Chicago Tribune news : Print Edition - Sunday Perspective

Chicago Tribune news : Print Edition - Sunday Perspective

This is one issue that has been around for a couple of decades now. It not only involves the concerns of parents who are worried about the mercury in vaccines, but also about the mercury in dental fillings. "It is only a trace amount," "There are no conclusive studies to prove it," are just a couple of the refrains that are often heard. Our special needs daughter began having seizures within six weeks of exposure to mercury through breastmilk. We have no way of knowing for sure whether this was the causative factor. No doctor would consider this as a cause. It is much easier to say that a condition is of unkown origin than to consider the possibility that a know toxin could lead to a life-altering condition, including brain damage and seizure disorder.

We know that the rate of autism has increased drastically in the past couple of decades and that as mandatory immunizations are forced on children there has continued to be a manifold increase in autism and autistic-like conditions. It is like swimming upstream, though, to find physicians who will even consider the possibility that mercury, even in trace amounts, can have deliterious effects on the developing brain. There is most likely something to it, at least to those children that may be more susceptible to mercury. Is there an adequate way to screen for those children? Not that is known to date. And there won't be as long as the major medical groups continue to promote the immunizations at all costs... even though the parents are the ones that have to live with it on a day to day basis.

Chicago Tribune news: Daughter's murder puts focus on toll of autism

The strains of parenting a special needs child go much deeper than most people realize. It is almost impossible to find qualified help in order to give the parents a break. It is often all-consuming of time, energy and patience. There is no way to condone what the mother did in Morton, Illinois. There are definitely mitigating factors, though, that explain the stresses that parents of special needs children are under and the overall lack of support and understanding that they deal with in trying to help their own children.

I think most people who are dealing with children with autism or autistic-type conditions have felt the stress, strain and despair of feeling as if there is little hope in coping with a child whose brain does not process social cues, does not reason, and has self-destructive or oppositional tendencies and behavior.

There is no need to jump on the advocate bandwagon and hitch a cause to the trauma of a little girl's death at the hands of her mother. There is a great need, however, for people to realize that there are thousands of mothers, fathers, siblings, and other family members who are struggling daily just to keep our own sanity.


By Meg McSherry Breslin
Tribune staff reporter

June 9, 2006

MORTON, Ill. -- For several weeks, Karen McCarron had been making teary phone calls, despairing over her 3-year-old autistic daughter's future.

Unable to get Katie to settle down for a nap on a Saturday afternoon, McCarron took her for a drive. Police say the respected Peoria-area physician and advocate for autistic children parked, put a plastic bag over the little girl's head and smothered her to death in about two minutes.

McCarron, 37, is alleged to have confessed to the crime a day later--Mother's Day--telling police she 'just wanted to end her pain and Katie's pain.' On Thursday afternoon in a Pekin courtroom, McCarron bowed her head and remained silent as her lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on first-degree murder charges.

In the last month, Katie's death has sparked a heated discussion among advocates for Illinois' disabled. Many argue that the tragedy demonstrates just how underserved the rapidly growing community of autistic families is.

'Whatever comes out of the McCarron case, it is already clear that many, many people in our community have seen something of themselves in it,' said Christopher Kennedy, legislative director for the Autism Society of Illinois and the parent of an autistic child. Concerned parents 'have communicated the feelings of despair and isolation so many of us have felt at different times in our lives with autism. ... We cannot ignore the bigger picture and the context within which this and other such acts occur.'

Yet others complain that some are exploiting Katie's death to further their agenda of expanding funding for autistic "

For the full story click on the following link:

Chicago Tribune news: Daughter's murder puts focus on toll of autism: "chicagotribune.com

Not a Day Goes By

I finally had the chance to see "United 93" last week. It was a very inspirational movie, which was done in such a way that it felt like I was watching a documentary. The real-life type depiction of the events of that day were not played for effect with the overbearing crescendo of music to let us know that a plot turn was about to take place or that the monster was lurking in the swamp. No it was played out as if the events were taking place, in real-time, right in front of our eyes. It was emotional to hear the final calls of the passengers or see the Todd Beamer character saying the Lord's Prayer with the telecommunications operator.

To know a little of the families that these people left behind made it even mor heart-wrenching when the pilots were slain or when the flight attendants were talking about their plans for the week ahead. It appeared at first just like most of the flights that I have been on that were headed to California. People sleeping, talking, working, or just lost in thought. And then within seconds there routine flight to San Francisco became a nightmare or epic proportions.

I don't know if you have seen the movie or if you even plan to. I do know that it was time well spent and that it made me proud of my fellow Americans, who took matters into their own hands, when there was no government to look to for help.

To read a follow-up, look for The Journal-Standard on Thursday, June 8, 2006 in the Pulse section.