Days Of Our Lives Discussion Group

Topic: Looking forward to the Autistic storyline

What would be nice, is if they would have Jenny McCarthy on the show, as herself, to talk about how she cured her son of Autism with diet.  She has written a book about the experience, and now her son is relatively normal, able to play and converse with people.  I think it would be a real inspiration for people to see them work this out in this way.

Julie

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OMG! NO! Like, Emmy, my child is autistic and there is no cure for autism. Jenny McCarthy needs to stop running her mouth about her ''cure'' for autism. DOOL will do a whole lot of parents a true injustice if this is the route they decide to take. They need to speak to the hundreds of other parents who have changed their children's diets and have seen little to no improvement. Jenny's son was more likely than not misdiagnosed. Who knows maybe her son had an allergy that caused undetectable brain seizures and it appeared as autism, but it was not autism. If autism were that easy to cure, it would not be an epidemic. cgem eom

I don't mean to argue, but she did a ton of research and saw quite a few doctors about her son, and it was trial and error for a long time till she saw the improvement. I believe there are some cases that are more severe,

I'm not going to argue and I don't care how much research she has done, her research was based on her son and her son alone. All I can say is before taking what she says as truth, do a simple search on autism/cures/therapies without her name attached. cgem eom

cgeminime2: This is about much more than Jenny McCarthy's son. She isn't the only one who has used the dietary approach to improve the life of a child w/autism. She didn't come up w/the gluten free, caesin free diet, it has been out there for a very long time, used in a variety of situations, not just for autism. Since autism is a spectrum disorder, it isn't necessarily the right treatment for everyone. But it also isn't a cure. Jenny McCarthy has never said that her son was cured, only that he has drastically improved in many areas. He is still autistic & she readily admits that. But she initially found out about it because of other parents of kids w/autism who tried the dietary approach w/vrying degrees of success. It was a big improvement for her son, along w/lots of others. There is no medical incentive for research into the scientific research into the gluten free, caesin free diet so it is always going to be anectodal (sp). eom

Spout off all you want Rosebud, about all of your freaking soap knowledge, but don't go spouting off and informing me about something I deal with every day. Jenny McCarthy is doing a disservice to the autistic community, end of story. I can't tell you how many freaking times someone has told me how she ''cured'' her son, so if she's not saying it, that sure is the message she is getting across. cgem eom

OMG. ROSEPUD IS AN EXPERT ON THE SUBJECT OF AUTISM, TOO. HOW SURPRISING.

I've been on the gluten free diet for the last five years, for a very different medical reason. I've also got friends who have tried the dietary approach, w/mixed results, LONG before Jenny McCarthy was having kids or knew about living either gluten free or caesin free. No one is an 'expert' on everything to do w/autism. Every case is different & the ideas of what is best varies from family to family. There are those who believe that the root cause is preservatives in vaccines, while others don't believe that. I've NEVER seen/heard Ms McCarthy say that her son was 'cured'. She has always said that he IS autistic, but that he improved greatly after going on the gluten free/caesin free diet. It isn't a cure. But it can improve the lives of some people w/autism. I DO have a friend who has an autistic son, who has also been diagnosed w/celiac disease, so for several reasons she has tried the gluten free/caesin free diet & things have improved. Not saying 'cured', but improved everyone's life in her family. I've also taught cooking classes, specifically addressing the gluten free issue, where there have been high functioning kids w/autism and their parents taking the classes. Most of those families have found improvement in the quality of their lives & that of their kids, w/the diet--not because Ms McCarthy did, but because it was recommended by a therapist, teacher or someone having no connection to Ms McCarthy or her p.o.v. eom

Would you f'in shut up! Really, just shut up. As I said.....she is getting the WRONG f'in message across. F'in comprehend what others are saying for a change and shut up. cgem eom

I get YOUR message, I just don't agree w/it. You think that someone else's message is absolutely wrong, so be it. There were others who saw improvement in their kids w/the gluten free/caesin free diet, as I said, LONG before Jenny McCarthy came along. You seem to think that THAT is wrong. She is also not the only one who has advocated for this dietary approach or for preservatives to be removed from vaccines. eom

You're not worth my time, you're really not....but, here goes...I did not say that there is no validity to the diet and I did not insinuate in any way that Jenny developed the diet. However, I did say, I believe Jenny's son was misdiagnosed. I would say that 9 out of 10 times I tell someone my daughter is autistic I hear... Oh, did you hear Jenny McCarthy cured her son? Yes, I am constantly having this discussion with people. People truly believe she has cured her son and it's that easy. So, it's not about the diet! It is about the way she is conveying her message. People believe she has ''cured'' her son of autism and I am tired of being looked at like a moron because I have not cured my daughter! Do I need to repeat myself? It's not about the diet, it is about Jenny McCarthy and what believe she is saying. Let me see if I can say this another way, Jenny McCarthy is making people believe that she has cured her son. That is the message that is coming across. Argue, argue, argue and the fact is that people are constantly informing that Jenny McCarthy cured her son. That's my problem with her...get it? I doubt it. cgem eom

What you are referring to is people's ignorance, not Jenny's putting the word 'cure' to her son's improvement! People who don't know any better call it 'cured', not Ms McCarthy. Read every article, look at the reports when she & Carrey went to the rally in Washington. THEY never said that her son was 'cured', not even the reporters said that. Whether or not Jenny McCarthy had ever had her personal experience, there would be morons & simply people who's only experience w/autism is what they see reported, which can be perpetuating myths. I have a medical condition that has lots of myths around it as well, part of my life is explaining it to people who either don't know about it or who believe long held myths about it. People constantly call what I have a 'disease', when it is a condition--there IS a difference. People I know have been told by medical professionals, who should know better, that this diagnosis is a death sentence or at the very least life limiting--even though that hasn't been the case for over 50 yrs! I get frustrated when people do interviews & come thisclose to mentioning my condition, but avoid using the word or taking the opportunity to educate people about the realities of it. I get tired of hearing people blaming my condition for everything w/themselves or their kids. But I've made a conscious choice to take those frustrating moments & turn them into teachable moments. eom

I might agree with you, if the number of people who were confusing what she is saying were less. However, it is more than 80 to 90 percent of people that believe she has cured her son, therefore something she is doing or saying is wrong. Open...cgem

LOL! You keep saying that you aren't going to respond to any of my responses, but continue to do so. I still stick to what I said before. How the media has chosen to misinterpret what Ms McCarthy has said is't her doing. Having been on the other side of a similar situation, I can honestly say that it is easy for the media to twist things around or 'simplify them' & get out the wrong message. Again, I haven't seen/heard anything from Ms McCarthy saying that her son is no longer autistic. He is. He has improved w/the diet, but it doesn't mean that he is cured. eom

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Posted by: emmy
Date posted: Mon Jun 23 20:08:22 2008
Message:
Oh wow.  I post all the time on the personal board. I have two autistic sons.  I did wonder way back, about a month ago, when they first started talking about "problems" with Theo if they were going that direction.  There's so much in the news about it lately, that I figured a soap would do this eventually.   I think it's great soap material, in a way.  It's different from the sleeping around, career wars, woman-in-danger, who's the daddy, etc etc stuff that you usually see.  It's very dramatic, very emotional, and very real.  I hope they do a good job with this story.  I guess I need to start watching again!

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On top of that, Theo is now a really versatile character for coming years (probably the opposite of what most people think). They can actually do so much with him in the future, having him weave in and out of other stories as he gets older. Maybe he has a special talent that shows up later. eom emmy

Hi emmy. Maybe Stella could get a role on Days, ya think?

That makes two of us, Emmy. I just hope they find middle ground with this story and don't try to hurry it. Hopefully they won't have a miracle therapist and/or diet that will be the cure all, unfortunately that's what I see happening. I'm also worried that they will portray him as severely autistic...but we will see. cgem eom

Actually, the SAVANT qualities are very rare. eom Mother of autism.

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Posted by: Scottie
Date posted: Sun Jun 22 21:11:30 2008
Message:
From what I read on the dayscafe board, Dena Higley has raised an autistic son, who is now 19 years old, and feels she is capable of doing justice to this story.

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I guess we will see. I do hope it brings Abe and Lexie closer, NOT tear them apart, which would only hurt their son.

DH may have the experience & the ability to do the story justice, but KC doesn't & he is the final arbitor of what happens onscreen. He has a longheld reputation of taking the low road w/just about every story & this will, I fear, be just one of those situations. DH is no different than any other HW of Days, she has no creative control. KC likes the fact that HE is the one w/creative control & as the owner w/the decisionmaking power, it doesn't matter what a HW wants or doesn't want. What KC says goes. I can't see him doing autism any favors. eom

I'm no soap opera 'expert' like you rosebud, but I have to disagree with some of what you say. I understand that KC has total control of this show, but I believe there is definitely head writer influence. It is just too easy to see the differences in the show between JER, HS and now DH. The stories or 'feel' of this show has changed with each head writer. eom Ald

But there aren't that many differences between the work we've seen credited to JERk, HS etc.! That IS the problem! KC has said/acted as if, he took lots of topics seriously, but in the final analysis very little has been taken seriously by ANY HW on Days (or KC) in the last 20+ yrs! KC has been at the helm when Days did great injustices to potentially great stories about many socially relivant subjects. This is going to be no different. Even if Higley had creative control over content, after seeing her interview on Today this morning, I'm even more unsure that Days can/will do justice to such an important, complex, long term storyline. eom

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Posted by: Rosebud1
Date posted: Sun Jun 22 19:25:55 2008
Message:
This is NOT what I want to see Days doing.  It would be one thing if they were a serious soap, or if KC at least took the show seriously, but he has established that he doesn't.  IMO, KC & Co. aren't capable of doing justice to a serious, medical storyline at all.  They couldn't do justice to a hangnail, much less a serious, thought provoking subject that impacts millions of families.  Right now, I don't think that there is ANY soap that is prepared to do any kind of serious, medical storyline justice.

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Posted by: soapaholic
Date posted: Sun Jun 22 19:10:40 2008
Message:
Sorry for the double post.

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