FoggyRock General Forum

Although I think have the major PR generated from Ms. McCarthy is a positive thing in the autism world, this isn't my favorite book. Not to say, it doesn't have it's merit, but I have read many books by non-celebrities that I found more insightful and down to earth. I am glad that it is doing well since it sparks a lot of PR on autism awareness, but I could recommend other books above this one.

I read this book and was blown away with how like our life the journey has been.  The language for me was not a problem as I felt her anger and pain and sometimes we say and do things differently when emotion takes over us and feel it added the true feelings in her book.  I don't like it when publishers take away the realness of somebody just to fluff up the edges.  She may be a celebrity but she is still a mum and getting the news out there is so important.  In the US you are very lucky to have such a strong following typical brits hide it under the carpet and hope it goes away... well as we know it does not and reading this is powerful and should be on more bookshelves and talked about over here.  Bubs and Tom x x x

I haven't read the book.  I appreciate for the PR her name provides.  Her life is not reality for the many people with children who are "non-responders" and people who are not wealthy.  Actually, her life is not reality for the majority of us.  Several parents in my area are upset be the message she is sending.  Her child was recovered very easily (comparatively speaking) and not all children have that experience.  Also, remember she is making $$$$ off of all of this.

I liked the book....When I talk about autism and what it has done to my kids I can't think of bad enough curses to describe my feelings!  And if she is making money-who really cares.  She is helping our kids.  Look at how much attention this has gotten since she got active in it.  I don't remember too much autism news before she put her story and herself out there.  She could have recovered her son and walked away but instead she is fighting for these kids.  Give the woman a break.

Personally I think Jenny McCarthy hurt Autistic children and adults with this book and the media interviews leading up to its release. 

She said repeatedly that her son was cured but in video footage of him he was flapping his hands and indulging in other stereotypies.

I've read interviews where she preached 'biomedical','biomedical','biomedical'... and while biomedical may work for some children on the spectrum (to varying degrees) it certainly doesn't work for the majority of our children.  ABA therapy is the only scientifically proven method of treating our children as of this post. 

After all of the Jenny McCarthy fanfare we began noticing that we were being approached by more and more people out in public telling us, "you know there is a cure for that" (referring to our son Michael) "he needs a special diet"... I understand the general public is very ignorant about ASD but books by actresses/models that tout biomedical cures do not help parents get their children a public funded ABA education.
The perception of the general public that Jenny's arm flapping son that made occassional eye (camera) contact was cured of his Autism really lowered the bar for all of our kids.  Not only is this public perception devastating to those people that haven't had their families touched by autism but it is even more harmful to the parent of an 18-24 month old child that is just diagnosed as on the spectrum.  This type of disinformation leads parents to focus their attention on miracle biomedical cures instead of where their real focus should be, finding their child a SOLID ABA program, whether it is via early intervention or the public education system.

My family suffered from the miracle cure 'ideas' for about 2 months until we met another family at a support meeting whose son had been getting ABA therapy for over 3 months.  They explained where he started and how far he had come in just 3 months.  They also discussed the battles they fought along the way.  We left them thinking we were bad parents for not doing what was right for our son.  Needless to say,
we didn't walk into Michael's second IEP meeting when he was still 2 years old with two attorneys in order to force the school district to provide gluten free meals or casin free desserts.  We now new better and focused our energy on proven scientific methods of helping Michael.  1 year later and Michael is a different boy.  He has come along way.  He is far from "cured" but he is learning the basic educational building block skills that he needs to progress mentally and socially, via daily ABA therapy and programming.

sorry for the rant but Jenny McCarthy rubbed me the wrong way...

Reading this all today has made me very sad.  My son is almost 13 and when we needed support there was nobody out there for us.  We live in the Uk and I appreciate we are indeed behind the states.  I would have taken anything from anywhere when Tom was younger.  The fact that she has acknowledged this via her son and yes making money so what...  People now stop me in the street and ask about Tom my family understand more because they see people on the Tv and hear them on the radio and see the book promotions... We are all indeed individuals our children unique one and all... My journey has indeed been hell most of the time and yes I will try all that it takes to help Tom and the diet has for us... He is by no means cured but I like to think he is so at times it makes it more bearable for the next hurdle and for her I'm sure she has her reasons.  The book is honest from her hell hole journey and I relate to 99% of that.  We too have celebrities over here who promote and yes make money themselves but with out people out there getting Autism noticed how are we to move foreward.  I truly belive that we are chosen to be parents of these children for a good reason and that is because we can cope and help... Be proud and loud and thank the noise that is being made for the future generations to come and those just diagnosed.  Remember your not alone and we are all in this together to help in whatever way we can...  Stepping down off my soap box... regards Bubs and Tom x x

The expense part is where I feel Jenny McCarthy is not living our reality.  I heard her speak at a conference last year (I think it was DAN).  The part that struck me was when she recommended a "new therapy" that involved smelling various things prior to going to bed and it was only $5000.00.  Yes, five thousand dollars.  I can tell you spending that kind of money on "smelling things" is not in my realm of reality.  I have periodically asked non-asd related people what they think of her.  The most common answer I get is that she is a flake (various words used).   

I don't know about the UK but here, in the States, I manage to get my insurance to cover a lot of the supplements and Dan! doctor visits.  Now the regular grocery stores are starting to carry gfcf foods so the cost isn't much more (for us).  I only have 1 child on the diet and only 1 out of 3 is a teen.  My teenager is not a big eater; probably because she is a girl.