by Catherine Mabe with Disaboom

Jenny McCarthy's career may have had a healthy jump-start from appearances in Playboy and on MTV, but her role as the mother of an autistic child is what led her to her life's mission. Today, she is using her celebrity status to help shed light on autism, which has reached epidemic proportions among pre-school age children. McCarthy's inspiration is her son Evan.

For the first two years of his life, Evan was a typical child. He appeared to be completely healthy-he was engaged with his parents, made frequent eye contact with them, and smiled plenty. Until one day Evan began experiencing life-threatening seizures. "The moment I opened my eyes that morning, I had an uncomfortable feeling," McCarthy writes in her book, Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism. "It was as if my soul had the flu. I hurt inside, but I knew I wasn't getting sick . . ."

Likewise, when doctors explained that the reason why her healthy child had suddenly become so ill was a febrile seizure caused by a fever, somehow, McCarthy could just feel that the diagnosis was inaccurate. When Evan had another seizure and doctors told her he had epilepsy, McCarthy's every instinct told her the medical community was still missing the mark in regards to her son.

And she was right. After 20 minutes of observing Evan in a consultation room, one neurologist gave McCarthy what she says was a devastating diagnosis: Evan had autism. Yet it was the only answer that rang true in her heart. In the moments afterward, McCarthy went from being the mother of a typical toddler to being a medical detective of sorts.

McCarthy scoured the Internet; reached out to other mothers of autistic children; and spoke with doctors, government agencies, and private foundations. She eventually came to the conclusion that Evan's autism was, on some level, triggered by the frequency and amount of vaccinations he'd received (and she'd questioned the need for) early on in his life.

She developed a treatment plan that included modifications to Evan's eating habits along with behavioral therapy and supplements. She immediately eliminated gluten and casein, found in wheat and dairy products, from Evan's diet. Though she acknowledges that all children react differently to such treatment plans, she says within a few weeks of making the change, Evan had doubled his vocabulary and was affectionately engaging with her (at one point Evan wouldn't even let his mother hold him). Evan is now 5 years old and is classified as "typical" though he still has difficulty with abstract understanding and is in speech therapy.

Despite her beliefs, McCarthy says she is not against vaccines but she does caution parents to research on their own the amount of vaccinations children receive and the frequency with which they are given. "Figure out the cause for all your kids' issues, and don't settle for the doctor's Band-Aid," she writes in Louder Than Words.

She urges parents to always ask why-to educate themselves, ask questions, and ultimately decide for their own families whether or not a one-size-fits-all approach to vaccinating-or to any medical issue-fits their children. "My greatest lesson is always to trust the mommy instinct," McCarthy said in an interview with PR.com. "Always trust yourself. Always trust the gut instinct. It will never let you down."

Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism, by Jenny McCarthy is published by Penguin Group/Dutton and is now available.

Learn more about Jenny McCarthy and the prevalence of actors/characters with disabilities in the mainstream media by visiting disaboom.com. Since its launch in 2007, Disaboom is dedicated to enabling people with disabilities to live forward.