Remember me telling you guys about my brother’s wife being preggers?  How could you forget, right?  I mean, I was completely over the moon that day. But not because my brother’s wife was pregnant, no… I had known that for months.  And not to imply I wasn’t thrilled about the baby, I was/am.

No, I was over the moon that day because of my, now infamous, David Kirby’s Latest Horror Story post, which lead to my David Kirby Day!, a day that is now etched in my mind forever.  And yes Kim, I still get light headed when I think about it.  Pretty dorky huh?

Anyway, so the months have passed and my cutie-patootie sister-in-law has finally popped the pup! (more…)

Front and Center: Follow-Up on Rep. Maloney’s Autism-Vaccine Briefing

Managing Editor’s Note: Many people worked hard to make this post possible. Thank you to David Kirby and Mark Blaxill, Kelli Ann Davis of Generation Rescue, John Gilmore of Autism Action Network and several others. Please read the post carefully, there’s a call to action. It requires some thought and will take some time. Our kids are worth it.

By Jeanne Cantkier, Pamela Felice, Lisa Rudley and Angela Warner.

Warrior Help Is Needed and Necessary!

On September 24, 2008 our community experienced a monumental and potentially game changing moment. Thanks to the organized efforts of our dedicated community, there was standing room only at the Autism-Vaccine Briefing hosted by Rep. Maloney and presented by David Kirby and Mark Blaxill. (more…)

First, the transcripts for Mr. Kirby Goes To Washington (aka the Maloney Autism-Vaccine Briefing) are up on Age of Autism.  CLICK HERE to read what DK had to say to the 120+ attendees.

Then, you MUST read the piece Louise Kuo Habakus just put on on AoA.  CLICK HERE to be awed by these awesome parents!

So good…. back to back… so damned good.

David had just started speaking at the briefing.  My cell phone started to ring.  It was a 202 number so I answered it.

“Hi Jeanne.  This is —- calling from Congressman —–’s office.  I just wanted to ask if the room number had been changed for the autism briefing?”

“Not that I know of… did you go to room 210?”

“Yes, but there must be a budget meeting going on because the room is packed…”

“That is the autism briefing!  The room is packed because there were over 130 RSVPs.”

“Ohhh… okay.”

“Hurry. Get down there now. Mr. Kirby just started speaking, you still have time.  You don’t want to miss this briefing! It’s going to be historical!”

“Okay. Thanks!”

I posted the following quote on Age of Autism.  I thought it was fitting on the eve of such an important, monumental, and historical moment in our lives.  I can hardly make it through this one without getting choked up.  It was written for us, the moms and dads of children with autism, it must have been… it’s just so perfect.  Enjoy.  Savor.  And don’t you dare miss the Autism One broadcast tomorrow!!  (HERE’S THE LINK):

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere.

There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right–that we were winning. And that, I think, was the handle. That sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or military sense–we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum. We were riding the crest of a high, and beautiful wave.

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill….and look…. And with the right kind of eyes, you can almost see the high watermark–that place where the wave finally broke, and rolled back.”

Hunter Thompson
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

I am reprinting this piece from Age of Autism because it is VITALLY IMPORTANT that we all get as many of our Senators, Congressmen/woman and/or their staffers, to this briefing as we possibly can.  Please just click on the links and send a quick email (or call!!) – it is THAT easy.  I emailed AND called, I’m glad I did.  I used both opportunities to state the fact:  A minimum of ONE IN EVERY SIXTY SEVEN families are affected by autism, this is an issue that is of great importance to your constituents, please respect us and treat it as such.

FRIDAY UPDATE 4: JUST SPOKE WITH DAVID CLEARY AT SENATOR LAMAR ALEXANDER’S HELP SUBCOMMITTEE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OFFICE IN DC.  HE SAYS HE HANDLES ALL THINGS SPECIAL EDUCATION RELATED FOR THE SENATOR AND KEEPS UP WITH ALL THINGS AUTISM RELATED.  ALTHOUGH HE CANNOT PERSONALLY ATTEND THE BRIEFING, HE WILL DO HIS BEST TO HAVE ANOTHER STAFFER IN ATTENDANCE.  DID YOU GET THAT?  SENATOR LAMAR ALEXANDER MAY VERY WELL BE REPRESENTED AT THE AUTISM-VACCINE BRIEFING NEXT WEEK… ALEXANDER!!!

FRIDAY UPDATE 3: JUST GOT A CALL FROM ANN IN SENATOR CORKER’S DC OFFICE.  SHE SAID, “REGARDING THE BRIEFING NEXT WEEK… WE ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO DO OUR BEST TO HAVE SOMEONE THERE… DO YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE EVENT?”  I TOLD HER I HAD EMAILED THE INFO WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  SHE LOCATED THAT AND THANKED ME, TO WHICH I SAY, “NO ANN, THANK YOU!!!”

FRIDAY UPDATE 2: Just spoke with Ramona in Senator Corker’s DC office.  She says Senator Corker will not be able to attend, but she will see what she can do to get a staffer there.  She is going to call me back.  Keep your fingers crossed!

FRIDAY UPDATE: Just received a message from Ms. Pond in Chattanooga.  She was calling to inform me that since the briefing is being held in DC, I need to contact the DC office.  Huh.  Really.  I’ll go call them AGAIN.  Stay tuned.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Wednesday night I emailed Senator Bob Corker, Senator Lamar Alexander, and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn.  Thursday morning (more…)

Now, I know you think I might be a *smidge* biased when it comes to anything Mr. Kirby (known in these parts as Mr. Wonderful) puts out there; but, I recently watched the DVD version of the NYU lecture and I really do think our man hit the mark.  In this particular version of the lecture, David goes over the basics of his past lectures; but, he adds in new information as well.  So trust me, you don’t want to miss this one. (more…)

Friday I was emailing with the Managing Editor of Age of Autism, the glorious Kim Stagliano (KS! You rock!).  I was requesting a link be removed from a comment I had made calling out Lisa Rudy (About.com), Dr. David Gorski (aka Orac), and Ken Reibel (aka AutismNewsBeat, HeraldBlog, and ANB), and pointing out the fact that Lisa Rudy links to her site in order to increase traffic, which in turn puts money in her pocket. I inadvertently ended up linking to my own site from my comment, which to me seemed just a bit hypocritical… hence the email to Kim requesting the link be removed. (more…)

Last night I was over at my mother’s house to celebrate her birthday with our family.  At one point I walked past my phone and heard the email chime go off.  I was going to ignore the chime, we were celebrating after all; but, I decided to just do a quick check.

I felt that now familiar jolt of excitement when I noticed the email was a Huffington Post blogger alert… David Kirby had just posted a new piece.  My iPhone didn’t pull up the entire email, but I did see the title, “Up to 1-in-50 Troops Seriously Injured… By Vaccines?”  My “quick” check ended up consisting of me sneaking off to a quiet corner to get my DK fix.  And I knew, by the title, this was going to be one hell of a fix. (more…)