Autism

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As the weeks wind down in her second — and final! — pregnancy, nobody could blame Tisha Campbell-Martin for being a little anxious to deliver. In a new interview with Essence, the 40-year-old actress reveals that things got off to a rocky start with her baby-on-the-way, a boy due September 21st.

“In the first few months I was bleeding and that made us very concerned,” she shares. “When you’re 40 things are a lot different, so I know I have some work ahead of me, but I also know this is the last time for me. My only concern now is my blood pressure, so we monitor that, but other than that I’m really healthy.”

At the same time, expectant motherhood is a state of being Tisha — who is already mom to Xen, 8, with husband Duane Martin — appears to enjoy. “I love being pregnant,” she raves. There are no regrets about going to bat for the blue team again, either. “I think I’m a boy-mommy,” she says. “Xen is so glad not to be the only child.”

“We waited for eight years before we had another child because he needed all of our attention. We say all the time how we kicked autism in the behind because Xen is so amazing — he’s going to a regular school and has friends of his own. He’s a true blessing.”

Her sunny outlook is equally apparent when talking about motherhood the second time around. “At 40, I have so much more to offer as a mom,” she notes. “Xen gave me so many gifts; it was such a learning experience.” Adding that she’s “hoping for the best in health” for her second son, Tisha feels confident that “it’s not going to be as hard as it was with Xen.”

“As much as Duane and I make light of his autism, it was not an easy fight, but we fought it. I’ve been praying for it and believe that it will be easier this time around. But regardless of the challenge, I believe God will never give me more than I can handle and I find peace and comfort in knowing that.”

Tisha says she wouldn’t be surprised if baby boy made an early arrival. “I swear he’s ready to come any day now,” she exclaims. “I’m just trying to get him to stay in there.” Once he’s out, however, Tisha says she’s ready to tend to the job at hand. “I’m so big right now — I told my doctor I didn’t even want to know how much I weighed,” she reveals. “I don’t look at the scale or anything. With Xen, I lost 80 pounds, so I’m looking forward to working on getting rid of this baby fat.”

In the meantime, Tisha says she’s content to continue munching on her two biggest cravings — ice and watermelon — and playing the name game with her husband and son. “We’re still working on it,” she concedes.

“Duane and I haven’t settled on one yet that we absolutely love, and every name Xen’s chosen is a cartoon character.”

Source: Essence

– Missy

Courtesy Cookie

In the September issue of Cookie magazine, Jenny McCarthy makes it clear that there will neither be marriage nor a baby carriage for she and boyfriend Jim Carrey!

“It’s wacky-weird that not only does he not want to get married, which I love,” the 36-year-old actress says, “but he also doesn’t want to have more kids, which I love.”

For now, the couple of more than three years are content to focus on Jenny’s son Evan Joseph, 7, who continues to thrive following his “recovery” from autism.

“I have him in every sport you can imagine for socialization, but he is [already] one of the most social kids you will ever meet,” she boasts.

Things have of course not always gone so well for mother and son.

In the interview, Jenny details an event she calls her “second rock bottom,” the first being when Evan went into cardiac arrest in 2004.

Following a seizure Evan was given a medication that caused him to stay awake for four days straight, suffering hallucinations and banging his head against a bed until he bled. Jenny recalls,

“I ran out of my house and into my driveway and screamed at the top of my lungs to God to just take him away, because I loved him so much and he was in so much pain.”

Going on “blind faith,” Jenny switched her son to a gluten-free, casein-free diet and the results were dramatic; Within two weeks, Evan’s vocabulary doubled, she says.

As a result of her experience, the biomedical approach to treating autism has become so important to Jenny she now serves on the board of Generation Rescue, an advocacy and research group that calls for — among other things — the elimination of toxins in vaccines and a delayed vaccine schedule.

“In addressing physical ailments like epilepsy, leaky gut, candida [a yeast infection], bowel disease, and food allergies, as well as behavioral disorders, like ADHD and OCD, that are associated with autism, we [parents at Generation Rescue] find that, along with those problems, the autism either gets better or goes away,” Jenny says.

Click below for Jenny’s theory on why Evan developed autism and her hopes for his future.

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Jen Lowery/Startraks

Bryan Dattilo’s world revolves around his son Gabriel, so when the 9 ½-year-old was diagnosed with moderate autism as a toddler, that world was turned upside down. Bryan and his ex-wife Jessica Denay — founder of the Hot Moms Club — “were told right off the bat that he wouldn’t be able to do certain things, like have a real job, have a wife, be main-streamed,” Bryan explains. “There was a question of whether he could stay in a normal school.”

After the diagnosis, Bryan says he was left feeling angry “when the lady told us, and put all these labels on him and kind of limited him.” He admits he also felt “responsible” that his son wouldn’t “have the kind of life that he would enjoy.”

Living in a world of the “unknown,” Bryan set out to work closely with Gabe. “I would have to come up with games to break him of his repetitive behavior,” he explains, “because a lot of autistic children have repetitive behavior, whether it’s repeat[ing] something quite a bit or a physical gesture that they have to do to make themselves comfortable.”

There were hard times, especially when Gabe was younger and he was unable to make eye contact or express himself. “You found yourself giving and giving and you weren’t really getting much back compared to the normal way a child could share affection and show appreciation,” Bryan notes. After his experiences, the 37-year-old actor “totally feel[s]” for parents dealing with an autism diagnosis, and offers them some advice:

“Realize that you never know what the future is going to hold, so the more you work with a child, it might not seem like you’re getting a lot back at the time, but five or six years down the road, when your child is main-streamed and totally accepted as ‘normal,’ then that’s the rewarding part. As long as you catch it early and don’t give up, there is hope.”

Click below to read about Bryan’s thoughts on Gabe’s future.

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Courtesy Shape

Far before giving birth to her first child and becoming an advocate for autism, the name Jenny McCarthy conjured a completely different image in the mind. Shortly after Jenny welcomed her son Evan Joseph in 2002, the new mom “dialed back the whole sex kitten thing,” and eventually found herself a part of “the girls team,” as she was cheered on by a new audience: fellow parents. “When I went public about his autism, I gained credibility as a passionate mom,” she tells the April issue of Shape magazine.

That same passion, says Jenny, was the motivation behind her ultimate decision to forego her usual “good girl and rules follower” tendencies and dig deeper for answers to her son’s illness. “When the doctor said there was no hope, I decided to listen to myself, rather than an authority figure, for once,” she shares. Certain that with her help Evan “would be able to fight this thing,” Jenny recalls her breaking point after witnessing her baby boy suffer a seizure and quickly slip into cardiac arrest.

For Jenny, the possibility of losing her son as a result of his attacks as a baby is all too real. “The only difference between Evan and Jett Travolta (whose family hasn’t responded to claims that he had autism) is that we were able to revive Evan,” she says.

While her devotion to the cause has stirred the pot more than once in the media, Jenny’s message to the naysayers is simple: she will not be defeated! “I just want to continue to tell my story and to teach parents,” she explains.

“Anyone who wants to listen, great, and anyone who doesn’t, fine. That’s how I move forward.”

In her quest to cure her son from autism, Jenny has been open about the drastic changes — eliminating gluten and dairy — she has made to Evan’s diet, all in an effort to improve his symptoms. In addition to the strict regimen working wonders for her little boy, Jenny — who since follows the same diet plan — shares that she has watched her extra pregnancy pounds melt off! After gaining far more weight than she had imagined during the nine-month stretch, the combination of Weight Watchers matched with her new approach to eating healthy left the former model thrilled. “I thought I might be 170 when I left the hospital [after giving birth], but no, I was 200!” she reveals.

Evan is Jenny’s son with her ex-husband John Asher.

Source: Shape; April issue

– Anya

Russ Einhorn/Splash News Online

With Autism Awareness Month just around the corner in April, Gary Cole opens up in the latest issue of WebMD magazine about receiving the diagnosis for his daughter Mary in 1995. Although 1 in 150 children is currently diagnosed with the complex neurological disorder, at the time Gary says all he had to go on ”was Rain Man.” The sharp increase in spectrum disorder diagnoses is something Gary is keenly aware of. He notes,

“It seems you can ask any friend, any relative and they’ll be able to tell you about someone they know with autism. Or direct you to a good doctor who can help.”

The 52-year-old actor — who currently appears on Entourage but is perhaps best known for the role of Bill Lumbergh in Office Space — says that he first suspected that something was amiss with Mary when she was two years old. “[She] didn’t process information like you or I do, and did not pick up on social cues,” he explains. His advice for others is simple:

“Seek answers, and the earlier the better.”

Noting that “your original agenda as a parent is set aside” as soon as the diagnosis of autism is made, Gary is grateful that Mary — now 16 – has gone on to lead a relatively normal life. After receiving therapy as a young child and with the help of a personal aide, she went on to attend mainstream elementary and middle schools in California, where she now goes to a special learning facility for high school.

Mary is the only child for Gary and actress Teddi Siddall, whom he married in 1992.

Source: WebMD

Yuri Gripas/Reuters/Landov

For Jenny McCarthy, sharing her son’s personal journey in the public eye to raise autism awareness was not a choice that came easily to the actress — that is until, she says, she struck a deal with God. “I kind of made a deal with God, saying, ‘If you help me and you show me how to heal Evan, I promise I will teach the world how I did it,’” she explains. Calling Evan “the poster child for hope,” Jenny reveals that these days, her little boy — who has “lost his autism diagnosis” — is a completely different kid.

“He is the most talkative, social, six-year-old little boy, who loves to play with his friends.”

Of her continued relationship with actor Jim Carrey, Jenny reveals that the bond between her two main men is stronger than ever. With Evan gaining a new “best friend” in Jim, the 36-year-old model is thrilled that her son is surrounded by strong male figures, but explains that the special role of dad is sacred. “Evan’s dad [director John Asher] has remained Evan’s dad. So I feel like Evan actually has the best of both worlds,” she says.

Despite leading an “incredibly quiet and subdued” life, when Jenny is in need of some entertainment, she need go no further than her very own living room. Having developed a love for acting out “scenes in a movie,” Evan, along with Jim, certainly knows how to put on a show!

“He memorizes [the scenes] and Jim knows the parts. Like The Grinch: They’ll act it out in the living room and Evan — I’m so scared to say it! — is an amazing mimic and actor, so he’ll do the scenes verbatim with Jim. I have the best seat in the theater every night in the living room.”

Source: Michigan Avenue

When Toni Braxton’s youngest son Diezel Ky, 5 ½, was diagnosed with autism in 2006, like countless other parents, her emotional response ran the gamut. "You tend to blame yourself," Toni admits in the Oct. 27 issue of PEOPLE, adding that she tortured herself with the question: "Is there something I did wrong?" With guilt comes a certain level of acceptance — and that isn’t always easy to come by, either.  "A lot of times, parents are in denial because they want to think their child is perfect," the 41-year-old songstress says. Over time, however, she was able to "come to terms" with the diagnosis and with the help of an applied behavioral analysis (ABA) specialist who works with Diezel both at home and at school, Toni’s family appears to have brighter days ahead.

"A friend of mine told me, ‘Toni, all these autistic kids in the world now, they are God’s new angels, and they are here to show us life differently.’ I’ve been embracing that…He’s a wonderful kid."

Because she had the experience of raising Denim Cole, her 6 ½-year-old son, to draw from, Toni says she knew that Diezel wasn’t developing normally when he refused eye contact and failed to say basic words like "cup" or "juice," or even her name. "As a mom you can tell," says Toni, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit group Autism Speaks. While Diezel continues to exhibit sensory issues, particularly with regard to loud noises, Toni is of the belief that "it’s just that these kids have to be taught differently."

Denim, who is described by his mom as "smart," likes to "Google everything." Smart indeed! He even attempted to leverage Toni’s appearance on Dancing With the Stars — which ended in a surprise elimination earlier this week — to score an iPhone, asking, "How else am I going to vote for Mom?"

Diezel and Denim are Toni’s children with husband Keri Lewis, whom she married in 2001.

Photo by Andrew Southam for PEOPLE for use on CBB

Source: PEOPLE

Yuri Gripas/Reuters/Landov

Interaction with an autistic child can be a challenge even when that child is your own, but when it’s the child of your girlfriend there is almost certainly extra pressure involved. That’s what Jim Carrey, 46, says he learned upon his first meeting with Evan Joseph, the 6-year-old son of Jenny McCarthy, 35, in early 2006. At the time, Evan was completely non-verbal and steadfastly refusing eye contact — leaving Jim in uncharted territory. "I’m a guy who’s used to getting people’s attention when I want it, and I’m pretty good with kids, so it was a little bit difficult and hard not to take it personally, frankly, at times when I tried my best to play with him," Jim recalled during a recent appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

"He was focused on something else, and I could have been on fire in the room, and he wouldn’t have noticed me."

Undeterred, Jim kept at it with Evan and eventually discovered that children with autism "show us how to go somewhere deeper as far as loving." While the dynamic is decidedly different than what he was used to with other children, Jim feels "we have to take our expectation out of the equation and just be there because we want to be there for them." Even on those days where he seemed to be getting nowhere with Evan, Jim said he felt instinctively that walking away would have been a mistake. 

"I knew it was something important in my life. These children, we need them more than they need us. They’re here for us to learn." 

Now, Evan and Jim are exceptionally close. "It’s like Star Wars impressions back and forth all day long," Jim shared.

Click ‘more’ to read about why Jenny finds Evan inspirational.   

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Nikki Nelson/WENN

After her son Rodney ‘RJ’ Jackson, 10 ½, was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, Holly Robinson Peete could have quietly gone about the business of pursuing services and kept the news private. The 43-year-old actress chose to open up on the subject, however, after realizing how beneficial it is to other parents of children with autism. "Some of the best information I’ve gotten on this journey of autism was of parents getting together and talking," she told attendees of the U.S. Autism and Asperger Association conference on Thursday. "That was really the driving nail that basically got us to say, ‘We have to share this information and go public’ and then we decided to do a story in People magazine."

In addition to RJ, Holly and her husband Rodney Peete are parents to RJ’s twin sister Ryan and sons Robinson, 6, and Roman, 3 ½.

Source: Keye TV

Jenny McCarthy is known for being an outspoken advocate for autism, but when talk radio host Michael Savage said on air that the majority of the time when a child is diagnosed with the disorder, it’s because "it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out," she "didn’t want to give any more attention to that jerk," when media outlets called for her opinion. Instead the mother of 6-year-old Evan Joseph, who is autistic, decided to take "the high road" and "kept talking about healing, prevention." The 35-year-old also believes that the best way Savage can apologize is "to be sat down and educated about it.”

I’d love to just quietly [sit down with him and] educate him on the facts. It was clear he doesn’t know anything about autism.

Source: Access Hollywood; Photo by Yuri Gripas/Reuters/Landov.