You may have read that Toni Braxton is now claiming that her son with Autism is no longer Autistic because he's been cured. This is the same woman who thinks her son was born Autistic because God was punishing her for having an abortion many years ago
I have replied to anything goes like this in a really long time but this latest statement is absolutely bullshit.
Don't get me wrong, if her son is doing better, that's awesome and I'm happy for them both. As a parent, I feel happy for her because it's so hard to see your child struggle with life.
That being said, this is still bullshit and here's why.
Let's get this little turd out of the way first.. Having a child with Autism is *not *a punishment from God. Just think about the message that sends. It's bad enough that she even thinks that but it's so totally fucked up to be a celebrity and make that statement publicly (see above link for this story).
She's basically saying that her son is a punishment because of a past decision.. If her son has Autism, it's part of who he is and if you think that a child can separate themselves from a statement like that, I don't even know what to say.
Secondly, *there is no cure for Autism. *
Sadly, there isn't a cure for stupid celebrities spewing uneducated opinions that only serve to hurt the Autism community either.
If your child was correctly diagnosed with having Autism, then there *is no such thing as a cure. *If your child has Autism, they will have Autism for their entire life.
If you have a child who makes a miraculous turn around after changing their diet, that's great but guess what? They probably weren't Autistic in the first place but instead had a food allergy, sensitivity or some other underlying genetic disorder.
If your Autistic child drastically changes for the better after listening to whale sounds or sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, they aren't cured. They probably had a medical condition that responds to treatments like this.
Even the best ABA or other type of therapies can only help a child better navigate their world. Behavior modification can help with behavioral problems but it doesn't cure your child of being Autistic.
These kinds of statements make me so frustrated because all it does is spread misinformation, further muddying the water and provides desperate parents with false hope because there is no cure for Autism.
People like Toni Braxton and Jenny McCarthy are in positions where they have a huge amount of influence over their fan base. Making statements like *my son is cured from being Autistic *is not only inaccurate but it's also dangerously irresponsible.
Again, if your child makes a significant improvement with only a dietary change or some other *treatment *then they most likely weren't Autistic in the first place or at the very least had a secondary condition that responded to such a treatment.
A couple of years ago I wrote about a company that was selling what amounted to bleach enemas, to desperate parents and touting it as a cure for Autism. This is actually still happening. You can Google it.
If you think that people would be smart enough *not *do something like this to their child, you'd be wrong. People bought this shit and forced it into their children, only serving to torture and poison them.
Desperate parents will cling to even the smallest glimmer of hope and go to the ends of the Earth for their child and when someone with tremendous influence makes a statement that *their child is no longer Autistic after doing something *people are going to try and replicate the results. If their child is truly on the Autism Spectrum, the best case scenario is that their hopes are shattered because it doesn't work. The worst case scenario could be they seriously injure their child or worse.
On a side note, most parents can't afford to do for their child what these celebrities with endless amounts of financial backing have done for theirs. Many of us can barely afford the basic therapies our kids need and struggle with everything else.
These celebrities are not doctors and very likely haven't even a basic understanding of how things actually work. They aren't scientists or even researchers. They aren't usually educated in this area either.
For some ridiculous reason, we value their opinions and treat them as fact. Just look at Jenny McCarthy because she a perfect example of someone who's ignorant, dangerous and irresponsibly uses her platform to spread what has been scientifically disproven, countless times.
Autism cannot be cured. It's so deeply ingrained in who a person is, that I can't even image being able to ever separate the person from their Autism without fundamentally altering who they are.
Even mentioning something about a cure can create controversy for many moral and ethical reasons.
As a parent, I can understand why someone would seek a cure for their child who is profoundly impacted by Autism.. No one wants to see their child suffer and the reality is that some kids with Autism are almost trapped inside their own bodies. Who wouldn't want to release them and give them a higher quality of life.
The unfortunate reality is that anyone touting a cure for Autism or claiming to have cured their own child, is no better then someone peddling snake oil.
There is no cure for Autism within the confines of our current medical knowledge and understanding of what Autism even is.
For that matter, we don't even know what causes Autism, aside from a there being a genetic component.
My fear is that desperate parents will have their hopes shattered when they find out the hard way that when celebrities talk about their child being cured of Autism, it's nothing more than word vomit.
I worry that already overtaxed and desperate parents will be shattered by the false hope that's provided by these people with whom we erroneously assign an undeserved level of authority to.
One last time.
There is no cure for Autism. Anyone who says their child has been cured, likely had a child who was not really Autistic in the first place.
There are tons of things we can do to help improve the lives of those touched with Autism but there simply is no such thing as a cure.
