A German Experiment Placed (Disabled) Foster Children with Pedophiles

Since we cannot share news articles on Facebook here in Canada, I can use my blog space as a portal to share links to articles that I think should be shared. 

There's a NewYorker article with a similar title, however I can't access it, so sharing what I have found on my own: 

DW News
https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-authorities-placed-children-with-pedophiles-for-30-years/a-53814208

Not only were the boys wards of the state, they were deemed "moronic" and "underdeveloped." 

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Kentler

What Is Child Abuse? Part 2

Trigger Warning: discussion of child abuse, ableist language and curse words.

In part 1, I spoke a bit about what it feels like to be abused and the long term effects it can have on a person. I hope I made it clear it's important not to minimize the effects of abusive behaviour on a child - whether it happens daily or infrequently is of no consequence, it still hurts. In some ways, having it happen infrequently or unpredictably can be even worse for a child, as they never know what will set the parent off. If you want your child to grow up with PTSD, that's an excellent method.

In this post, I want to give more detailed examples of emotional abuse and neglect. I'm not focusing on physical or sexual, as those are more noticeable or obvious types of abuse most people are more familiar with. I'm providing examples I've actually lived through.

-Threatening, with words or gestures, to hit or kill your child
-Giving your child the silent treatment
-Comments on their physical appearance: ugly, dirty, fat, smelly
-Comments on their character: stupid, lazy, idiot, useless, piece of shit, can't do anything right
-Comparisons to other people: "why can't you be like ______?"
-Withholding food or forcing child to eat
-Leaving child to cry alone when upset or hurt
-Leaving child alone at home before a reasonable age
-Manipulating children to resent their siblings: "I can't do this for you because then I would have to let your sister have this..."
-Accusing child of things they never did
-Buying child gifts after losing your temper
-Never apologizing for bad behaviour
-Not allowing child to discuss home life with anyone; actively teaching them social workers or others who can help are actually the enemy
-Threatening to leave child forever
-Threatening that the child will be taken away

The last two might sound like something the child would want, but please always remember a child is dependent on their caregivers. They love their parents regardless of how badly they are treated. It is all they know and they cling to whatever little piece of love or security they get. I still ran to my parents when hurt because there was no one else. Sometimes a child has no choice but to go straight to the arms of their abuser, even if that means they will be abused for it.

It is only as an adult when I realized I was truly free and did not deserve to be abused that I was able to set boundaries. In fact, it wasn't until I had my son that I realized the extent of how bad things were, because I finally realized that every parent has a choice in how they behave and parent. My parents made very bad choices. I choose not to make those choices, and everyone can make the choice not to abuse.

I speak openly about it and without shame because it needs to be talked about and the shame is not mine. But this is all I can write about it right now as it was triggering enough for me. If you have questions or comments, I will get to them in time.

Again, if you see yourself or someone else in these examples, you can get help. It doesn't have to be this way and you can start to repair the damage. 

What Is Child Abuse? Part 1

TRIGGER WARNING: discussion of child abuse

I've never kept it a secret here that I was emotionally and verbally abused by both my parents growing up, so I am very much a proponent of gentle/peaceful parenting methods. While there are lots of descriptions out there of different parenting methods, all with the same goal of raising non-violent and emotionally healthy children, we don't often take the time to define what actual abuse is.

I think when people hear the word "child abuse" they think first of the worst cases you hear in the news; children who are so badly beaten or neglected, they get taken away by child services, or even die at their hands of their parents. Or they think of sexual abuse. However, that leaves a whole lot of grey area between the worst cases and good parenting. There's a lot that happens in between that is still abuse and we are so reluctant to talk about it, that children who don't see themselves in the extreme cases don't even know they're being abused. Also, friends of yours who are abusing their children never get called out because, "it's not *that* bad."

So let's talk a bit about what abuse is and what is can look like. Keep an open mind, as uncomfortable as it makes you, because it can mean that you have been abused, you may have abused your children, or you may even be friends with a child abuser. What is important is what you choose to do with that information.

In my case, I was never sexually touched or physically abused by either of my parents. However, I still acted enough like an abused child that doctors and teachers asked me if anyone had "touched me" or hit me. So of course, I said, "no." No one ever thought to ask me, "does mommy call you an idiot?" because then I could have said "yes." I never thought to offer that information because I didn't know it wasn't normal to be called an "idiot" on a regular basis.

So there's your first example: an abused child can act out at school, or they can be very quiet or "repressed" (as I was described). In my case, I kept quiet to myself because that was the safest method of behaviour at home, but I also appeared "happy" at school because it was my refuge from home. I could be somewhat freer at school. I did well at school because the praise I got from teachers concerning my marks was the only positive attention I got to feed my self-esteem, and I knew school was my ticket out of the house one day.

An abused child does not know they're being abused because the way they are treated by their parents is all they've ever known. It's not until much later, when I saw how other families live, that I developed an awareness that something was wrong. I knew I was not happy, but I did not know why. I thought there was just something wrong with me that I must deserve it. 
(It helped as well that my parents did not like me having friends over or going over to friend's houses, so that isolation kept me from knowing I was abused)

I have heard parents defending their poor/abusive treatment of their children as "infrequent" or "maybe once or twice." However, abusive behaviour doesn't have to be a daily thing for it to be abusive. Abuse can happen daily, monthly or at random spontaneous outbursts. Unfortunately, the frequency of it is not a measure of the damage. Abusive acts are still abusive even if it only happens once. If it happens once, there's the potential for it to happen again. The long term effects or damage on a person do not change based on frequency. It's still damaging.

For example, your house can burn down once and it's pretty devastating. You probably live with the fear that another fire could happen again. That's how a child feels after the first time they've been abused - living in fear it will happen again. 

I will use Part 2 to go into more detail about abusive acts that people don't often think of as abuse.

For Anyone Who Has Ever Been Silenced

I don't need to give you a reason

Stop touching me
Stop talking to me
Stop hurting me
Stop hugging me
Stop kissing me

I don't have to tell you why I don't like it

Stop looking at me
Stop invading my space
Stop asking me questions
Stop calling me names
Stop disrespecting me

I don't care if you don't understand
I don't care if you feel hurt
I don't care if other people like it
I don't care if you think I'm too sensitive
I don't care if you think I like it
I don't care if you didn't hear me the first time

My body is mine
My life is mine
Only I get to decide what to do with it. 

You Can Get Angry Without Shaming

TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of childhood verbal abuse and a video with mature language imbedded

I've written about expressions of anger and frustration before. Rather than qualifying emotions, I simply feel that all emotions need to be expressed and released. Sometimes they need to be shared and sometimes that is beneficial. I also believe, however, that there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to express one's emotions. My basic belief is "if it harms no one, including yourself, it's probably appropriate."

 This means you can hit pillows when angry (since you probably won't hurt your own hands), you can throw ice cubes at the tiles around the bathtub and watch them explode. (Make more ice cubes for others after or buy a bag of ice specifically for this.) You can scream into a pillow. You can go for a run around the block. You can smash Play-Doh in your hands. You can call a friend. There are so many options to let emotions out.

As parents, we need to give our children options for releasing their emotions, rather than forcing them to keep them inside. We need to show them appropriate ways they can calm down and self-regulate. We need to set the example for how we want them to express themselves in healthy ways. This means as parents and the adult role-model in the situation, we need to watch our own anger issues. 

No one is expecting parents to never get angry. We deal with so many stresses all the time, little things can tip us over the edge. But as adults, we can behave better than children. We have the power to choose how we will react. In any situation, you can react with calmness and empathy for your child, or you can react with contempt, negativity and shaming.

For example, a child can accidentally spill their milk all over the table. In that split second as you see the milk spilling all over the table and the floor, you can say, "why did you do that? I told you to be careful! What's wrong with you? You're so clumsy!"

Or you can say, "oh dear, look at this accident! It's a mess and we'll have to clean it up together."

One teaches the child that there's something wrong with their character and they are inherently flawed. It may also teach the child that your love is conditional on perfect behaviour. The other teaches your child that mistakes happen and that they have to take responsibility for their actions (by cleaning up to the best of their ability) to correct the problem they caused. It makes no statement on their character or value as a person. It just means there is an effect to their actions on the world and they have an opportunity to fix problems as they arise. 

So when I saw this video on YouTube, I not only thought it was funny, but an example of a wonderful relationship between a father and son. One, the son felt safe enough with his father that he knew he could prank him like this. But also, listen to the choice of words the father uses to express his disappointment. He's able to express that disappointment without expressing judgement on his son's character or value. While he does use colourful words (you've been warned about his language), he still sticks to the facts of the problem - it is costly to retake the test and he fears if he has to go again that he will be failed again. At no point does he call his son a name (although he does suggest his son should have used his charm to "sweeten up" the testing agent).

Again, as a parent, you have a choice: react with love and compassion or react with hatred and contempt. How do you want your children to feel about you in the long run? How do you want your children to feel about themselves? Do you want a close relationship with your children or do you not care if you're alone in old age?
I'm not making up extremes. I know of what I speak. I was the kid who was called "stupid" and "idiot" for simple mistakes. What do you think that did to my self-esteem? What do you think my relationship with my mother is like now?

Take heart - if you are not reacting with love now, you still have time to change. You can still repair some damage. It means you will have to take responsibility for the mistakes you made. It means you will have to apologize to your child for all the times you messed up. It's not too late to try. You have a choice. 

The Mama's Mom

TRIGGER WARNING: Parental abuse

I alluded to issues with my mother in my annual year in review post, but I didn't take time to write about it for a few reasons. 1) I'm so over it, and 2) I actually took off to San Francisco on a mini-solo-vacation, so I just didn't have time to spare over such stupidities.

Now I guess I'm ready and willing, and I think it might actually help to share, so here goes.

My mother has admitted to not having a maternal side (which always makes me wonder why she had children) and spent most of my childhood being manipulative and calling me, "stupid" or "idiot" (those were her favorites) at least daily. Essentially, I could do absolutely nothing right. I dreaded her coming home from work, where she would go through the house and find everything wrong with it. If the windows were open, ("who's the idiot who opened the windows?") she would close them. The next day, in an effort to please her, I would close the windows, only to have her come home and yell about them being closed and then open them. I walked on eggshells constantly. (Which is what led to my anxiety, hypervigilance and later PTSD diagnosis, which stayed with me even after moving out.)

To be fair, my father was abusive in his own way, but not quite as bad. I also think there's something that hurts even deeper when it's your mother who is abusive. I ran to my dad for comfort and understanding. Now that he is dead, I do not feel I have a loving parent I can go to for comfort and love, which made the death of my father that much worse.

All this to say, I was scared when my son was born that my mother would continue to heap her shit upon my child and I was deadset on making sure that did not happen. I was powerless as a child to escape, but as an adult, I have the freedom to avoid the toxicity and also keep my own child away from harm. I originally did not want my mother to have a relationship with my son at all, but my sister convinced me otherwise. She believed it should be their relationship to nurture and that my son would resent me if I did not allow him to have a relationship with his grandmother.

So I kept an eye on things and to my surprise, my mom was mostly good. Not great, but not horrible and certainly not abusive. But slowly, little old habits of hers started to show themselves. However, she never SAID anything abusive, so I let her babysit him and he seemed to like her.

Until Christmas dinner.

The Little Man was already stressed to be at her place. We sat at the table, which is very stressful for him, but I did it to make her happy. Looking back, I should not have tried to make her happy, since that always fails anyway. I should have prioritized making my son happy. I take ownership of that mistake and I will not make it again.

Anyhow, to make a long story short, he was not coping well with the stress and she decided the best thing to do to make him comply was to start shaming and insulting him. (Because that's a great parenting technique, right?) In which case, I shut that down.
You know, I don't always stand up for myself, but I will sure as hell stand up for my son.

So we left and my mom cried and got upset and I actually didn't feel bad. I didn't really feel anything. It felt like the same old record started playing again and I'm so tired of hearing the same old song.
And I could easily predict what would happen next. She would contact me and say, "I love you" because that's what she always did. She would yell at me and call me names and then about 30 minutes later, come and tell me she loved me. Always. Like clockwork.
No apologies.

Guess what? A few days later I received the "I love you" via text and an offer to talk. I did not respond. There is nothing to talk about. Unless she wants to apologize (and even then) there is nothing to say. Nothing will change until hell freezes over.

And so I have not spoken to her. We have emailed over trivial things since then, but I have nothing to say. And the Little Man does not want to see her. If and when he does, we will deal with an arrangement then, but she will not be able to be with him unsupervised. She lost that privilege.

As for the Little Man, I came home from that dinner and did damage control the best I could. I sat him down and I apologized to him for arguing in front of him. I told him none of it was his fault and it had nothing to do with him. I told him he is perfect and loved and wonderful just the way he is. That's the best I could do and I don't want to have to do it ever again.

I Don't Like Love - Sensory Issues Explained

TRIGGER WARNING: People touching others without express consent

Every once and a while I get reminded of a date I had with Hubby, very early in our relationship. We decided to meet at a restaurant and I went to find a seat to wait for him. I didn't know, but he was close behind me, so he came up from behind and touched my hair. My reflex was to snap my arm back, with my hand in a fist, and whack whoever touched me without permission. I ended up punching him square in the face and giving him a bloody nose.

Little did he know, I hated having my head or hair touched. Little did he know, I hate people touching me from behind. I hate people touching me without permission. I hate strangers touching me. I use the word, "hate" because it really is a strong aversion.

After the bleeding stopped, and I explained my issues, we still had a nice dinner. And evidently, he never tried to sneak up from behind me again. But it was nothing personal.
My quick reflexes would be very helpful if I were actually being attacked, but they are a bit of a mood killer otherwise, I must say. Still, I'll explain a little bit about why I react that way and maybe you can get an idea how it feels.

I should remind people that I have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and not just autism, so that could explain my extra sensitivity. Also, my sensory issues have changed since childhood, meaning I'm not quite as sensitive as I once was.

For as long as I can remember, I hated having my hair or head touched. Getting my hair brushed and styled was something to endure, not enjoy. My mom loved braiding and tying my hair. I hated it. The best way I can describe it is when you get the hebbie-jeebies - being touched gave me a feeling of pain, shivers and distinct uncomfortableness. It's just a yucky feeling.

Light touch is worse than deep touch. I enjoy a rough scalp massage, like when getting my hair washed at the salon. But a soft caress gives me the most disgusting feeling. So did long hugs. It could be so bad sometimes, that it actually made me vomit.

What looks like a loving hug can feel like torture

So not liking soft kisses, caresses and other common demonstrations of affection make it look like I don't like love. When it's a child, it looks like the child hates you or finds you disgusting. It offended my mother greatly. My mom always wanted to smother me. Or at least, that's how it felt, because she didn't respect my bodily integrity.

It is always a worse (or more pronounced) sensory experience when the activity is forced upon me. So a surprise touch or one where I did not give consent is worse. In other words, a hug I did not want will feel more disgusting than a hug I want. Again, this was all much worse as a child since I could not get away from my mother. I learned to ignore my own feelings in order to make her feel happy. I will not go into the ramifications of how that sort of behaviour affects a person when it comes to interacting with other people, but I think you can guess. Suffice to say, it made me numb to some extent, and I have done things with people without feeling a thing or caring what was happening to my own body. 

My son, who seems to be my little sensory carbon copy, shows the same signs of having the same sensory issues as I do. He is a bit different, but he's not big on hugs or kisses unless it's on his own terms. If I had my way, I would just love to squeeze him and cover him with kisses, but it's not about what I want because I know what it feels to have people do things to your body against your will. This is why I always ask. ALWAYS.

The point to take away from all this, is that having a sensory issue where touch can be a problem does not mean the person doesn't want to be touched or loved. It means it feels overwhelming and weird at times and worse when forced. I am not in control of the way my body "over" reacts to stimulus. It is not conscious. It is not my fault. My body works differently and that's it. I still love touch, but it has to be on my terms.

Also, I don't have the same reactions as I did as a child. My senses are somewhat muted now. My husband is allowed and able to touch my face and head. But part of that could be because he has respected me and my body and that goes a long way.

Is School Safe?

(Trigger Warning: abuse of power, injuries against a disabled person)

Just recently, I wrote about law enforcement abusing their powers and how they may not always be trusted to protect when it comes to the special needs population. Scarier still, these sort of "above the law" attitudes can infiltrate all areas of society, including our school boards and schools.

This seems to be what happened last month to Shawna, mother and blogger at InnerAspie. About three weeks into the school  year, her normally happy and active 9 year old Autistic son, who she refers to as "Beans" in her blog, became quiet and extra cuddly. A bit before this, her maternal instincts told her something didn't seem quite right. She was not getting very clear information from his teacher in his communication book each day and he also completely stopped drinking. Looking for more feedback and answers, she scheduled a visit with the teacher.

Before this meeting could take place though, he came home one day with horribly bruised wrists (pictures on her blog). She immediately took him to the ER for x-rays. He is non-verbal, so she could not get any clear answers from him about what possibly happened. The next day, she took him to his regular doctor, who said the marks looked like he had been restrained. They could see the imprint in his skin of what could possibly have been a shoe print or jewellery. It is very hard to tell from x-rays of all the small bones in the wrists of a still-growing child, but there was possibly a small fracture.

No one thought to call and inform her of this. It did not happen in her home or on the bus - it had to have happened at school and no one is owning up to it. Even if it was an accident, why didn't anyone contact her to say what happened? These bruises were so huge, how could they not have been seen?

She called the police to make a report and was sent to the school police department, which is not exactly the most impartial authority, but she had no choice. Through their investigation, she was able to find out his para took him off his morning bus and reported the bruises to the nurse (the para claims). The nurse only has a record of examining the child at 10:30am. Why did it take her two hours to see him? The nurse said she wanted to call the parents, but that the teacher told her not to.

Really?

You know what? If my child were injured at school, I would much rather get two phone calls, even if they are redundant, than to get no phone call at all. Even with all this, no one is able to explain where these bruises came from. There are only three children (including Beans) in this class. These children are not supposed to be left alone. How could no one see an injury like this? Why doesn't anyone know what happened?

Even with all of the authorities involved - from police, to Child Protective Services, to the Special Ed Coop (which governs about 16 schools) - no one is admitting any wrong doing and she has no answers or solutions. So she is doing what she can do to keep her child safe - she is keeping him home and will home school him for at least this year, until either another school or safe option can be found.

This is a horrible disservice to an innocent child who did nothing wrong, never had any issues with school before and loves going to school. He is the one losing out on being out with his classmates because a teacher, or someone at the school, could not keep him safe. Did someone abuse their power and decide that forcibly restraining a 9 year old boy was the right thing to do? This person is still in contact with other children. Are these children safe?

What Shawna wants now is for everyone to know this story and for the higher governing bodies to know what is going on in their local districts. The lack of accountability in this case is appalling and it needs to be known. This is also tax-payer's money feeding these systems and this system is falling this boy and many other special needs children, no doubt. Remember that for every story you do hear about, there are always countless others suffering in silence because they do not have the resources or capacity to challenge. 

Can Special Needs Parents Trust Cops?

(Trigger warning: abuse of power, murder of disabled people, self-harm)

There have been some pretty horrible stories courtesy of American law enforcement lately. The first one concerns an Autistic teenager. An undercover cop befriended him, making the cop his first and only friend, and then pressured him to buy marijuana. After the poor boy finally caved (the cop demanded he buy him pot over 60 times before he did, and the boy started self-harming under all the pressure), the cop had him arrested.
What a waste of time and tax payer's money. Many other children were also targeted in this "operation" and the majority of them special needs.
Remember, this is only one story we're hearing about because the parents had the resources to fight this in court. For every story we hear, there are many, many more hiding in shame and silence.

I'm not sure why law enforcement is so short on work that they need to spend their time setting up disabled people. Isn't there something more productive they could do with their time?

The second story brings me to tears every time I think about it, but it's a story that needs to be heard: a man with Down's Syndrome was killed by off-duty police officers because he did not leave a movie theatre when asked. He had watched the movie once and wanted to stay and watch it again. His aide was with him and was working to calm him down and escort him out. However, some off-duty cops decided they weren't moving fast enough, so they restrained him and killed him. Apparently, the last words out of a man who idolized police were, "call my mom...it hurt."
Meanwhile, the cops still have their jobs and are living their lives.

There is just such a horrible lack of understanding concerning disabilities. I'm not saying that people with disabilities should get a free ride - if they are really dealing drugs or not paying for movies, then they need to be held responsible for those things - but the way these issues were handed should not have gone to the extremes of jail time and death.

It terrifies me to think of my son growing older and possibly being a target to the people who are supposed to protect us. What if someone starts yelling at him, tells him to put his hand up, but he doesn't react quickly enough or at all? What if he runs instead, out of fear? Or curls up on the ground in a ball? Will he be shot and killed because of that?

When someone doesn't react or act exactly as you expect, it doesn't make them dangerous, it makes them different. Everyone needs to realize this.

UPDATE: Ethan's family is now suing and hoping for a real court case.

Being A Burden

He woke up often at night, scared. He would call out to me. I would sit with him and tell him jokes to ease his anxiety.

It was hard to get him to eat anything. He was picky and had problems chewing. He would choke easily and drool a lot. Eating was always a big mess. He did better with liquids, but I had to give him a straw and watch him carefully to make sure he didn't choke.

He had problems going to the bathroom by himself. I helped him pull his pants down and he'd sit on the toilet for what seemed like hours sometimes. He would later tell me it was difficult to coordinate and relax his muscles to do what they needed to do.

His balance was not good, so we had the help of a physiotherapist and OT. He didn't really like it, but eventually he did the exercises and got some confidence. I remember him walking with the aid of a support harness and the OT hanging on tightly to help keep him up. He still tired easily and fell often, sometimes hitting his head quite badly.

His speech was slurred and hard to understand, so we got him speech therapy. Again, he didn't always want to cooperate, but we all pushed him and supported him in his efforts.

Otherwise he spent most of his day quiet in front of the TV. Or sometimes he listened to music and closed his eyes. It was hard to get him to interact with me. And sometimes when he did, he was verbally abusive. He was very controlling about the way things should be in his room.

He was a challenge and a lot of work, but I love him and I never gave up on him.








I'm talking about my father before he died from Parkison's. I was his caregiver.



He never wanted to be considered a burden. That was his fear. I never considered him a burden, even if at times he did not make the process easy and he certainly wasn't always nice. He abused me verbally my whole life, up until just before he died.

I never once thought of killing him.

Do not tell me caring for someone with special needs is a burden. Do not tell me my father was a burden to society.

Do not tell me caring for my Autistic son is a burden. Do not tell me my son is a burden to society.

Do not tell me either of these situations makes it understandable to murder either of these people, no matter how abusive or difficult things get.


This was written for Flash Blog for Isabelle Stapleton

Quack, Woo and Other Scary Noises

I don't remember exactly where I initially discovered this, and to many I'm sure it's old news, but I recently found out about Miracle Mineral Solution or MMS. It is being touted as a cure-all for everything from cancer, to HIV, to autism. Does it kill virii and bacteria? Yes, but do you want to know how? Because it's bleach. Bleach kills pretty much everything, but that doesn't make it good medicine. Bleach also kills people. 

People are slowly poisoning their children by making them drink bleach. They also give bleach enemas, eye drops, ear drops, nose drops or make them breathe in the fumes.

The children, in response, are suffering from vomiting, diarrhea and confusion, as is normal when you're getting poisoned. What makes this so sickening is this is happening to some of our most vulnerable children - those with special needs - many of whom are non-verbal. They can't even describe the pain they're in.

This is abuse and it needs to stop.

If you want more details and can stomach it, watch some videos by one of the proponents, explaining how to mix the bleach solution in a baby bottle and give it to a child. This makes me cry.

I have not seen one post anywhere saying this MMS stuff "cured" autism. Does the child become listless, quiet, sullen and sick? Yes. But that doesn't mean the autism is gone, it means he is sick from being poisoned with bleach. Parents who think they'd rather have a dead child than a child with autism need serious help right away and their child put in a safe home.

Here's another insane practice I found: fecal transplants. Yes, you read that right. If you have the stomach to read that site, it explains how you collect your "healthy adult" feces for a week in a bucket. I'm not sure that any adult who collects their poop in a bucket for a week is mentally healthy, but we'll gloss over that bit. I'm also not sure why a week is the magic amount of time. Why not 3 days? Is a week 5 or 7 days? Anyway, then you mix it all together and shove it into a cake icing cone. Somehow you do that process without throwing up - but maybe you're insane and disassociative by that point, who knows? Finally, you wrestle your poor innocent child and shove your shit up your child's ass. Literally.
Again, this is a abuse, in my eyes.

 I can understand a parent feeling overwhelmed with a special needs child. I can understand being stressed. But at some point, if it all becomes too much, you need to reach out for help and support. I'm not saying it's easy, but there are other options. You can get therapy to learn how to cope. You can put your child in foster care (part time). You can do so many other sane and loving things to deal with the situation, but poisoning/torturing them is not the answer.

So while all of this unproven mad quackery falls under the umbrella of crazy unscientific woo, it's not as innocuous as homeopathy or even hyperbaric oxygen therapy. At least those things don't kill kids and they don't hurt during the procedure. All they do is waste people's money.

What I have issue with are things that are dangerous, deadly, painful and abusive. MMS and fecal transplants fit the bill. All I want to do is go and give all those children hugs and rescue them.

Don't Stop The Stimming

This is a sad, but poignant article written by an autistic adult about how she was forced to stop her stimming behaviours.

It is beautifully written prose and clearly explains how she was hurt and silenced.

It should serve as a reminder to everyone to allow your child to express themselves in the way they know how and that makes them comfortable.

What do you think after reading it?