Jenny McCarthy's son never actually had autism!

[SpeakNow]

According to this article:

"Now in a stunning article in Time magazine, it’s revealed that McCarthy’s son NEVER had autism in the first place. It turns out the boy had been misdiagnosed and really has a rare neurological disorder. Fortunately, the child is getting better and no longer displays any signs of autism. However, McCarthy has not apologized for her misdirected zealotry against having children vaccinated. Even if she did, APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED."

http://graneyandthepig.wordpress.com/20 ... ve-autism/

[Arete]

I hate that woman with the fire of a thousand suns. She turned the anti-vaccine movement into a full blown hysteria, and children have died.

[Conuly]

Yeah, that's been clear for years. Kids have died due to not getting vaccinations, kids have died due to needless and pointless "chelation therapy", and let me tell you, seeing people literally say they would rather have a child dead of a preventable illness than alive and autistic (yes, some people will sink so low as to say that, and I have seen it) has probably been the most frustrating part of the past decade or so.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

I saw this earlier on fb but is there another source?

[keen23]

The Time article-

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/a ... 00,00.html (not broken, need $$ for subscription to read whole thing)

Radar Online-

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/ ... es-autism/

[Terrie]

And everyone who follows this issue closely and never bought her anti-vaccination nonsense goes "Well, no shit!" It's been an open secret for years.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

That time article is almost 4 years old and radar online is only recycling that one Wordpress blog.

[keen23]

The Jenny McCarthy Body Count, for your viewing pleasure-

http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com/A ... /Home.html

[Mela99]

Wait, I thought she just said he DID....?

She and Michelle Bachmann need to DIAF. HPV causing retardation... sigh.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/01/jenny-mccarthy-son-does-have-autism/

He does. It was an incorrect article

[Terrie]

Given how often Jenny McCarthy has changed her story, I'm not so sure an article where she claims he was (or was not) diagnosed with autism can be taken as proof. Additionally, the criteria for autism and similar conditions overlap enough that misdiagnosis is common, and generally considered to be a major factor in the current rise of incidence. It's been an open secret that looking at the most consistent facts in her various stories, what she describes is most consistent with Landau-Kleffner Syndrome, a seizure disorder that affects language, and which is very often misdiagnosed as autism. Note that they are not claiming any incompetence on the part of the doctors who misdiagnosed him, but rather saying that when you combine his initial symptoms with what happened post-diagnosis, Landau-Kleffner better fits than autism. Which makes the whole thing worse, because parents are subjecting their kids to all sorts of untested nonsense, trying to reproduce the results of a child who had a different disorder. Yikes.

[ljohnson2006]

This is a rumor. I can't believe that someone would stoop so low, and say that her son did not have autism. I wish both of them the best.

[Terrie]

This is a rumor. I can't believe that someone would stoop so low, and say that her son did not have autism. I wish both of them the best.

As someone who just said it, why do you think I'm "stopping low"? No one is saying that there was never anything wrong with him, only that the diagnosis was incorrect. And when McCarthy is setting herself up as an expert and is the founder of a group that peddles dangerous misinformation and bogus treatments such as chelation (which has killed at least one child), it's also important that the information get out there.

[ljohnson2006]

I wasn't saying that you were stooping low, Terrie. I meant that the people who wrote the article and started the rumor should get their facts straight.

[Terrie]

I wasn't saying that you were stooping low, Terrie. I meant that the people who wrote the article and started the rumor should get their facts straight.

Which one? The Times article? The linked blog post? They're saying the same basic thing I did. McCarthy's son never had autism, he had a different disorder. Hell, McCarthy's statement "He was diagnosed with autism" which her critics have never disputed. What has been disputed is if that diagnosis is accurate. The only thing the articles got wrong was if McCarthy has admitted it yet, but you targeted them for stating the boy never had autism -- the exact same thing I said.

[margiebargie]

Whether her son actually has autism or not, she's done a hell of a lot damage.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Whether her son actually has autism or not, she's done a hell of a lot damage.

Terrie, the whole thing was fake. She never made the statements in that blog about her son being misdiagnosed. He has autism. She never have a new interview to TIME.

[laura oz]

I have said this before, and I stand by it: I want to pimp slap her and the doctor that helped her do this. The hysteria she and her debunked expert helped stir up has been killing children for years, and I just can't stand either of them. The doctor has been discredited, but her non medical professional ass has been spouting the same line of baloney consistently for years and not called on the carpet for it. A pox on her. I was a basket case about immunizing my first born. I went to nursing school, and even though I knew the medical facts about xaxing, I was nervous about it. Some of the other non crunchy new mothers I knew were the same way. I looked for signs like a mad woman after Oz 1 had the MMR, and obsessed if anything was unusual that hour. Not day, hour. There have been unnecessary outbreaks of illnesses that are preventable, and some have killed children. I know she's not personally responsible for what happened in TX when a preacher told his flock not to immunize, but she certainly helped sow the seeds of doubt to make that suggestion seem prudent. Rant over.

ETA: Watching "Scarface", and it gets me riled up

[Terrie]

Terrie, the whole thing was fake. She never made the statements in that blog about her son being misdiagnosed. He has autism. She never have a new interview to TIME.

I'm not sure why you're quoting margiebargie when you're responding to me. And the "whole thing" was not fake. Rather it attributed the original claim, that her son never had autism, to McCarthy, when it was actually included in the article as an known opposing view and attributed to her medical and scientific critics.

[Little Miss Alien]

As someone that nearly died of Rubella Encephalitis/Meningitis aged 5 because the MMR wasn't yet available, and now, as the mum of a kid on the spectrum: FUCK HER.

She has helped induce mass hysteria amongst uneducated parents and it makes me sick.

My son was born with his issues and he had traits recognisabke from birth, before he'd even had a single vaccine. He is amazing and a joy to everyone who meets him. FUCK HER, and FUCK ALL OF THEM who say they'd rather their child die than live on the spectrum.

If every single one of my future children ends up on the spectrum, by god I'm still vaccinating them because I wouldn't want them to suffer as I did, first from the rubella and then from the subsequent years of resultant disability.

[Ladycreo]

And everyone who follows this issue closely and never bought her anti-vaccination nonsense goes "Well, no shit!" It's been an open secret for years.

Oh I know a lot of ignorant people that follows her word as law. I have a Facebook friend that's so anti-immunization till it's not funny!!! She refuses to immunize her children. When they get sick she gives them that sliver shit. You know the aliver that man took and turned blue. Now she found a link how to make it at home!!! I'm sure she's harvesting her own silver. Yes they have nuts out there!!!!

[Hisey]

I always suspected that Jenny McCarthy's son did not have autism. There were a bunch of things taht made me suspicious. She seemed like such a stupid, ignorant person, first of all. She seemed like the type to jump to some kind of crazy conclusion, or to accept a diagnosis without fully exploring all the options. She didn't seem to have a vast knowledge of normal child development. She seemed very publicity hungry. I mean, many people in such a situation would spend their time caring for their special-needs child, instead of appearing on talk shows. It just didn't seem legit ot me.

[djibouti]

People who don't vaccinate make me so angry. I will never understand how people can be so uneducated.

[Firiel]

I don't have a TIME subscription-- is there a quote in that article about her son not having autism? The other articles were definitely not reliable, and if the information (about her son not having autism) were true, I imagine that reputable news sources would have reported it. Unless there is reliable information, I suspect her son probably does have autism.

Of course, she is still an awful person who is endangering our society by spreading her terrible anti-vax views. I don't really doubt that her child has autism (don't have any reason to, at this point), but I'm certain that vaccinations didn't cause it.

[silverspoons]

People who don't vaccinate make me so angry. I will never understand how people can be so uneducated.

Utah has one of the lowest vaccination rates. My daughters school which is in the wealthiest suburban area in our city has a 70-75% rate of vaccination. I asked the secretary and she said if the parents put down religious reasons the school can't question it. I know the LDS church is not against vaccinating, and almost all the kids not getting vaccinations are LDS. I think from what I have seen it is a combo of crazy theories like Jenny put out there(my daughter's BF dad is a doctor and his kids are not vaccinated!) and money. Here you can only go to the shot van for $10 or public health if you are uninsured. If you have high deductible you have to pay out of pocket which can be hundreds of dollars. When my son needed his 12 year old shot, I had to pay over $100 for it because he had been healthy and had not been to the doctor that year so my deductible wasn't met. The school secretary knew I had made the appointment and the cost and offered me the religion form and I said no.

The worst part is whooping cough hit my kids school and on top of the lack of vaccinations, the fools sent the sick kids to school. Yes my daughter's BF did get whooping cough, but according to her parents, better to get whopping cough then the shot. She missed 2 weeks of school and lost her spot in the high ability group for the rest of the year but that miserable two weeks was better then the shot.