Donna Barker Communications

The CNN propaganda that informs today’s blog focuses on a new meningitis vaccine.
(Poor Leslie, the anecdotal focus of the news story, contracted meningitis at 8-years old and has been left with scars on her shoulders and knees. She urges everyone to get the new meningitis vaccine.)

Where to start? Back in 1983. That was the year that I contracted meningococcal meningitis. I spent about a week in hospital. Spinal tap. Whole deal. My case falls into the classic high risk formula in that I was living in a dorm at the time. None of the other girls I bunked with (four to a room) or I shared a floor with (about forty 16- and 17-year olds) got sick. Continue Reading »

CNN just ran an article with the headline, Experts Say Flu Pandemic is Imminent. It’s a short enough article, with enough outrageously manipulative statements that I feel like deconstructing the whole damn thing. The CNN article is in red. My commentary in black. Continue Reading »

Here’s a letter-to-the-editor that I wish I had written. From the Florida Times-Union, May 24, 2005 by Bruce R. Anderson Jr., Attorney, Jacksonville Beach.

I respectfully disagree with a recent letter from two doctors encouraging parents to immunize their children because the “benefits of immunization far outweigh the small risks.”

Despite the fact that vaccines have reduced serious childhood infections, we do our children and ourselves a disservice when we fail to research the significant risks of permanent injury and death from vaccines. Continue Reading »

Well, no matter where you stand on the issue of why autism rates are increasing in the USA (Is it caused by vaccine damage? Is it due to bad parenting? Is it simply better screening?), these stats are shocking. I do wonder, though, given that autism is so broad in how it effects kids (some kids can barely function while others are very high functioning) if these stats create a more frightening picture than need be…fear-mongering being a favourite pass-time of so many organizations.

The full, original data is available The Autism Autoimmunity Project , with numbers for every state. Here are just a couple of the shocker stats: Continue Reading »

Today is my son’s 9th birthday. He asked to open his presents at the hour he was born…sure, as long as I can sleep in. He’s been up since 5:30 this morning, building and playing with his new Star Wars lego and Bionicle characters. The kid can spend 8 hours focused on this kind of play…but can he focus for ten minutes on writing one thank you card to his grand mother? Not on your life! Not because he’s a bad kid, or a stupid kid, or a defiant kid…but simply because he’s a kid!

Which leads me to today’s post and the terribly sad story that ran in yesterday’s New York Times Week in Review about toddlers being kicked out pre-school. (If you want to read the full article, visit it soon – it won’t be free for long!) Continue Reading »

It would be great fun to have my act together to write a weekly, Saturday Morning Stats column. Little ditties to launch discussion over weekend brunch, or at half-time.

“Hey Joe, did you know that something like 35% of men complain about having a soft penis during intercourse and that, like 90% of the men who tale to their doctor and get a drug are happy with the results?”

“Dave, dude, I can’t believe you’re falling for that BS. I just read some stats at that Barker blog that Viagra is the most heavily advertised drug on the market. Men’s dicks are fine, man. It’s the power of suggestion that’s making all those sorry slobs think they aren’t good enough in bed. Get a grip.”

You get the picture. Continue Reading »

So, you have a boy child and he’s a handful in school. His kindergarten teacher asks you to take him to see a doctor, to determine if said child can be diagnosed and treated for his disruptive behaviour. You see your doctor and within 10 minutes your 5-year old has become one of America’s statistics: a kid taking a prescribed methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta) or Amphetamine (Adderall).

You give him daily pills. He settles down. Teacher’s happy. Boy is easier to parent. All is good in the world. Yeah, maybe… Continue Reading »

I just read an interesting study in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics, about how essential fatty acids (like fish oils) can help kids improve their academic skills and even overcome some of the behavioural characteristics of ADHD.

A couple posts ago I did cite evidence that medical journal studies have fallen into question, but I have anecdotal evidence to support the study in Pediatrics. Based on that, I believe this study was done with integrity!

A year ago my son (who was seven at the time) was “diagnosed” by the manager of his after-school care program as behavioural and placed with 11 other so-called, “at-risk kids” who, as she put it, were either on behaviour modification drugs or should be on them. I pulled my child from this care situation immediately and then began to look into how to help my energetic and argumentative boy to quiet down a little. Continue Reading »