New Report Says: Jenny McCarthy’s Son May Not Have Had Autism After All
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After years of speaking out about her son’s autism — and against childhood immunizations — Jenny McCarthy is reversing her position.
After years of speaking publicly about her belief that MMR shots (immunization for measles, mumps, and rubella) caused her son to suffer from autism, Jenny McCarthy now faces the reality that her 7-year-old son Evan — who no longer shows any signs of autism — may likely have lived with completely different illness.
A new article in Time magazine — which Jenny was interviewed for — suggests Evan suffers from Landau-Kleffner syndrome, “a rare childhood neurological disorder that can also result in speech impairment and possible long-term neurological damage.”
Many applaud Jenny, who has never stopped fighting to help her son since his autism diagnosis in 2005. Others, like the Center of Disease Control, say her claims about immunizations make her “a menace to public health.”
Jenny talks about her son’s progress saying, “Evan couldn’t talk — now he talks. Evan couldn’t make eye contact — now he makes eye contact. Evan was anti-social — now he makes friends. It was amazing to watch … when something didn’t work for Evan, I didn’t stop. I stopped that treatment, but I didn’t stop.”
And she is also reversing her initial position that the MMR shots caused Evan’s autism. Jenny now says she wants vaccinations better researched — rather than getting rid of them altogether, as she previously promoted. And though her son may never have had autism, Jenny insists, “I’ll continue to be the voice” of the disorder.
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Jude
Posted at 1:00 AM on January 2, 2012
Austim like symptoms can present themselves in many disorders that young children are diagnosed with. When Jenny’s son was diagnosed she got on with doing the best she could for him, the label really doesn’t matter! As for the immunizations, it was one environmental element that was common and looked at for children all over the world. I am a believer that some children may well be pre disposed and react to what is contained in the vaccination, possibly the preservative Thimerosal, which is mercury. For those who have never heard of Pink Disease, research it and see what happened to some infants who were exposed to ‘mercury containing’ teething powder and older children who were exposed to worming preparations that also contained mercury, I beleive that these preparations were banned in the 50′s. Jenny’s status did help bring much needed awareness for autism and that is a good thing.
Steve Kravcik
Posted at 12:58 PM on November 3, 2011
Jenny McCarthy should be ashanmed of herself for all the damage her anti-vaccine BS has caused. And now to say they should be more researched???? What the hell does she think scientists and manufacturers do? What do regulators look at?
She should shut up and we should stop listening.
Not Telling
Posted at 9:32 AM on November 2, 2011
Nice job getting the details wrong in this article. First off, the interview said that there were some doctors who THOUGHT that Evan had Landau-Kleffner. And then there’s this little gem:
“And she is also reversing her initial position that the MMR shots caused Evan’s autism. Jenny now says she wants vaccinations better researched — rather than getting rid of them altogether, as she previously promoted.”
She has NEVER promoted getting rid of vaccines altogether. NEVER.
debi r.
Posted at 6:09 PM on August 25, 2011
Well my 3 year old son was already showing signs of autism way before the MMR shot….I have two son’s both have autism one is 17 and the other is 3. The 17 year old is very verbal and 3 year is non-verbal.
Ryan McReynolds
Posted at 4:17 AM on August 6, 2011
I am autistic myself and I do not believe vaccines caused my autism, I believe rather than my autism was caused by genetics.
Not to mention the originators of the vaccine causing autism theory later discredited their own theories.
Are there some vaccines we should avoid? absolutely considering while some vaccines really have served a good purpose, there are unfortunately some that are marketed without proper tests, in fact it is noted that with polio vaccines , the injected version made from dead virus is actually a safer idea than the oral one made from live but weakened virus (as the one made from live but weakened virus has turned out to actually cause polio in some children whereas the injected vaccine made from dead virus seems to cause no problems and works good at Polio prevention).
I say before one jumps on the bandwagon to avoid all vaccines, it is wise to investigate each vaccine and the safety of each, do some research to find out out is this specified vaccine safe.
Of course I will say I do have a big problem with the government telling the parents that they have to vaccinate their children, I think the parents should be the ones deciding that for themselves, I mean boom if a vaccine is proven safe and the parent says the child will get this or that vaccine, I have no problem with the child getting the said safe vaccine, but if the vaccine is unsafe the parent should then be able to say “I don’t want my child getting this or that unsafe vaccine.”
I’m not gonna tell you do or don’t vaccinate your children, all I will say is research the different vaccines before you make the decision.
Linda
Posted at 10:57 PM on January 10, 2012
Personally, my children have been affected to some degree with this disorder. However, i disagree that it is genetic. I am a total believer that it is environmental. If it were genetic, then why don’t older adults have it? Any family that has been affected with autism needs to take a look at the adults in their family. No one else in my family has this or has ever had it to my knowledge. So NO it is not genetic. That is a lie! It is environmental. Mercury is released into the air by coal plants. It’s in our water supply along with arsenic. It is in some of the food we eat and Yes it is in vaccinations. So depending on how much mercury a person has already been exposed to when they get vaccinated determines if they will develop autism. Again it is not genetic.
Me
Posted at 2:50 PM on January 27, 2012
“However, i disagree that it is genetic. I am a total believer that it is environmental. If it were genetic, then why don’t older adults have it?”
OLDER ADULTS DO HAVE AUTISM!
“No one else in my family has this or has ever had it to my knowledge. So NO it is not genetic”
TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
YOUR OWN OPINION IS NOT DEFINITIVE OF THE FACTS OF THE MATTER YOU KNOW!
“That is a lie! It is environmental”
IN YOUR OPINION, THERE IS IN FACT MORE EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST IT IS GENETIC THAN ENVIRONMENTAL
SOME PARENTS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN STRUGGLE WITH THE IDEA THAT IT IS GENETIC DUE TO FEELING SOMEHOW ‘AT FAULT’ FOR HAVING A CHILD WITH AUTISM.
YOU WOULD DO FAR BETTER TO ACCEPT YOUR CHILDS AUTISM REGARDLESS OF ITS CAUSE TO BE HONEST.
Gail
Posted at 4:45 PM on April 21, 2011
Maybe her son has Asperger’s Syndrome. My son is Asperger which is high functioning Autism. My son displayed similar symptoms but is extremely intelligent. Same social indifference, no eye-contact. However, I would not say that the MMR vaccine did it to him because he displayed those symptoms way before being vaccinated, just that we weren’t paying attention to it at the time.
Diane Jeffers
Posted at 3:16 PM on January 6, 2011
My son also has Landeau Kleffner Sysndrome diagnosed when he was 5. I also believe it had something to do with his MMR shot. My son is a text book case of LKS.I wish I could talk to her about this. 703-867-7970 cell diane
Skeptic
Posted at 4:04 PM on January 6, 2011
Diane,
Just curious – on what evidence do you base your conclusion that the MMR shot had something to do with your son’s diagnosis? Please help me find the studies, etc., that you rely on to make such a claim.
oh
Posted at 8:25 AM on July 25, 2011
Well, hell, just call her and ask. Apparently she doesn’t care who in the world calls her number, seeing as she’s posted it in an extremely conspicuous website.
Taylor Lautner
Posted at 9:21 PM on January 5, 2011
Don’t blame Jenny McCarthy for misleading the public about the safety of immunizations. The only people to blame are those idiots who take medical advice from a bimbo quasi-actress/playboy playmate. Unfortunately, we are a society of idiots that are swayed more by the rantings of celebrities than knowledgeable medical professionals and researchers who use scientific, evidence-based practices. Though I suppose a corrupt and unethical medical researcher does just as much damage even though there exists overwhelming amount of research that finds no link to vaccinations and autism. This is just a reminder to those idiots out there, do your own research and ask medical professionals questions when deciding the appropriate medical care for yourself or your children.
skarrlette
Posted at 3:18 PM on January 22, 2011
NO ONE KNOWS WHAT CAUSES AUTISM<
They don't know the medical community has no idea, so therefore they can't say that it isn't the vaccines.
If you don't know something how can you say it isn't something?????????????????????
They don't know that is is they have possibilities but they don't know period.
I am sick to death of people saying they know that vaccines don't cause autism the truth is they know nothing and can't prove anything.
Everyone needs to stop criticizing pointing fingers and help support and give information as to what might be the cause. We need to search for the truth down all avenues.
That is the intelligent thing to do
T
Posted at 1:10 PM on February 16, 2011
skarrlette, your suggestion is reasonable on its face, but keep in mind that one child has died and many more are at risk becuase of declining vaccination rates. http://www.slate.com/id/2285219/pagenum/2
Autism is a complex and terrible diseas that will continue to be researched, but we cannot put child safety on hold in the meantime.
R
Posted at 7:22 PM on April 4, 2011
Actually Skarlette, the safety of vaccines has been repeatedly proven in study after study. The major study that identified the link has been retracted by the Lancet due to falsification of information.
Do we know what causes autism: no
Do we know what doesn’t cause autism: yes – vaccines
Jean Mason
Posted at 7:33 PM on May 13, 2011
This is not a black and white subject. I have two autistic sons. Vaccines are not safe for all children. Just like some children may have an allergic reaction, some children may develop autism after receiving their vaccines. I believe that some children are genetically pre-disposed to having sensitivities to some things, for one reason or another, some are sensitive to vaccines. It’s like a switch is turned on after certain shots for certain kids. Believe me, I watched this happen to my son, Caleb. He was never the same after his MMR shot. My son Isaac is totally typical. But I held off on his shots until he was four. You tell me.
Dwayne
Posted at 11:46 PM on August 3, 2011
I hear you Babe. We can’t prove that it isn’t vaccines, science can’t prove a negative. What we can do though is to, through research, become confident that the likelihood of something being true is so small as to make it negligible.
We do need to follow the truth where it leads us, but the funds for research are not infinite. That means that we must, to the best of our ability, use those funds in the most logical, productive ways possible.
Do to the vaccination hysteria there is a large group of children that have now gone unvaccinated. A study was conducted that found that the incidence of autism was actually slightly higher in the group of unvaccinated children.
Though we can’t prove that the vaccine did not harm any children, or cause any to become autistic, that’s pretty strong evidence, just on it’s own, that this is the wrong path, right?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Dwayne
Sabine
Posted at 7:07 PM on August 27, 2011
The problem is though, that people don’t die from Mumps or Rubella, they die from Measles. And to prove that their vaccine is safe, Doctors refuse to give a measles vaccine only. If the doctors wouldn’t be so stubborn, not so many kids would die, as most parents would get single vaccines, as and when needed. Did you also know, that the effectiveness of the Rubella Vaccine declines in girls when they hit 24, which is the most likely time for them to get pregnant? Why can’t they do what other countries are doing and test girls at the age of 12/13 if they have natural immunity and only vaccinate if necessary? Natural immunity lasts for life.
Dave
Posted at 3:14 AM on December 1, 2011
Sabine,
Please know that the US is facing the largest measles outbreak in 15 years. This is being attributed to traveling to “other countries” and a larger population of unvaccinated individuals. As a practicing physician with three children, I cringe when I hear parents being guided by misinformation because I know they only want what is best for their children…unfortunately, many follow a path based on anecdotes and NOT scientifically proven evidence. The effectiveness of vaccines is GREATER WHEN EVERYONE IS VACCINATED. Herd immunity is not a myth. This is where true protection from disease is found.
