The problem with random thoughts...

So the blog that I wrote right before this one was written BEFORE I ready Jenny McCarthy's book "Mother Warriors." This one is being written at 1:30 am AFTER I have finished the book.

I think I spoke too soon. And if you read my blog on humility, you can appreciate how much I hate being wrong. But I also really hate being judgmental, and I was, to a great fault, on this one.

Her premise is not that she "cured" her son of autism, but rather that she recovered him from it. The amount of changes to his diet, therapies both conventional and non, were quite extreme, and took time. She also listed the stories of mothers who had gone through or were going through the same things.

And in those stories I saw myself and Andrew, although we have yet to go to the extreme measures that these "Mother Warriors" have gone to with their children. I have not yet even remotely explored the depth of possibilities that people have found to be successful. And I will wholeheartedly admit that my mother-in-law, despite my skepticism, took lactose out of my son's diet while he was visiting her for two weeks (during Jeff's surgery), and two days after he came back, he was able to point to body parts and accurately identify them. And I don't believe that was a coincidence. And while his speech certainly was not always understandable, the amount of speech he tried, and still uses, went from from almost completely non-verbal to constant jabbering.

And the thing that I really misspoke on was her attitude that a certain regimen would work for every child. She never says that. And she very clearly states that she knows that some parents have tried the things she did and found no success in them, and expresses great sadness about that fact.

But she continues, and I agree with her, that just because a certain change in diet, or a certain drug, or certain other extreme therapies I had never heard of doesn't help your particular child does not mean that they won't help another. So while I still am not sold on the vaccine thing (although you'd better believe I'm digging out my son's vaccine card to see what the date of his MMR shot was) I think that in many points she was right on the money.

So, Jenny McCarthy, I apologize, even though I realize that you will probably never read this blog. You were trying to give hope to a growing number of parents who find themselves trying desperately to recover their own children, and I applaud you for that. I all too quickly jumped on the bandwagon of despair and judgment, and am joyful for you in being able to get your son back.