Tag Archives: autism
Unfortunate Dairy-Autism Claims Return
Let me start off by saying I’m a huge fan of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). I agree with their underlying philosophy and most of their policy positions. Their employees are generally very committed and self-sacrificing, putting up with public scorn and working long hours for low wages because they believe in their […]
He barely seems autistic at all, so let’s medicate him!
We had an odd meeting with Tiberius’s Behavioral Services Coordinator (BSC) this weekend. The BSC broached two topics that a first seems contradictory, but I know see as deeply intertwined. First, he basically asked if we’re convinced Tiberius is autistic. The BSC (along with his TSS and maybe others) is having a hard time […]
A Love Letter to the Crazies: Autism Detectable at 2 Months
Dear crazies hoping to link their causes to autism, Just wanted to give you the heads up about an interesting New York Times piece today about early identification of autism through computerized eye tracking (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/a-babys-gaze-may-signal-autism-study-finds/?_r=0). The study found identifiable markers of autism as early as age 2 months, but not before. Then there are a […]
GMOs and Autism
On Tuesday, Washington voters (rightly) rejected a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) labeling initiative. While there are real policy issues surrounding patent law and GMO seeds and whether “round-up ready” crops increase or decrease pesticide use, these labeling initiatives play almost exclusively on health fears. To be clear, we’ve all been eating GMO crops for decades […]
Is MSG bad for you? Science says, No (an autism causes tangent)
The following is an exchange between myself and my anti-science, libertarian, Christian fundamentalist friend Brad. He doesn’t explicitly name autism, but the brain damage and learning disabilities claims are coming from sources (MSGtruth.org, MSGMyth.com. etc.) that have made the autism claim a prominent part of their advocacy. Our comments sort of sum up our divergent […]
“Mom, am I autistic?”
When Tiberius was diagnosed we told him he was autistic, but the news didn’t really take. I guess it didn’t seem important to him. But the other day he saw an Autism Speaks public service announcement on tv and asked, “Mom, am I autistic? I make eye contact.” I told him “yes” and he […]
PA Mentor STAP Camp – A Bunch of Ass Hats!
Yesterday was the last straw. The van returning Tiberius from autism camp RAN OUT OF GAS ON THE HIGHWAY. This note greeted the van this morning as we slept in (shout out to Tiberius’s mom for aptly naming these people ass hats). To see how we got to this point I need to back up […]
District Evaluation and IEP Anxiety
So the School District has finally finished Tiberius’s evaluation. Some parts were difficult to read, but others were more encouraging. On the down side: Tiberius scored high on measures of anxiety and depression. It’s more than a little bit upsetting to hear these terms applied clinically to your six year old. I like […]
Vaccines, Ultrasounds, and the Fall of the Soviet Union
Everyone has facebook friends that drive them crazy. I’m talking about the ones with viewpoints you just can’t reconcile with your own. I certainly have my share. The worst are my friends Brad and Lilly. Brad and Lilly are libertarian, anti-science, anti-“western” medicine, Christian fundamentalists. I am not any of these things. These are my […]
The Verdict Is In: My Weird Son Is Autistic
Last week’s trip to the Center for Autism was an eventful one. We were told Tiberius is a classic case of Asperger’s, or as we’re calling it, high functioning autism (why wait for DSM-V to be released in a couple of weeks?). In the future I plan to take some time thinking about the language […]
My Autistic Son 
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