The results of The Linderman Live! Autism Heroes of 2009 are in!

While there is no doubt that every mom and dad out there dealing with autism is a hero in my book, we felt that we would like to end the year on a positive note and honor those, through our listeners votes, that many feel have stepped up to the plate and exemplify true heroism and a inherent belief that our children deserve recognition and justice for the pharmaceutical induced, medical establishment encouraged and government induced epidemic that is autism.

I would like to personally thank all of the top ten picks for their hard work and dedication to the cause.

Here they are:

10. J. B. Handley

9. Dr. Russell Blaylock

8. Wendy Fournier

7. Sharryl Atkinson

6. Lyn Redwood

5. Katie Wright

4. Curt and Kim Linderman

3. Dr. Andrew Wakefield

2. Lisa Ackerman

And the Linderman Live Autism Heroes of 2009 are:

Harry and Gina Tembenis!

While being a couple that Kim and I consider very dear friends, I cannot imagine anyone else that could be more deserving of this award. Their son, Elias was vaccine injured and subsequently diagnosed with autism. They had worked so hard with him and he was only a couple of weeks away from losing his diagnosis when they tragically lost him due to a seizure.

No one could have blamed Harry and Gina, had they chosen to shut themselves in and forever grieve the loss of their only son. Instead, they chose to work even harder to ensure that other families would not have to go through the horror that they had gone through. I have interviewed Harry and Gina a number of times on the show, and have talked with them many others and the one thing that I am sure of is that Harry and Gina are driven to ensure that Elias’ legacy remains strong.

Harry and Gina are now board members of The National Autism Association and they are currently working on setting up a non-profit organization as well. For doing everything they do and continuing to do these things after the loss of their beautiful Elias, there is little doubt that the Linderman Live listening audience has made the right decision in their voting. Kim and I are proud to call Harry and Gina our friends.