A Truly Good Friday

Last night, Hubby came home late from work. He sat down next to me on the couch, and told me he'd downloaded the DAN! Conference videos from last fall and had been watching them while working out at the gym. I was shocked. I waited for the other shoe to drop..."And I thought it was crap!" Nope, he didn't say that. He started talking about Dr. Levinson (my good friend, Amy, takes her beautiful son to see Dr. Levinson on the other side of the country whenever she can, and consults with him on the phone) and his treatment protocol while I looked at him with shock and bewilderment.

I attended a day of the DAN! Conference last fall (see this) and Hubby didn't really have all that much to say when I raved about it. He also didn't jump up and down excitedly when I gave him the Discover Magazine on Autism to read a few weeks ago. So, for him to actually show some initiative in learning the latest in treatments for Autism...WOW!

Hubby did do some reading when Hutton was first diagnosed three years ago, and he was the one who figured out which supplements to start Hutton on while we tried to get him in with an Autism-focused doctor. Then, slowly but surely, Hubby started losing hope or interest or both, and I took over as researcher of all things Autism.

So, Thursday night, Hubby talked about Dr. Levinson's protocol, and I told him what we're doing right now for Hutton, and that we'd be going in for a re-check in May. I am excited that Hubby seems to be back on board for the bio-medical treatments!

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Friday the weather was beautiful! Hutton's afternoon appointment (Social Skills Class at the UW) was canceled, so we spent the afternoon playing outside. The boys played on the swingset, lounged with me in the hammock, and we blew lots of bubbles. The only downside was Hutton going in the creek behind our house. I always tell him, he's welcome to go in the creek if he's wearing shorts and his water sandals and I'm with him. It's an annoyance when he goes in wearing jeans and his only pair of sneakers the currently fit. He did it Thursday afternoon, too. That's OK. The sun is out to dry out the wet sneakers, right? I'm going to have to get Hutton some of those plastic clogs, too, I guess!
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Oh yeah -- OPRAH!! It was a good show, though too short to cover everything we Bio-Medical parents would have liked: diet, bio-medical treatments, and potential recovery from Autism, plus showing a wider range or kids on the spectrum would have been great, but for an awareness show, it was great! I cried during part of it, especially when the older sibling of a boy with Autism was on. (I hope Harrison doesn't feel left out by our focus on Hutton's Autism when he's older. I spend lots of one on one time with him, but we do spend lots of time going to appointments for Hutton.) I loved this Katie Wright opening "the can of worms" on Oprah -- bringing up her belief that vaccines played a major part in her son's Autism. The V word is out on Oprah! Oh my!

And read this from JB Handley of Generation Rescue after the show:

Guys, the chances of me getting on Oprah are ZERO, but thank you. Besides, if I was invited Merck would have me shot before I got in the studio...Remember who pays the bills on Oprah's show.

Katie was told by the producers before the show was filmed that if she mentioned vaccines she would be off the show.

While taping, the pediatrician made the misstatement about vaccines and autism (that whole "no connection" reassuring bullshit), and, during break, Katie appealed irectly to Oprah to let her respond, as you saw on the show.

However, Oprah's response to Katie about "opening the can of worms" and the audience's applause after what she said was actually based on a much longer exchange, all of which was edited out of the final cut of the show.

After the part you heard Katie say, Katie went on to say that the preservatives in the vaccines made her son sick and that the combination vaccines and the vaccine schedule were grossly unsafe.

Everyone's favorite pediatrician then jumped in and said that if the schedule were changed there would epidemics. Katie responded by saying there already is an epidemic and that our kids are not disposable so the CDC can perpetuate irrational fears of the measles and the flu.

I think this highlights a number of things:

- The censorship most media outlets give to this issue is very high. My personal opinion is that this is due entirely to the power of pharma advertising and to the fact that the media outlets hear directly from pharma in advance of these shows and get warned. The fact that the daughter of NBC's FORMER CEO must be deeply troubling for pharma because this is going to be one very tough person to shut up.

- Oprah over-ruled the directive Katie was given because she is Oprah and appears to have strong moral fiber. If Don Imus is a 10, I give Oprah a 5, which makes her second-best for national personalities dealing honestly about our kids, although it is almost incomprehensible to me that this is Oprah's first show on autism.

- The lame doctor saying "if the schedule were changed there would be epidemics" has no idea what she is talking about. It is unbelievable that it is NEVER reported that in the mid-1980s there were 10 vaccines on the schedule and today its 36. We were not
having massive epidemics in the 1980s and the schedule has more than tripled due to money and recklessness, with no monitoring system that could ever catch a delayed-onset condition like autism.

- Katie is a true warrior for her son and all of our kids. She said so much more than America got to hear.

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Off to enjoy the sun.