The blog post was written at the behest of parents who are tired of being duped by quack treatments, and also at the behest of autistics who are tired of being subjected to quack treatments. Such treatments are inhumane, and the more people can spread the world about how inhumane these treatments are, the better.

One of the writers of this blog DOES have a child with autism.

Either way, the MIC blog entries are intended to bring about positive dialogue and to showcase positive aspects of living with differences and/or disabilities.

Personal attacks and slurs are not permitted (ie. “perhaps … you just don’t care.”). Thank you.

Yes, parents have to do their homework but that does not make facts any less factual when a parent decides to put his or her faith in quack therapies and quack treatments.

A number of desperate parents put their faith in Andrew Wakefield’s unproven hypothesis and they continue to do so to this very day. What they fail to admit is that as recently as a few months ago, Andrew Wakefield gave an interview to the mainstream media wherein he made it clear that his unproven hypothesis is merely a theory and nothing else.

That being said, there have been countless studies done by reputable and respected medical researchers and scientists that have to do with mercury, thimerosal, childhood vaccines and Autism. Each time, the findings have been the same — mercury, thimerosal and childhood vaccines do NOT cause Autism.

Dealing with a child on the spectrum does NOT have to be expensive. Yes, it is definitely time consuming but then again, good parenting always is. That’s why parenting is not for the faint hearted.

The Top 10 list in this blog entry comes with links to reputable and respected sources. One can hardly impugn the Mayo Clinic’s reputation especially since they have done considerable research in the area of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/autism/DS00348
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050110114832.htm
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/jul/27/health/chi-tc-nw-autism-0726-0727jul27

‘We can be repectful of one another without liking that other person one bit. ‘….’Most adults find that they have to work with others whether or not they enjoy another person’s personality.’……………….

Since school is (supposedly) to provide training for adult life, teaching children to be respectful; without the hypocrisy of pretending to be friends, would seem to be more realistic and fair.
From my perspective, a friend is a personal relationship, a classmate or colleague is someone whom we must associate with for specific situations (school or work).

The facile ‘lets all be friends’ seems like a shallow hypocritical, mask promoting, ’solution.’ Not indicating respect for either of the students as individuals, maybe harming their own sense of self.

I was ‘accused of’ being an impersonal communicator. (by an extrovert who claimed she had never met someone like me) Fortunately I was an adult, so was able to stand my ground. A child might be ‘crushed’ by being told to be friends with someone who they did not chose.
rl

1. There comes a time when we need to say ‘enough is enough’
regarding the time and energy we ‘invest’ in trying to educate others.
2. If they refuse to ‘hear us’ in th sense of rationally considering what we present to them, and being open to new information, then it becomes futile to continue dialogue, like ‘beating our head against a brick wall.’
3. Each of us only has a certain amount of time and energy, both intellectual and emotional, to invest in other people.
4. If some one is not adding anything positive to a situation, nor are they willing to consider a different view point, it seems wise to eliminate them from our ‘circle of friends’.
5. My point of view is that of an introvert who is not a ‘people person.’ If someone is not enhancing my experience of life and is persisting in a detrimental view point, particularly if they try to ‘push’ it onto me, I eventually will ‘walk away’.
rl

That being said, not all things between all friends can be similar or familiar. A musician can find common ground for friendship with a music lover even if the musician’s genre is country and the music lover’s preferred genre is heavy metal.

Accepting or rejecting someone based on who they know happens as we all know. I don’t subscribe to that philosophy, preferring to treat individuals as individuals. And as far as I know, those people who are my friends and good acquaintances share the concept of individuality and individualism.

I had a zionist deride me by calling me both a Liberal and a Dhimmi yesterday, for the simple reason that I do not believe some of the ridiculous anti-muslim sentiment she was spewing. I culled her from my network. Ya gotta do what you gotta do.

That said, I just want to note that the idea of judging someone by the “company” they keep, on social networks today is more than a little flawed. After all, you might not appreciate or understand the reason why their company IS their company, but THEY do.

I think it’s a bit much to judge someone based on who they know, but I understand and appreciate that some people out there believe that this is an acceptable way of culling their connections. Judgemental, absolutely, but acceptable as well.