Can psychiatric meds drive our children crazy? Geodon and Abilify.

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2007/05/18/autism_misdiagnosis/


I've never heard of Autistic Catatonia.  But a mother tells  a story of her son who was driven crazy by incorrect diagnosis and given exactly the wrong drugs by psychiatrists who might have known better had they not been being paid to hype Geodon and Abilify.

She got lucky...and saved her son.

You can't make this stuff up.  I see commercials for Abilify ALL THE TIME...probably more than any other drug.  What the heck are we doing to our children.  This is madness, pure madness...and it isn't the kids.

You can go to their website, and sign up to be involved in studies.

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I feel like I'm just waking up to a nightmare...

Madame Curie Quotes

http://www.quotationspage.com/author.php?author=Marie+Curie



When I was a kid, I was SUCH A NERD.  I lived in a fantasy that I would one day be a GREAT SCIENTIST.  Life has a way of interfering with our dreams.  The women I so admired, Madame Curie, Margaret Mead, Pearl S. Buck....I really believed I would grow up to be like them...a scientist, a an anthropologist, a writer. Well, in my own way, in a very minor scale...

This is a tribute to the little girl inside all of us.

I do have a neice, who, in the love of all things science that so many of us little decendants of  Rags (my father) have, is a scientist.  God bless her humble heart.   Kudo's and prayers to her.

I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. 

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most helpful. 

We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity.

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.

There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth.

Interesting picture

ww.123people.com/ext/frm?ti=person%20finder&search_term=stephanie%20lynn%20keil&search_country=US&st=person%20finder&target_url=http%3A%2F%2Fkelsryanne.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F08%2F06%2Fstay-younge

« Perfection

Stay Younge

August 6, 2008 by kelsryanne

Stephanie Lynn Keil

A best friend, And quite and interesting girl

How do I begin to explain her?

I guess to put it simply, she's a 6 year old girl stuck in a 16 year old's body.

Drinks chocolate milk evey morning for breakfast

Gets overwhelmingly excited when her mom brings home candy

Cries when she doesnt get her way

Is terrified of the dark

Deathly afraid of scarey images that most of us laugh at or get over in a second

Cannot stay anywhere alone, and ecspecially cannot sleep by herself

Begged me to stand in line with her to get a balloon animal

LOVES Candy

And loves silly and pointless little games

Carries stickers in her purse almost all the time

Is in love with Hannah Montanna

Is still down for a good ol' bake sale

Has a room that includes pink, purple, clouds, and plenty of stuffed animals

Likes carebears, bambi, and almost any disney cartoon

Laughs at the littlest things

Refuses to let go of her N*sync collection

Loves Pink

Did I mention she's addicted to candy?

Cannot go into a store without touching absolutly everything!

Finds way too much joy out of little mechanical toys..

But most importantly she puts a smile on your face

Gives ya a good laugh

And never lets you forget that the little things count

She makes you realize that we all need to find joy and happiness in everyday

And to appreciate what we have

As the rest of us get in a hurry to grow up and move on

She reminds all to slow down and enjoy our time..becuase eventually it'll run out

One day, we will wish we could go back to what would only be memories

We are younge only once in our lives

This is our time to live with no worries and no regrets; Take advantage

Stay young and stay happy

Thanks steph, Dont ever change.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Like

Be the first to like this post.

1. on August 10, 2008 at 3:59 pm | ReplyKristy

   Ummm…how come you don’t ever write nice blogs/bulletins about me??
2. on August 29, 2009 at 7:24 am | Replyjanie

   Hiya, in the photo is one Stephanie?

   Very sweet tribute to her. Very nice of you.

   Bieya
3. on May 30, 2011 at 1:47 am | Replyusethebrainsgodgiveyou

   Your comment is awaiting moderation.
   

   Stephanie looks a lot like a girl I used to know. Do you still keep in contact with her??

   Does she still live in Charleston? She’s an artist, isn’t she.

   How is her health?

There, I can breathe again...

ouch...

Oughtta seen that coming...


I been put in my place...


Life is like that sometimes.  Keeps ya humble, I guess.

Must...up...medication........

Dr. Temple Grandin (and John Robison)

Isn't this a great picture?  You know what the title is?

"Temple Grandin and John Elder Robison see eye-to-eye at an autism conference, 2011"


Isn't that just precious????

Ben met Dr. Grandin when he was 5 years old.  I talked to her about the books that pushed the idea that most kids with autism will be institutionalized.

"Oh, it isn't that way at all." she says "You've got to look at some newer books."  (I'm paraphrasing, it was 12 years ago)

Somebody is tugging at my shirt.

Insistantly.

"Mama, she won't look at me!"  Honest to God, I am not making this up.

Life is poetry, yah know?


Update:  I forgot to mention, she had the most beautiful eyes.  There was a fierce intelligence in them.

It's so nice to live in your own little world...

Human Expert

Dr. Marie "Sprinkles" Marischnokov looks over her notes before giving a talk on her new book, The Domestication of Humans by Environmental Subterfuge.

Dr. Marischnokov received her Masters  degree at Whatsamatta U, finishing her doctoral studies at the University of Canine in Veterinarian Sciences.

Mrs. C, Close your eyes....

Smart-ass.

My son made a comment that seemed in quite poor taste regarding someone dying (you know, like the dead baby jokes that were so popular when I was young...honest to God, I'm not lying)

"Well, Ben ", I said, trying to temper my shock with reasonableness, "a great writer once said 'Each man's death diminishes me.' "

"He must have been very, very tiny..."

usethbrainsgodgiveyou quotes:

I used to live my whole life so afraid, so ashamed of what people might think of me.
Now, I live in fear they won't.

A quote attributed to Winston Churchill....on experts:

 An expert is the one who complicates simplicity.

the Autism Industry

I remember hearing once that it costs $50,000 a year to raise a child with autism.  We all know that's a bit delusional.  You can raise any kid for free, unless they have medical problems (life threatening...you know what I'm saying--hospitalilizaton, etc.) or if they are beyond the reach of their parents (institutionalization at $80,000 bucks a pop) or if they are being treated to a special form of ABA only available from PhD's ($100,000 bucks a pop), or possibly a special school which teaches to the childrens learning style at say about $20,000 bucks a pop.

Gee...what did they do in the old days?  How were autistics even able to survive??  Or is autism a new phenomina (which I have every reason to doubt).

I'm kinda raising my son for free, outside the confines of the industry, even of the great American Education system, since they don't seem to like the way he's wired without the use of psychostimulants..  I know how to pinch a penny!--I don't even use drugs!! Well, I use drugs, but I don't use them on my son.  If he wants to use them later on, he may choose to, and that's his decision. The world of grown-ups is hard to take cold-turkey.  My favorite drug includes tequila and lime.

There is a recent upsurge in autism traits among kids who are in the regular classroom, who recieve NO special education. 

Remember how the rise in autism was attributed to the fall in Intellectual Disabilities??  I have no doubt that kids who were once labled learning disabled but intelligent...will now be labeled autistic.  Also, let the really shy, really sensitive but smart introverts join them.  You know, the geeks. Come one, come all, to the autism parade!  Bring your wallets!


Let me reiterate....raising my son for free.  Oh, my God, I'm so scared he's not going to turn out okay without professional intervention...not!  That little son of a gun has the wit of a Robin Williams...fast and furious.  He's survive, if he can find his place.  We all survive if we can find our place, wouldn't you agree? He may be an auto mechanic, an electrician, a welder....or he may invent a new type of energy made cheaply and cleanly from hydrogen and steam.  He's been talking about it for years.  He'll study up on it instead of taking Social Skills (tm?) classes.

Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  It's taken me years to get here.

I just googled "autism industry".  Below are some results.  I've tried not to copy any similar links, but it's a slip shod effort that I will get back to.


http://www.linds.net/industry.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1023351/The-great-autism-rip---How-huge-industry-feeds-parents-desperate-cure-children.html

http://autisticbfh.tripod.com/industry.html

http://www.basilandspice.com/mind-and-body/autism-a-multi-billion-dollar-industry.html

http://www.sentex.net/~nexus23/md_01.html

http://www.apt11d.com/2011/01/preditors-jackels-and-rackets-in-the-autism-industry.html

http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2006/06/rashid-buttar-and-the-autism-industry/

http://www.bahaistudies.net/neurelitism/library/polyvocality.html

http://www.williamstillman.com/archive/curious_business.html

http://www.autismathomeseries.com/library/2009/08/autism-a-billion-dollar-industry/

(William Stillman keeps coming up.  I don't think these are the same posts, but they may be.)

http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/autism/autism-detox-protocol/

http://alterna-mom.blogspot.com/2009/05/frustrations-facing-autism-industry.html

http://www4.vindy.com/content/national_world/309026560044400.php


Well, google just quit on me.  Guess it's a sign.

Common Sense. 

The demonization of childhood

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/27/978711/-The-demonization-of-childhood-or-America-lets-down-her-children?via=siderecent


I spent days making this post for Daily Kos...a left-leaning political blog (WARNING!)


 (why are so many of my friends right wing? Just goes to show, Somebody has a sense of humor.  This is kind of a disclaimer, but don't look at the other stuff there or it might make ya angry.)

Days, I tell ya, probably 30-40 hours and nobody has looked at it yet.  Oy vey, I tried.  I feel better for having done it.  I have become a cynical and angry woman, but just for a season.  I had to get this stuff out to go on with my life. 

From now on, it's gonna be sunshine and roses....maybe...I dunno....

okay, now is YOUR chance to use the brains God give ya...

What do YOU think is causing the autism increase??

Kinda looks like good old American Ingenuity!


 For larger map:  http://geocommons.com/maps/62088

Rationalism versus Emotionalism ala Big Al

"The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer."



Ya know, he kinda reminds me of my cousin Jerry...sorry Jer--but it's true. 

Change happens on the fringe

DAVID FINCHER: I don‘t want to feel anything about it. I don‘t think it‘s necessary to the

story. I think it‘s ironic. I think it‘s ironic that creativity has to happen on the fringe. It has to.

Creative change happens on the fringe of everything. It‘s always on the edge, it‘s in the margi

ns,

and then it‘s adopted by the herd. And I think it‘s ironic that a guy who seems to have issues

with being able to communicate with other people has invented one of the greatest tools for

communicating with people.

Cut and pasted from here,   David Fincher was the director of the Mark Zukerberg story The Social Network.  Didn't see the movie, but this quote is spreading like wildfire among the wanna be entrepernerial spirits of business. 

I've always proudly considered myself a part of the lunatic fringe, me and all my pseudo-intellectuality!

(Hmm...spell check didn't pick anything up.  I find that amazing!  Must be broken...) aHEM...where was I?

 

Ya-ta-hey...might as well publish.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK
THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Dismissing people by placing them in boxes...

 I can't help it.  There is a mitgefühl that draws me to people.  I dunno why...

http://ingerleg.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/in-or-out-of-the-box/


I've always felt psychiatry place our children in boxes. And if they attempt to escape, all hell can break loose.

But boxes hurt.  They hurt a lot.  They are self-limiting.  Psychology seems to be all about blaming somebody or something.  Life seems to be all about living, to me.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  Rags taught me that.

I know y'all think I'm not the brightest bulb in the deck (purposely mixed metaphors...) but think of the children.  Please, let them out of the box...

Strange Story about Ballastexistenz

My son has always HATED me talking about him and autism online.  I have wasted hours and got about 2 people to listen to me.  But the drive-by googles are nice.  I look at them and think...maybe I've planted  a seed.

So anyhow, I was totally amazed when he arrived at Amanda Baggs's blog, Ballastexistenz.

"Is she okay?" he asks.

I had just become aware of the politics going down a year after the fact.  I may be stupid, but I'm slow, too.

I tried to explain what went on to the best of my ability, but when it came right to it, I remember how much I learned from Amanda, and how I sensed she was a really kind person, if somewhat exasperated at times.

"Yeah.  Yeah, she's okay."

As far as I know, from what he has revealed to me, she is the only person labelled autistic that he has listened to.  I try not to interfere with his travels on the web.  Figure he has to learn somehow, and he's been pretty careful.  So for him to even have brought this up was interesting.


She is okay.  We've got a lot to learn.

Hi, y'all...What Psychiatry tends to forget! (Ballastexitenz)

Just wanted to let you know I am removing the "friend" thingy on the side.  It depresses me.  This blog is mostly for me to get my head together, and not to belong.  And those opinions got to go somewhere! I love my friends, and would fight for their happiness any day, just as I would my only  son's or hubands. But for them it would be on steriods.  If you fail at parenting and friendship, it doesn't much matter what you do.  You could be, say, a world renowned expert in Autism and it would mean nothing...

I was blogging for 5 years, and only had 4 friends.  Yet google led to my blog repeatedly.  I am very, very proud to say the most frequent search was:

Ruby Bridges

Well, damn, people....She was a REALLY COOL 5 YEAR OLD WHO CHANGED THE WORLD! But, next to her, my most frequent google search was:

Though much is taken, much abides.

Here, in fact, is the post.  In it I mention the lovely Ballastexistenz:


Sunday, October 08, 2006

Though Much Is Taken, Much Abides...

Though much is taken, much abides...from Tennyson's Ulysses is quoted in part, reminiscent of Ballastexistenz's post I quoted yesterday. I hope she will forgive my brazenness, I'm sure it's not "proper netiquette"...
...

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

At the time, all I had come across were the words

Though much is taken, much abides

I felt it fit my own "insanity" according to the "science" (is all science subjective?) of Psychiatry, and gave me the grace to love that bit of myself that remained untarnished by the brazen egos of others.

And life goes on...


You may wonder what it is Ballastexistenz said that was so meaningful to me.  She's quite verbose, online...but when she hits the mark, there's little going back on it.



Well, anyhow, here is the previous post I spoke of. 

Saturday, October 07, 2006

What Psychiatry tends to forget....

That’s what psychiatry tends to forget, is however “damaged” a person may be by an experience, there’s a part that the damage cannot touch about them

Thanks, Amanda. Couldn't agree more.

the Golden Rule

I've got to clean up my act.  I am much nastier on the blog than I would be in real life.  It's hardly conducive to progress to belittle anyone.  We all do the best we can. 

Believe it or not, there is a whole world out there who have never considered whether or not the "a" word applies to them or their children.  Yet, I would need my fingers and toes, eyeballs and orifices  to count just a few of the people I've known who would fall under the great shadow of the umbrella.  Those outside the umbrella have their own problems.  We are all crazy...psychiatrist are more apt to commit suicide than anyone of the medical profession, who are twice as likely as the common man. Truly, truly I say unto you that we all have a label.  Most of us would rather go to the bar than a psychiatrist or priest, if given the choice.  More common sense doled out, and you don't have to believe anything!

It even has a name...self-medicating.  (Tom Cruise has a label:  LD.  I don't see anything wrong with his mind, however.  Looks well housed to me!)

There is among the left brainers, the scientists, a deep need to codify, to label everything.  To put a person down to a minute box where one can understand and observe.  People resent it, if they are of free will. Putting people in boxes removes their individuality, their heart.  People in boxes are real easy  to dismiss.

The visual-spatial learner

Don't try to get this book online.  It's going for $125 to $300.  Seems parents are looking for answers for their quirky kids rather than mental illness.  I don't know or remember...is Dyslexia considered a disability, mental illness, or a learning difference?  I have never seen a book be raised up so high.  It used to be when you looked up visual-spatial, the "a" word came up.  Not anymore.

Uta Frith of "theory of mind" bull fame, is looking for a disclaimer now.  Seems too many kids are falling into the label , and she is looking for a "cognitive difference" to explain it rather than mental illness.  Maybe she see's the writing on the wall, and doesn't want to fall from grace.  Honey, all ya gotta do is make one up!  I sent her info on the VS learner, but I think she's too dense to get it.  No...not too dense...too much of her ego is involved, and we can't have that dissonence inside our heads.  WE are looked upon as a world authority. (She's on Wiki, for God's sake!) How is it possible to change our minds? (How, in this case, is it human not to?)

The really smart ones start off different.

By the way, you can get Uta's book for $5.

I'm jus' sayin....

interesting discussion of possible autistics

http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2006/09/referenced-list-of-famous-or-important.html


There are many people on this list who have been speculated to be Aspergians.

I'm so happy Nicholas Tesla is there...my son's hero.  And so is Madame Curie and her family...she was the first woman scientist I had ever heard of growing up, and I idolized her.  Margaret Mead isn't on there...I looked. Just thought now...neither was Pearl Buck.  Not that they need to be, but it would be interesting if all the women I idealized as a child were thought to be "atypical".

The visual-spatial learner, revisited

This is taken from this paper     http://talentdevelop.com/articles/ITIPYTIW.html

The following characteristics will help in the identification of gifted visual spatial learners. However it should be noted that not all gifted visual spatial learners will match all these characteristics:



Likes complex ideas and tasks and does well on them, yet often fails at simple things



Is physically sensitive, often has acute hearing and intense reactions to loud noises.



Poor listening skills, often seems not to be listening



Has difficulty finishing tasks/school work



Has poor handwriting or difficulty keeping in the lines or grips the pen very hard and presses on the paper when writing



Loves Lego, puzzles, jigsaws, computer games, television, making things



Likes art and/or music



Has a poor sense of time



Is extremely sensitive to criticism



Is emotionally very sensitive



Has difficulty with spelling/times tables



Can remember the way somewhere after going there only once



Has a vivid imagination and/or disturbing dreams



Is distractible



Is very disorganised.



Major Risk Factors



There are four main factors that put gifted visual spatial learners at risk.  They have well above average intelligence. They are creative and divergent thinkers. They are physically and emotionally sensitive. Lastly they have an extreme visual spatial learning style coupled with an auditory sequential information processing weakness.

It's easier to see someone's weaknesses than their strengths.  Just ask any "expert"....it's easy to see what is wrong, but much more difficult to see what is right.  Just ask any teacher.  OR mother!!



Here is a side by side comparison, from the same paper.





 

Now, if you have trouble in school or in life, you can go to a psychiatrist and get a label and even get some drugs to make you more amenable to society.  Believe me, everyone could be on drugs!  I'm on drugs for anxiety, the most common "disorder", and I LIKE THEM!  Much more mellow than getting drunk every night, and better on the liver, I hope....Science fiction writer Aldous Huxley's Brave New World predicted this. No surprise really, where did you think Big Pharma was taking us?



Getting back...Guess what is missing from the visual-spatial learner profile?  That's right!  It's not considered a mental illness.  How lucky for them!

Strengths                                                          Weaknesses



• thrives on complexity                            • poor auditory memory, does not

                                                                          remember three step instructions



• systems thinker                                       • difficulty memorising facts; poor at          

                                                                       subject areas that require rote memorisation

                                                                       e.g. biology, foreign  languages



• high abstract reasoning                        • struggles with easy material

• loves difficult puzzles                             • poor at calculation

• keen visual memory                                • difficulty learning phonics

• creative, imaginative                              • difficulty with spelling

• good sense of humour                            • low word recognition



• better at mathematical                          • performs poorly or not at all on timed tests

  analysis than computation        



• better at reading comprehension         • difficulty learning mathematical facts

  than decoding



• better at geometry than algebra            • inattentive in class, easily distracted



• better at physics than chemistry           • disorganised, forgets details



• fascinated by computers,                        • hates drill and repetition

  especially computer graphics



• avid television watcher                           • "forgets" written homework assignments



• loves music                                             • submits short, sloppy work of poor quality             

• day dreamer - rich fantasy life          • handwriting laboured and difficult to read



• elaborate doodler                                  • impulsive, tends to act first and think later



              Source: Linda Silverman  (1997)

when ben makes it in this world

it will be in spite of me, not because of me...

i thought my brains would find a way

turns out it took my heart

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets:

An Empirical Study

http://berkeley.intel-research.net/arahimi/helmet/

thoughts....

Okay, I'm copying Incorrect Pleasures....We emulate those we honor, eh?

There is no field as schizophrenic as Psychiatry. Think about it, then talk amongst yourselves. I'll be waiitng.

Ya motha spanked ya butt when you poopied in your pants that one time...so now we got to take an ice pick and hollow out ya brain...

***********************************************************************

Or, this is a good one...Ya mother is a monster, a refrigerator mama

Too bad...so sorry.
That leaves us no choice but to slap the shit out of you...

(this is Ivar baby slapping the shit out of a gay kid, according to Mike Stanton's page. But any kind of love Lovaas can give...would be suspect.)




There is an expression.  There are none so blind as they who will not see

Physicians, heal thyselves...

It's all for you, baby. I love you.

Can I help that I was feeling especially nypical today???

This Test cannot be right. It says I'm mentally ill....

http://compaq.port0.org/survey.php


I KNOW MY MENTAL HEALTH IS BEYOND QUESTION. SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THIS TEST!

Bothersome Eye contact

Get ya a couple o' these. That ought to clear up that issue right quick.

WAHT'SA MATTER? DON' YA WANNA LOOK AT ME??

On being teaching disabled:

There is one thing teaching disabled (TD?) kids have in common.   They don't do "school".  School is a factory, made for factories. They don't fit the mold.

They march to the sound of a different drummer...sometimes alone




sometimes you find some brothers who march to the same beat...and you're not alone anymore!

Teaching Disabled (TM?) kid's gifts are always well hidden.

Sometimes, EVEN from themselves!!

Teaching Disabled kids are, always, without a doubt, thought to be crazy. Not sometimes, but ALWAYS. They HAVE to believe in themselves, because no one else will

Teaching Disabled(TM?) kids must always look upon authority with a jaded eye

For true respect is earned...no handed over blindly to those of supposed authority. 

As another Teaching Disabled (TM?) man says

...."If a rhinocerous were to enter this restaurant now, there is no denying he would have great power here. But I should be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatsoever."    ~G.K. Chesterton

Some people will not even want to address you.  They will find you ugly.

Remind them of what the wise old woman told us.

If people don't like me, they can look 7 other ways...

north

South

East

West

Up

Down...AND

ALL AROUND!