Popping this in to provide a direct link to where this was published at GeekClub Books.
Richard from our Penfriend Project writing team shares how he successfully remained meltdown free during a very stressful ‘unenchanted’ evening.
Experiencing the brush
Experience is a wonderful thing. Having lived with long hair for all of time would certainly be an assistance in dealing with female daughters who do not like to have their hair brushed. It is not too much fun for a dad who is not too great with that side of the personal grooming side of things. Throw in some sensory issues for the recipient of the brushing and a great big knot then you have most likely got something of a recipe for a disaster of sorts.
Well at least for loud and difficult time at best…
Unless you have the knack, the secret, the special knowledge and skills of how to solve said knot issue….
Thanks to Tricia the imposer of punishing writing posts for this insider knowledge and I am sure that it will go someway in assisting in the hair brushing exploits with my girls. I would add though there are some relevant issues to be consider in the case of my girl Bonnie.
Bonnie like her Dad is autistic. Just like any other two people we have similarities and differences. Things that are the same and things that are very different. One of those things is that for Bonnie hair brushing is a sensory issue for her. It’s a real issue of difficulty for her to cope with. One of those ones though that you do need to work through as there is some level of personal grooming that is pretty isolating if just let go.
Running the brush through Bonnie’s hair was always and remains something of a sensory challenger for Bonnie and a challenging thing to get done for the one taking on the task. However it was made increasingly so after Bonnie experiences and EEG test as a two or three-year old.
Bonnie is an amazing young girl, at this time in her life she would have difficulty when her family members went out, it was as if they were lost for her and she found it very distressing. On an occasion this occurred Bonnie became so upset that she held her breath and passed out, she ended up taking an ambulance ride and spending a few hours in hospital. It was a scary situation. It occurred a couple of other times after this and again was scary.
It was decided by the doctors who saw her that they should do some testing to ascertain if there was anything neurological contributing to this. So off we went to attend an EEG. It was a traumatic experience for all involved. Bonnie, myself, Bonnie’s
mum and the clinicians undertaking the procedure.
Personally I had to sit holding my little girl still, physically restraining her whilst she had texta dots drown on her head, followed by dots of gel, followed by the application of the EEG measuring pads, followed by the wrapping of her head to keep them all in place. Bonnie did not enjoy a single moment of this, she wriggled and squirmed and cried the whole time.
This was followed by the actual measuring of data. Of course this was undertaken with her Dad traumatized already with just the preparation having to hold his writhing baby girl still in the hope that the EEG would give some quality data to be interpreted.
I don’t really know to this day whether they got any information out of this horrible day or not, but what I do know is that Bonnie, who could then tolerate a brush going through her hair, even if with some sensory sensitivity, could no longer.
The upshot of all this was that going near her with a brush caused instant tears and avoidance.
So thanks Tricia, as in this realm every little hint, or tip, or skill, or strategy is something of a Godsend in helping Bonnie with this seemingly basic and ordinary grooming task which for Bonnie is anything but simple and ordinary.
Shame ADN Shame
I awoke today to what could rightly be called something of a shitstorm on my social media channels. Tweets and Facebook posts were flying thick and fast. The autistic
community were in something of an uproar. This was due to the publishing of an article on the Autism Daily Newscast claiming that Autistic children should be grasping somehow onto the perks of bullying.
Yes, you read that right. An autism specific site has published such utter hateful and damaging rubbish. The author of the article is not a Psychologist, Psychiatrist or any one with any particular credentials into the effects of bullying. The author is in fact an ABA practitioner and a Speech and Language therapist of some description.
The article can be found here but the content will be quoted below as I respond to it.
While the negative effects of bullying in school are real and cannot be pushed aside, there are benefits for peers, staff members, parents, and most importantly — your child with autism if everyone seizes the opportunity to act!
The opening paragraph says it all really. Really the author should have stopped at “never pushed aside” No lady, there are no benefits to anyone of bullying, except to the bully that gets away with it, is not stopped and is allowed to continue to ply their evil trade.
The author claims 10 Good opportunities from Bad Bullying. It is my intention to now consider each of these statements.
1. Promoting Autism-Friendly Programs: Bullying in schools can sometimes be the result of prejudice against the unexpected ways that children with autism speak and socialize. Not unlike other prejudices, this is an opportunity for parents and the school to promote social justice, tolerance, respect, and acceptance. Along with your help, schools should focus not only on integration within the mainstream for education but also guidance of how to better connect socially to their peers with autism — possibly through workshops or specially-structured activities.
If you skip over the first part of this it seems admirable, and in a sense it is. However,
the key thing here is all of these things should already be a part of the school culture and not something that is done in response to bullying issues. Furthermore, it is not a perk of bullying that these programs may be instituted. Possibly it would be an outcome put in place after bullying, but it is not a perk. This so-called perk is a simple load of rubbish as it all that is promoted here are things that should be in place and constantly reinforced in any school system or in fact any social system in which people engage.
2. Team Work: Working together as a team in partnership with you as the parent, the school’s teaching staff, aides, principal, counselors, and psychologists will provide the safest environment for your child to learn and enjoy.
Again this statement is something that should already be in place in the system. The school should already be working in tandem with you to provide the safest environment for your child to learn in. This is a no-brainer. The author speaks utter tripe.
3. Autism Awareness Every Month: Not just during October’s National Bullying Prevention Month but always, more awareness of the bullying of kids with autism means more awareness of autism overall.
This one is just purely ridiculous. The presence of bullying is not needed to promote awareness of bullying. Yes we should always be aware of the risk of bullying against all children, all people in fact, not just autistics but everyone. But to say that this is a perk of bullying for autistic children. This is really a WTF moment.
4. Kids Learn Skills: Teaching your child how to deal with bullies increases her verbal communication with words, nonverbal communication like body language and facial expressions, survival skills, civil liberties, and independence.
Kids learn skills from being bullied apparently? Well no, they are hurt and traumatised from being bullied. Another patently ridiculous statement. Our children autistic or not should all be assisted in verbal and non verbal language regardless, the presence of bullying is irrelevant to this. To suggest that this is a perk to autistics is abhorrent and offensive.
5. Builds Strength: As your child learns defensive skills from you, his friends, and his teachers, he is growing stronger connections with everyone.
Bullying builds strength apparently. Again, no it doesn’t it builds trauma, victimisation, social, emotional and physical damage. Yes a child learns skills such as these but this again should be done by default, not because of the presence of bullying.
6. More Friendships: Discussing the communication and social deficits experienced by kids with autism puts greater social responsibility on their peers who don’t have autism. When it comes to a child with autism, being a proactive observer can make all the difference to prevent bullying and protect them. As a result, your child will spend more time with good friends, make new friends, and possibly will want to get involved in different activities with them.
This point is just drivel, it really is. Absolute drivel, I can’t even begin to make any real sense of this at all. To begin with of course autistics do not have social and communication deficits they have differences. This should be seen as an opportunity regardless of the presence of bullying to teach acceptance of diversity and difference to all students as a matter of course.
7. Overall Well-Being: Monitoring potential bullying activity requires the te7.(sic) aching staff to supervise more and create new interventions to ensure the well-being of your child.
A perk of bullying is overall well-being. WTF. I can’t even imagine what in the name of
all that is good and right what on earth is being imagined by this crazy statement. Again, bullying does not promote well-being but trauma. Is it that hard to actually comprehend that fact. It seems so. Regardless the appropriate levels of supervision and interventions to ensure the well-being of the children should already be in place.
8. Healthy Relationships: Ways to deal with bullying also help your child deal with sibling rivalry, ‘stranger danger’, or any other personal threat.
Again, no. Patently wrong. Bullying is not stranger danger, it is not sibling rivalry and it is not just a personal threat. These things can be difficult to deal with but they are not bullying.
Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons. Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert). Source http://news.bullyingnoway.gov.au/the-facts/Pages/What-is-bullying.aspx
As can be seen bullying is not any of the things claimed by the author in this point. Healthy relationships are not a perk of bullying. They are not easy to come by and should be valued highly and certainly should not be touted as a perk of bullying in such trite and trivial ways.
9. Increased Life Skills: With your child’s increased communication, survival skills, and independence, she will become more aware of the people around her. This makes your child a conscientious citizen and a good Samaritan towards other people who may be in need overall, not just due to bullying.
Essentially here we are at a similar point as we are at the start. Increased life skills should be a standard ongoing part of any well-rounded curriculum. They should not be at the expense of children’s well-being at the hands of bullying. Increased life skills should be taught yes, but a perk of bullying no way. And as for the linking of this to calling for children to be good Samaritans at the hands of bullying. WTF. Utter rubbish, and extremely dangerous.
10. Self-Esteem: Ironically, and in spite of the bully’s goal to do the opposite, your child will grow self-confidence and self-preservation esteem.1
Perhaps here is the most utterly ridiculous statement of the lot. Self-Esteem is a perk of bullying. Again WTF. No self-confidence and self-preservation do not come at the hands of bullying. Quite the opposite in fact. I have been struggling to build this in my self all my life after experiencing the pain and trauma of relentless bullying.
With your help, your child can take a negative force and turn it into a positive experience!
No, it is not for the child to deal with the bullying and turn it into a positive force at all.
It is for those charged with their care and protection to protect them from it at all costs, and in the event that it does happen to deal with it, to stop it, to intervene and deal with the perpetrator.
No, it is not the victim of the bullying to have the responsibility of learning from it, becoming stronger from it and somehow achieving some crazy ridiculous list of perks from it. No not for one nanosecond it isn’t.
The article that Autism Daily Newscast have published here is nothing more than an exercise in victim blaming and shaming.
I am disgusted, angry and ashamed that a so-called autism information and advocacy site could publish something so anti-autistic, anti-child in general and indeed hateful diatribe against the reality of the experiences of those who have been bullied.
I call on Autism Daily Newscast to withdraw this article, to retract it, to apologise for it and to commit to not publishing this authors work again.
Communication Deficit or Difference.
Communication, it’s important. It refers in the end to the transfer of information. The information can be verbal, oral, visual, digital, graphical, lexical, emotional and I am sure many other words could be used to communicate it.
There are preferred and non preferred methods of communication. There are preferred and non preferred modes of performing that communication. My question though, is who gets to decide and make the rules about what those preferences are. Who are the gatekeepers of the preferences. It seems that the gatekeepers are the ones with the most flexible options, the most power to choose, the most to gain and the least to lose.
I have been on many occasioned described as, even by those closest to me, having a communication deficit. But, I ask is it a difference or is it a deficit? How is this determined? How is it assessed, what is the criteria of determining such a thing. I would assert that it is not a deficit but a difference.
Sure at times it would be easy to describe and assess it as being in deficit, but I would contend that the times that this is true is in fact times when I am required to communicate using others preferred modes and methods of communication rather than my own preferred methods.
So yes in that regard I do indeed present in deficit in that communication interaction, but does that in fact mean that I have a communication deficit.
If I run a 100 metre race again Hussein Bolt I will be in deficit. Do I have a running deficit. No I do not, in fact the many medals for completed running events from 5km to 100 km’s attest that I am far from being in deficit in that regard. Yet in comparison to The fastest man in the world in his preferred event I am in fact in deficit.
Perhaps I am playing with words. Fiddling as it were the communication debate…
And perhaps not, perhaps I am in fact making a very valid and very important point.
As some readers and followers would know, I am currently attending a conference with other autistic adults, it is called a research academy. I am privileged to be sitting with some inspiring and wonderful people and to sit under the wisdom of inspiring and wonderful people.
Today as part of the conference I was treated to something quite wonderful. To see a fellow autistic. A man who has accomplished much in autism advocacy, for both himself and his fellow autistics.
This man is one who would often be pejoratively described in the wider autism community as severely autistic and lacking or having no communication. Yet this is so far from the truth it is hard to fathom who could ever say such a thing.
This man is unable to speak with his mouthparts, yet, has an extremely powerful and important voice. He speaks with passion and poise using alternative communication methods. This wonderful man today had autists and neurotypical people present sitting in awe and some of us in tears. It was a potent reminder that just because someone can not speak with their mouth it does not mean they have nothing to say and are without a voice.
In fact, people are only without a voice in reality when it is taken from them. When they are told that they are without communication, that they cannot communicate, when they have their alternative methods and modes removed from them or at times discouraged and forbidden from use from those closest to them; a crime in my view.
Does this man have a communication deficit. By no means, never. No he has a communication difference. Yes if verbal mouth talking is always the preferred and valued mode and method then he will indeed be at a disadvantage but no he is not at a deficit.
It is not a communication deficit it is a communication difference.
Personally I do not have the issue of being unable to speak with my mouth parts, yet this does not mean that it is my preferred method of communication. In fact at times in highly stressful situations it is in fact my least preferred and least functional mode or method of communicating. Type or text is far more functional and effective.
In fact in these times I do in fact experience difficulty, I find myself speaking different words to the ones I thought, or saw on my mind, I find myself blabbing on and on in
verbosity that clouds and confuses what in fact I want to say, or, less often, quite rarely in fact, I effectively lose the ability to make my words work at all, in those situations I am able to see those words on the screen of my mind but not able to get those words to come out of my mouth.
Yet with the freedom of communication via other media, modes and methods I am able to communicate what is on the screen of my mind.
So the question then is left hanging. Is it deficit or difference. I know for me it is certainly just a difference.
What about you? I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment and share.
I leave you with the thought.
Just because I can’t talk it does not mean I have nothing to say.
Flippin the bird…
There are those days you know the instant you get out of bed. You know anything that can go wrong just will. You just know it, you feel it in your bones or something. It is crystal clear from that first interaction you have with your family, or the first thing you attempt to do like make a cup of coffee and end up with coffee all over the kitchen.
There are those other days, when it sneaks up on you. It’s all going well, all going to plan, things are panning out just fine when suddenly, something shifts in the universe, something crackles in the air and everything changes. That day that was going so well suddenly cascades and descends into something of a disaster and you feel like…
Well you feel like flippin the bird at the day. At anything you can, at each person that crosses your path, at each situation that goes wrong.
You could do that, you could crash into a screaming mess of humanity railing against the world or you could somehow, surprisingly and miraculously have it kind of fall off you like water off a ducks back.
I had one of these days and it was the third that happened. This does not happen often, in fact it is something of a rarity, usually the result is likely to be the first or second option.
My bag was packed, a little bit of organising and my carry on bag was also ready. I awaited my ride, travelled pretty much uneventfully to the airport. Said goodbye to my girls and wandered in to the terminal. All was well, I was even running a little early, which is something I quite like to do, so yes, all was well indeed, or so I thought.
The modern airport terminal is a wonderful thing with computerization and automation. You can almost get onto the plane without interaction with any member of staff of the airline. You simply scan your little paper or digital barcode and off you go. Except when that doesn’t work. Then you are on the hunt, for an actual human person. Suddenly humans that work for the airline are in short supply.
I scanned my ticket today and was greeted with the message that this booking number had no associated booking with it. Please find see a customer service attendant. After some searching I find one, they start tapping keys on their computer, can’t find a booking either. No seat allocation under that number, or my name.
About know I am starting to think about flippin that bird. Well actually I am starting to feel the heart racing and the panic and the catastrophe scenarios set in.
Together we walk to the sales counter where he asks the lady behind to find out what
the situation is. She looks it up, and politely and officiously states the fare has been credited back. Um, no, I don’t think so…
The bird is getting closer to being flipped around about now. The panic is rising…
Can you check your credit card details to check it the charge ever went through? Um, no, as I didn’t pay for this flight, it was organised for me by the conference organisers. The oh shit factor is really kicking in here.
Here I am with a useless ticket, no transport luggage that is cumbersome at the Melbourne airport knowing that in an hour a flight was leaving and I was meant to be on it.
It is at this point I realise that I have neglected to add the organisers details to my contacts. I begin the process of trawling through the emails, trawling through the Facebook group posts to find the details to contact the person who organised the ticket.
Some furious phone calls and I go and sit and breathe deep and drink coffee. One of the team also travelling from Melbourne is able to save the day with the purchase of a new ticket. All is well again…
Arrival at Brisbane. Baggage claim, waiting waiting, oh oh, where is my bag…
Everyone else has their bag. Oh oh.
The panic begins to rise and just when I think it is the perfect encore to the earlier fiasco my bag emerges from the tunnel and onto the belt all alone but there nonetheless ready for me to collect it with joy.
For some reason throughout this situation today I was able to keep a calm coping exterior. Internally I was in a state of panic and running all kinds of scenarios of what may be the outcome. The exterior was able to hold on until the situation was alleviated and the interior could then find some equilibrium again. But why?
Why was I able to deal with this so well. How in this situation when so many other times the very same situation would have driven me straight into screaming meltdown?
Well I really don’t have an answer? The response of the organisers was surely a contributing factor. Their calmness and simple dealing with the situation was a real help.
I am left with a feeling, a bit of an inkling of an idea that in the end we just can’t predict or know how we are going to be able to deal with a situation. The same situation may one day drive us to meltdown and the next be like water off a ducks back, and again the next cause us to turn and scream an expletive or two at it but effectively just flip the bird and move on.
I guess there’s no answer here, no wonderful words of wisdom. What can I say? I am not really sure to be honest, perhaps to grasp that light of positiveness that is offered by those seeking to sort the situation for you. Perhaps that is what was the key difference today.
Whatever it was, I do have a sense of triumph. I shitty situation, no meltdown, no shutdown. Sorted out without lasting impact or difficulty. Yes A sense of triumph indeed.
How did we get here.
How did we get here?
Really how did we get here? Where you might ask. Well here, a world that seems to be at war with autistic people, prominent celebrities rail against settled science, and social media is all a flutter over a dentist killing a lion (rightly so) but silent on autistic children being abused by professionals, parents and systems.
How did we get here when the life of one lion creates such outrage yet the lives of many many children seems to be of far less importance?
How did we get here? I think is a legitimate question.
Obviously as an autistic I have a bias about the abuse of autistics, and would like to state that I am sure that it is not only autistics but many disability communities that have similar situations.
The autistic community is well and truly used to negative views of autism portrayed in the media, and even by our so called peak bodies such as Autism Speaks. We are well used to feeling we have little importance as human persons to these groups rather that we are fodder for their war against the evil autism.
What we are not so used to is seeing the horrible things that have been seen in recent times in Australia. Just this year not one but two situations of structures to isolate and effectively imprison autistic children have come to light. The first a cage in in a school in the Australian National Capital was constructed in a classroom to hold an autistic child. You can read about it here.
The second, a wooden coffin like structure built to hold an autistic person, and with some involvement directly or indirectly from the national autistic peak body Aspect Australia. I have chosen not to read about this one as I am too distressed by it, but you can read about it here.
Of course it goes without saying that when things like this emerge into the news media they are not isolated cases and reflect that this is occurring more than in just these situations. It is sickening. I am sickened. It is disgusting and it is surely a breach of autistic children human rights. Here’s a list I count several at a glance that are breached.
In other news, another horrible shooting in the USA. This time in Oregon. Another absolute tragedy. A horrible crime committed against human people. The perpetrator a clearly disturbed person. But, the takeaway for the media seemed to be the fact that he was autistic, social media became flooded, Facebook pages were begun with titles like “Against Autistic Shooters”.
Here’s the thing. There are assholes in all walks of life. It’s not a neurology thing. There are autistic assholes and their are neurotypical assholes. In fact, wherever people gather there tends to be some number of them who turn out to be assholes.
Meanwhile a couple of months ago Cecil the Lion was shot in the name of sport. This is a terrible crime too. Is it of equality to the continued abuse of autistic and other disabled people. You be the judge. But, it seems if you think of the number of inches of newspaper, magazines and blogs it received, if you think of the airtime on radio and television media it receive that it is far worse. I am not going to comment on which is or isn’t a worse crime. It’s not my place.
Is this the world we live in. Is this the world the founding fathers of the USA dreamed of as they declared their independence? Is this the world dreamed of by the Australian federation makers? Surely not.
The slogans of the autistic community seem pertinent here #DifferentNotLess #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #ActuallyAutistic
The question remains. How did we get here? I look forward to your thoughts in the comments?
How did we get here?
Please share your thoughts.
So Called Heroes of Autism — Part 3
Right. Time for the next instalment of the So Called Heroes of Autism. So far I have written about Dr Wakefield in Part One. Then in Part two Dr Jeff Bradstreet. If you have read them I thank you for doing so and I hope they were worthwhile.
Clearly these have not been exhaustive scholarly articles but I do hope they have been informative and a perhaps a starting point to investigate further what these quacks are about.
Moving on to the next instalment now we consider the enigma that is Kerri Rivera. I say enigma as it is difficult to know where on earth she actually lives or works. I believe she is from Chicago in the USA, but of even that I can’t be sure. One thing that one can be sure of though is that this woman is no healer and the only person she is truly helping is herself and her financial standing. Unfortunately, this horror of a woman has many followers.
You can almost see the dollar signs in her eyes as she hides behind that plastic smile. It is something akin to the smile of the Cheshire Cat of Alice in Wonderland fame. Yes the dollar signs are certainly spinning fast for Kerri, you can buy her books, you can buy the products to follow her protocol, you can buy personal Skype consultations with her even, at a premium price of course. Yes our dear Angel of death is all about the dollars make no mistake about it.
One of Kerri’s consultations will cost you $100 for a single session but if you don’t have that kind of money of course you would just need to frequent her presence on Facebook or her forum group. Head on over to cdautism.org and join the forums of the all those that have been conned, deceived, and deluded by her. But be warned you will certainly see things that will disgust you, anger you, and possibly destroy your faith in the human condition.
Rivera rose to prominence with her book “Healing the Symptoms known as Autism” In this book Rivera makes the assertion that Autism is not in fact a neurological difference but is simply a clustering of symptoms that have been labeled as such. That in fact, autism really isn’t even a thing, that it can in fact be healed, that all you need to do is follow the
wonderful protocol she espouses. Of course you will need to purchase many things in order to follow said protocol. Supplements, restrictive diets are just the beginning. Along with this you will need to purchase a product called Miracle Mineral Solution, of course se will be able to help you with that. Additionally you will need, wait for it, an enema kit. Yes that’s correct, an enema kit, it’s not a typo. Read on and it will become clear.
Rivera’s protocol is based around the fact that the so called symptoms of autism are in fact parasites in the guts and internals of the people afflicted, she also refers to them as rope worms, which I believe do not exist, don’t quote me on that fact, but a quick google search on them will yield some very questionable results, the majority of the sites you see will have internet addresses that leave one skeptical at best, of any claims they make to have any merit whatsoever.
Miracle Mineral Solution is essentially industrial bleach. It is made from the combination of Sodium Chlorite and an activating agent or oxidizer, which makes it become Chlorine Dioxide. The product itself has an actual genuine use as a water purifier, which is human consumable, but of course, in extremely small doses. Now I am no scientist and do not pretend to be, so I won’t try to go into the science behind all this but I will just embed below a video from an Irish TV show, primetime. If you take the time to watch you will have some insight into this poison known as MMS.
Rivera calles her protocol a parasite protocol, in the forums you will see it referred to as PP. This many drops PP oral, hourly. This many by enema, then there is what is called a CD soak. Which from what I can tell is making a person soak in a bath infected with this MMS poison.
If you watched the video you would now be familiar with the fact that this MMS or CD as it is also referred to, is so potent that even the most minimal dose is over 500 times stronger than what is the accepted upper limit of a safe amount for human consumption. Rivera’s protocol has people on 10 times this minimal does. It can not be called anything other than poison.
This woman is gathering vulnerable people and having them poison there children. The results of following this protocol are disastrous. The followers of it proudly photograph the results on paper plates, next to coins and rulers just so you can see. They post on Facebook and forums with the joyous delight of yay look what I got today, another parasite, another worm. What they are in fact photographing is the linings of their children’s intestines. They are slowly bleaching away the lining of their children’s internal organs, specifically their intestines.
These same forums will have pictures of rashes, of toenails falling off. Mothers complaining of irritability and children in pain. These complaints are greeted with not despair, but with encouragement and support to continue, in fact at times to not just continue but in fact to increase the amount of CD because these effects are in fact a sign that the protocol is working. This is an incredibly tragic and terrible situation. It’s nothing but sickening, heartbreaking and criminal.
A disturbing factor here is the fact that these people are deceived into taking such torturous and abusive action on their own children. Members of the forum are encouraged to not post in their “real” account about it, don’t put their real names or addresses and similar aspects of subterfuge. To me this seems like the proverbial red rag to the bull. This in itself is something that should make people run a mile from this horrid woman, but it seems quacks of a feather flock together I guess.
It is illegal to sell MMS as a medical product and in the last year we have seen one Daniel Smith found guilty of doing so and is to be sentenced for up to 30 plus years in prison. However the purveyors of this poison do so in conniving ways, you go to their websites and you will find the obligatory notifications that it is not medical advice and that the product is actually water purification drops. It is all a con, all extremely vile, deceitful and just plain wrong, pure and simple, it’s abuse, it’s torture, and the use of this product should be a criminal offence in all jurisdictions.
The Angel of Death Kerri Rivera is thriving on it though, she is making a fortune and lapping it up in her luxurious compound. Recently it has become clear that this torturer has added to the MMS torture with a new torture, the use of GcMaf, an unregulated and unapproved blood product which suppresses the immune system and has as part of it’s origins Bovine blood. Yes that’s right Cow blood. I am sure this fills particularly those in the UK with fear and trembling.
I suspect I have taken enough of your time in this edition. But it is important that we are aware of these people. If you are as horrified as I am please join us in the fight against abuse. Join us in whatever way you can. You can find out more via some links at the bottom.
One more thing before I finish. Rivera’s book is available for purchase on Amazon. There have been petitions and campaigns to have it removed, I encourage you to visit Amazon and make a complaint and request it’s removal and whilst there write a negative review of the book. You can go straight to the page of the book here.
In the next edition we will be considering the purveyor of all kinds of quackery Amanda Mary Jewell. Stay Tuned.
Links:
Autistic Abuse Awareness — Webpage
So Called Heroes of Autism — Part 1
You read the title to this post correctly there are a number of false heroes in the autism industry. They portray autism as a disease to be cured rather than a neurological difference and then use that portrayal to feather their financial nests. There
are many of them. They inhabit many different walks of life, some are doctors, some parents, some simply opportunistic business people. They label themselves as doctors, experts, researchers and scientists, but in the end they are pretty much all quacks, all dangerous, and all in it for the money and the fame.
Some of them started out, I suppose with some genuine desire to help but have been blinded by the quack science they have read, or perhaps the money they are able to make, or in some instances I am sure blinded by the glory and fame bestowed on them by their devoted followers.
A big common theme between them is the claim of miracle cures, the abandonment of real science and research, the use of anecdotal testimony as evidence and the claims of “Big Pharma” and “Government Conspiracy” as wanting to keep people sick just to make money. Of course the massive blind spot that the complimentary and homeopathic medicine industries are massive multi-billion dollar industries themselves seems never to be mentioned or addressed by these so called heroes.
Actually to call them hero is really just a lot of bullshit. They are not heroes they are in fact monsters. They prey on vulnerable families, they tell half-truths and lies, they charge exorbitant amounts of money for treatments that are at best snake oil, and often harmful and abusive. They are not heroes they are monsters.
Modern society is quick to label people heroes, so quick I think we have lost site of what a hero really is. A hero is a soldier in the trenches laying his life on the line. A hero is a diplomat that negotiates a peace treaty to end a war. A hero is not someone who sells a quack treatment to a vulnerable and desperate person who believes they are doing the best for their children.
Who are these monsters then? There are many of them, however for the purpose of this post I will focus on fou
r. The Late Dr Bradstreet, The deregistered Dr Wakefield, The purveyor of bleach Kerri Rivera and the claimed cancer researcher Amanda Mary Jewell.
We shall start with Wakefield.
Wakefield published a study linking vaccines and autism. He reported that there was a link, that the MMR vaccine in particular was a likely cause of autism and responsible for the so called explosion of autism. Wakefield had his study published in the medical journal ‘The Lancet’. Wakefield started in motion a rise of the anti-vaccination movement. He is responsible for so much of the rubbish that is promoted about vaccines and autism. And it turns out, not only was Wakefield totally incorrect in his so-called study, but he was fraudulent.
Since the study was published, I think in 1998, The Lancet has retracted and withdrawn the study. There is evidence that not only was Wakefield’s study fraudulent but that he was in fact paid by a legal company to produce the results that he did. Wakefield has been struck off the medical register and is unable to practice as a doctor any longer.
Unfortunately his fraud has done much damage. He has set in motion a branch of pseudo science that is evangelical in it’s approach. It militarily makes claims about vaccine induced autism, it silences and ridicules people that try to speak truth about the actual science. It has given rise to organisations such as Jenny McCarthy’s Generation Rescue which not only promotes this link but promotes dangerous therapies and treatments like Chelation, a treatment that removes heavy metals from the system. There have been children seriously injured and at least one I am aware of killed.
Even though there are many many studies, there is a list of over 90 available, that counter this rubbish published by Wakefield the myth remains prevalent. Even though 1.25 million children have been the subject of research to show that there is absolutely no link between vaccines and autism. No link, not a causation link and not a triggering link. The myth is still pervasive. Some still claim they have vaccine induced autistic children. It’s rubbish, of course, but the myth remains.
Parent support groups in online systems such as social media are rife with those that ardently make the claim that it was
vaccine that did it. They offer links that they provide as evidence from homeopathy sites and natural therapy sites such as naturalnews.com and vac truth.com for example. Of course none of these are reputable science or evidence of anything except of course a good dose of quackery and pseudo science. As you attempt to counter with real facts, logic and reason, you are quickly shut down with ridicule and given short shrift by these people, who will often say things along the lines of well you don’t know my child, it happened instantly after they had their shot.
Yes Wakefields so called study even though refuted, retracted and withdrawn and even though Wakefield himself has been exposed and deregistered the damage has been done and is pervasive. Autistic children around the globe are at great risk of dangerous and abusive treatments provided by some more of the so called heroes of autism.
I have gone on a bit long and will continue this discussion in a new post. The next monster to be considered will be the late and not very great Dr Jeff Bradstreet.
Stay tuned.
A coming out.
I’ve had quite the journey over the last couple of months in coming to terms and moving to a point of acceptance and celebration of my diagnosis. Last night I attended my first support group meeting of Aspies at a state Aspergers organisation. It was quite the experience and the discussion firmed up in me the decision to come out loud and proud about my Âû identity. I posted on facebook my coming out speech if you like…
****Alert LONG POST***
Over the last couple of years, I have been carrying some things pretty close to my chest. I have been walking a road of discovery and revelation.
As a lot of people already know two of my kids are Autistic. Emily who is now 21 was diagnosed something like 10–12 years ago and Bonnie now 9 was diagnosed about 3 1/2 years ago just before she began school.
The thing that I have really been carrying close to my chest is that I had suspected that this might just be the case for me too. So a couple of years ago I began the task of finding out if what I was thinking was true.
The process took a little longer than it should have taken for a bunch of reasons, but the end result was that I also am Autistic. I have been officially diagnosed as High Functioning Autistic or Aspergers.
So I was tested back in 2013 but it wasn’t until last year that I was given the news. Over the last six months or so I have been on a bit of a time of discovery and coming to terms with all this.
For the first little while, I was feeling something like I have been smashed to the ground and was in a grief and loss kind of stage. I have now emerged from that and accept and celebrate that I am an autistic person.
I identify myself as an autistic person and not a person with autism. There are a few reasons for this, perhaps at the basic level the reason for this is due to the fact that autism is a pervasive condition, it pervades all aspects of who I am. My Autisms is a part of pretty much everything about me.
If you’re still reading I thank you for hanging in there.
Please don’t be shy about talking to me about this stuff as I am open to doing so with you.
I am incredibly grateful to Andrea Johnson for her incredible support in this journey of discovery and the continuing along the road I walk. Thank you, my darling I love you more than I can ever express.
It is in fact thanks to Andrea that I was ever able to begin this journey. Over the years, Andrea would make gentle hints to me that perhaps this was something we should talk about and consider. I was either deaf to this or totally oblivious to how she was able to see the obvious traits of autism that were clearly there.
I imagine there are many who will say this is not news to them really, or at least that this is not a surprise to them. It seems that on this I have been the last to realise the bleeding obvious.
You will probably have noticed that my name here on facebook has gained a couple of extra letters at the end of it. This is my way of being out and proud as it were. I am, in fact, proud to be an autistic person.
My life has certainly been an interesting one. I was the subject of much bullying as I negotiated school, which apart from that was often something of a fog. Social interactions have always been something of a challenge and I have seen friends come and go and have not been able to really understand why.
My working life has been a difficult thing as generally I have managed to misconstrue or misunderstand interactions and destroy my opportunities.
I guess this post is my full disclosure moment, and there are certainly a bunch of groups of people on here ranging from people I know through running, church, school, autism, children etc, and so I guess there will be a whole bunch of responses and impressions made.
I would like to take the opportunity to apologise publicly for any times I have caused offence or hurt to any of you due to my inability or limited capacity to read the cues or inferences that have been given. I am a quite sensitive person and care deeply for many people and many causes and passionately stand for things I believe in. This at times results in my forthrightness being at odds with friendships etc. Whilst I don’t resile from my thoughts and beliefs I am certainly sorry for any hurt and offense I have caused.
I am an autistic person. Autism is a pervasive developmental condition that results in the autistic person seeing the world in a different way. It is a different way of being rather than a deficit or whatever. Autism is not a disease, it is a neurological different way of being.
Throughout my life, I have lived as if in a fog of some kind. A fog that involved an internal dialogue that was pervasive, pervasive in asking why is it that I don’t seem to get stuff about people, why is it that I never quite know what to say, why is that I seem to be so different to everyone else.
Since it was confirmed that I am an autistic person it is as though I have emerged from this fog and suddenly so many things actually make sense and I understand myself in a way I never have before.
I want to thank you all for hanging in there with me over the years or months or whatever it may have been. I care about you all, even though it may not seem so at times. Thank you for being involved in my life and I hope this is able to continue.
I realise this has been quite a post and I thank you for reading. I am posting this as a public post as I want it to be able to be viewed or shared if anyone feels they would like to. If you know of anyone who you are aware I have burned off feel totally free to show them this post. If you feel there is anyone who would benefit from reading it please share it with them.
Thanks again.
Richard JohnsonÂû
Well if you actually made it through all that I am really grateful you took the time. Thanks.
What has been amazing to me is the absolute incredibly positive responses I have. I am really overwhelmed and incredibly encouraged. I am convinced it was the right move to make.
Today I am just exhausted though. I have taken us much time today as I can to just chill out in solitary time. I needed it.
Autism — It’s not a war.
The autism world is filled with references, analogies, labels and words that associate it to war and warriors. There are websites call “The Autism Wars”, Warrior Moms, fighting against autism and so the list goes on.
Newsflash folks this ain’t no war.
Autistic children and adults are nothing to be warrior like against.
Autism itself is not a thing to fight, it is not waging war on anything.
This is a ridiculous construct that has been built out of a deficit, negative and less not different concept of Autism and Autistic human beings. And It really is time it just bloody well came to an end. It is not achieving anything positive for autistic people or autism services that I can see.
What it is doing though is feathering the nests of those that work for charities like Autism Speaks, who have a vested interest in propagating negative narratives around autism. The more the negative narratives prevail the more they can characterise autism in terms of epidemics and catastrophe. It makes it easier for them to tug at the heart-strings of the general public and so continue the cycle of negativity.
This is not a war, I as an autistic am not collateral damage, and neither are any children of warrior moms who falsely believe they are in a war.
This is not a war. War’s are horrible violent conflicts where people die, their limbs are blown off, bullets pierce their flesh and invade their internal organs leaving them bloody, broken and dying.
This is not a war. Let’s please move on from this negative and damaging metaphor.
Even when the so-called war is not against autistics, is not against autism per se, is not against vaccines or whatever else is the latest and greatest publicised cause of autism, it is still not a war and it is still damaging.
The other day a comment was left on an article with the claim by a mom that they were not battling autism but they called themselves a warrior mom because they had to fight against the system that denied services and accommodations for their child, they were a warrior mom because they had to battle like a warrior for the inclusion of their child in mainstream school, to get therapies and etc.
I am sorry, but no this doesn’t make you a warrior because it isn’t a war. It’s life, and life is not a war.
I get it. I understand where she is coming from. I do. I am an autistic father and I have two autistic children. I have lived a life of missing out on these things and parented with an eye always on ensuring that my kids are able to access what they need. So yes. I get it.
But, it’s still not a war and you still are not a warrior.
It would be wonderful to see those that like to claim that warrior mum label could lose it.
If websites that claim they are at war with autism could ceasefire
If not a warrior mom or a war then what?
Well it’s not a war it’s life.
And no you are not a warrior, yes you fight for your kids. What you are in fact is an advocate.
Not a warrior an advocate.
An advocate fights for the best things possible for those they represent. Surely you can align with that?
