Haters Gonna Hate

Well, it appears that this lil ol blog of mine must show up on some Google searches somewhere in the world!  I am quite confident no one was searching for this blog, merely they happened to search far enough within Google search result listings until they saw my kicky little title and thought they just couldn't move on for the evening without reading further.  I know what you are thinking, "Someone ELSE also reads this teacher's random and greatly insignificant thoughts on the state of education?"  Well trust me, I was equally surprised myself!  As much as I was hoping for the great praises of a complete stranger (or a well known acquaintance who is too shy to post under any name other than anonymous), it turns out they were not completely pleased with the work of art you see before you!

Our nameless friend chose to read A World without Autism and Civil Rights Education.  Very little can be said about their thoughts on Civil Rights Education.  They think homosexuality is wrong, it is a sin, and I am a monster for thinking otherwise.  Such a hotly debated topic right now and I do not feel like wasting more energy on it if I do not have too.  However, their response to my thoughts of Autism have to be shared!

U should not be allowed to teach..their has been cases of recovery..that is a lie saying autistic people do not have the capacity to love..just shows how little u understand autism..U can recover autism thru chelation, detoxing,and diet and intensive aba programs but we all know how shitty the programs are here in the states..teachers lack work ethics ..there wouldn't be so many autistic people if they would remove mercury from the vaccines..there is your cure a no brainer. If a child fails a program its not the childs fault its the program and teachers fault..wish they would supervise special education teachers better they Need cameras in the classrooms because some do not have a voice and get abused and neglected in these programs. 

First things first, if you EVER choose to comment on a blog with an author by the name of The Teacher, PLEASE proof read your typing, your spelling, your grammar, and for heaven sakes spell out ALL of your words!  Without differing opinions I could still rip this anonymous friend apart simply for missing all English classes after third grade and feeling to make the word need a proper noun!  I am, however, a bigger person than some, so I shall choose not to pick on petty things such as the letter U rather than the word you.  So lets move on shall we?

A cure for Autism, well I'll be damned!  Seven years of special education training, a Master's degree and an additional certificate in Autism Studies and not one professor at my university let me in on the secret that we can cure Autism.  So many dollars spent on my education and they kept me in the dark...I find this hard to believe!  Just incase I had been lied to all these years, I went to make sure I was up to date on all research at hand.  Yup, still no "cure."  Can people receive treatments and early interventions in order to become more socially appropriate and more successful in school and workplaces, absolutely!  As far as I know, this was never disputed.  I surely never mentioned it.  These treatments in which I speak though are limited.  Current best practices with in the school system are based on ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis.  Sadly, detoxing your child and restricting the diet apart of ABA and really have little to no effect on the matter.  In fact, to date, controlled scientific studies have not proven this true.  So, even if people claim to see improvement in their child due to a diet that is gluten and casein free, it is not a cure, and not scientifically proven.  Well, what about chelation therapy?  The act of removing heavy metals from your body has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with Autism.  This is often believed as people feel mercury used in the preservative thimerosal, which is used in vaccines for childhood shots have caused Autism.  The Center for Disease Control has kindly reminded me that Mercury has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001...however the surge in Autism has taken place since then, leading me to believe that everyone who jumped on the anti-vaccine band wagon has been taken for a ride.  12 years of Mercury free vaccines and Autism is still around AND no one has been cured.  Would you look at that.

  

Let us not forget that even though we can cure Autism, our profound reader also knows that while a cure is available, a child with Autism still needs programming.  As far as the claims of the "states" knowing nothing about appropriate programming, I will with hold the information about the year I learned to speak Turkish in order to provide a young child from across the seas therapy as his parents preferred treatment in the "states" to ANYTHING provided in Europe.  Won't even go into that topic.  And as a teacher I do agree, every time a student fails at programming it is ALWAYS the teachers fault.  I would never presume that perhaps the programming that is obviously being carried over at home for the other 17 hours in the child's day as well as 48 hours on the weekend would ever be implemented wrong.  It is strictly the 30 hours spent in my classroom that has failed the child....dammit, why do they even let me keep my certification?!

Wow, even I surprise myself with how witty and sarcastic I can be!  Such a well thought out blog and I bet anonymous never comes back to read how wrong he is!

A World Without Autism

Can you even imagine a World without Autism? It sounds amazing! Sure, I would be out of a job, but the millions of people who would be free from this struggle would make it all worth while! Well I guess this is my lucky day...Jenny McCarthy has yet again fixed our Autism epidemic. In case you are not completely familiar with the history of this situation, let me inform you: Jenny McCarthy was a Playboy model, had a son with Autism, claimed to cure his Autism, created a bandwagon of dingbats who assumed they could do the same, Ms. McCarthy's son never had Autism, and then she published a book about it! I understand this rant is a bit late for a book published a few years ago...but lord help me I just discovered it!

Now, Amazon claims that millions have been sold. I am not sure if people are turning to this book for true advice or in hopes of seeing JM naked. Lets hope it's the latter, as that speaks higher of America! Anywho, I hope JM gets lost in a cave never to be heard from again as she keeps spouting off false hope for parents, care takers, and loved ones across the globe as Autism is here to stay. Do I like it? Other than the paycheck, no. It breaks my heart knowing my students need something and they lack the ability to communicate that want/need. It saddens me knowing they do not fully understand relationships and those who are there to help them. I would love for people to not have babies, children, and siblings that can't love them back the way they were meant to be loved. Does that mean I can cure Autism? NO! Much like you can not add numbers to an IQ or subtract extra chromosomes, you can not cure Autism. Please be aware of this and never listen to JM, regardless of how little clothes she has on her body!

The Newest Digs

Its been just over a semester since I have had my own classroom again. Here are a few quick pics just so you can see where I hang out everyday!

Yes, I am room 108...please do not stalk me!

Look at that visual schedule! If you teach students with Autism...you know this is how we roll!

I did say students with Autism correct? Yup, this is just one of my students getting in some sensory time on a therapy ball with a recycling bin on his head. I am not sure what sensory input he gets from the bin on his head...it was not recommended by his OT, it was self applied!

Look at all those cool job boxes I inherited with the classroom!

Did I mention I work with kids with Autism yet? Do you see the organization in these buckets? We don't just sort, we line up in perfect little rows!

Dr. Jenny, Reporting for Duty!

Being that my career has focused quite heavily in the field of Autism, I consider myself quite the expert. This of course entitles me to go on and on about things I know minimally about, yet should still be taken seriously. On the other hand, Jenny McCarthy has not spent her professional career in the field of Autism, so anything she has to say should be quickly disregarded. Now if I was looking for advice on Playboy Modeling or perhaps how to host a cheesy dating show, then I would take what Ms. McCarthy had to say as pure gold!

Are you a little lost? Let me give you some background...

A few years ago, Jenny McCarthy "decided" that her son had Autism, and quickly blamed the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) as the cause of Autism. I find this laughable as many people without Autism have received the same vaccine as a child. Let alone more boys than girls have Autism, as much as 4-1, yet the girls also receive the vaccine as a child as well. Laughable yes? WELL, many parents jumped on the blonde bandwagon and stopped vaccinating their young children. May I also remind you that Autism continues to grow at amazing rates? May I also remind you that this was a Playboy celebrity making these claims, not doctors? Needless to say, the vaccines became blamed for causing Autism.

It should also be noted that so many people did indeed jump on this bandwagon, as Jenny McCarthy did claim to "cure" her son's Autism. One cannot cure a development disorder, but do I need to tell you that? So now she is 0 for 2, yet people nationwide hail her as the go to person on Autism.

Jump ahead a few years and MAGICALLY a study shows there is NO LINK between vaccines and Autism! To me this makes perfect sense, but some parents, 1 in 4 to be specific still held on to the crazy belief that Ms. McCarthy put into their small little minds. But just to add more controversy to her claims...HER SON DOES NOT EVEN HAVE AUTISM! She shook the world with her biased claims, she then magically cured Autism in her son, when as it turns out her son never had Autism (which is why she felt she cured him with hugs and reading)!

Little 7 year old Evan has Landau-Kleffner syndrome, “a rare childhood neurological disorder that can also result in speech impairment and possible long-term neurological damage.” This particular disorder shows many of the same signs as Autism, especially at a young age. However, as the child progresses with age, it appears less like Autism, perhaps causing an unsuspecting parent to believe she has cured Autism.

So there you have it! Jenny McCarthy really should stick to taking off her clothes in front of the camera and let researchers, teachers, doctors, behaviors therapists and psychologists stick to the world of Autism. As a former educational therapist in an Autism classroom, I am glad this news has surfaced and hope that parents of children with Autism can go back to having some realistic views and ideas about the disorder.