Autism Vox 2008 in Review: August-December
January 1, 2009 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Books, Cause, Disability Rights, Education, Environment, Genetics, Health, Holidays, Legislation, New Jersey, Parenting, Politics, Psychology, Science, Stereotypes, Treatment, Vaccines
Happy 2009!
We’re leaving tonight on the red-eye to go back from the Bay Area to New Jersey so, in the interest of being able to spend more time in the California sunshine with my guys and my parents, and since it is, indeed, 2009, a few more highlights from 2008.
August means one thing in my household—-two weeks at the beach, at the Jersey Shore. Not surprisingly, it was still impossible to avoid talk about vaccines. A new clinical trial of the GFCF diet was announced. While people have strong disagreements about the “right” of parents to vaccinate or not, everyone agreed that the use of “retard” in the movie Tropic Thunder was unncessary.
Charlie started middle school in September and, by October, he was deep into middle school blues, and Jim and I found ourselves back into the old familiar advocacy mode, including meetings with teachers present and past, Charlie’s case manager, ABA consultants, school district administrators (but not, yet, “legal counsel” of the sort this family in Montgomery County (Virginia) has had to take).
Also in September: A 13-year-old autistic boy treaded water for 15 hours off the coast of Volusia County in Florida, until he was found the next day.
Another study showed that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism.
And, with Election Day nearing, the choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin—whose youngest son, Trig, has Down Syndrome—-as Senator John McCain’s running mate got the (Special Needs) Mommy Wars going again.
In October, I (former warrior mom that I am) was on a Science Blogs book club panel writing about a newly published book, I get a lot of hate mail”: Autism’s False Prophets by Paul Offit. (And I’ve not been feeling that I need beware Jenny McCarthy and her so-called angry mom-mob; I know that someone’s watching over me.)
More to the point than “debates” about vaccines and autism was the passage of the mental health parity bill.
And then, in the middle of October, was the McCain-Obama debate in which McCain apparently confused Down Syndrome and autism, and after which I was interviwed on Newsweek about the candidates.
Around the same time, Denis Leary did a Michael Savage, Charlie seemed to grow taller every week, and David Kirby exonerated thimerosal, and as quickly said he hadn’t.
November brought a new theory about autism and genetics, another suggestion for identifying autism in infants (”strange play“), and more speculation about autism and schizophrenia as the same. A mandatory autism registry was proposed in New Jersey; researchers began to look for autism’s causes at home; and I attended the November 21st meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), at which the draft of the Strategic Plan was discussed.
December, this past month, began with Autism Twitter Day, organized by Bonnie Sayers; an exchange about some dangerous ideas about autism, and some events concerning autistic rights, from an autistic girl in Wisconsin becoming a Brownie after being asked not to return to a special needs Brownie troop, to calls for the inclusion of autistic individuals on the boards of autism organizations. (This letter states why.)
And some final thoughts as 2008 ended: What would you like to see in autism legislation? (Something besides insurance coverage for specific therapies.) And isn’t it time for vaccine talk detox? (Yes.)
So farewell to 2008 and onward into the new year, which I suspect holds some more changes all the time for Charlie, and which holds a big one for me, too—-but more on that tomorrow, once we’re back home in Jersey.
Jeff Stimpson
Jill Cornfield
Happy New Year to you too.
Have a safe trip home!
Hi Kristina,
Interesting stuff, I watched the Newsweek interview; good job! What you tell about your concern as a parent (what will happen to my child when I am gone) I recognise the fear of my own mum (who is 72 now)
Regards,
Smiles and waves goodbye,
Simone a.k.a. Aspie Bird
Looking forward to reading your blog in 2009. Happy New Year to you and your family.
Safe travels.
I’m here because you were nominated for that 2008 Weblog award. So glad I stopped by. Have a great new year.
Thanks for this list. See also the Top 10 Special-Needs Stories of 2008 on my blog.
http://specialneeds08.blogspot.com/2008/12/special-needs-year-in-review.html