them to understand that next time they see her if she’s having an all-out meltdown that she’s still that sweet little girl and not some spoiled brat who’s throwing a tantrum because she’s not getting her way.

Autism is not a death sentence for our family.  We embrace the differences that our children have from their peers and provide them with the necessary tools to enjoy life.  In the end, that’s all we want right?  To enjoy life.

Jenn over at Good Job Mama! posted that Bertolli (the pasta company) has followed Lowe’s and pulled their ads from the Big Brother show on CBS.  A representative from Bertolli called, as in picked up the telephone and made a personal phone call, to Jenn to inform her of their decision to pull the ads.  Fantastic!!  I am going to go buy some Bertolli pasta to show my support!  I wish they made organic but I’ll make an exception in this case.  Jenn, YOU ROCK!

So I watched Big Brother on Tuesday night and had this horrible feeling of resentment everytime I saw Adam Jasinski.  Grrr.  Then I’d laugh because he’s sitting there absolutely clueless about the horrors that await him once he gets evicted.  Oh how I’d love to see his face.  Too bad it is likely that it won’t be discussed in his exit interview. 

I woke up from a rather sleepless night (one child with an asthma flare-up and the other with a toothache) to see that Angela from Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy awarded me with the E for Excellent blog award.  I’ve seen these fun awards floating around many of the autism-themed blogs I subscribe to and today I get to join in on the fun!  Angela found my blog after the EOnline article mentioned mindlessmommy.com.  I’ve since subscribed to her blog and traded a few comments.  She’s a cool momma - from her blog “earth-loving, organic food cooking” - my kind of momma. 

Now it is my turn to award a blog with the E for Excellent Award - Feebeeglee is an amazing momma.  Whether it is patience in the midst of a sensory-seeking binge or knitting the cutest lil bum covers for her new wee one, Phoebe has got it together and is a wonderfully positive person. 

Autism News Direct is reporting that Lowe’s is the first company to pull advertisements from Big Brother in light of Adam Jasinksi’s foot-in-mouth comment calling the autistic children he works with retards.  In the entry Lowe’s Pulls Advertisements From Big Brother After Jasinski Comment, a press release from Autism United announces that Lowe’s has pulled out and that plans are underway to work on other big name advertisers like Taco Bell, Saturn, and Geico. 

It is nice to see some action on the part of the advertisers, it would certainly be nice for CBS to come out with more than a simple statement about this.  A lot of people are comparing Jasinski’s comment to Don Imus’ “nappy-headed hos” comment that ended with his termination.  It will be interesting to see how the rest of this plays out in the media.