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Contrary to Myth, Autism Doesn’t Doom Parents to Divorce

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Not even worth the paper it's written on. The study simply asked parents of autistic children if they were married or divorced and came to the same percentage as the typical divorce rate. What it didn't ask was, "are you married to the same person?", or "were you married when you first had the baby?" What about two, three, five - ten years down the line? These variables skew the results DRAMATICALLY. This study is GARBAGE and the doctor should be forced to turn in his license, flawed studies like this get a failing grade in 101 high school science. It's an insult to the parents struggling with the diagnosis and all that comes with it. I should know, I'm a very involved father of a 5 year old autistic boy. I see the separations, the divorces among other parents. As a result of this stress I wrote the book, Dads And Autism - How To Stay In The Game. It isn't perfect, but it lays out the stressors, how to cope and most importantly how to weave the family fabric back together. I'm no superman, my wife and I struggle with this EVERYDAY. But some pragmatic steps and practice in certain areas can go a long way. Feel free to check out the title on Amazon. Godspeed to the other parents struggling with this.

Emerson Donnell of NJ 9:26AM September 20, 2010

How does a guy like Dr. Petie function in society. He's a complete moron.
Petie, what kind of Dr are you. I need to hear this. I have an autistic child. I have never struck another human being out of anger. But, if you were within 10 miles of me right now, I would pummel you. Piece of shit.

Luis of MA 3:35PM August 31, 2010

I challenge you to research the matter of Dr. Freedman’s Autism-Divorce rate and debunking the myth. This is not a myth, this is reality for too many families across the world. I wrote my personal proof as well as so many others on my webpage http://tinyurl.com/3yexkq2 that is the link. What nobody realizes is that many abusive or “in-denial” spouses will not allow a child to be diagnosed in the first place. Therefore Dr. Freedman needs to study divorces and link it to Autism, rather than study Autism and un-link it to divorce.

Autism Custody Battles of NY 9:39AM July 18, 2010

Only 4 wks? What is the point in testing the GFCF diet if they're not even going to do it right?
When my daughter sneaks food that she is not supposed to have, I can tell within a day or two just by the change in her personality (which would probably best be described as oppositional-defiance).
But there are some foods - and some kids with so many food issues - that it can take 2 months or even more to see the improvement. Only 1 of my children has autism, btw, but all of them show signs of food intolerances and all of them function better with these dietary modifications.
I don't know if it's the bastardization of our food suppoly, microbial reduction, elimination of immune complexes, downregulation of certain receptors in the body or a combination of all of these or something else entirely BUT I DO KNOW that I can see a difference in my children when I avoid giving them certain foods - and that improvement is lost when they eat them again.
And while I hope to one day know why it helps, the fact that it helps is the most important thing.

Grace of TX 5:47PM May 22, 2010

Quote by another "expert" on autism. "Three papers were published last month in Swedish medical journals that added to the suspicion"
Now its *** Vitamin D **** deficiency ????
The "snake-oil" salesmen are still coming out of the woodwork!!!

Dave & Mary of AZ 4:12PM May 22, 2010

Quote by another "expert" on autism. "Three papers were published last month in Swedish medical journals that added to the suspicion"
Now its *** Vitamin D **** deficiency ????
The "snake-oil" salesmen are still coming out of the woodwork!!!

Dave & Mary of AZ 4:12PM May 22, 2010

If parents of autistic children would just give their child the right amount of vitamin D3 (2,000 to 5,000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight per day and stop all preformed retinol like retinyl acetate, retinyl palmitate, and cod liver oil), they may well see a treatment effect and begin to have hope that their child's condition is not hopeless.
Three papers were published last month in Swedish medical journals that added to the suspicion that autism is triggered in a genetically susceptible fetus by gestational and early childhood vitamin D deficiency. Recently, a Scientific American article asked, "Is vitamin D deficiency a cause of autism?" If it is, parents who wait too long may lose the opportunity for a treatment effect.

John Cannell, MD of CA 2:27PM May 22, 2010

Let me add one more thing. It is not that autism causes divorce, but that divorce prone parents, who have, by definition, impaired love capability, cause autism because they aren't any more capable of loving their kids than they are of loving each other.
The cause of both behavioral impairments is social, meaning that the society we live in, as restricted as any in history as seen from the USA having the highest imprisonment rate in the world and in human history, affects people's social behaviors and capacities.
Right now we live in a world where the conservatives dictate that 2+3=4 and such absurdities are repeated often enough to make people think that there's really some truth in it. The social cancer that is destroying what is left of the country includes the rampant divorce, social-sexual perversity and autism that seems to have come out of nowhere in the last few decades after the brief era of 60s rebellion was knocked to pieces.

Dr. Peter Calabria of NY 8:58AM May 22, 2010

I repeat, dearest parents of an autistic whose love for their pretty green lawn and the approval of their sister-in-law at Thanksgiving means more than a smile on their child’s face, the reality of the history of disguised slavery reads from any history book and in the experience of humans who brains still function other than to rationalize their pitiful existence. Those parents who rationalize their failures to the clear detriment of their own children deserve the millstone. Stop blaming the child on other than yourself and your giving up the fight for freedom for the approval of your grass cutting neighbors. Anybody can say my underpants stink so don’t pay attention to the logic of what I am saying. Argue it, dearest. If you dare.

Dr. Peter Calabria of NY 5:07PM May 21, 2010

Thank God for "morons" like "Dr. ???? Peter" comments here,- otherwise this might be a very dull world. The "mothership" probable left him here on their last trip to earth :-)
.

Dave & Mary of AZ 4:54PM May 21, 2010