I confused her. I think it's a good thing.
Last night, I went out to play cards with a local Euchre club. It was my first time there.
Upon hearing that my son was autistic, one woman told me that there were cures for autism. "No, there aren't" I replied.
"But I saw on (some daytime talk show, I can't keep them straight) how this kid was totally cured using a hyperbaric chamber!"
"hrm." I replied. "There is no cure for Autism. There is no scientific basis to any claims about a cure and my son does not have the bends. Hyperbaric therapy sounds like dangerous quackery to me. Besides, research shows that the autistic brain makes MORE connections than the non-autistic one, not fewer. If I close down neural pathways in my son's brain, aren't I doing harm? My son is sometimes frustrated and often misunderstood, but he's a genius and I wouldn't want to take that away from him."
"well, I just think if I had a kid with autism, I'd be trying everything. And no vaccines"
me: *sigh* There's no scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism. The additive that was even questioned in relation to autism hasn't been in vaccines since before my son was born. My son was clearly autistic before he got the MMR.
Her: well, autism shows up after kids get vaccinated.
Me: that's because most people start to recognize autism around the age kids are vaccinated. Correlation does not equal causation. My son was autistic from birth.
"well I saw on (some show) that vaccines cause autism. You don't have to agree with me. I wouldn't take any chances with my kid. But people do get cured, that's why there's way fewer autistic adults than children."
me: There are autistic adults everywhere, you just don't know what they look like. You probably wouldn't recognize my son as autistic either, unless you spent a lot of time with him. He's worked very hard to learn to make eye contact and speak clearly using words you'll understand. That helps him get by in this world, and at school. But it's not a cure, it's a compensation.
Her: "well good for you!"
me ...
-----
Good for me?
Also: good to know people are aware enough to know it all...gods forbid they read something.
Upon hearing that my son was autistic, one woman told me that there were cures for autism. "No, there aren't" I replied.
"But I saw on (some daytime talk show, I can't keep them straight) how this kid was totally cured using a hyperbaric chamber!"
"hrm." I replied. "There is no cure for Autism. There is no scientific basis to any claims about a cure and my son does not have the bends. Hyperbaric therapy sounds like dangerous quackery to me. Besides, research shows that the autistic brain makes MORE connections than the non-autistic one, not fewer. If I close down neural pathways in my son's brain, aren't I doing harm? My son is sometimes frustrated and often misunderstood, but he's a genius and I wouldn't want to take that away from him."
"well, I just think if I had a kid with autism, I'd be trying everything. And no vaccines"
me: *sigh* There's no scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism. The additive that was even questioned in relation to autism hasn't been in vaccines since before my son was born. My son was clearly autistic before he got the MMR.
Her: well, autism shows up after kids get vaccinated.
Me: that's because most people start to recognize autism around the age kids are vaccinated. Correlation does not equal causation. My son was autistic from birth.
"well I saw on (some show) that vaccines cause autism. You don't have to agree with me. I wouldn't take any chances with my kid. But people do get cured, that's why there's way fewer autistic adults than children."
me: There are autistic adults everywhere, you just don't know what they look like. You probably wouldn't recognize my son as autistic either, unless you spent a lot of time with him. He's worked very hard to learn to make eye contact and speak clearly using words you'll understand. That helps him get by in this world, and at school. But it's not a cure, it's a compensation.
Her: "well good for you!"
me ...
-----
Good for me?
Also: good to know people are aware enough to know it all...gods forbid they read something.