Habitat of Differences

karlaakins:

This woman is beyond ignorant and arrogant and it’s a shame that the media continues to put her in the spotlight. Easy for her to not have any “woe is me” moments when she can afford a nanny and can do whatever she wants. I, for one, do not include posing for Playboy in my list of autism cures. (She is posing in order to pay for her son’s $100,000/year school. If he’s “recovered” why does he need such a school?)

There are families in this country held prisoner by Autism because they can’t access the help that McCarthy can. How dare she judge anyone. Autism is a spectrum disorder. That means it’s different in every kid. And the causes are different in every kid. Just because a child doesn’t “recover” as hers did, doesn’t mean the mother didn’t try. Once again, blame the mother. This is no different than the first thoughts of autism that it was the “refrigerator mother’s” fault. (It used to be thought that children with autism had distant, cold mothers, which certainly is NOT true.)

I can’t stand this. I’m beyond furious about this woman’s callous statements. How on earth am I playing the victim when I write things such as this, and other mothers have similar experiences? Just because our kids don’t “recover” doesn’t mean we are playing the victim. Rejecting McCarthy’s methods doesn’t make us victims, it does indeed make us warriors—warriors against blanket generalities; warriors against a one-size-fits-all solution to a spectrum of issues.

She’s raising ONE child with autism. I’ve raised THREE on the spectrum. Many families have more than one child with this disorder. I adopted twins and have one biological child on the autism spectrum. I didn’t know when I adopted the twins that any of them had this disorder. And let me tell you, when they were little, you better believe I whined about how hard it was. It was the hardest kind of life you can ever imagine. You have no idea unless you’re there living through the mountains of diapers and days and nights of unpredictable screaming, violent outbursts over anything and sometimes everything. You just have no idea unless you live it.

I know too many families who are suffering due to lack of services because there simply aren’t any. We are truly in the dark ages in our educational system regarding what these kids need to succeed. That’s why I homeschooled mine for so long. I indeed did face this disorder with a mom warrior stance. And you can’t know how far my kids have come unless you knew them then.

McCarthy makes money off of the disability of her son and then has the nerve to throw dirt in the face of hurting, grieving, struggling moms. Who does that? In my experience people put other people down to exalt themselves because it’s the only way they can feel superior. Kicking moms while they’re down in the trenches of a daily struggle of more-stress-than-anyone-can-ever-know-unless-they’re-there-themselves, is just downright dirty and wrong.

Please turn a deaf ear to this woman. She knows not of what she speaks.

meandmykiddykats:

This woman is horribly judgemental.

I do believe in alternative therapies but they are not the be all & end all & they do NOT help everyone - we are here as proof of that. Even the therapies she used have not helped my children AT ALL.

There are no ‘one size fits all’ treatments, for anyone, ever, & I believe in freedom of choice in how we care for our own.

I do agree with her on some things, but I have always felt she is the absolute worst spokesperson the autism community could possibly have. People do not take her seriously & considering the way she feels is legitimate to raise funds it’s for good reason.

I wish she’d back away from this “cause”, (which ironically continues to provide her with both money & attention; I’m sure she’s not “losing out” on any outings or perks of life) given her son is from what she says, recovered, anyway. Speaking for my family, we certainly don’t need her brand of “help”.