Jenny McCarthy is to be a keynote speaker at the Autism Redefined 2010 conference later this month.
The conference is a seven day (May 24 – May 30) event organized by Generation Rescue and AutismOne that will see the autism community come together to discuss the future. It will bring speakers, doctors, researchers, scientists and educators together with parents to create change.
In 2007, Jenny McCarthy burst on the autism scene with the publication of her New York Times bestseller, Louder Than Words. A first-person narrative, Jenny chronicled her son’s diagnosis in 2005, her search for answers and Evan’s healing journey.
It is a courageous work. As a successful model and actor, there was no reason for Jenny to write it and every reason not to.
Scientists and celebrities alike know implicating vaccines and autism is the third rail. Retribution is swift and sure and the Internet is littered with cautionary tales.
But unlike so many who came before her, Jenny refuses to be defined by what she cannot say. Poised and purposeful, Jenny accomplishes what for decades no doctor or scientist has been able to do – Jenny, a mom, firmly placed autism and vaccines in the public debate.
The overall message is positive. Jenny introduces America to the concept of recovery. A diagnosis of autism does not have to be lifelong and forever. Jenny writes and talks about prevention providing answers to some of the most difficult and perplexing questions parents face.
In two short years Jenny became a board member of Generation Rescue, led a rally in Washington DC and published two more NYT bestsellers – Mother Warriors and Healing and Preventing Autism.
Jenny will speak at the event – to be held at the Westin O’Hare Hotel in Chicago – on May 29. For more information about the event, visit the official website.
