by Paula Neal Mooney

I just watched Oprah’s show on autism with Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete — twice. (Check for the video clips of Oprah’s show about autism here.)

I cried during the first 20 minutes on and off as I watched Jenny McCarthy speak from the heart on Oprah’s show on autism — as did probably plenty other people lighting up these message boards on Oprah’s site about the autism show.

(I can’t even get to the video of Jenny McCarthy on Oprah because so many people are probably watching it now — but check here too for any new ones people may upload.)

Oprah read from Jenny’s new book, Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism, which chronicles McCarthy’s amazing journey that started with her son Evan showing signs of autism — lining up cars, being obsessed with the elevator instead of the play area, hand flapping, etc. — to God really giving her a wake-up call, as she says, when Evan began having seizures and went into cardiac arrest.

That launched Jenny on a frustrating path of doctors not listening to her, till one finally did and diagnosed Evan with autism. But both Google and Holly Robinson Peete encouraged Jenny to grab Evan out of that autism hole during the window of time that was available.

Why did Oprah’s show on autism touch me?

The autism subject was so poignant to me because a close friend of mine has a child “on the [autism] spectrum” scale or disorder, as Holly Robinson Peete put it — careful to point out that it’s “like nails on a chalkboard” to call children like her son RJ “retarded,” “autistic kids,” or “autistic children.”

Jenny McCarthy’s Ex-Husband, John Mallory Asher, couldn’t deal with the pain…

You can read more on Oprah’s site what Jenny McCarthy said about how her ex-husband, John Asher, couldn’t deal with the pain of their autistic child, so he stayed away.

Jenny was so open about praying to Archangel Michael (and Jesus really delivered those prayers!) for a man close to him that would deal with her and her son, Evan, as a package deal.

God sent her Jim Carrey.

But then Evan got sick — went a little crazy, Jenny said, with all the bacteria caused by not yet adopting the gluten-free / casein-free diet that she swears helped Evan double his amount of words spoken after only two or three weeks — and Jenny let Jim go for a while, but Evan got better and Jim opened his heart to both her and her little boy.

It’s good to see that Amazon has a good selection of books and food that is gluten-free and casein-free, like Jenny McCarthy told Oprah she used to alleviate the symptoms of autism — in her case.

Holly Robinson Peete Cried When Talking About Her Fight With Autism…

Beautiful Holly Robinson was on Oprah as well, talking about autism and how much better her son RJ, who turns 10 next month, is doing.

She said she tried PT, OT, ABA, everything, but that it boils down to finding out what works for your specific child.

And Holly was quite encouraged by the CDC’s new statement that Oprah read on the show about not knowing for sure if vaccinations cause autism, but that they are looking into the issue further.

I, for one, am encouraged by Oprah’s show on autism.

It seems like the beginning of a revolution of doctors taking mothers’ observations more seriously, and the power of the Almighty Hand of God working thru moms to bring about a major change in research into the one-size-should-not-fit-all-when-talking-about-inoculating-premies-with-vaccines philosophy…