Autism Rally Feedback

[Guest guest]

Hello all:

I LOVED the first 'Hear-Their-Silence' Autism Rally ~ hope they do it again

next year. For their very first grass-roots rally, it was great!! 's

quilt piece was originally on the stage (left-side), but LeGendre (its

creator) and I moved it down to ground level, right side of the stage for

better viewing. 's photo also was featured in the land Picture

Board next to the right-side of the stage.

The speeches were stirring & so moving ~ Dr. Yazbak's was simply rousing & pow

erful. Being there reminded me that I'm not alone in this. I wept, I

smiled, I got angry, I laughed... For the first time, I felt that someone

was finally listening ~ it's been like being in a building screaming 'fire,

fire' and nobody hears you.

I told many of you that we would be there with two mylar balloons ~ well, one

popped right as we arrived @8:30 at Rally (lost to a parking meter) and the

other blew away @ 9:15! As you faced the stage, my family & I were on the

right side, at the end of the picture boards, with a blanket sprawled on the

ground and the 2 strollers filled with pillows, water, juice, sandwiches &

lots of candy & junk food!! Yep, people were drooling at us! ~

I have to thank, with all of my heart, my good & tolerant hubby Rich; my Mom,

'the take-charge General', Peggy Deese; my Partners-in-Crime, Aunts &

Helen Mc; and sweet Mother-in-Law, Bonnie Wolf, for being there &

entertaining my girls to allow me to meet some of my contacts 'in person' &

witness this moving event. Thank you.

I video-taped some of the speakers at the Rally, and got & my hubby

playfully rolling around on our blanket. Of course, I took many pictures;

one of which features Maya Angelou (guest speaker from CAN! and reknowned

Poet Laureate).

I had the opportunity to finally meet in person all of those who I correspond

with on the 'net':

- LeGendre (mother of Autistics & Lilly) ~ creator of the quilt

(GREAT JOB!!) & wife of Repligen CEO [http://www.repligen.com/ ] whose flight

was cancelled the night before, but made it on another one ~ THANK GOD! Her

speech was so personable & touching;

- Reynolds (mother of MMR vaccine-induced Autistic son Liam) ~

founder of Unlocking Autism [http://www.littleangels.org/] & is involved with

A.R.K. [http://www.ark-inc.org/], spoke at hearing & has been on CNN; she &

her hubby drove all the way up from Louisiana, pulling a U-Haul trailer

bringing the picture boards & t-shirts);

- Dr. F. Yazbak [http://www.gti.net/truegrit/] gave me such a bear

hug that I thought we'd be rolling on the ground! I also finally got to meet

his daughter, who traveled from London for this. Yazbak included us in his

study AND forwarded our information to the reknowned researcher from England,

Dr. Andy Wakefield (Wakefield has found that the measles part of the MMR

vaccine is embedded in the guts of Autistic children);

- Joan & Pat Welch of sonville [Jmcgwelch@...] who have a 9 yr old

PDD daughter named Grace, kindly provided the racks for the quilts to be hung

from);

-Ray Gallup [http://www.gti.net/truegrit/], his wife & TALL, young, Autistic

son (who sweetly communitcated to me " Hi Woman " using a PEC book). Ray heads

the Autism Autoimmunity Project, and the class-action lawsuit regarding the

MMR vaccine;

-Dr. Megson [http://home.att.net/%7Epediatricaac/main.html] is a

Pediatrician in Richmond, VA who has discovered the administration of Vitamin

A (Cod Liver Oil) is reducing the effects of Autism & other disorders (ADHD,

Dyslexia, etc). She kindly spoke with us, recommending a course of treatment

for being that her measle titres are high. She testified at Thursday's

Hearing;

- Barbara Loe Fischer [http://www.909shot.com/], a mother whose son had

adverse reaction, becoming the founder of the Natl. Vaccine Info. Ctr., has

appeared at both congressional hearings, and has been featured in several

magazines & newspapers was there with her co-hort in crime, Ms. Kathy

(NVIC).

- 's classmate, Matt Hurd, with his parents Fred & surprised us

all by stopping by!!; saw our friends & Michele Conrad of Pasedena,

along with their pals Grace & Greg and Kim & Charley - both of whose sons

were featured in the picture boards too.

fell dead asleep at 2:00, but we left the Rally @2:45 because we could

see the impending storm in the distance. A friend said the storm hit at

3:50, curtailing the rally to end at that time.

One funny lesson I learned the hard way from this wonderful first annual

Autism Rally:

Trying to be a 'good mother', I brought sunscreen to put on my normal 6

yr old and Autistic 4.3 yr old , but forgot to have Rich apply it

to me ~ also blue-eyed, freckled, fair-skinned!! I haven't even seen the sun

(let alone 6 hours worth) since 's diagnosis a yr & a half ago,

basically staying glued to my pc to surf the net for info. and attending

conferences / lectures which are held in-doors! Yep, even today, I'm still

as red as a lobster!! Ouch ~ just call me a crispy critter!! Lesson

learned: when applying sunscreen to the kids, apply it to the albino adult

too! ~ OUCH!!!

Sherry Deese Jager ~ 's Mom from land