I have actually read Jenny McCarthy's book but I haven't seen her on TV promoting it.
From reading the book, I got the impression she does not think he is "cured" but is much better. She even says he still has autism. According to the book, she took him to a day treatment center for autistic children. He was accepted there so he must have really had autism. She called around all different places to get information and had the same problems many of us had here figuring out what to do and getting access to services. Although she had money, much of it was done through social services because that is where autism treatment is.
I read the book because of my interest in the girlfriend/CF diet. It really was a very small part of the book. She also did a candida cleanse and supplements for him. Again, that was a small part of the book. She got a lot of her information from the internet. She wrote the book in part to get the word out about alternative treatments that worked for her. She is amazed that there isn't more information given about these treatments because they do work some of the time at least. She does make it clear that some people do the same things she did and more and don't get the same results.
She did talk about obsessions. This part caught my attention because my easy child has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Her son's obsessions appeared over night and she just didn't accept that this was the way he would be forever. Somehow, she found out about the candida cleanse and this cured him, I think. Her son also had seizures and maybe still does. She talked about his tantrums and how parent of autistic children deal with lots of tantrums.
Honestly, from reading the book, I think Jenny McCarthy is a warrior mom doing whatever she needs to do for her son. She happened to get success from alternative methods and wants to share that information with other moms. I have had success with alternative methods and like to tell other people in case they try it and also have success. If I tell 100 people, and 1 person tries it and it works, it is worth it. Jenny McCarthy just has a way of reaching a lot more people. There's no doubt, she also needed to make money and so wrote about this and needs it to sell, but I think she is sincere in what she is saying. From my own experience, when you have success in a method that is not widely known and/or dismissed, you want to share your experience.
