So I know that everyone gets so annoyed by celebrities and their causes but the thing is, it works. I was vaguely aware of the rise in autism but it wasn't until Jenny McCarthy came out with her book, "Louder Than Words," and was suddenly on every show including Oprah talking about this issue that it really got on my radar. In one interview I saw, Jenny mention a group called TACA (talk about curing autism) which I looked up on the internet. I looked up articles, I read blogs, I watched videos, I called the executive director of TACA, Lisa Ackerman, to find out more. The CDC now says that 1 in 150 kids are diagnosed with autism. Um, holy shit! After all that, I decided two things: One, that autism effects all of us. The causes are complicated but environmental factors seems to be at play so to me the rise in autism could be a wake up call for all of us to clean up our earth, food, lives, homes, etc... Two, Jenny McCarthy says "you guys" alot. I mean alot...
The issue of vaccines causing or triggering autism is incredibly controversial. While TACA does support immunization, they don't support the toxins in them or the alarming number of vaccines given to young children. Their battle cry is "too many, too soon!" Using the popular meaning of "greening" for "cleaning up." they have organized a "Green Our Vaccines" rally in Washington, D.C. to demand safer vaccines for children. The rally is June 4th at the Washington Monument. I would go but I just moved to San Francisco from D.C. so I'll have to be there in spirit.
