Film about autism and MMR

[Jimjams]

On Dec 15 on channel 5 there is a film about autism and the MMR. it's called Hear the Silence. Apparently -even if you;re not enamoured with the MMR storyline- its a pretty accurate portrayal of life with autism in the family (oh heck!) I've seen the word "harrowing" used. Apparently you need lots of hankies. My friend's (from email) son is in it. 4 years ago they said he wouldn't ever talk and now he's been in a film- absolutely amazing. i can't wait to see it. MrsF - remind me please :-)

The woman from truly madly deeply is in it as well- she plays my friend's son's mum.

Tamum, thanks for the {{{{}}}} and the beard confirmation.
I thought the Dad/GP on the programme came across as very strange - always makes me suspicious when people are SO sure (only happens in films, sorry docudramas..)
News in my inbox today - someone is putting a private members bill to the Scottish Parliament about single vaccines - just imagine how popular the GPs in the borders would be if that got through ... But it would be nice if we could demonstrate a bit more sense north of the border..

Davros, if Jimjams means the same ranting man as me, it wasn't the dad/gp. Mr Rant was on the pro-mmr side, at the back, near the aisle. He was a professional of some sort but just launched into a massive tirade near the start.

That sort of quote about risk factors always p*sses me off. You don't choose between going out in the car and having an MMR jab!! They are additional risks, surely??

JMB, I heard that single jabs were mooted before in Scotland. It would be good if choice was introduced here.

Davros- by the dad/GP do you mean Fitzpatrick? Nah I didn't mean him - he's always wheeled out. I don't know why he's so sure that everyine has to be damaged in the same way as his son. Although he irritates me I can never get too angry with him as his son is so severe and I just think "there for the grace of god go I". no the ranty one was the strange wiry man with a tache who just started screaming randomly and looked as if he wanted to glass someone!

Davros- Natasha Campbell McBride- she's big in the ABA world I believe so I don't know if you've come across her wrote a very good article for the Autism File about vaccination and autism. She reckoned that the 3 million spent advertising MMR would have been about the amount of money needed to set up a immune system panel to put every child through. After going through this system a choice would be made between - all vacinations and normal shcedule, all vaccinations but different schedule, some vaccinations but not others, no vaccinations. It would have restored my confidence in the vacination programme more that patronising adverts about babies being left in the path of lions, or leaflets full of distortions of the research done.

My rant over

Actually that's what I did- and you as well. Set up my own immune system panel for ds2 and reached my own conclusions.

Davros - I think the reason given for rubella being given to babies and to boys is because the actual cases of rubella babies are lower that way. There is an ethical issue in giving something to someone (a boy or baby for that matter) which cannot possibly do them any good, but could do them harm, in order to protect someone else (ie someone else's unborn child). Anyway don;t know how effective the polciy is. Ds1 caught rubella from an unvaccinated child (and we stayed in as I knew what it was- if he'd been vaccinated I would have thought it was heat rash)- but that child caught it from a vaccinated child. The vaccinated child spread it everywhere because she didn't know what it was (after all her child had been vaccinated -why would she suspect rubella) until she asked the lcal pharmacist what it was and he had a total rave at her for being out and about with a child with rubella. By which time it had spread far and wide.

Irritating Fitzpatrick had a great trampoline in his garden though- where do you get big low ones?

Oh and I'm never voting lib dem again. That guy was a pratt as well.

jimjams you can get the i will have alook!

failing that JANH - THEGRINCH would know!

I havent had the time to acctualy read all of the answers you all put , but i can tell you that there is no way on the face of this earth that my 2 year old is having that mmr , why? because i have to autistic kids already one is kid is unfortunate two is rather suss im not having a 3rd , may be its more genetic that the mmr itself i know all the controvercy over it and im still not letting charlie have it the h.v has been after my ass for several months over it Chaelie shows none of the signs of it possibly comming from me shes bright and allert and sertainly knows what to do . seperate vaccenes for her if i can find some one to do it DR Mansfield did it hear where we live but i belive he had to move away because of all the uproar.

Good piece in latest Private Eye, page 29.

cheers davros will pick it up tonight. Better than the inaccurate rant in today's Times then.

Thanks for that davros. She's good that Heather Mills isn't she? Sane and non-ranting.

Does anyone remember that bit in the film where she bumps into the old nursery school teacher with Nicky- and the teacher asks how he's doing and she says "oh yes really well" and makes him talk. Then the nursery teacher looks horrified that that is "really well".

That keeps happening! (well its xmas isn't it so seeing lots of people I don't normally). I keep being reminded of that bit in the film.

Now trying to decide what to do:

I have both boys at home with me all day today- and I have post to go to France so I need to go to the PO to buy stamps. DH was meant to do it but forgot to take them with him to work. Aggh what do I do. I feel like tyring to get the stamps, but dh says I am mad. (I kind of think that he has to learn to queue sometime though...).

Oh God jimjams I don't know. I mean, there's queueing and there's queueing...and the post office just before Christmas will hardly be "queueing for beginners" will it?

Could your mum look after DS1 or come with you to the Post Office so at least you have an extra pair of hands?

Any chance you could ring the PO and explain, and find out if there's a quiet time? Fat chance, I know. Would your ds be at all distracted by a catalogue if you took one with you? I guess there's no words you can use to prepare him, all too abstract I suppose. I would go with jinglesaur's advice, and not feel this is something you have to do, at least at the moment when it's so unpredictable. I'd come and look after him myself, were it not for the many hundred miles in between us!

I remmber that bit, Jimjams. Could you go to the PO last thing this afternoon? Ime, it's usually pretty quiet then. You may miss the last post for today but it should go first thing tomorrow.

Jimjams, couldn't you weigh the stuff, check out the Royal Mail website to get required postage then use ordinary stamps from the local shop to get as close as poss to the right amount ?

I finally got a chance to watch the play and the debate on Saturday evening. dh usually avoids watching anything like this but he joined me for the debate and he was so moved in the last part when the film of an autistic boy was shown. He was moved to tears. We have sent off our application for single vax last week and I am even more certain that we've made the right decision.

I thought the GP/father was a prat as was the liberal politician and that Andrew Wakefield appears to be very level-headed and not someone who is just out to make a name for himself as I read in an article the other day.

Jimjams, I know what you mean about that part of the film! A few times friends have asked me how my son is doing and, of course, I say "fine" and then they always seem to ask about him talking. When I say "oh, he can't talk..." the look on their faces!!! I'm all for a challenge but I don't know about the post office. Can DS2 go in a buggy? That might not be so bad. I'd probably give it a try on the basis that it can just turn into a walk or we could turn round and go straight home..... let us know what happens. I'm often pleasantly surprised when I'm "over ambitious" or I just HAVE to do something that might be difficult but there's no guarantees...

That bit of the film has made it a bit easier (fixed smile, widened eyes) - as when it now happens I can think about that!

Well didn't try the PO in the end. I was going to do the same as Davros suggested and go along to see what the queue was like, or just try it ready to bail out (if I don't expect something to work I don't really get upset if it doesn't iyswim). I did think about taking the double buggy, but that ends up being a nightmare as he just stands up and trys to walk with it attached to him now. He doesn;t really fit in the seat either. Anyway my cleaner arrived and he freaked (because it meant the hoover would be going on- normally he's at school). So we went and camped out at Mum's for a while- she was at work, but luckily I have a key. He has a party at nursery tomorrow so I'll face the PO then.