Jenny McCarthy’s Son May Not Be Autistic
Although actress Jenny McCarthy has spent years publicly denouncing the MMR vaccine ( for measles, mumps, and rubella) on the grounds that it caused her young son to develop autism, new reports suggest that seven-year old Evan McCarthy no longer shows symptoms of the disease and, in fact, may never have had autism in the first place.
According to the folks at Time Magazine, some doctors and scientists are beginning to wonder whether her son was actually suffering from some other, lower-profile disease:
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.”
While the good news is that Evan’s condition has improved greatly, the bad news is that McCarthy still isn’t ready to admit that her anti-immunization stance–which has encouraged parents across America to deny their children much-needed vaccines–may not have had any basis in reality. Her tune has changed, but only slightly; while she once opposed all vaccines, she now insists that “her goal is to move the debate toward what she sees as the middle, where more research dollars are poured into alternative treatments and the search for an environmental cause.”
Jenny McCarthy may be a devoted mom, but given the lack of scientific evidence linking vaccines to autism, (not to mention The Lancet medical journal’s full retraction of the original, discredited study on this subject just last month) it might be time for her to realize that blindly clinging to this cause may end up causing far more harm than good.
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I wonder what Jenny McCarthy has to say about the current limitations of battery technology and how it impedes or use of next gen vehicles. I also wish she’d share her thoughts about the latest techniques in setting compound fractures with complications. Have we gotten her input on nanotechnology? Seems there’s so much more stuff she could stir up public debate about. Why limit herself to medicine and autism?
Wake up. Jenny McCarthy’s son never had autism. A simple cursory analysis of his life will illuminate what really happened. But, apparently, the publishers who believed her lies, didn’t do their research and therefore, don’t want to lose money on what they probably already know is one of the most fraudulent books ever published. Jenny McCarthy is a liar. She knows her son was never autistic, so either she’s a liar or she’s nuts.
Jenny McCarthy’s son not autistic. He never had autism. Yes, he had some problems, God bless him. Yes, he had infantile seizures, but as one expert said, many people “don’t understand that what McCarthys’ son was more like Laundau kleffner syndrome” and NOT autsim, which explains why she “cured him”. No, she didn’t cure him of autism. It’s easy to “cure” autism when you child wasn’t autistic to begin with. And let’s look at Donna Williams the alleged high functtioning autistic who was just now recently diagnosed with “mulitple personality disorder” or dissociative identity disorder. Google it people and and see th con job. If U want to see real autism google “severe autism and self injurious behavior. Or autism and epilepsy. As for the travoltas, leave them alone, this family has suffered anough pain. Be happpy for them.
As a mother with sons who are actually autistic, I have to say Jenny McCarthy and all the other “cure autism” crusaders royally annoy me. Yes, my sons need help coping with certain situations. It takes them longer to do things that other kids can do. But guess what – they also have a really unique view of the world, and they remind me every day to slow down and appreciate the little things in life. They are great kids, and complete strangers come up to our family to tell us what wonderful children we have. They are who they are, and autism is part of who they are. It’s not ALL of who they are, but it’s there. Take it away, and they wouldn’t be the same people. Who says that every kid has to be “normal” or “typical?” Some of the greatest minds the world has ever known were probably on the autism spectrum – think Einstein, for example. Yeah, my kids are different. Yeah, I would give anything to make life a little easier for them. But it’s not about “curing” them. It’s about helping them learn ways to cope with life and to recognize that their interpretation of events isn’t the only interpretation, and figuring out how to communicate with people who don’t see the world the way they do. This world would be a much better place if EVERY child learned those things.
Tricia,
You’ve brought up an interesting side of this issue that really isn’t talked about. Your kids are lucky to have you–thanks for sharing this!
It’s a shame so many Media stories steal the word “autism” for headlines and to sell books, magazines and papers. Many kids today are overdiagnosed, I agree and studies and other news reports (ironically) confirm this.