Autism has been huge in the news lately (see our Jenny McCarthy post and review of HBO's Autism: the Musical), and we love that Leven Rambin is taking this cause to heart. She's a true force to be reckoned with.
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The All My Children star (who plays the autistic daughter of Susan Lucci's legendary Erica Cane) is so serious about her cause that the UN’s department of Public Information invited her to speak at the inauguration of World Autism Day at the UN Headquarters.
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As an infant, Jenny McCarthy's son, Evan, was full of life, making eye contact and smiling. But soon, things started to change. At 2 1/2, little Evan had his first seizure. It lasted 20 minutes. Doctors told Jenny that the seizure was caused by a fever. The problem was that Evan didn’t have a fever. Jenny knew in her gut that something was wrong… she just didn’t know what it was. Three weeks later, Evan had another seizure -- but this time, his heart stopped too. After numerous doctor visits, countless seizures and being mistakenly diagnosed with epilepsy, a neurologist gave Jen devastating news: Evan has autism.
Jenny says hearing the words made her feel "like death." But the doctor made her look at it in a totally different way:
"[The doctor] said, 'Hey, don't forget. This is the same little boy you came in this room with. He's not any different. He's the same boy,'" she says. "And, true, he was correct. He was the same boy. But I did happen to say, 'Well, I believe my son is trapped inside. I'm not settling for this.'" Source
In hindsight, Jenny admits she missed signs of Evan’s autism, like his obsession with moving objects and his inability to show affection -- it was like his personality was locked inside him. But she was determined to bring it out, so she began scouring the Internet and found treatment options that included Evan's changing eating habits. After drastically changing his diet, Evan showed improvement within weeks. In a CNN article she co-wrote with partner Jim Carrey, they reveal:
We believe what helped Evan recover was starting a gluten-free, casein-free diet, vitamin supplementation, detox of metals, and anti-fungals for yeast overgrowth that plagued his intestines. Once Evan's neurological function was recovered through these medical treatments, speech therapy and applied behavior analysis helped him quickly learn the skills he could not learn while he was frozen in autism. After we implemented these therapies for one year, the state re-evaluated Evan for further services. They spent five minutes with Evan and said, "What happened? We've never seen a recovery like this."
Evan is now 5 years old and what might surprise a lot of you is that we've never been contacted by a single member of the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, or any other health authority to evaluate and understand how Evan recovered from autism. When Evan meets doctors and neurologists, to this day they tell us he was misdiagnosed -- that he never had autism to begin with. It's as if they are wired to believe that children can't recover from autism.
So where's the cavalry? Where are all the doctors beating down our door to take a closer look at Evan? We think we know why they haven't arrived. Most of the parents we've met who have recovered their child from autism as we did (and we have met many) blame vaccines for their child's autism. We think our health authorities don't want to open this can of worms, so they don't even look or listen. While there is strong debate on this topic, many parents of recovered children will tell you they didn't treat their child for autism; they treated them for vaccine injury. Many people aren't aware that in the 1980s our children received only 10 vaccines by age 5, whereas today they are given 36 immunizations, most of them by age 2. With billions of pharmaceutical dollars, could it be possible that the vaccine program is becoming more of a profit engine then a means of prevention?
We believe autism is an environmental illness. Vaccines are not the only environmental trigger, but we do think they play a major role. If we are going to solve this problem and finally start to reverse the rate of autism, we need to consider changing the vaccine schedule, reducing the number of shots given and removing certain ingredients that could be toxic to some children.
We take into account that some children have reactions to medicines like penicillin, for example, yet when it comes to vaccines we are operating as if our kids have a universal tolerance for them. We are acting like ONE SIZE FITS ALL. That is, at the very least, a huge improbability. Source
In 2007, Jenny McCarthy published her book Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism. In it she shares her emotional story of diagnosis, hope, faith and recovery. She gives voice to the thousands of moms out there coping with the disorder, which according to the CDC is suffered by 1 in 150 kids, making it more common than childhood cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined.
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Kudos to you, Jenny, for speaking out for your son and all moms.
In the project Raining Cats and Dogs, two seemigly "different" causes will be united as one. Autism youth awareness and animal welfare are both essential components of my life. Working with the two, I have noticed that Autistic children respond very well to animals. Being able to hold, pet, and feel a comforting dog or cat appears to bring the child back to "our world" at least for the time being. Being a devout campaigner for animals, I found it sad that cats and dogs in shelters are being euthanized or kept in dismal conditions for the duration of their lives, when they could be helping children who, like these animals, are "lost." In Raining Cats and Dogs, I plan to transport docile and kid-friendly cats and dogs from shelters to Autistic group homes and hospitals, allowing these two seprate worlds to emerge into one.
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Updates coming soon!
Did you know that 1 out of 150 people is diagnosed with autism? 'Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD).' - atusim speaks.
I am going to start a merchandise shop online, where one half of the money rasied will be going to autism speaks. When I have raised enough money from the other half, and from donations, I will start to plan a benefit concert if possible. Then all the money rasied will be directed to Autism Speaks to help find a cure.
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| People Involved: | 1 | People Impacted: | Thousands. |
| Money Raised: |
Updates coming soon!
I'm sooowwwy guys! This is under construction! I'll get back to this section soon! 
| Started On: | 12/01/2007 | Ended On: | Ongoing |
| People Involved: | 4 | People Impacted: | 100 (approx. thus far) |
| Money Raised: | $0 |
Updates coming soon!
We are a soon to be non profit organization seeking to obtain 501(c)3 status. We have a website that explains what we do, we would love for you to visit and check out our mission www.unitedforautism.com we also have an information website called Let's Expose Autism Now www.exposeautism.com
Our main mission is to provide financial assistance to families with Autism. There is tons of research by everyone going on in the world but very little help for the families in actual need, these families need this added support when they feel that there is no other help out there.
We would love your support in helping us obtain our non profit goal so that we can begin seeking corporate donations and members and also to begin seeking grants that are only open to 501(c)3 organizations.
Be apart of something amazingly great and a blessing to these families!
Thanks again, and if you have a question about Autism or about our organization please let me know, I am here to help.
Amber Strong
President
United For Autism
| Started On: | 2009 | Ended On: | Ongoing |
| People Involved: | 5 | People Impacted: | 1,000+ |
| Money Raised: | $0 So far |
We are planning a walk for 2009 or 2010, but we must get to raising funds now and get the word out about our organization. We just need to get that 501(c)3 status first. We are currently looking for donations and sponsors to help us get to that goal and get the ball a rollin!
I started a cause on facebook called Think Autism. As of right now it has just over 65,000 people in it. I'm trying to make the world more aware of autism because I know of so many families affected by it. My little brother has Asperger Syndrome and was my inspiration.
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| People Involved: | 66,617 right now | People Impacted: | |
| Money Raised: | $1885 |
Updates coming soon!
I am a college student who is majoring in special education/autism. I was recomended by my school district to work full time in my own classroom helping students with their testing skills, social skills, homework skills, and more. I have such a passion for getting my degree in autism. It is truly the most rewarding job in my eyes.
I want to start a program that can give these children "fun art days" where they can express themselves and have a full day of relaxing. I also know that being a parent of an autistic child can be chalenging and tireing, no matter how much you love your child. I hope that this program could reach out to all autism spectrems and fulfill the kids and parents highest social needs.
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My name is Pavan Katepalli and I was the Philanthropy Chairman of Zeta Beta Tau for 2005-2007. I directed the “Get on the Ball” event for 2006. It was the most unique philanthropy that Rutgers University has ever seen, and even though we raised only over 1300 dollars, we drove awareness of Autism to new heights, which was ultimately our goal. “Get on the Ball” consisted of rolling a big 6 foot ball across our campuses and letting students and faculty sign the ball for a monetary donation of 1 dollar. Whenever someone signed the ball, we gave them a handout. The handout had information on autism, new research and information about autism, information about COSAC (The New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community) which the money was going to, and an entire side of the handout was dedicated to the sponsors of the event. The event had its kick off day on Monday September 18th, 2006. The Kick off consisted of members of Zeta Beta Tau rolling the ball to the front of the student center. A picture of the ball was taken along with members of Zeta Beta Tau and COSAC. We got over a 1000 signatures on the ball. We are doing this event again, except this time it will be called ZBT's Autism Awareness Week. We are rolling the ball and getting other organizations to do other events throughout the week. This way we can raise 5000 to 10 thousand dollars.
| Started On: | September 18th, 2006 | Ended On: | September 22nd, 2006 |
| People Involved: | 20 | People Impacted: | every family with an autistic child in New Jersey |
| Money Raised: | 1335 |
Category: Public Health
Autism is the nation's fastest-growing developmental disorder. Each year 1 in 150 children will be diagnosed with autism. There are almost 1.5 million cases of autism in the United States alone, with 3 children being diagnosed per hour (Autism Speaks, 2007). Most people have a friend or family member living with autism, and I am no exception. I have a ten year old cousin who is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Watching her at family gatherings sparked a desire in me to help her find a way to cope with her autism. I created a music based teaching system called Sounds into Syllables® which is designed to assist these children with their communication and social development difficulties by teaching them how to spell, read, classify words and correctly identify the facial expressions for six universal emotions. Part 1 of the system applies the musical component of ‘pitch’ or ‘tone’ to the process of learning letters and words. The child learns to listen to the letters as musical sounds as well as spoken sounds. With the mastery of the alphabet, the child begins to learn 26 different nouns (animal names). The senses of touch, sight and hearing are further integrated with the introduction of textured words, drawings and sound effects. There is an accompanying teaching book entitled A to Z Animal Book as well as a companion CD and A to Z Animal Workbook. In Part 2 of the system, the 26 animal nouns are matched to 26 related verbs such as dog/bark and lion/roar. There is a second book entitled Animals in Action with the textured words and drawings of the animals in their passive and active states. The child learns the related verbs in the same way he/she learned the nouns. To establish the conceptual relationship between the animal and its action, an animated computer program has been designed specifically for the teaching system. Part 3 of the system addresses the difficulties of social interaction, by emphasizing face perception and emotion recognition. Musical harmony is introduced with the creation of six three-part harmonies each linked to the six universal emotions of happy, sad, afraid, angry, surprised and disgusted. In addition, three two-part harmonies have been created and linked to nouns, verbs and adjectives to further expand word classification for the purpose of sentence creation. These three and two-part harmonies as well as the musical alphabet have been integrated into a forty page book called The Story of Little Bear. Textured letters and color coding are used throughout the book which has also been formatted as a computer book with a number of additional features, such as rollover images and animations. In October, 2006 I implemented a research study with a group of 20 children ranging in age from 6 to 17 who were diagnosed with various forms of autism. The criteria for participation in the study were demonstrated interest in music or musical stimuli and limited or no letter/word recognition. This longitudinal study in ongoing however preliminary results are encouraging. In addition, the system is benefiting a group of children who are diagnosed with learning disabilities other than autism.
| Started On: | 2003 | Ended On: | ongoing |
| People Involved: | Numerous doctors, psychologists, special education teachers, teaching assistants, parents and students. | People Impacted: | participants of ongoing research studies |
| Money Raised: | private funds to date |
For the past two years I have made numerous presentations before various groups within my local and extended communities. In each instance I have received tremendous support. Implementing the research project in October 2006 required the support of a great many people. Doctors, psychologists, 3 school boards, 14 schools, special education department heads, special education teachers, teaching assistants, parents and students have all participated in the study by completing questionnaires, attending training sessions, teaching the students and reporting weekly data. While the study has definitely impacted all the students who are participating in it, it is my hope that through further testing and research, the system will become a viable teaching tool for countless students who are autistic as well as learning disabled. In implementing the research project, I discovered that the system can benefit many children with autism, not just my cousin. In addition, within the cohort of participants was a group of children diagnosed with unspecified learning delays who where not autistic. Their success with the system indicates that it could benefit multiple populations making the system available to a much larger and diverse group of children. This development is very exciting.
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