Trigger Warning: Bleach enemas as a treatment for autism, cure attempts, abuse
So. Who's heard of MMS? Who knows that it's essentially industrial strength bleach? Yeah, if you read other autism blogs, you probably already know this. But just in case: Over at the AutismOne conference, which is either really closely associated with or run by Generation Rescue (Jenny McCarthy's autism ``charity,") someone gave a presentation about MMS, miracle mineral solution, being used to recover children from autism. Now, much as I hate the idea of anyone trying to ``cure" a big part of what makes me me, I'm well aware that if there were an actual, working ``cure," parents everywhere would be telling each other ``Hey. This WORKED," and as the bunch who tried because of being told about it discovered that it really did, it would go viral, not be remarked upon as child abuse. And then there wouldn't be much of any autistic kids left. This, however, is child abuse. You can't rewire a brain by putting bleach up someones rear end. It just doesn't work. There is no mechanism by which it should work, and there is no evidence that it actually does. Which means that it's USELESS child abuse too! Seriously. Bleach is a strong base, and it burns and scars. Scar tissue doesn't grow last I checked. These bleach enemas are doing permanent damage to these kids. (As far as I know, they haven't done this to any adults, perhaps because the autistic adults who have anything resembling autonomy in their lives wouldn't go anywhere near it.)
If you don't believe me that pouring bleach down someones rear is child abuse, think on this: if someone wanted to pour bleach down your rear, how would you reach? How about your (neurotypical) child's? Your child's (neurotypical) friend? Yeah, I thought so. You'd call it dangerous, ridiculous, abusive, and possibly all three at once. So why is it OK if the kid is autistic and a quack says doing this will make the kid NOT autistic? Answer: It shouldn't be, but since people seem to be missing the part where we're people just as much as the rest of you are, it's been done. And it shouldn't be. So STOP.
So. Who's heard of MMS? Who knows that it's essentially industrial strength bleach? Yeah, if you read other autism blogs, you probably already know this. But just in case: Over at the AutismOne conference, which is either really closely associated with or run by Generation Rescue (Jenny McCarthy's autism ``charity,") someone gave a presentation about MMS, miracle mineral solution, being used to recover children from autism. Now, much as I hate the idea of anyone trying to ``cure" a big part of what makes me me, I'm well aware that if there were an actual, working ``cure," parents everywhere would be telling each other ``Hey. This WORKED," and as the bunch who tried because of being told about it discovered that it really did, it would go viral, not be remarked upon as child abuse. And then there wouldn't be much of any autistic kids left. This, however, is child abuse. You can't rewire a brain by putting bleach up someones rear end. It just doesn't work. There is no mechanism by which it should work, and there is no evidence that it actually does. Which means that it's USELESS child abuse too! Seriously. Bleach is a strong base, and it burns and scars. Scar tissue doesn't grow last I checked. These bleach enemas are doing permanent damage to these kids. (As far as I know, they haven't done this to any adults, perhaps because the autistic adults who have anything resembling autonomy in their lives wouldn't go anywhere near it.)
If you don't believe me that pouring bleach down someones rear is child abuse, think on this: if someone wanted to pour bleach down your rear, how would you reach? How about your (neurotypical) child's? Your child's (neurotypical) friend? Yeah, I thought so. You'd call it dangerous, ridiculous, abusive, and possibly all three at once. So why is it OK if the kid is autistic and a quack says doing this will make the kid NOT autistic? Answer: It shouldn't be, but since people seem to be missing the part where we're people just as much as the rest of you are, it's been done. And it shouldn't be. So STOP.
And here I thought chelation was the worst of it (barring the JRC, which is in its own class of horribleness).
ReplyDelete*cries*
I have high functioning autism and I like my autism just fine. The cure autism people don't understand that praying mantises can't go vegan. I would rather be violently ill than neurotypical.
ReplyDeletesporn flushing is the answer.
ReplyDeleteI missed this whole sporn thing. Care to explain for the class?
Delete