A few years ago, she was doing a research paper for school and got a bit sidetracked. She came to me and said: "Mom, I think I have lead poisoning." When I told her this was unlikely because we have no old pipes or old paint in the house, she paused for a moment, and then said to me, "Well, then I think I have mercury poisoning. I have a lot of the symptoms." This was long before I had ever heard the word thimerosol or about any of the concerns with mercury and autism ["Raising Joshua," November 15].
From the time I was 11, I suspected that I had something very much like autism. I now know that I was mercury-poisoned, as were my children. The mass media has been complicit for decades in this atrocity, as they've done nothing to expose the guilty. Thank God for the people who are finally beginning to bring light to this.
Robin Nemeth
North Royalton
Felled by a flu shot: I cannot thank you enough for writing this story. We have a three-year-old daughter who is currently chelating with Dr. DeMio. She was a normal baby who was hitting all of her milestones until she received two flu shots, one at eight months old and the second at nine months old. We completely lost her after that.
She stopped looking at us, didn't respond to her name, spun around in circles, flapped her arms and hands, the list goes on and on. Her aluminum, lead, antimony, uranium, and mercury are off the charts. Some things are over 15 times the so-called legal limit.
I hope this story gives other parents hope and lets them know that they do not have to settle for a meaningless life for their "autistic" children. Keep up the fantastic work.
Lisa Baldwin
Brooklyn
Bracing for the backlash: My husband and I have three daughters with autism. We lived in Hudson for six years and became patients of Dr. DeMio. We remain patients today.
Cleveland has one of the preeminent compounding pharmacists for autism treatments in Alan Israel. Prepare yourselves for a backlash from the traditional medical community who write off our children as untreatable outside of behavioral therapy and psychotropic drugs.
Kim Stagliano
Trumbull, Connecticut
More Bad TV
Clerics and councilmen can't run a station: First off, this cable channel ["Patronage TV," November 15] was created for the minority of Cleveland. But what was the minority years ago is not the minority in recent years. So why was it automatically put in the hands of the minority of the past? And if it was taken away from the politicians, why was it put in the hands of religion? They both speak from the same pulpit and both are set in their ways, as evident from the demise of the cable channel. Neither the politicians nor the church leaders have the knowledge to run a multimillion-dollar cable channel.
While the church is running the channel, their first order of business is to promote the church. The first order of the channel should be the public. Why not get more involved with Channel 25? They seem to know what they're doing. And they do it with very little money too.
Dave Eadelis
Cleveland
Pardon the Screw-Up
Nobody loves the electric company: With my background and politics, it's amazing that I am writing to defend a gigantic utility company, but here goes: When you crack on the Illuminating Company for screwing up the hookup for the San Fran couple, and then being rude to them to boot [First Punch, November 8], it ignores the fact that they probably handle many thousands of hookups a day without a hitch.
What bugs me about your mention of this problem is that it is indicative of the Cleveland mind-set I have experienced since moving here for good in August -- namely, "We suck." No, I am not a Pollyanna. But for Christ's sake, using one couple's hassle with the electric company as case in point for how bad it is here -- well, I'm sure every city in the U.S. could provide an example of that.
Luke Frazier
Cleveland Heights
Ease Up on the Councilman
Euclid's Gruber deserved better: Your article about Euclid ["New Black City," November 8] was way off-base, especially with your portrayal of Councilman Gruber. He may occasionally use colorful language, but I know him better for his passion to help people and represent his constituents better than most of his colleagues on council. He has done so very effectively, which is why he has not been seriously opposed for the past three elections.
Sure he knows who's moving in and out of his ward. You get to know your neighbors after living in the same neighborhood your whole life. He's an excellent councilman and an even better person. He deserves more than the negative picture you painted of him.
Jim Pajk
Euclid
Don't paint it black: I was incensed reading "New Black City." Are you seriously saying that all of Euclid's problems are black? I wish it were that simple.
As a resident for 28 years, I've seen many changes in Euclid. Two of our biggest problems have been the large percentage of rental properties and properties bought by people who have no financial business buying houses (thanks to out-of-control lending institutions). This is bringing in residents who do not care about Euclid, its schools, or the property in which they live. Painting the problem black is far too simple and inflammatory. What has happened to your journalistic integrity?
Betsy McCort
Euclid
