Hope

I don't really understand Scientology. I know that my dad had read an L. Ron Hubbard book, and it motivated him to strive for more in his life. But beyond that my understanding of it's teachings is from the media. I know, I know... The media spins things and gets it all wrong. But really how much of the news with regards to scientology is positive? I was sad for John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston when their son Jett died. It was reported that he suffered from seizures, and many said he displayed symptoms of autism. John and Kelly would deny that he had autism. This goes in line with what the media reports of the scientology belief about autism. Scientology believes that it is not a true disorder, and that you can cure the symptoms through diet and detox methods. While I don't know what those methods are, I can only imagine it is not the GFCF diet.

I realize that this story is old news. However, it is recently surfaced that John admitted that Jett did in fact have autism. While it can seem like a huge, "duh." This has a lot of potential for parents like myself who want to see better awareness out there. To deny autism only perpetuates the stigma of the disorder. These kids have nothing to be ashamed of. Nor do the parents of these kids. I am not ashamed of my son, and I would never deny that we deal daily with the effects of an autism spectrum disorder. I can only hope that as time goes on, and Jett's parents heal from this tragedy, they will be a voice of awareness so that our nation can become more aware of the disorder, and see these kids as people, and not a problem.

It is tragic to loss a child. That pain I can not even begin to imagine. But I know the pain of realizing that your child's future is going to be far different than you envisioned during your pregnancy and watching them sleep as an infant. I also know the unbelievable joy and pride of watching them achieve things that you were told they would not. The people in our communities need to see the potential of these kids. There is so much more to these kids than a label, they are capable of amazing things.