Great show !! Thank you for opening our eyes and making us be more aware and sensitive about autism.
My question is this, my daughter has had all of her vaccines except the one that you get at 4 years old.
Is there danger with the vaccine with every immunization or just a particular vaccine, or a particular age and does autism affect mostly boys?

Thank you again for your courage and inspiration.

Great show !! Thank you for opening our eyes and making us be more aware and sensitive about autism.
My question is this, my daughter has had all of her vaccines except the one that you get at 4 years old.
Is there danger with the vaccine with every immunization or just a particular vaccine, or a particular age and does autism affect mostly boys?

Thank you again for your courage and inspiration.

Jenny and Holly,
Thank you both for delivering such valid information for parents with children affected by autism. My daughter-in-law and I have worked diligently with my grandson, Jey. He has been diagnosed with high metal toxicity and autism spectrum disorder. Long before a diagnosis was made, we noticed Jey's lack of vocabulary and eye contact. Also, he would not respond to his name being called. We are both teachers and I searched the internet daily looking for answers. I also quizzed every occupational therapist I knew. We finally got the information that fit. Jey exhibited autistic type characteristics that had thimersol as the root of the problem. A friend of mine whose child was also diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder told us about Dr. Stephanie Cave, in Baton Rouge, LA who has specialized in treating children who have had adverse reactions to vaccinations. She served on the committee who first brought the problem to light and went to hearings with federal governing authority in the health arena. If you have not heard of her, you should check out the mothering. com website. She has also written a book entitled, "What Your Pediatrician Won't Tell You About Vaccinations". It includes how to have your child vaccinated safely. She addresses the "one size vaccination does not fit all". She has helped Jey so much. We are also working with a local ABA chapter. He is making great strides for which we are truly thankful, though we still struggle with diet issues.
My question to you both is, what can we do as educators, to continue to enlighten schools and governmental entities as to how to make the educational experience for these children fruitful, not traumatic? I also serve as the local school board member while teaching in a neighboring county. Please let me know how we can help further increase acknowledgement of the need for developing public and private educational settings to meet the needs of parents and their children who are affected by austism. We realize that the earlier interventions are started, the more successful the recovery. If there is any organized effort that we could join, we certainly will help. Again, thank you so much!!
As a side note, my daughter and niece are currently expecting boys in December. One of their gifts from me is the Dr. Cave book on how to vaccinate their children safely and you can bet they will read it and follow her instructions.
cman50

Jenny and Holly,
Thank you both for delivering such valid information for parents with children affected by autism. My daughter-in-law and I have worked diligently with my grandson, Jey. He has been diagnosed with high metal toxicity and autism spectrum disorder. Long before a diagnosis was made, we noticed Jey's lack of vocabulary and eye contact. Also, he would not respond to his name being called. We are both teachers and I searched the internet daily looking for answers. I also quizzed every occupational therapist I knew. We finally got the information that fit. Jey exhibited autistic type characteristics that had thimersol as the root of the problem. A friend of mine whose child was also diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder told us about Dr. Stephanie Cave, in Baton Rouge, LA who has specialized in treating children who have had adverse reactions to vaccinations. She served on the committee who first brought the problem to light and went to hearings with federal governing authority in the health arena. If you have not heard of her, you should check out the mothering. com website. She has also written a book entitled, "What Your Pediatrician Won't Tell You About Vaccinations". It includes how to have your child vaccinated safely. She addresses the "one size vaccination does not fit all". She has helped Jey so much. We are also working with a local ABA chapter. He is making great strides for which we are truly thankful, though we still struggle with diet issues.
My question to you both is, what can we do as educators, to continue to enlighten schools and governmental entities as to how to make the educational experience for these children fruitful, not traumatic? I also serve as the local school board member while teaching in a neighboring county. Please let me know how we can help further increase acknowledgement of the need for developing public and private educational settings to meet the needs of parents and their children who are affected by austism. We realize that the earlier interventions are started, the more successful the recovery. If there is any organized effort that we could join, we certainly will help. Again, thank you so much!!
As a side note, my daughter and niece are currently expecting boys in December. One of their gifts from me is the Dr. Cave book on how to vaccinate their children safely and you can bet they will read it and follow her instructions.
cman50

My son was diagnosed with autism three years ago at age 3. I have never felt comfortable with this diagnosis even though I know my son is different and does have some of the autism "red flags." The pediatrician that made the diagnosis was not thorough - she made her diagnosis after about 15 minutes with my son - which I have learned is not how autism should be diagnosed. Rather than accept her questionable diagnosis, I began my own search for answers - of course, on the internet. This three-year search has led me to the conclusion that there are a growing number of kids with symptoms like my sons - whether you call it autism, asperger's, dyslexia, ADHD, a receptive-expressive language delay, auditory processing disorder, hyperlexia, the list goes on. All of these disorders occur in the same part of the brain. No one seems to know what causes any of them. My son has a phenomenal memory and is really advanced in reading and math - but his language is severely delayed and eye contact and normal social relationships don't come naturally for him. Like Jenny McCarthy, I vacillate between determined to help my son and guilt-ridden for letting this happen to him, all the while searching the internet for help, for answers, and for support.

I have tried and considered so many treatments, supplements and diets. The gluten/casein-free diet is a huge undertaking (particularly for someone whose cooking skills are lacking). My son is a picky eater and the few things he does eat are dairy and wheat. How can I even begin to try this? Also, Jenny mentioned yeast - my son had thrush as a baby and then yeast infections in his diaper-area for months as a toddler. He does not have any outward symptoms of yeast now, but how do I know if he has too much yeast in his body and if so, what can I do about it?

Just comments. No questions. I want to thank you both for appearing on the show today and I would like to thank Oprah for having this topic. It was very refreshing to hear of other families branching out into "alternative therapies" rather than just reaching out for a new drug. I am a mother of two boys, 7 and 11. They are both great. My 11 year old son has asperger's syndrome. The most annoying comment I hear is that, "we are lucky it is only aspergers syndrome". Is that lucky, he is still on the spectrum? Anyhow, he was diagnosed at age 4 1/2. My 7 year old son is neurologically typical. My child who has autism also has an intolerance to gluten and casein. The day of his diagnosis I went to the library and found as many books as I could about the subject of autism and then I went home and got on the computer to google as much information as I could. I immediately found lots of different therapies including the gf/cf diet. That one struck me immediately. Within two weeks of his diagnosis he was going to therapy for OT, PT and speech. At home I started changing his diet by eliminating ALL dairy products. I saw changes within a couple of days. Within months I started eliminating gluten and saw that the fog was lifting. From there, the diet progressed into a whole foods, organic diet, eliminating processed sugars, food colors and preservatives, still maintaining the gf/cf diet. We do not buy any processed foods. Not only was he developing neurologically by being calmer and clearer, but physically as well. He was gaining a little weight, has much better muscle tone and coordination. He can feel pain and the sensation to have a bowel movement and has bladder control. This diet in particular has been a life changing event for our entire family. We all eat by this diet in our house and anyone who visits us eats what we eat and no one knows that they are eating anything special. It is just simply very fresh, real food. Ever since we changed the way we eat, we see the eyes of skepticism everyday by, family, friends and doctors. It has not always been easy, but I have determined that they do not have to live with us so why should it bother them the way we eat (of all things) and why should I let them bother me. I have stuck to my guns and maintained this diet, because I want my child to grow up to be healthy and happy. We see the changes in him. We even see the changes in ourselves. We simply feel better. My son, now that he is older, is seeing his own changes and strides that he has made in himself and can tell us how he feels. This makes all the hard work and effort worth while. Don't get me wrong this diet is not the cure all that ends all and we still have our bad days, but I can say with total honesty that the good days far outweigh the bad days. I give a lot of credit to my husband. He has been a great dad and husband. He was not a cook prior to this diagnosis and has since become an excellent cook. We both work so we share the responsiblity of grocery shopping, cooking, routine care of our children and housework. We also share the responsibility of helping with homework. He has supported me and our children through thick and thin. I have to say that it has been important for us as parents to try to trust someone to watch our children so we can take a break once in a while and be alone together. We found that it was not only good for ourselves, but our kids enjoy the change of scenery too. This is our team effort. I think we are one of the lucky families. We are not wealthy in dollars, but we are wealthy in the fact that we keep smiling, laughing and living life to the fullest every day. That is our goal. Bless you for your time today and may your families and all families struggling with this illness become healthy,happy and thriving individuals.

Jenny and Holly,
I have tried over and over to get an email in here yesterday, but the website, or my computer was acting up. Here is what I wanted to say. Jenny, everything that you had said about your sons symptoms yesterday describe my son to a perfect t, except the seizures. My son is 12 months old. My so does the spinning of the wheels over and over. Loves the door knob. Loves to stare out the window while making scratching like motions on the window. He always looks in a daze. I mean I have had to repeat these symptoms so many times, its crazy. Every one tells me, "oh, he is fine" "he is just slower", "he will grow out of it". I want to just smack them and say, hey, look you are not with my son everyday. you have no idea what he is like. He use to say dada all day long, and he was saying mama. one of my proudest moments, now nothing. not even trying to babble. Here is the scary part. He hasnt even been diagnosed. I have an appointment, but I have to wait 4 months. 4 months of hell, 4 months of not knowing. I started to cry watching oprah yesterday. it is so scary, to think my son may have autism. SO my question is, what do i do? how can i remain calm, how can i livethe whole 4 months until then? its driving me crazy