It was an 1hour and 25 min of crying, smiling, feeling heart broken to optimistic. It is the story of Richard Everts cross country 40 day trek to speak to different families about their experience with autism. Richard himself has a son who has autism. The families range from very high functioning to severe autism, he even interviews some adults who also have autism. Overall, I thought it was a great film. However, during the course of the film the concept of autism being linked to vaccinations is brought up several times. I've said this repeatedly but here goes .......I, for one, DO NOT care what caused my child's autism. I don't know if vaccines were involved (that theory has been debunked by the medical community) with that being said is there a slight fear when he gets new vaccinations ....Absolutely! I do not know if he has autism because of a genetic connection, I do not know if something in the environment caused it.....hell maybe I held him a little too tightly as a newborn...maybe I gave him a little too much banana baby food or peach or strawberries or whatever. All I know is that my child has autism now. That I need to deal with the now and beyond not the was. If something did cause his autism...well unfortunately I don't own a time machine ala Bill and Ted's ( like my random 80s reference?) and cannot go back in time and change anything. So why should I invest my energy in that? When my energy is needed for so much more. It's a film I believe every parent who has a child with autism should see. Sometimes or many times as an autism parent we feel alone, just a solitary woman or man fighting against autism. This film shows how diverse and how many families are affected by it. It's also a film I think people who don't have kids with autism or don't know someone with autism should definitely watch...probably more so than those who do. It will raise awareness and you will gain knowledge to something that is becoming an all too real issue in the world. Autism rates are growing exponentially, it's not going away .... It's time for people to educate themselves with knowledge and compassion.
Just last week I went to see a specialist for myself. It was my first time seeing her. During the initial getting to know you process of the appointment she asked me what I did for a living. I explained to her that I'm a stay at home mom, who has a 12 yr old daughter and a 4 yr old special needs son. She then asked me what did my son have. I explained to her he has autism, epilepsy and an arachnoid cyst. Her response was "oh, I'm sorry ". I found myself at a loss for words at that moment. I had never had anyone say that to me when talking about Kaleo. Was that an appropriate reaction from her? Should I have been thankful for it ? Or should I have been insulted? Is that a correct reaction and response I should expect from people? More importantly what's wrong with me for not even being sure how I should feel about it lol.
My Star shine ☀️☀️☀️
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