Oprah's Autism Show

I would be the last person to ever sit down and watch an episode of Oprah. While I do commend her for her success (which she does deserve), I'm not a fan. However, yesterday, she did a show on Autism. But not a normal show about children with Autism. She had two guests on her show to discuss Autism. The main guest was Jenny McCarthy. The blond model and actress. The girl who is in love with Jim Carrey. She wrote a book about her son Evan's autism and how she has helped him deal with it, and make great strides forward. Also, Holly Robinson Pete, who was an actress on 21 Jump Street (for those younger than 25, Google it), and married to college and pro football athlete Rodney Peete. She has a 10 year old son who has Autism. She recently "came out" about her son's autism. Her son was diagnosed in 1999. It's sad that she had to "come out", but unfortunately, it's a reflection on our society's view at the time on this affliction.

Jenny McCarthy seems to very knowledgeable about autism. She did what most parent do to initially learn about this affliction. She went to the internet. Evan was diagnosed when he was 3 years old. He is 5 now.She used many resources at her disposal to learn about it. She took the view that his diet was holding him back from being the Evan she knew he could be. She put him on a Gluten-free diet. She said within 2 weeks, she noticed a big difference in him. He was using sentences. Currently, from what Ms. McCarthy stated, he is doing well.

During the show, she did talk about her book. She mentioned her reaction to the diagnosis, how she dealt with it, and the things she tried. She also talks about the breakdown of the marriage, which seemed to be caused by her son's autism. I'm not blaming the autism in any way, shape or form. Having a child with autism does strain a marriage, if only one person shoulders the load. Both partners have to be strong, if anything for the child's sake.

One thing that stuck with me about this show was that both Ms. McCarthy and Mrs. Peete said that there isn't one magic "cure-all" bullet that will help every child with Autism. What worked for Evan, may not work for your child, if they are affected. To me, that was a great thing to say. Each child with autism has to be approached differently. However, to add to what they say, the only consistent all children with Autism need, is love and support. but that should be a given.

One other item that they mentioned on the show was what to say. If you noticed, I have been saying a child with Autism, or children with Autism. No matter what, it should be the child first, autism second. It's a small thing to ask, but, to me and many other parents, the child should ALWAYS be first.

I just want to thank Oprah for letting Ms. McCarthy and Mrs. Peete share their stories. She treated them with dignity, and didn't try to, as I call it, glamorize autism.

If you want more information on Jenny's book entitled "Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism", please click on this link to Amazon.coms listing of her book. While I may or may not purchase it, it's good to see a perspective on Autism, and also shows that it can affect anyone in any socialecomonic status.

Update

What amazes me the most about Logan is his carefree attitude. I envy that. I wish I could see the world like he does at time. Obviously for one reason to understand how he sees the world and therefore understand him. But more importantly, just to be carefree. Not worry about bills or how he's progressing in school or when his next breakdown is going to occur. That is one of the blessings of having Logan is, is that he teaches me that it does help to be care free. Enjoy life.

He's progressing well in school. All of the behavioral techs love him. Obviously there are some items he needs to get better at. He has a tendency to repeatedly shake his hands, which I am concerned about. Also, he's not eating his lunch at school for some reason. This has become more and more common as of late. We don't really have a reason as to why. But he seems to be doing well in some of the more academic items he's working on. I'm just glad that's the easy part.

I got posed an interesting question last week. Someone asked me how I felt about Autism being represented by the puzzle. Up until that point, I never even gave it a second thought. There are some that feel the puzzle piece is insulting. From what I was told, (and this was from a co-worker who worked on a project at his school), they felt that the puzzle represented something that would never be completed.

Honestly, autism may never be truly cured, as we see it. It's such a wide ranging affliction that we may never truly cure it, but be better able to teach those affected with autism (no matter the severity)the skills needed to succeed in life. I feel that the puzzle piece is a good way to bring attention to Autism. The trick is, helping people understand that when they have a breakdown in a mall or some other public place. That, to me, is more important than how it is represented.

10tv never posted the video online (as of last week, when I stopped looking). I DVR'd it, and copied it to a DVD. Of course, when I re-watched it, I noticed they did a close up of his feet when he was doing a puzzle, and of course there were dirty. Ahhh... I guess fame comes with a price.