1.25.2008

Vaccinated

Vaccinated

Mali had her first vaccination yesterday (DTaP). She is three years old. I've been meaning to start her vaccinations for over a year. She hasn't had an injection since she was a wee infant, and was more surprised than upset -- until she got the magic Mickey Mouse bandaid over the injection site. They she was back to grins and deviltry.

There are many reasons why she got stuck: She's had a clean bill of developmental health from the MIND Institute, Thimerosal isn't in vaccines any more, I no longer worry about Thimerosal in vaccines causing autism, and I keep meeting people who have vaccine-preventable illnesses like Whooping Cough that should only exist in pre-WWII children's books like Ballet Shoes.

Also, I am simply no longer hooked on The Cause of Leelo's Autism. Not at the moment. I think his autism is most likely genetics (hello, quirky men on both sides of Leelo's family) plus possibly an environmentally-triggered genetic abnormality or mutation. But I no longer dwell on Why Why Why, because it's a waste of both my and Leelo's time. Instead, we focus on helping Leelo gain skills and independence, and on giving him lots of love for who he is, rather than despite his autism.

Do I want to know why Leelo is autistic? Yes. But only because I want my children to have as much information as possible, should they breed.

And if there was a cure? Yes, I would sign Leelo up. But only because I think he craves better communication skills and social facility.

In the mean time, Mali will have one vaccination each month (no multi-dose visits) for about a year; then she'll be caught up, and we'll all be part of the herd.

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