Please!oh please oh please (and vaccination rant)

J-Cat

Shared on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 13:06

I was going to play me some puzzle quest before Erica woke up. but booo.. she did. Here' the thing: she's donw to one nap a day, but it has to be long (over 2 hours) for her to get enough rest to make a day of it. SO when I hear her cry after less than 1 hour, I raced upstairs to turn off her monitor. If she can hear herself cry: she gets more upset. So here I am, waiting, hoping that she has gone back down.

She got some shots today.  It's very worrisome the amount of press vaccinations/autism has had lately. I love how on Larry King, Jenny McCarthy was going to be on with some doctor to debate autism. Look lady, I know your kid has autism, and yes, that is sad. But it doesn't make you an expert. She has absolutly no training in science,, yet she gets the same billing as a doctor who specialises in this stuff.

Why do we look to celebrities for intellectual knowledge? Yes, they may be great people, some of them may be really smart, but they still don't have the fundamentals of science down. So why do we ask them to champion various causes for us? Why do we think that they are smarter than the real experts. 

What do you guys really think of celebrities? Why do we look to them for so much guidance? Is it because the experts aren't pretty enough? Are they not easy to understand? Or is it because their message is not warm and fuzzy (your kids has autism, and it's no one's fault: you can't blame anyone to make yourself feel better, I'm sorry). Like I said this vaccination thing is jsut tough. Because other parents won't vaccinate their kids agaisnt diseases that will kill you, the herd immunity goes down, and the risk to my daughter goes up.  If you don't vaccinate your kids, how do you justify putting other kids at risk? 

grrrr.... Mommy needs to get another coffee...

Also: all quiet on the Erica front... I think she went back to sleep: time to play some puzzlequest...

Comments

BigBlue's picture
Submitted by BigBlue on Sat, 04/05/2008 - 00:01
very good article on autism in last months WIRED mag IMO. anyone touched by this ought check it out. BTW no conclusive proof of the vaccine/autism link . . . but youd think they would take the mercury out just so we could all feel better. . . then again you would think they would have quit lining peoples mouths with it long ago too.
TDrag27's picture
Submitted by TDrag27 on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 19:16
I don't like seeing celebrities get in the public's face about politics, religion, and such just because they can. But if a celebrity happens to be firsthand dealing with an issue that the public can benefit from hearing about - by all means let them use their celebrity...
ninja_dawg's picture
Submitted by ninja_dawg on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 13:52
Agreed with your points, it is frustrating to be a parent and have all these people out there trying to scare the crap out of you. Luckily we have a great pedicatrician to tell us what we should worry about, and what is just media BS.
Lbsutke's picture
Submitted by Lbsutke on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 13:11
Vaccines FTW...and if all the smart people had a rack like Jenny McCarthy I would listen all the time...well maybe not listen, but I would be staring... :)
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 13:12
Brent Spiner played Data so he has to know a lot.
J-Cat's picture
Submitted by J-Cat on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 13:14
Damn! He was also a broadway star: Old Gold eyes...
seanm's picture
Submitted by seanm on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 13:44
Personally I think we would all be better off it we stopped paying attention to actors and musicians and listened to people who actually matter, like athletes.
skittle79's picture
Submitted by skittle79 on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 13:47
I don't think the general public looks to celebs for their scientific knowledge, but they are capable of bringing press to an issue which would benefit from the attention. I don't think Larry King would have me on his show with the doctor treating my son's autism. I applaud her for giving this issue the attention it deserves. Parents of autistic children aren't looking to "blame anyone to make yourself feel better". They're just looking for hope and the more attention the disease gets, the more hope for treatment and prevention. Go Jenny!
J-Cat's picture
Submitted by J-Cat on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 14:04
It deserves attention yes... but let's stop blaming the wrong culprit....
skittle79's picture
Submitted by skittle79 on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 14:22
My comment was addressing your blog question "What do you guys really think of celebrities? Why do we look to them for so much guidance?" and your obvious frustration with Jenny's appearance on LKL. From all of the appearances i've seen Jenny make and from her writing I've never seen her concentrate on blame but more just looking for understanding and hope. She got the "same billing as a doctor who specialises in this stuff" because he likely wouldn't have been on the show at all if not for her work to bring widespread attention to the issue.

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