Argh! my dog got kicked!

[Shetlander]

I am sorry your dog got hurt. I would also have been upset. But what upsets me more is the assumptions many people have about ADD ADHD Bi polar and other disorders. Just because it is overly diagnosed does not mean it it not a real problem.

 

Thank you so much for your valuable perspective on this. I've been in Mental Health for almost 25 years. I agree that some disorders are "trendy" and I really dislike the way children are often medicated. But as you note, these are real disorders that bring much in the way of pain and challenges to families. I also get tired of people equating physical punishment with discipline and if you don't hit children, they won't have any manners or understand boundaries. Some of the worst behaved children I know, the ones I'd be least likely to let in the same room with my dogs, are those who have been physically punished.

 

What happened with your brother and family is very heart wrenching. Those who haven't experienced living with something like autism, especially back when our understanding of the disorder was so limited, can't really understand what children and families go through.

[G. Festerling]

What would make you (and this is not directed at the OP only) feel worse :

1) to unjustly come down hard on a kid or parents that really are facing the challenges of legit medical issues

or

2) to give a family the benefit of the doubt when their kids are ill behaved and to let them get away with such behavior?

 

Is there a way for any of us to handle a situation where we can simply not know which of the two it is (after all I don't suppose we can ask for proof), with grace and a chance to maybe educate or help without letting our dogs take the fall?

 

I feel terrible that your dog had to face this and am glad that he handled it like a champ. Great boy. You should be very proud of him.

[lrayburn]

you learn to be proactive with all kids when my dog is defenseless (leashed and unable to get away). I almost reflexivly step between my dogs and kid that come up like that now and say "whoa mister!" LOL Body blocks work for kids too!

 

I'm sorry this happened to the OP and I agree heartily with Lenajo. I *ALWAYS* protect my dogs from children. And I don't let random kids run up to my dogs, I step in front and bosy block them. I also explain to the kids very firmly (and loud enough that their parents can hear) that they must NEVER run up to strange dogs and must ALWAYS ask before trying to pet someone's dog. I have offended lots of parents I'm sure but I am protecting my dogs and teaching their children an important lesson at the same time. I get really frustrated by people who assume that dogs out in public should have to submit to being molested by their children. On the flip side, I always thank and enthusiastically praise kids who ask to pet the dog, even if I have to say no.

 

Lisa

[SoloRiver]

some doctors link autism to child vaccinations

 

Any putative links between vaccinations and autism have been thoroughly debunked. Ten of the 13 authors of the original Lancet paper that "linked" the MMR vaccine to autism later retracted their claims.

 

Hidden records show MMR truth, from the Times of London

 

Researchers retract a study linking autism to vaccination

[mbc1963]

Any putative links between vaccinations and autism have been thoroughly debunked. Ten of the 13 authors of the original Lancet paper that "linked" the MMR vaccine to autism later retracted their claims.

 

And still it's become "conventional wisdom," at least in the US, that vaccinations cause autism. If there's a link, they ought to be able to scientifically show that more children with the vaccine developed autism than without. They can't. Time to look elsewhere; I'm guessing there's a trigger that we haven't even imagined.

 

Mary

 

Why do many doctors and scientists believe that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism?

 

In 2000, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) at the National Academy of Sciences, at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the NIH, conducted a review of all the evidence related to the MMR vaccine and autism. This independent panel examined completed studies, on-going studies, published medical and scientific papers, and expert testimony to assess whether or not there was a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. The IOM concluded that the evidence reviewed did not support an association between autism and the MMR vaccine. This and other conclusions from the IOM review were released in April 2001 (Immunization Safety Review Committee 2001).

 

Also in 2000, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a professional organization for pediatricians with over 55,000 members, held a conference on the MMR vaccine and autism. Parents, scientists, and practitioners presented information on this topic to a multidisciplinary panel of experts. Based on its review, the AAP also found that the available evidence did not support the theory that the MMR vaccine caused autism or related disorders. The AAP policy statement appeared in the May issue of Pediatrics (Halsey et al 2001).

 

In 1999, Taylor and colleagues published a study (Taylor et al 1999) that argued against the suggested link between autism and the MMR vaccine suggested in the Wakefield study. Taylor’s study looked at all the known cases of ASD in children living in certain districts of London who were born in 1979, or later. Researchers then matched the ASD patients with an independent registry of vaccinations. The results of this study showed that:

 

The number of ASD cases had increased steadily since 1979, but there was no sharp increase in the number of cases after doctors started using the MMR vaccine in 1988.

Children showed symptoms of ASD and were diagnosed with ASD at the same ages, regardless of whether they were vaccinated before or after 18 months of age. This finding is important because if the MMR vaccine caused ASD, the children who were vaccinated earlier would show symptoms earlier.

By age two, vaccination coverage (the number of children who received vaccines) among children with ASD was nearly the same as vaccination coverage for children the same age who did not have ASD throughout the region. If the MMR vaccine and ASD autism were linked, then a greater number of children who had been vaccinated throughout the region would have ASD.

The first signs of autistic behavior or first diagnosis of ASD was not more likely to occur in time periods following the MMR vaccine than in other time periods.

 

Also in 1999, the United Kingdom’s Committee on Safety of Medicine examined hundreds of reports collected by lawyers of patients with autism and similar disorders that families said they developed after receiving the MMR or MR vaccine. After a systematic, standardized review of the case information, the Committee found that the information did not support any link between vaccines and autism. Based on the evidence, the Committee concluded that there was no cause for concern about the safety of MMR or MR vaccines (Medicines Commission Agency 1999).

 

A study, done in Sweden in 1998, also showed no evidence of association between the MMR vaccine and autism. The study compared the number of autism cases in children from two Swedish towns before 1982, when local doctors first started using the MMR vaccine, and after 1982. The results showed no difference in the rate of autism between the two groups of children in either town (Gillberg & Heijbel 1998).

 

Another study, done in England in 1997, looked at any possible link between the measles-specific vaccine (one part of the MMR vaccine) and different problems that result from damage to the nervous system, such as learning disabilities and behavior problems. These researchers found no proof that the measles vaccine was in any way linked to long-term damage to the nervous system (Miller et al 1997).

 

http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs...sm/mmr/sub3.cfm