Time has come out with a great story on Jenny McCarthy – which includes the possibility that her son may have never had Autism. According to the Time Magazine Article:
Was her son ever really autistic? Evan’s symptoms — heavy seizures, followed by marked improvement once the seizures were brought under control — are similar to those of Landau-Kleffner syndrome, a rare childhood neurological disorder that can also result in speech impairment and possible long-term neurological damage
Jenny McCarthy is widely known for her stance on vaccinations causing Autism. She is known by people in the health field to be a public menace for encouraging parents not to vaccinate their children. What do you think about the possibility her son may not be Autistic?
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
I think that story was written by Karl Taro Greenfield, the brother of Noah and the son of Josh, and a Time feature writer.
It’s good that he was aware of Landau-Kleffner.
i personally do not like some of the things jenny has said about autism and the somewhat perverted view of autism that autism speaks sends out… besides, the vaccination issue is a non-issue because the researcher behind this hullabaloo has been publicly discredited anyway… (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7094081/Andrew-Wakefield-was-dishonest-and-irresponsible-in-MMR-research.html) … and i will not be surprised if someday it is made known that her son isn’t even autistic after all…
I think there are many people who don’t like things Jenny McCarthy has said about Autism.
You people crack me up. At LEAST the posted put “Her son MAY NOT have Autism”, unlike most who are just jumping up and down screaming he DOESN’T and she was wrong or lied. But the commenter- SpunkyKitty- is highly misinformed on a few counts.
One- the “researcher behind this hullabaloo” is a doctor- Andrew Wakefield.
Second- He is not the only, nor the first to question the link between vaccines and Autism- Dr Rimland was in the 60s and 70s wrote papers on the proposed link.
Third- the paper that was discredited by the Lancet was did not state there was a link between vaccines and Autism, therefor, it did not start the hullabaloo. It was a case study of the intestine/colon/gut of 12 children with Autism and the presence of the measles virus in the lining- his paper asked- Perhaps we should look further into this. The paper is only 5 pages long, will not hurt you to read it.
Fourth- The Lancet was VERY vague and misleading on WHY the paper was discredited. It was not because any information published was inaccurate. It was because Wakefield drew a child’s blood at a birthday party (with parental consent) and therefor used “unethical practice”. His study was discredited for ethics, not inaccuracy, but you people just read links and titles and biased sources and think “Well, that has to be it, the scare is over”. Digging deeper and actually READING the studies are valuable and helps stop ignorant posting in it’s tracks.
Oh who am I kidding, people will read what they want and throw effort into finding truth right out the window.
“One- the “researcher behind this hullabaloo” is a doctor- Andrew Wakefield.”
So what if he has a qualification in medicine: at the time he was in post at the hospital, he was not practising medicine… he was involved in academic medicine – as a researcher!
“Second- He is not the only, nor the first to question the link between vaccines and Autism- Dr Rimland was in the 60s and 70s wrote papers on the proposed link”
He was the first one to actually make it the subject of a paper, though… as in a published paper, using evidence from samples.
“Third- the paper that was discredited by the Lancet was did not state there was a link between vaccines and Autism, therefor, it did not start the hullabaloo.”
Indeed, it did not propose a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, at least in the minds of the parents concerned, but was actually the press conference later brought an all-out attack on the MMR vaccine. One of Wakefield’s colleagues (Dr. Nick Chadwick) included in his Ph. D. thesis the data that Wakefield’s published study ignored: data that demonstrated that there could be no link between MMR and autism. The original paper did not even consider autism: it was investigating the possibility of a link between the vaccine and disintegrative disorder of childhood (Heller’s syndrome). The link was child->MMR->enteritis->malabsorption->myelodysgenesis->DDoC.
If she was TOLD that her son had autism by a top neuro doc what evidance did she have to prove otherwise???? At the time what research she did proved that the doc was correct!! IF this Time Mag is true which you cant believe everything you read…. it DOES NOT change the fact that a top neuro doc told her her son HAS autism plus the fact tt EVERYTHING she learned said the SAME thing.
We all fight for our children whom have been diagnosed with some type of ASD, the way I chose to fight for my son differes from the way you fight for your child. I dont believe any one of us know why or what cuased our childs ASD as for me personally I know now that my son showed symptoms before age 1 year old. So for me personally I know his WAS NOT caused by childhood shots. I have chosen NOT to focus on the how or why but to focus on what is next how do I best advocate for and make my sons life as easy and full as I can on a daily basis.
I whole heartedlly believe that our children would be best served if we focused on their daily care insted of why our babys have ASD. If we put all of that energy in to the daily therapys can you imigiane how much better they would be???
I AM NOT SAYING THAT WE DONT NEED TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF WHY BY ANY MEANS AT ALL.
However I believe it should be left up to the EXPERTS who know far more about the human body than an ordinary parent, let them come to us and ask us for helpfull information, not parents SHOVING info dwn their throats.
I never got the impression that Jenny McCarthy was against vaccination. More that she was against the current vaccination schedule. A concern shared by a number of people in the medical field. Even vets don’t give dogs and cats as many vaccinations as we give our babies, because they’re concerned about the effects. We offer our babies one food at a time in case there is an allergy or sensitivity, but we’ll pump a 3 month old with multiple vaccines at once in the same strength we’d give an adult.
I don’t know if her son had/has Autism. But I don’t think she’d have reason to believe any differently if that’s what doctors told her.
Jenny McCarthy’s pediatrician is an idiot. Just like so many others who are hyperdiagnosising autism in every kid that walks into their exam room. This is so stupid. There are so many kids out there running around with this diagnosis that aren’t autistic it isn’t even funny. Worse yet, now we have a bunch of mentally ill persons posing as high functioning autistics who are really complete mental cases that are causing more chaos and confusion. The truly autistic population is not that common. Okay, there is a spectrum, but even the guy whose life inspired Rain man and Temple Grandin, who are both high functioning examples of autism and (grandin—aspergers), still are NOTHING like the falsely diagnosed autistics cramming our system today. Doctors are really ignorant sometimes. So are schools. They just don’t understand what real autism is. It certainly isn’t the autism you see on these self advocacy sites. Boy oh boy, are these special cases a case study in psychiatry. Totally crazy people. U can’t even believe how whacked they are.
hannautie, I totally disagree. I think not only are more kids Autistic than ever before, I think doctors are finally becoming educated on the subject and thus are better able to spot it. But remember, Autism is a diagnosis that’s given once the other things have been ruled out. We had to visit psychiatrists, neurologists, have an MRI and EEG, as well as countless other tests to finally get the diagnosis of Autism. There are criteria which must be met to be considered “on the spectrum”. It is not as easy a label to slap on as you might think. And there are people who are both Autistic and dealing with depression and mental illness.
Instead of comments like that, which I fear will encourage those who wish to pull support for the Autism programs our children and families need, our energy would be better spent making sure people understand Autism better and that those diagnosed have been properly screened for other issues.
Just my $0.02
hannantie if you had read the book you would know it WAS NOT HER ped who FINALLY gave her the diagnosis. Before one becomes judge they should take the time to read the book. Her ped is one of those who said oh theres nothing wrong his dumb ass didnt see the signs right in front of his face every time they were in the office.
My son was tested by a quailfied psychologist and diagnosed with Aspergers High functioning gathering info now about it and how to help I am almost positive that my husband has it as well never being diagnosed he was seen as a SHY GEEK not that there was more to it. My son also has numerous nureodevelopemental delays as well….
Is anyone surprised? Jim Carrey is blinded by his own failure to see Jenny McCarthy cheating the world about her son’s autism! Jenny McCarthy couldn’t even handle her own son’s seizure disorder/ She had to turn it into a money making adventure for herself! She hijacked the autism label, though her child, according to even Time Magazine, probably NEVER had autism. This chick is perhaps one of the most manipulative bimbos to ever infiltrate the autism community. RUN Jim. Run. You deserve much better! This moron McCarthy is out of your league. She’s only with someone so long as they can bring her something. Too bad she isn’t in it for her son, who spends most his time with nannies, while Jenny gets facials, massages, has a personal trainer, driver, bodyguard, talant agency, stupid lying publishers and parasite professionals who feign they know something about autism, the autism her son never had. This is such a JOKE! No disprespect to her son. He’s a doll. But he never had autism. No, Jenny, no matter how many faces you wear, you will NEVER FOOL the people who live with real faces of autism. You are a disgrace. How dare you USE the autism community and pretend you know something from your google searches and then infuse these midnight cigarette smoking escapades into convincing stupid, obtuse media that you are autism. You don’t know a damn thing about real autism. You have stolen the lives and stories of others and given a very very abstract version of your own son’s “alleged” autism to the public. SHAME on you. You should be exposed by those who care about ethics and truth in media.
It’s entirely possible McCarthy had a few dumb doctors who like so many professionals today, overdiagnose kids with the autism label. However, it would’ve become, and in fact did to many, that after Evan received treatment for sudden infantile seizures, he slowly recoverd from the regression caused by all the seizures, and got better. That my friends is NOT autism. What many of jenny defenders forget is how QUICKLY her PR team pushed her into the autism community and before Evan had the autism diagnosis for more than a few years, he was “MAGICALLY cured,” of autism and she ran all over the press tours like a madwoman fooling thousands when deep inside she knew he wasn’t really true autism. So did her PR people. They didn’t care. They wanted to make money. That’s all that mattered. They found a good cause to manipulate. They know it’s easy to fool people with autism label. Amazing how little people think about Jenny’s history. She was an Indigo Mom. Member her website? I thought Evan was an indigo or crystal child? Oh, then he was autistic. Now he’s cured. My Golly McCarthy is delusional. She’s completely lost it. And the only way she and others like her (remember angelina jolie said she liked to work with dead bodies and a host of other weirdo comments?) get away with it, is because they are celebrities. SO sick of these parasites. Users.
Look, Jenny McCarthy’s son was never autistic. It’s just that simple, but since she’s gone out now and published a buncha books, few people are scared this will stop the sale of her books. It’s that simple, too. Oh, and Donna Williams, the famous adult woman with alleged “autism” yep, she’s now admitted she’s been recently diagnosed with Disassociative Idenity Disorder, aka, multiple personality disorder. MMMM. ANd then there’s amanda baggs controversy. Baggs is a woman who has a long history of NEVEr being autistic, until she lost her mind after taking a buncha drugs. But since we live in a society now that doesn’t take the time to acutally investigate the backgrounds/facts behind cases who claim to be autistic, we just believe whatever the stupid journalists who don’t investigate or check out, print. Americans are sooooooo stupid!
I think you need a refresher on the rules…. please read them before your next comment.
http://www.aspieweb.net/about/rules-comments/
Good points made. It does appear Jenny McCarthy’s son never had autism. Reasons we think so:
She does not present as a mother with an autistic child, but rather a mother who saw an opportunity to use the autism name. Her behavior is typical of someone who is narcissitic and histrionic. She displays no remorse for her false claims. It is irrelevant if a doctor diagnosed her son with autism. It was later shown he did not have autism, thus it would have been prudent for her to tell public. She has chosen not to because her books are still selling. So, now she is distancing herself from the autism and doing what a typical narcissitic/sociopathic/histrionic person does. She has thrown herself into a million different ventures to shift focus off her son never being autistic and surrounding herself with people who are involved in autism, as to color her life with autism. Sad.
I think people shouldn’t be so quick to judge, as you never know exactly what someone else is going through. Parents of autistic children, of all people, should understand this. The word “autism” can encompass many behaviors, physical symptoms and emotional abnormalities. What’s more, many autistic children also have seizures, making the distinction that much more foggy. Even if Evan’s true condition shared nothing in common with autism, it has no bearing on the possibility that vaccinations could’ve triggered or aggravated the condition. (Encephalitis and many other brain-related adverse effects have been PROVEN to result from vaccinations in SOME people, otherwise they wouldn’t be listed as side effects in the information pamphlet).
As a lesbian woman with Asperger’s syndrome, I pray for the day that people no longer feel the need to attach exclusionary labels to others while banding together Mean Girls style over something as serious as a child’s neurological health.