My 21 month old son "most surely autistic"

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I read some excerpts from the Jenny McCarthy book, and I agree, she is just a mother like us trying to do the best she can for her child. I don't have any negative feelings about her. I agree that it is very therapeutic to read other stories of parents on their journey with their children and autism. I really enjoyed reading "Son-Rise" by Barry Kauffman. I also really enjoyed reading "Let Me Hear Your Voice"-by Catherine Maurice. And I also read "There is a Boy in Here" (can't remember the name of the author) All of these stories have good information that you can either take or leave, but overall, they are stories of parents fighting for their children.

You are right about the DAN doctors being hard to find. I live in a metro area, and I have talked to numerous moms who have traveled to other cities to find these doctors.

Just looked it up, and "There is a Boy in Here" was co written by Judy Barron and her son Sean Barron (who is autistic)
Very interesting story!

I disagree. Jenny's totally wrong. She ignored her son's attempts to communicate until he communicated verbally. She took credit for curing him when all that happened was he continued to grow and develop. She perpetuates the dangerous myth that you can cure autism and encourages parents to think only of cures when their children are diagnosed, instead of furthering awareness of the fact that you need to deal with it-- and dealing with it can be done successfully and humanely. The advice in her books may be good advice if your child actually has food allergies and such. IF. There are undercurrents running through her work that I can't point to and say "here, here's what bugs me" but... they're there. Something about... what did she say? Something like "I honestly thought he'd grow up to be a mechanic." Or... something.

That is one particular part of one of her books that sticks out to me too, except for different reasons. I could completely relate, and that is one part of the book that made me cry - I used to say a very similar thing about my own child. Another aspect that I could relate to.

I am definitely not a Jenny proponent, but I just don't feel that negative about her. I guess I am just neutral to her. I really have not done anything that she promotes, I guess I just feel that she is just a mom that wanted to help her son.

What did she mean by that?

Her boy was obsessed with spinning wheels of cars, so she assumed he loved cars and would be a mechanic. All parents have dreams of what their kids will be.

Also i agree with you Dandelionfireworks. I think we hijacked this thread. I could go on about Jenny Mccarthy but i won't.