My husband and I meet through a mutual friend at his place of employment.  We dated a long time waiting to save up money to get married and start a family.  Finally, in 2000 we got married and bought a home in Park Ridge, IL.  I became pregnant but I had a lot of stress due to my mother's sudden death and aging father during my pregnancy.  Also, since I was of age the doctor's recommended an amniocentesis which I did and it showed that I was having a healthy baby girl.  I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on September 8, 2000.  She was born with bright red hair.  We decided to name her Candace.  My husband thought her hair looked like red licorice so he nicknamed her "Candy".  Everything was fine.  Then when she was about six months old she started rocking back and forth and flapping her hands.  We brought her to the pediatrician and told the doctor what she was doing.  The doctor did not say a word and gave us a strange look that I'll never forget to this day.  We found out later that rocking back and forth and flapping your hands are classic signs that your child might have autism.  As a doctor I feel that she should have known this or if she did not the doctor should of asked one of her colleagues.  If the doctor would of told us that those are classic signs of autism and that some children cannot take the vaccinations, we would of stopped giving them to our daughter.  The doctor never said a word. 

Our daughter started to talk, count, and was pointing at things that you asked her to point out.  So, my husband and I did not think much about the rocking and flapping.  Than when Candace was about 2 or 2 1/2 year's old she started losing her words.  We went to a different pediatrician and the new doctor sent us for a Speech & OT evaluation and they put her in Early Intervention.  Early Intervention is a program to catch developmental delays.  If you catch it early and receive therapy your child might have a better chance to lead a more normal life.  However, no one really knew what to do or what was wrong but something was very wrong!!  We gave Candy all her vaccinations religiously.  We did not miss a shot.  She would get sick after each shot and had a fever, crying, screaming, vomiting, constipated etc..  My husband sensed that there was something wrong.  He asked me if we should continue to give our daughter the vaccinations so I asked the nurse if we had to give my daughter these shots.  The nurse told me that my daughter would not get into school if she did not receive all her vaccinations.  We believed her.  Now, we know this is not true there are religious exceptions in our state in which we live.  Who would think that going to your doctor would make your child sick?  Not us, we had blind faith and we believed our doctor.  But, our daughter was getting sick, very sick!!  Than we gave her the flu shot at about 2 1/2 and she lost almost everything!!  Candace stopped pointing, counting, talking, started walking on her tippy toes, climbing the window ledge and lining things up in a row.  She was spinning the wheels of her toy baby buggy, pulling peoples hair and biting our heads.

My husband started to search on the computer about our daughter's behavior.  It came up with Autism.  Autism we thought what is that? It was devastating!!  No one in our families ever had that and we had no idea what it was.  But, we were told by our doctor that there was no cure and not much help.  Illinois is now 51st in the country if you count Washington D.C. for providing services for children with autism (DEAD LAST).  We had to fight the school district for services.  It was not easy!!  After a lot of fighting Candace was put in a great private school in Northbrook, IL. named J.C.F.S. ( Jewish Child and Family Services ).  Now, Candy is starting to communicate with pictures (a system called PECS).  But, she has a long way to go. 

Yes, we believe that our daughter could not handle the vaccinations and the mercury preservative thimerosal that are in them. Just like some people are allergic to peanuts. Our daughter's case is now pending in Vaccination Court.  Also, recently the government lawyers concluded that vaccines aggravated a pre-existing cellular disorder in the Hannah Poling case, causing brain damage that included features of autism.  We firmly believe that this happened to our daughter.  Our daughter's attorney Kevin Conway of Conway, Homer & Chin-Caplan in Boston, whose firm represents around 1,200 autistic children with court cases pending, say's he will start getting his clients tested for mitochondria dysfunction.  Way back in 2003 we had our daughter tested for mitochondria dysfunction and her levels were high.  What is mitochondria dysfunction?  Mitochondria is the powerhouses that provides cells with energy.  This was not working normally in the Hannah Poling case, and tests revealed a mutation in a gene linked to mitochondria function.  

Through the years we had a son on Halloween 2005 named Evan.  We did not vaccinate him because we wanted to wait until he spoke in sentences.  Also, we were waiting for thimerosal and other toxins to be taken out of children's vaccines.  Evan is fine and does not have autism.   As a precaution we have Evan in Early Intervention because we already have a daughter with autism. Evan is doing great!!  ("Knock On Wood")   He is talking and hitting most of the milestones that he should be.  We don't advocate not to vaccinate but we always tell parents to educate yourselves before you put anything in your child's body because, your child and you will pay for it the rest of your lives. 

My husband is a musician (singer/songwriter) and has been singing and playing guitar for both children since they were babies.  So, when we received the diagnosis of autism for Candy my husband and I wrote a song for her titled "Faith, Love & Hope".  I guess you could say this was therapeutic for us.  We started to send the song out to autism organizations and politicians and we received great responses.  Stories were written about us in newspapers, magazines, we were on TV shows and in the news.  We performed our song at an Autism Speaks walk and other autism organizations. Also, we created an autism awareness radio show called "The Candy Store" on Blog Talk Radio.  We thought the radio show would be a great opportunity to bring information to other parents and increase autism awareness and have some fun.  The radio show is an internet based show on the computer and all of our shows are in the archives.  So, anyone can listen to them at anytime anywhere in the world!!  We had some notable guests on our radio show like Temple Grandin Ph,D, Academy Award nominated actor Eric Roberts, Barney (The Big Purple Singing Dinosaur), Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., Brian Ray (Paul McCartney's guitarist), author Dr. Dan Gottlieb "Letters to Sam", Dr. Elmo "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" song, Dr. Stanley Greenspan M.D., Actors for Autism Founder Alisa Wolf, M.Ed.-SPED, Grammy Award Winning Singer/Songwriter Dan Zanes from the Disney Channel, Singer/Songwriter Billy Mann, Singer/Songwriter Dana Mase, The Rock Band "Jet Fuel Only" featured in People Magazine, President & G.E. of NBC 5 Chicago Larry Wert, Author & Speaker Stephen Shore, Inspirational high school basketball player Jason McElwain (J-MAC!!), 2x Grammy Award Winning Singer/Songwriters Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Grammy Award Winning Country SuperStar & Singer/Songwriter Billy Dean, Dr. Howard Shane, Singer Jimmy Osmond, Author & Activist Deirdre Imus, Master Magician Jeff McBride, Two time EMMY award winner Deborah Norville, Lidia Bastianich from the cooking show "Lidia's Italy", Suze Orman who is the host of The Suze Orman Show on CNBC, The Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin's sister Heather Bruce and actor Joe Mantegna among many, many others!!  

The computer is a wonderful resource for parents who have a child with autism.  Parents don't get out of the house so much or not at all because it's so hard to go out with a child with autism.  They look as normal as you or me but they have behavioral issues and bad meltdowns.  People who don't have a child with autism don't understand this.  They just think that you can't control your child or you’re a bad parent. It's very hard!!  So, parents who have a child with autism have no place to go.  You and your child are stuck in the house all the time.  Many parents say they are a prisoner in their own home.  It's enough to drive you crazy!!  I have spoken to many parents who have a child with autism and we all agree.  It would be wonderful if one of the autism organizations would use some of the money that they raise to build a facility or a summer camp for children with autism and their parents.  Some place where they could go for free and not be judged or stared at and have some fun.

The funny thing about doing our radio show is that we do it out of the basement of our home.  It's sort of like the "Wayne's World" of radio we always joke.  It is so surreal to have celebrities, authors, and doctors calling you at home.  Sometimes, while my husband and I are interviewing I have to run back and forth to care for our two year old son.  Occasionally, you might hear him faintly in the background on some of the Show's as well as our pet Chihuahua barking.  It's an experience!   

Yes, autism is overwhelming, but I am in this situation.  I have to make the best of it and try to help my daughter and others.  I believe it is a genetic pre-disposition or a weak immune system or both.  Plus, when you add preservatives and pesticides in food and the environment it makes for the perfect recipe for disaster.  Than when the children receive so many vaccinations at one time it aggravates this mitochondrial dysfunction causing their autism or something that mimics autism.  Most of the children with autism today are around my daughter's age 7, 8, 9 or 10 year's old. This disability never existed in the epidemic proportions that we see today.  Maybe it's not autism?  Maybe it's something that mimics autism?  I think whatever the government did with the vaccinations must have created this epidemic.  I have never heard of a genetic epidemic?  Have you?  This is true in the Hannah Poling case. It is very sad and heartbreaking.  Her life and all the other children's lives are ruined because of this.  But, I have hope that we will find a cure one day.  My dream is to hear Candace say "I love you, Mommy".  We will keep fighting and pushing forward until that day!!  Also, some parents are going to China & Costa Rica for Stem Cell injections to stimulate brain cells.  We are looking into this possibility if it even works but that's another story.  However, we are doing biomedical & chelation on our daughter with Dr. Anju Usman a (DAN Doctor) Defeat Autism Now Doctor in Naperville, IL.  It seems that when girls have autism it is more severe.  

We do urge all parents who have a child with autism to call or better yet go and meet with your State and U.S. Senator and Representative and tell them what you are going through everyday.  Also, ask them to support legislation that helps children with autism and their families.  This is the only way things will change for the better.  Illinois should be setting the example for the rest of the country for providing services for children with autism and not to be the worst in the nation!!  We need to get our lawmakers to Wake Up or vote them out of office!  Illinois State Senator Dan Kotowski and U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky have been very compassionate and helpful to our family.  They are true friends to the autism community and should be commended!!

So, we would like to share our Story, Song & Radio Show with other parents to let them know that they are not alone in their struggles.  Also, to never give up on "Faith, Love & Hope".  But, you have to fight for it! 

If anyone would like a copy of our song they can e-mail us at  rwaters@autismone.org   Also, if you would like to listen to our radio show on the computer the link is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thecandystore  Once we do a show it goes into the archives so anyone can listen to it at anytime all around the world!!  We named our show "The Candy Store" after our Beautiful Red-Headed 8 year old daughter "Candy". We invite everyone to tune in and listen.

Robert & Sandy Waters