help : autism

[~Hippie3]

Five for Fighting

watch the video plz

[camMyco]

Touching video and sadly there is not much help for parents or the children that suffer from this disease. I work with a man whose son is Autistic, so I have a glimpse of how hard it is to get help. Thanks for sharing Hip.

I have been blessed with three healthy children, and am immensly grateful to the powers that be. We did have to deal with Toxoplasmosis but all is well.

[warriorsoul]

this made me cry
what a sick world we live in
children cant get the help they need because of greed
thanks for sharing

[rockawayrooms]

Very sad....My wifes best friends son joey has Autism,and so does my brothers wife's sisters kid.The latter little guy u have to watch very, very, carefully as he is highly destructive!

[CoyoteMesc]

Damn, I had no idea that insurance wouldn't cover autism.
That is a bunch of bull shit!

[rockawayrooms]

Originally Posted by CoyoteMesc

Damn, I had no idea that insurance wouldn't cover autism.
That is a bunch of bull shit!

You ain't shittin bro,especially with all these children being being afflicted.That's fucking sickening to say the least!!

[~Hippie3]

a disease with no cure-
i can see where a for-profit health insurer
might view the expense
as unjustifiable.
proly the government needs to help pay
using tax dollars instead.

[suckerfree]

my cousin is autistic. she's a smart gal though... oooh but does she have a temper.

[kenneo]

I believe Autism cases could be greatly reduced or even eliminated if they stop putting stuff like mercury in our kids vaccines. Why do we even need mercury in vaccines anyway? What purpose could it possibly serve?

[warriorsoul]

The whole concept of for profit health insurance is disturbing.
as is for profit prisons...

[xerimyco]

Originally Posted by kenneo

I believe Autism cases could be greatly reduced or even eliminated if they stop putting stuff like mercury in our kids vaccines.

"They" have stopped using thiomersal (a mercury compound) in vaccines, in 2000.

Originally Posted by kenneo

Why do we even need mercury in vaccines anyway? What purpose could it possibly serve?

It is a very potent antimicrobial agent. Before it's use children routinely died of bacterial infections caused by contaminated vaccine.

There was never any good scientific evidence that thiomersal caused autism. Just a couple of weeks ago a study of children in California shows that autism rates increased after thiomersal use was discontinued.

[TVCasualty]

Poignant video, thanks for posting the link.

I know and interact with several autistic adults and children every week; a good friends' brother is severely autistic, and his caretaker (my friend has money for that, fortunately) often watches other adults or kids at the same time. Both my friend and the caretaker have infinite patience and understanding when things get difficult, but even when everything is OK it is a very hard road for everyone involved.

For what it's worth, the adults and kids with autism often seem blissfully unaware of their condition, and are often smiling and laughing even if their families aren't. The bad moments come quick, but can go away quick too, so most of the challenge of autism rests with those around someone who has it; the trick is to keep your sanity. There have been some incredible innovations and breakthroughs in terms of developing alternative ways of teaching and socializing autistic children, so a degree of autonomy and social skills can be developed that is far greater than was believed possible only a few years ago, but we'd all prefer prevention.

Something that's fascinating to me about autism is when there is an accompanying savant ability or physical capability that is far beyond what 'normal' people can do. When my friends' brother was about 30 years old he got out of the house late one night, totally naked, and hid in a large workshop/shed out in the yard. They found him about 6 hours later, still naked, uncovered, and sleeping right on the cement floor of the shop. It was 20 degrees F that night. That might have killed me, or most others, but he was apparently fine. I stress "apparently." Still, no shivering or frostbite; it was scary but amazing.


So, if you know someone caring for an autistic child (or adult), offering to help them pick up some slack would be greatly appreciated. Anyone unfamiliar with taking care of someone with autism shouldn't try to do it without training, but there is plenty that can be done to help like offering to pick up groceries, run errands, or anything that makes their day a little easier since it's a 24/7 job with no days off.