Getting distracted

I didn't think it possible we'd get through April, autism awareness month, without at least one discussion of "it."

Andrew Wakefield and the MMR vaccine and autism.

Oh, I am so weary of "it." But The New York Times ran a nice long one for us on Easter Sunday. All about the parents who irrationally defend the doctor who can't even practice medicine anymore. He still believes. So do they.

His one legacy may be his identification of the need to research bowel problems, and to that I say, amen. That needs to happen.

But my goodness people, don't go experimenting on our children based on some half-baked theory. First, do no harm. Even when we vow to be conservative and gentle, we can find there dozens of ways to get after problems that need to be solved.

I believe the rest of this battle is a distraction for parents who need support in their grief work, and support in dealing with this role of caregiver that can be unbelievably demanding. Don't stand on a balcony in Austin, Texas, and pretend you are in Tuscany. You're wasting our time.