[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Dear Shannon

What with all the controversial discussion on the board about alternative therapies etc, I don't know if your original question ever got answered (about vaccinating your second child with the MMR vaccine).

Our eldest daughter was diagnosed with autism just over a year ago, a few months after she turned three. Our second daughter was 18 months old at this time, and I remember watching her like a hawk, and being extremely paranoid any time she did not give good eye contact etc. It was time for her MMR vaccine, so I asked my doctor whether she could have the shots separately, and was referred to my local health unit. They actually did not administer them separately at that time, so I went back to my doctor, who told me that there had been more recent studies to show that there was no link between the vaccine and autism, so we decided to go ahead and have it done.

Our second daughter thankfully has no signs of autism (she is now 2 1/2), but I do remember the struggle we went through – which sounds similar to yours. When your child is first diagnosed people seem to come out of the woodwork to offer all sorts of opinions on various therapies, and it can be very confusing. I would reiterate what someone else wrote in saying try one thing at a time, otherwise you won't know which therapy is giving your child results. We were impressed by the scientific basis of ABA and fully convinced of its benefits, and decided to put our energies into that (and we told well-meaning individuals this) – and to be honest, we have seen such amazing progress in our daughter's language and social interaction that it is incredible!

I don't know the circumstances around your child's diagnosis but I do know that this must be a very painful and emotional time for you. I hope you have family and friends around to support you, and if you would like to get in touch with me and talk some more, my email is abapoco at hotmail dot com.

Sincerely
Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Dave,
A bit harsh perhaps? Boards like these ("General Topics") will range in topics of discussion and the MMR issue, while not directly related to ABA, is nonetheless quite clearly a topic of interest for several people.

Being that this forum is private and administered by a moderator(?), I would suspect that discussions which get out of hand would be stopped by those with the power to do so.

I believe that chat boards like these are meant, at least in part, to build community and support amongst those who are facing the struggles of dealing with ASD. Squelching discussion doesn't encourage participation.

The bottom line is that you don't have to read it if you're not interested. I'd be happy to discuss this more offline: mike_r_goetz at hotmail dot com

Mike

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