My son, Michael is autistic & 30 y/o. When I first heard of the word Autistic, I said " A What?" "They", the professionals all said that he would never talk & he needed Ritalin. I quit my job as an lab tech, went on welfare & politely told my case worker, "I'm here to work with my son, I won't be here long, when he turns 14, I'm going back to work". I had no time for soap operas. I went to school with him, I took him to speech therapy, 3 times a week. After 3 days on the Ritalin, I stopped giving it to him & decided that going to the park was much better, which it was.
By the time Michael turned 14, he could wash, iron, cook, & talk to me. He knew his address & phone number by the time he started school.
I went back to work as an international flight attendant. The teachers had no problem knowing that I'd be half way around the world, & most of the time, Michael would be home alone (with our wonderful female German Shepard/lab). Actually I was a pain in the butt to the teachers, & they were more than happy to see me go.
When Michael "graduated", & I had stopped flying, I learned that he could not show me where Italy, Ireland, Newfoundland, or Egypt was on a map ( or any other place I'd been). I went to the school & was told that I could give back his diploma & he could continue special ed. I said "No Thank you". Michael now knows this & more.
Michael plays the piano & reads music. He can make donuts out of biscuit dough. I was in Japan, when he helped our dog deliver her pups (one died & he took care of that too).
In my experience, I believed that I could breakthough, & I did.
Now about this immunization topic, from the time I knew I was pregnant, my Great-grandmother was still alive, & talking back to her meant instant death.
I had to eat right & exercise, every day, & took all the pre-natal pills given ( I worked up to the week I birth him). Michael was growing normal, then came the immunizations. Need I say more?
