I’m Not Buying It
Every author, every seminar promoter and every doctor touting the latest and greatest strategy to “cure” autism should be looked at with as much scrutiny as we skeptically view vaccine manufacturers because if you look at each of these entities you will see one thing in common, Money.
I could be wrong believing that most of them are NOT non-profit but I doubt it. There are of course exceptions whose profits are donated to research or an autism charity and I certainly don’t begrudge an author earning a decent living wage but don’t get on TV and say “I said, “God, show me the way to heal my boy, and I will teach the world how I did it.” I don’t remember the end of that sentence being if you buy my book.
It is in our nature as parents that we want to do better for our children as should always be the case. So we obviously look to the one that we believe has the best of intentions. Who would not believe that a parent who has gone through a nightmare scenario themselves would have anything but good intentions? I actually believe that the passion is there and the belief that the answer has been found is ingrained in her soul, but please don’t talk down to those of us who have been there, done that, been there and done that again. Are we to believe that because our child is not improving that we did not do it the right way? Maybe the more likely scenario is that our child does not have the same affectedness as yours so this strategy is not what will work for us.
It’s the money that always clouds the issue for me, be it a pharmaceutical company pushing their latest lifesaving vaccine or a website promoting product under the autism label. I owe it to my kid to look at everything up one side and down the other before I implement any sort of protocol and I owe it to my family not to go into debt on a hope and a prayer without evidence beyond a televised testimonial.
It’s always my first inquiry when I answer the phone and the voice on the other end is unfamiliar. I ask, “Are you trying to sell me something?” I think it’s a fair question.
So all I’m saying is that if you genuinely feel that something has been helpful to your situation, by all means, share it with the world and if we have not tried it already we will take a look at it. But if you come knocking at my door with something to sell just know that I’m not buying it.
@wolvenchic@xanga – @Alatariel40@xanga – It’s sad when the word “Cure” is thrown around especially when there are vulnerable parents just hearing about their child’s autism diagnosis and many parents who are in dire straits just trying to make it through each day.
Thank you for your thoughful comments and as always with any big decision in life, procede with caution 🙂
@QuantumStorm@xanga – I totally agree. Do the research, figure out where product x has come from, whether or not it’s the least expensive option.
@QuantumStorm@xanga – Exactly my point. Research, talk to other parents and trusted professionals and then procede with caution. Thankfully we do have the internet and it readily provides us with research papers, parents collective insights and even a resource where we can reserve a book online and pick it up at our local library. Aren’t we lucky in this day and age to at least have these things at our disposal when just 10 years ago the information was sparse and hard to come by.
I agree that you should follow the money trail. My favorite ‘miracle product’ was the one that cost the least. Water. It doesn’t cure autism, but eliminating chemical additives in food had good results.
There are websites for both. You decide. I chose http://www.watercure2.org because it COST ME NOTHING except changing my desire for carbonated beverages.
http://www.feingold.org also helped, but it was much more difficult to implement and there was a yearly fee to get the safe food list.
You decide. That’s the beauty of it. You decide if it works for you.
“God, show me the way to heal my boy, and I will teach the world how I did it.” I don’t remember the end of that sentence being, if you buy my book. “
That statement alone has 2 variables, One – that someone is trying to make a profit or two, they are genuinely trying to spread word of ways to accomodate behaviors or educate individuals on how to accomodate and sometimes cope with thier position.
If its a book that educates, than I find that in most cases there are conferences and seminars. Funding for these things arent easy, I went to a conference and it costed me 75 bucks to hear about what ABA had to offer. I learned, but it did make me wonder how much of that money was used to support thier needs of transportation and finances. It really depends, some people are genuine, some people give in to the idea that they deserve gratuity… which is ridiculous in some cases.
I definatley see where you are comming from though.
Screw the money and look at the studies. Just because Company A is trying to sell Product X doesn’t necessarily mean that Product X is good OR bad by virtue of Company A’s motivation to make money. See if the research supports the claims; otherwise, you could be passing up a viable option just because of a disdain for sales pitches. We live in a capitalistic society, and we might as well get used to sales pitches; what’s important is being smart enough to tell the difference between a snake-oil salesman and a legitimate seller, and that involves taking the time to study the evidence and the validity of the claims presented.