Tag: autism

Nutjob on Autism

Nutjob on Autism

by MichelleMcHatton

Most recently the person in charge of the HHS (nutjob RFK Jr) declared that autism “…is an epidemic. Epidemics are not caused by genes–you need an environmental toxin”.

Of course. Because he’s now an expert on autism. Not.

Autism is not an epidemic. It has been around for decades, if not longer. Research of it began in the 1920’s. It only seems more prevalent now because we know so much more about it than we did even forty years ago. Therefore, many who may have once gone undiagnosed due to lack of knowledge or plain ignorance, are now being diagnosed.

Why do you think there are so many adults being diagnosed? Because they have always thought they were different but were never tested as a child. Instead they were just labeled as “shy” and passed through school.

As the mother of a child on the spectrum and a sister of an almost 41-year-old on the spectrum, I can attest to the fact that autism is most definitely caused by genes.

Also, nutjob probably doesn’t realize just how many different kinds of autism there are. And many people with autism have more than one comorbidity, such as ADHD, ADD, OCD, anxiety, sleep issues and social issues, just to name a few. Up until several years ago they were known as different forms (such as Asperger’s) but then everything got lumped under one umbrella. Which was stupid because no two autistics are the same.

But just you wait. Because by September nutjob and his “crew” are going to have all the answers as to why people like my sister have been autistic all her life. Newsflash: she died three times at birth due to a lack of oxygen which was the fault of the medical team that delivered her, causing her to have brain damage and a hydrocephalus shunt for the rest of her life. That’s what attributed to her autism. No toxins were involved. And double newsflash: she hadn’t even been vaccinated yet.

Gee, I wonder if these nuts are going to “discover” a “cure” as well.

About Autism and Vaccines

About Autism and Vaccines

by MichelleMcHatton

As we all know (unless you’ve been hiding under a rock), this week SHITHOLE planted his pending “administration” with a myriad of who’s-who of SHIT: Congressional sex offenders so afraid to face the music, they resign, probably to never work in Washington DC again (SHITHOLE actually wants this one to be AG), druggies, a “governor” who’s banned from 20% of the state she “governs” and kills dogs, billionaires who don’t know an iota about “governing” and my favorite, a conspiracy theorist/addict/creep from one of the most politically prominent families in America.

Yes, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (such a disgrace to the Kennedy name and his own father), was picked to be in charge of the health of America as “Secretary of Health and Human Services”. He is not a doctor and never was. He was barely a lawyer, and an “environmental” lawyer at that. Among his conspiracy theories is that vaccines cause autism.

Newsflash: they don’t.

But unlike Kennedy who cannot prove that vaccines cause autism, through my personal experience I can assure you, they don’t.

First of all, let’s discuss logic. For someone who is so against vaccines, Kennedy is a hypocrite right from the start. Why? Because he himself is vaccinated. I can fucking guarantee it. You know how I know? He was born in 1954 and he’s a Kennedy. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets a flu vaccine every year and has been vaccinated for Covid. Oh, and as far as we know, although he may be mentally incompetent in some manner, he’s not autistic.

Secondly, consider ALL the people in America who have been vaccinated. From many different generations: Boomers, Gen X, Millenials, etc. Especially Boomers and Gen X. Because vaccines were HUGE in our day. Shit, once Elvis got his Polio vaccine, people lined up in droves to get theirs. And that was in the 50’s. Don’t you think if vaccines caused autism that EVERYONE would have autism? Because of the number of people who have been vaccinated. Now you can argue that there was a certain chemical in vaccines (which was removed in 2001) which many felt allegedly caused autism. But that has been disproven. And that wouldn’t explain why so many children are still being diagnosed with autism.

I get it. Parents who have autistic kids want to know why. They want to blame it on something. Because nobody has an explanation as to what causes autism. And they certainly don’t want to blame it on themselves.

But I have my own theories. And I do believe that autism is caused by genetics. And here’s why I believe that.

First, I will use the story of a family I know from a town I used to live in. They had one son who was autistic. Then they had another son who was also autistic but on a more severe level. They were warned by their physician that if they had another baby and it was a boy, he would be autistic on an even more severe level than one and two. So of course they had a third child. And it was a boy. And he was autistic to the point he was non-verbal, whereas his siblings could at least speak. Now the parents were not autistic but in doing some family research, they discovered an uncle on the father’s side who had been institutionalized his entire life for “mental incapacities”. Because that’s what they did with kids back in the 30’s who were autistic. For the record, I don’t know if any of these people were vaccinated. But I’m assuming, given the era, they were. And that would include the parents. Who were not autistic.

Next I’ll share my own personal story. I am one of six children. One of us was born in the late sixties, two of us were born in the early seventies and my three younger siblings were born in the early 80’s. In 1984 the youngest two (twins) were born. Both were premature. They both survived but one suffered brain damage and lives with a hydrocephalus shunt. And autism. Yet her twin does not have autism. And neither do the other four siblings. And we were all vaccinated. So why don’t we ALL have autism? In this case I not only feel autism was caused by genetics (and I do feel it is genetic-tell you why in a minute), but also by the brain damage caused by a medical tech’s mistake (which was discovered through a lawsuit…long story for another time).

So in my personal case, why I feel autism is genetic? Because my own daughter is autistic. I’m grateful her level of autism is not as great as her aunt’s, but we’ve certainly had our struggles over the years. And yes, we’ve all been vaccinated. Yet amazingly we ALL AREN’T AUTISTIC! Isn’t that something? And my daughter embraces her autism.

Lastly, I’d like to share the story of a woman I work with who has an autistic son, born in 2000. I have worked with her since 1999 and even went to her baby shower. She was one of those anti-vaxers for a long time. In fact, she refused to get her son vaccinated because of all the hype at the time about vaccines causing autism. Guess what? Although her son was never vaccinated, HE HAS FUCKING AUTISM! In fact, in 2010 she was forced to get her son vaccinated because she had to place him in a residential school, as her public school system could not integrate him. She’s been a believer in vaccines ever since.

I could go on about many of the other “theories” that brain-worm man has but they are just that: theories. They are not truth and just because he believes them, doesn’t mean we have to.

In fact, if he is going to be “in charge” of our health, we’d better all take measures to care for ourselves the way we want to, whether SHITHOLE, this asshole and the whole “administration” wants us to or not. Our lives depend upon it.

Experiencing Charlie Puth

Experiencing Charlie Puth

by MichelleMcHatton

For most people, a concert is a musical event, put on by an artist they admire. You go to the arena/theater, etc. by yourself or with friends or other family members. Maybe buy some merch, maybe a drink or snack if they have it. You find your seats. The show starts. You have a good time.

For someone on the autism spectrum, attending a concert is a much different experience. There are a lot of people around you. The noise is more deafening. And when the headliner shows up on stage, everyone stands up and you can’t see the show. And you lose it.

My almost 18-year-old daughter is on the spectrum. She is also a HUGE Charlie Puth fan. In fact, if it weren’t for my daughter, my only knowledge of Charlie would be from hearing some of his music on the radio occasionally. So when she learned Charlie was going on tour to promote his latest album “Charlie”, she asked if she could go. I found tickets for his show at Foxwoods. And I must add that they were extremely reasonably priced. That was back in February. Fast-forward to last night.

Understand that my daughter suffers from great anxiety that even a short car trip can trigger. So first off, she is commended for handling the hour and 15 minute ride to and from Foxwoods. Secondly, I am so grateful for the wireless headphones she brought to drown out the noise. There were moments during the show I wish I had a pair.

She made it through the opening act, a singer named Blu DeTiger. Not a bad performer but in my opinion, way too much bass. Considering my daughter was anxiously awaiting Charlie’s performance, she did well getting through the set.

Then the moment came. The lights dimmed. The crowd went wild. And all the people who had sat completely still during Blu’s performance, stood up. And never sat back down. So my daughter could not see. She couldn’t even see the video screen.

Now to a neurotypical person, the most logical thing to do would be to also stand up. After all, it is a concert and if you want to see the performer, you’re probably going to have to stand.

My daughter does not have a problem with standing and I feel for anyone who goes to a concert who cannot stand for a long time. My husband is one of those people, as he has MS. But my daughter doesn’t have great strength in her legs either and she tires easily when standing. So it upset her greatly that she had come all this way for one of her favorite performers and couldn’t even see him. I told her over the deafening noise that she could see him if she stood up. And she said no, she wouldn’t be able to. She even mentioned leaving because she couldn’t see him. And she began crying. And screaming. And I felt helpless, as I so often do in those moments.

She finally said she wanted to go somewhere to calm down. The three of us went out into the foyer area where she sobbed more and I talked calmly to her. I asked her if she wanted to leave and she said no. Okay, good. Because I know she really, really wanted to see and experience Charlie Puth. So I explained to her that often at concerts people stand up because the people in front of them stand up so if THEY want to see, THEY’RE going to have to stand up also. Plus, with the great music, who can just sit still in their chair? I told her if she wanted to see Charlie on stage, she would have to stand. And we would stand with her. And that’s what she decided to do. And I’m so glad because she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.

By this time we had missed a few songs, but my daughter was laughing, smiling and singing along to the rest of the show. She took a few breaks and sat down and then would prompt me to stand back up. She was able to see Charlie on the video screen and on the stage. She, like everyone else, was snapping photos and video. She wanted to get a clip of every song. And she loved it. She had turned what started off as an upsetting experience into a very joyful, enjoyable experience.

When Charlie came out for the encore, my daughter said she was ready to go. She seemed satisfied and content. And that was fine enough for us because leaving at that moment, we would beat the crowd. Better yet, we were able to easily get merch and not have to deal with the line. There was plenty of stuff left. My daughter got a poster and a T-shirt.

This was only the second concert my daughter had been to. Her first had been in 2019 and was a much more subdued experience where nobody stood up. So the Charlie Puth experience was certainly a different experience for her. And a learning experience for all of us.

Experiencing Charlie Puth

Experiencing Charlie Puth

by MichelleMcHatton

For most people, a concert is a musical event, put on by an artist they admire. You go to the arena/theater, etc. by yourself or with friends or other family members. Maybe buy some merch, maybe a drink or snack if they have it. You find your seats. The show starts. You have a good time.

For someone on the autism spectrum, attending a concert is a much different experience. There are a lot of people around you. The noise is more deafening. And when the headliner shows up on stage, everyone stands up and you can’t see the show. And you lose it.

My almost 18-year-old daughter is on the spectrum. She is also a HUGE Charlie Puth fan. In fact, if it weren’t for my daughter, my only knowledge of Charlie would be from hearing some of his music on the radio occasionally. So when she learned Charlie was going on tour to promote his latest album “Charlie”, she asked if she could go. I found tickets for his show at Foxwoods. And I must add that they were extremely reasonably priced. That was back in February. Fast-forward to last night.

Understand that my daughter suffers from great anxiety that even a short car trip can trigger. So first off, she is commended for handling the hour and 15 minute ride to and from Foxwoods. Secondly, I am so grateful for the wireless headphones she brought to drown out the noise. There were moments during the show I wish I had a pair.

She made it through the opening act, a singer named Blu DeTiger. Not a bad performer but in my opinion, way too much bass. Considering my daughter was anxiously awaiting Charlie’s performance, she did well getting through the set.

Then the moment came. The lights dimmed. The crowd went wild. And all the people who had sat completely still during Blu’s performance, stood up. And never sat back down. So my daughter could not see. She couldn’t even see the video screen.

Now to a neurotypical person, the most logical thing to do would be to also stand up. After all, it is a concert and if you want to see the performer, you’re probably going to have to stand.

My daughter does not have a problem with standing and I feel for anyone who goes to a concert who cannot stand for a long time. My husband is one of those people, as he has MS. But my daughter doesn’t have great strength in her legs either and she tires easily when standing. So it upset her greatly that she had come all this way for one of her favorite performers and couldn’t even see him. I told her over the deafening noise that she could see him if she stood up. And she said no, she wouldn’t be able to. She even mentioned leaving because she couldn’t see him. And she began crying. And screaming. And I felt helpless, as I so often do in those moments.

She finally said she wanted to go somewhere to calm down. The three of us went out into the foyer area where she sobbed more and I talked calmly to her. I asked her if she wanted to leave and she said no. Okay, good. Because I know she really, really wanted to see and experience Charlie Puth. So I explained to her that often at concerts people stand up because the people in front of them stand up so if THEY want to see, THEY’RE going to have to stand up also. Plus, with the great music, who can just sit still in their chair? I told her if she wanted to see Charlie on stage, she would have to stand. And we would stand with her. And that’s what she decided to do. And I’m so glad because she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.

By this time we had missed a few songs, but my daughter was laughing, smiling and singing along to the rest of the show. She took a few breaks and sat down and then would prompt me to stand back up. She was able to see Charlie on the video screen and on the stage. She, like everyone else, was snapping photos and video. She wanted to get a clip of every song. And she loved it. She had turned what started off as an upsetting experience into a very joyful, enjoyable experience.

When Charlie came out for the encore, my daughter said she was ready to go. She seemed satisfied and content. And that was fine enough for us because leaving at that moment, we would beat the crowd. Better yet, we were able to easily get merch and not have to deal with the line. There was plenty of stuff left. My daughter got a poster and a T-shirt.

This was only the second concert my daughter had been to. Her first had been in 2019 and was a much more subdued experience where nobody stood up. So the Charlie Puth experience was certainly a different experience for her. And a learning experience for all of us.

Ignorance Is The Tragedy

Ignorance Is The Tragedy

by MichelleMcHatton

Unfortunately ignorance reared its ugly head at New Bedford’s Normandin Middle School when an autistic sixth grader was sent home with a disrespectful “superlative award” for “Most Likely to Get Lost in a Crowd”.  “Get lost in a crowd” in what way?  To not stand out?  To not find his way?  Even the student was confused, telling his mother he wasn’t sure why he received the award because he was never lost in school.

The five teachers that signed their names to this “award” should be ashamed.  To even consider themselves “teachers” is a stretch.  The principal isn’t much better.  Although an apology was made, the family was told that because the teachers had left for summer vacation, there was nothing that could be done.  Which is bullshit.  The teachers, and the principal, should be reprimanded for their actions.

The ones who really get lost in a crowd are the ones too ignorant and arrogant to learn about autism.  They are the ones who cannot accept others for who they are.  They are the ones who don’t deserve to be in the presence of a person with autism.

Because a person with autism will tell you the way it is, whether you like it or not.  Unlike so many others in this world, they are extremely passionate about their interests.  They are the most honest people you’ll meet, the most creative, they appreciate the simple things in life and most of all, they don’t judge others.

Unlike the teachers and principal at Normandin Middle School.