AGE OF AUTISM

Occupy the American Psychiatric Association In A Darker Dark Age

By Adriana Gamondes

I’m writing this post for two reasons. First it’s to announce an event which autism families might take an interest in—a chance to protest the proposed changes to the “bible of psychiatry,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5, which may go into effect in 2013. Secondly, I’m writing to bridge a gap between causes which otherwise share a lot of common ground.  

On May 5^th, a reform psychiatric organization called Mindfreedom has organized a rally in Philadelphia and a march to “occupy” the American Psychiatric Association, which is holding its ritzy, drug industry funded yearly convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  MindFreedom states that it represents those who say they have been harmed or even helped by organized psychiatry but find that recent proposed changes to the DSM will lead to increased practices of over or wrongful diagnoses and over-medicating with drugs that carry severe side effects. Among the scheduled speakers will be activist attorney Jim Gottstein, founder of Psychrights, who lobbies against forced institutionalization and drugging and exposed the dangers of atypical antipsychotics frequently prescribed for individuals with autism.

Autism parents have trouble enough attending their own dental appointments much less rallies but the way this event is organized, there is nothing to stop anyone from carrying a sign protesting the proposed changes the DSM’s autism category.  There is also an occupy rally in Boston on the same day in solidarity with the Philadelphia event.

As far as what the “occupy” umbrella means, no one has been able to figure that out yet, though the Occupy Wall Street organizers clearly stated several demands:

The No 1 agenda item: get the money out of politics. Most often cited was legislation to blunt the effect of the Citizens United ruling, which lets boundless sums enter the campaign process. No 2: reform the banking system to prevent fraud and manipulation, with the most frequent item being to restore the Glass-Steagall Act – the Depression-era law, done away with by President Clinton, that separates investment banks from commercial banks. This law would correct the conditions for the recent crisis, as investment banks could not take risks for profit that create [fake] derivatives out of thin air, and wipe out the commercial and savings banks.

No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.

Occupy has been associated with a liberal bent, but according to Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, this is not strictly the case:

I can’t speak for the people out there because I don’t know who they are or exactly what they are demonstrating against…I can argue the case for their right to express their outright frustration with what is going on. Some are liberals and some are conservatives and some are libertarians and some are strict constitutionalists. And if you read carefully over what I’ve written over the past 10 or 15 years, I talk a lot about this, that eventually we will go bankrupt.  

In other words, political constituency is no obstacle in participating— for the time being, “occupy” is what you make of it.  

Most in the autism community have probably seen coverage of how the proposed changes to the DSM’s autism diagnosis would impact individuals with autism and it’s not a pretty picture. Many believe the proposed changes to the autism diagnosis were designed to reduce the appearance of a genuine rise in the disorder in order to squelch public alarm. The proposed changes to autism criteria would eliminate about three quarters of those currently diagnosed according to one study.

At first glance it would seem our concerns are precisely reverse from those of psychiatric reform groups—psychiatric reform groups are concerned with overdiagnosis of certain conditions and the autism community is concerned about a scheme to underdiagnose the condition in question. But the concerns of the autism community come full circle, since individuals who are “booted out” of the autism diagnosis would then be shoved into other diagnostic categories such as “social communication disorder.” This vague and generalized “SCD” appears to have already been matched up with corresponding drugs in the pipeline promising to “improve socialization” in autism. Of particular concern is the new class of exceptionally dangerous glutamate antipsychotics, though old, off-patent drugs may gain a new profitable life as they’re re-patented for autism. 

AB2109: No Shots, No School, Not True in California... For How Long?

By Marcella Terry

This week VaxTruth's No Shots, No School... Not True!! billboards are on display in West Los Angeles.  The non-profit has been raising funds for this project since August 2011. The decision to air the message in California was made in response to the targeted attacks over the last several months by the pro-vaccine lobby in their efforts to strip Californians of their parental and civil rights to decide what is (and is not) injected into their children.


The purpose of VaxTruth is to help parents to understand their rights and to empower them to make educated and informed decisions about vaccination. We started putting up billboards with the goal of combating the misinformation that frequently exists in mainstream media, which makes it seem like children MUST be vaccinated in order to attend school.  In most states, this is just not true. All fifty states have medical exemptions and 48 have religious and/or philosophical exemptions. Unfortunately, in many places parents are not made aware of their legal right to opt-out of vaccinations and in some cases that results of parents making decisions about medical procedures because they feel forced to do so. We believe that's wrong.


In California, the law does not differentiate between religious and philosophical beliefs. They are treated as the same thing and are referred to as "personal belief" exemptions.  Personal belief exemptions are currently under attack in California and parents in the state are facing the very real possibility that their personal and religious freedoms will be taken away if a new bill, AB2109 is signed into law.


AB2109 has already passed through the initial phase of the legislative process in California, and if it is to be defeated, California citizens need to act now. We are hoping that the Los Angeles billboards will catch the attention of more parents in the state and will help to raise the alarm that time is of the essence if they are to preserve their rights.
The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) and the grassroots organization, Californians Against AB2109 are spearheading the effort to combat the passage of AB2109, and VaxTruth wholeheartedly supports them in their mission. NVIC's Advocacy Portal is a great place for those who are concerned about AB2109 to receive timely updates about the bill and to obtain information about how they can become involved in the process.

Autism and the Antarctic Ozone Hole

By Cynthia Nevison

“If ozone hole scientists had adopted the approach of many in the autism research community … (they) would have concluded that the ozone hole occurs because Antarctica is cold.”

A recent Associated Press report that 1 in 88 American children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) asserts that, “Better diagnosis is largely responsible for the new estimate…”  Another AP report, on a study finding that 1 in 38 South Korean children has an ASD, quotes the lead author as saying, “It doesn’t mean all of a sudden there are more new children with ASDs.  They’ve been there all along, but were not counted in previous prevalence studies.”  These are extraordinary claims and examples of autism epidemic denial.  Equally remarkable is that the AP presents them as unquestioned truth, making no effort to counter them with dissenting viewpoints.  In contrast, the media has been diligent about “balancing” articles on the threat of climate change with opposing views from “climate skeptics,” which has contributed to climate change denial.

Autism epidemic denial and climate change denial share some interesting similarities and differences, which are beyond the scope of this essay.  Here, I will focus on describing how some useful lessons might be learned by recalling one of the true success stories of atmospheric and environmental science: the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, the identification of its cause, and the quick action taken to address the problem.

A brief history of the Antarctic ozone hole:  A hole in the stratospheric ozone layer first occurred in the early 1980s and has recurred every year since during Antarctic springtime.   The hole is caused by manmade chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halocarbons, which deliver chlorine and bromine atoms to the stratosphere.  These atoms are normally stored in inactive compounds, but are liberated in the presence of sunlight by reactions on the surface of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) to highly reactive, ozone-destroying species.  PSCs are composed of frozen water and acids and can only form at extremely cold temperatures, such as those that occur during Antarctic spring.  While scientists initially doubted the existence of the ozone hole, they identified and largely proved its cause by the late 1980s.  The hole provided urgency and renewed impetus for the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, which banned the CFCs.   (International negotiations were already underway due to concerns over milder gas-phase ozone loss.)  Following the ban, CFCs are declining in the atmosphere, albeit only slowly due to their long atmospheric lifetimes.  Stratospheric chlorine and bromine are expected to return to safer pre-1980 levels by the middle to late part of this century, at which point the ozone hole will close.  

Win Two Tickets to Laugh Now For Autism! A Perfect Mother's Day Gift!

We have two tickets for Laugh Now For Autism on Sunday, May 13 at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City. What a great way to close out Mother's Day! Proceeds go to National Autism Association. Featuring comedians Zack Peter (our very own super-autism sibling!)  headliner Colin Kane, Rachel Feinstein and Greg Baldo.

Leave a comment to enter. Click HERE to buy tickets now!

Autism is National Crisis We Cannot Ignore by Beth Clay, The Clay Report

Autism is National Crisis We Cannot Ignore by Beth Clay, The Clay Report

In August 1999, the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight began looking at why autism spectrum disorders, which had once been considered a rare disease, had increased at epidemic rates. At that time, autism was estimated to affect 1 in 500 American children. On March 30, 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the prevalence of autism was up 1 in 88 for children born in 2000. For boys where the incidence is higher, 1 in 54 were found to be on the autism spectrum.

If we continue to do nothing to change where things are going, by 2020, when children born this year are evaluated by the CDC, the rate is calculated to be 1 in 22.

Vaccine Injury – the Discussion Just Won’t Go Away: Government and most medical professionals will tell the public that the question of a possible relationship between the autism epidemic and vaccines and vaccine ingredients is ‘settled science’ – that there is no evidence of harm. They want the whole thing to go away. But just like the evidence that thimerosal in vaccines given to infants in the first six months of life causes harm, “it just won’t go away”. As someone who led the Congressional inquiry, and who has remained informed, I bear witness that the issue is far from settled and that individuals in the public who have not been personally affected and thus investigated the matter are likely not accurately informed.

NPR Airs Insights from New Research into Autism

By Anne Dachel

On Apr 11, 2012, NPR aired the panel: Insights from New Research into Autism

The promo said, “The diagnosis of autism in the U.S. has almost doubled in the past decade. Join guest host Susan Page to discuss new research on factors that might contribute to this complex condition.” .

“The 52-minute program covers possible causes of autism, how to identify and classify autism and how to treat it.”

The panel included:

Susan Page of USA Today 

Thomas Insel director of NIMH and head of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee

Jennifer Walsh mother of a four-year-old with autism 

Amy Harmon from the New York Times (See my recent story on Harmon and autism: Drafted into The Autism Wars)

Lauren Kenworthy, Children Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders

The first topic was the stunning new rate of one in 88.

Harmon: “The higher rates don't necessarily mean that the actual incidence of autism is increasing.  It may, and many experts believe that some portion of that increase is the result of environmental factors that have not been pinned down.  The director of the CDC in a phone call with reporters last month made a point to say that the increase could be entirely due to better detection.  One reason he went out of his way to make that point is because in the past, the increase in these rates have led to a lot of speculation about the role of environmental factors that had not necessarily any basis in scientific evidence.  Like the idea that autism is caused by childhood vaccines, which has been thoroughly debunked. Even though it has, it's led to a serious public health problem in places where parents are refusing to get their kids vaccinated and there have been outbreaks of measles and whooping cough.  ...There may be environmental factors involved. We don't know what they are, but some large part of the increase is due to the fact that doctors and teachers and parents are getting better at recognizing the hallmark traits of autism and identifying them.”

Harmon on the rate: “It is a high number and I would say that one other factor in the higher number has to do with the fact that in the mid 1990s, there was a broadening of the diagnostic criteria for autism...  Autism is really a wide spectrum...so of course, the number has gotten bigger as a result of that.”

Rep. Dan Burton Calls for Autism Hearings - Take Action!

Rep. Dan Burton Calls for Autism Hearings   
Take Action! From Autism Action Network.

Please Take Action to Support his Appeal   
 
Representative Dan Burton recently published the letter below in The Hill calling for Congressional hearings into the causes of autism (including mercury and vaccines), the inadequacy of the Federal government’s response to the autism epidemic, and the failure of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program to assure a safe vaccine supply and provide justice to those injured by vaccines. No hearings by Congress have been held on these topics since those chaired by Burton himself more than 10 years ago. Burton is one of the few elected officials in the United States to have the courage and intellectual honesty to confront the autism epidemic and the many, many questions raised by a honest review of the facts. But he needs your help.
 
What You Can Do:
 
1) Please click on Take Action to send an email to your representative asking for support of Burton’s call for hearings, and to support Burton’s newly introduced bill, “White House Conference on Autism Act of 2011” (H.R. 3489), calling for a conference lead by the Whitehouse on the autism epidemic.
 
2) Congressman Burton is no longer the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, though he remains an active member.  He is requesting that Chairman Darrell Issa hold hearings on the VICP.  However, given all the competing interests in Washington, we need to support Congressman Burton’s leadership by showing broad community support for these hearings.  We need every single one of you to go to these Facebook pages, the first is for the Committee, the second is for the Democratic Party members of the Committee, and express your support for hearings and a White House Conference on Autism.
 
 
http://www.facebook.com/Oversight
 
http://www.facebook.com/oversightdems
 
 We specifically want the following:
 
The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee should initiate promised hearings as soon as possible on the failure of federal health agencies to appropriately respond to the autism epidemic. It has been ten years since this Committee examined the role of the federal authorities in the autism epidemic.  We can think of no other instance where any comparable epidemic has gone on for so long without Congressional oversight.
 
 
3) Please share this email with friends and family and please post to Facebook and other social networks. And if you support the work of the Autism Action Network Please consider making a donation at www.autismactionnetwork.org/donation.org.
 
The original letter in the The Hill can be read here:
 
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/223265-it-is-time-to-re-engage-on-the-autism-epidemic
 
It is time to re-engage on the autism epidemic

By Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) – The Hill, 04/24/12 09:15 AM ET

On March 30, 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released their latest figures on the number of autistic kids in America. The numbers are sobering. Thirty years ago it was estimated that autism affected only 1 out of every 10,000 individuals. The latest CDC figures put the number at 1 in 88 American children (one in 54 boys); a 550 percent jump in cases since 2000. We are literally in the midst of a nationwide epidemic.
 
In the late 90s, my grandson was diagnosed with autism.

2nd Annual International Symposium on Vaccine and Autoimmunity The Dwoskin Family Foundation

 "Despite attempts to suppress the exploration and understanding on vaccine adverse reactions, it continues to move forward in the world of serious science.  We encourage those involved in this important research to attend the 2nd International Symposium on Vaccination and Autoimmunity that will take place during the 8th International Congress on Autoimmunity at the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos de Granada in Grenada, Spain on May 5th."

2ND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON VACCINES AND AUTOIMMUNITY
THE DWOSKIN FAMILY FOUNDATION
Introduction
12:30-12:35
5min
VACCINES, OXIDATIVE STRESS, AUTOIMMUNITY, AND CHRONIC MULTISYSTEM
HEALTH OUTCOMES
12:35-12:55
20min
Aluminum in the environment and use in vaccine adjuvants
12:55-13:15
20min

At the Park with Ahmed

Managing Editor's Note: Thank you to our friends at The Thinking Moms Revolution for sharing this post with us. Add their site to your favorites. 

By L.J. Goes

This week my children were on spring break.  As any autism parent will tell you, this is an incredibly stressful time for the entire family.  Routines are disrupted, children grow restless.  Time that should be considered a gift with family becomes a challenge of particularly terrifying proportions.  Especially when you have a child who is big on spinning glasses, climbing on  countertops, disrobing and fleeing his home.  Hours that were previously structured down to the minute now present an endless sea of potentially dangerous moments for the child with autism, as well as his family.  

Sound absurd?  Think I'm exaggerating? I don't make the rules, friend. I just play by them.

On this particular spring break day my husband Dave and I were determined to get some things done around the house.  We had stacks of dirty dishes to clean, laundry to fold and an organic garden to plant.  Plus, we had to make our weekly pilgrimage to Whole Foods on the west side to drop our regular 390.00 a week on groceries. Yes, I said 390.00 a week. Ergo, the pressing need for the garden. We decided to divide and conquer.  Dave hoped our son with autism, Noah, would be enthused by the idea of planting. While he struggled to get him into his overalls I loaded our neurotypical kids, Mads and Liam, into the car and headed out with the promise of a visit to the park afterward.

As we pulled alongside their favorite tree lined park Liam bounced a brand new shiny yellow soccer ball on his lap.  Instantly, he noticed a child playing and said, "I am going to make friends with that boy!" They hurried out of the car and I lagged behind fiddling with my phone, checking emails and voice messages.  I looked up to find Liam chasing the little boy.  While mainstream medicine will have you believe autism moms are most often of the Bettleheim or helicopter variety, my husband and friends will confirm for you that I am rather laid back.  Children’s affairs are their own in my company, unless someone is getting hurt.

"Wanna play soccer?" He said, as he threw the ball at the little boy's feet.  They faced each other now, barely a yard separating them. The adorable little black haired boy had no reaction to the heavy plastic that landed squarely between his feet.  Instead he stared through prism glasses at something.  The sky?  I couldn’t really tell.

 "Hi! I’m Liam!" My little man said as he knelt to retrieve the ball. 

"Ahmed! Say hi! Say hi!" A beautiful woman with a nervous smile rounded the corner.  Ahmed paid no attention to her or Liam.  Instead, he walked over to a tree in silence and plopped down facing the trunk.  Then he got up and circled it.

"He's shy."  She said. 

Autism Barbie - She Rocks!

By Ken R. Schaper

Fashion icon Barbie is going bald next year, in a special doll for children suffering from hair loss or who are watching a loved one go through the process. Mattel will include accessories to provide girls with a traditional fashion play experience. While certainly a welcome therapeutic playtime idea for children who may be frightened watching Mom lose her hair during chemotherapy - or who may be losing their own due to illness, I began to wonder if perhaps this wasn't the start of a trend.

With the CDC announcing a new autism rate that has skyrocketed to one in 88, Autism Barbie may be next.  

She'll be accessorized with ten pairs of shoes (not for wearing, but for lining up), a fashionable, Autism Barbie Alert bracelet to prevent her from wandering away, videotapes of her talking, playing and meeting all her milestones just before a "well-baby" visit, and a lifetime supply of diapers.

Autism Barbie loves to rock - her favorite stim!

Every Autism Barbie is packaged with four Autism Kens and is also available with complete Team Barbie:  Speech and Language Therapist Barbie, Occupatonal Therapist Barbie, Social Skills Therapist Barbie, ABA Therapist Barbie,  Special Ed Teacher Barbie, Aid Barbie,  Stupid Useless Doctor Barbie, Wonderful Biomed Doctor Barbie,  Ignorant Stranger Barbie, Denialist Pharma Shill Barbie…and more!

The CDC is mandating the doll be marketed as Vaccines Don't Cause Autism Barbie. 

A limited edition of 5000 Autism Barbie and Autism Ken dolls will come with their very own certificate from the Vaccine Safety Compensation Institute, rubber stamped: "No compensation for autism!"

Other autism toys from Mattel:

-Toilet that really flushes – filled with realistic one billion dollars spent on genetic research for autism.

-Child-size revolving door for pretend play – first you're a CDC director, then you're president of Merck's vaccine division! Julie Gerberding autograph model.

-Dr. Paul Offit voodoo doll complete with hypodermic needles loaded with the 10,000 vaccines he says a baby can handle.

-Seth Mnookin Twitter puppet repeats everything Dr. Offit says.

NIMH's Insel Needs a Lesson on PANDAS, PANS, Paresis and Autism

In a recent NIMH Director's Blog, Dr. Thomas Insel gave yet another update on PANDAS and PANS.  Both of those are names describing two similar medical conditions that can evolve from either Streptococcus bacteria for the former, and for the latter- Lyme bacteria, Epstein Barr Virus, or Mycoplasma bacteria , plus "cause unspecified."  We have been hearing a lot about these two increasing neuropsychiatric disorders   but what really caught my eye was the title and comparisons being made by Dr. Insel.  His chosen title for the blog, "From Paresis to PANDAS & PANS"  is an ironic twist on what we, here on Age of Autism, have been talking about for years -- the evolution of disorders, especially those with neuropsychiatric features and how mercury has been a big player.

I think it's important to take a clear look at what that means by going back in time with the knowledge that we have today.  In 2010, Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill's book,  "The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-Made Epidemic" described in great detail how General Paralysis Of The Insane, Paresis, as Dr. Insel called it, was a devastating and deadly disease. This Paresis, or GPI, was a disease that was directly connected to Syphilis, a truly horrible, sexually-transmitted bacterium that could be dormant for years and then reveal itself in sinister ways.:

For centuries, mercury use was widespread in medicine, and the consequences were disastrous.   The greatest plague of Europe and America, spanning five hundred years, was syphilis, and the standard of care (the generally accepted medical treatment of the time) before penicillin was mercury.  Our investigation has led us to believe that a man-made mercury compound, interacting with syphilis itself, caused the horrendous affliction called general paralysis of the insane.  This illness, also called GPI, is a classic instance of the synergistic dangers of metals, microbes, and man.  - p.2,

"The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-Made Epidemic" -

Throughout their book, we see examples of this relationship between mercury and microbes right up to our present day, Age of Autism.  In reading Dr. Insel's opening paragraph below, from his blog, it should remind us all that it is possible that PANDAS and PANS could too, then have their roots in man-made hands.  Knowing that, it will be a kick in the stomach for these sick children if the new DSM-5 tries to embrace their immune-mediated illnesses into its pages of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. These disorders that often present with neurological and psychiatric features may have immune and autoimmune roots and we know that bacteria and viruses can be triggers, but so can poisons and toxins, like mercury:

General paresis was a form of psychosis with delusions, hallucinations, and memory problems often of rapid onset and thought to be due to a general constitutional weakness. At least that was the explanation until 1913, when general paresis was shown to be caused by syphilitic infection of the brain. The first treatments were awarded a Nobel Prize in 1917. The advent of antibiotics 30 years later led to the virtual eradication of neuro-syphilis, as the disorder came to be called, in this country. The idea that mental or behavioral disorders could be due to infection is, therefore, not new but it remains surprisingly difficult to accept....We may be looking at a similar reluctance to accept an infectious cause of pediatric sudden onset obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) – in a debate that has been ongoing for almost two decades... The onset has not always been linked precisely with a strep infection and the critical increase in antibodies to strep has not been evident consistently. Nevertheless, immune-based treatments have proven successful, leading to the growing acceptance of the concept of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus (PANDAS).

Welcome Natalie Palumbo Newest Contributing Editor to Age of Autism

We’re happy to announce a really terrific addition to the list of contributing editors on Age of Autism.  Joining us is Natalie Palumbo, 17, from Lexington SC, the sister of a 21 year old young man, Anthony, who has autism.  Natalie was recently interviewed about her life with Anthony for Age of Autism.  She is a tremendous advocate for her brother and acknowledged the responsibility she's chosen to embrace when she and her brother are adults.  This is an increasingly important perspective for us to highlight at Age of Autism.  Natalie is the face of the future when countless thousands of siblings will have to be there for family members who can’t speak for themselves. Please welcome Natalie! -- Dan Olmsted

 

Jon Edwards Video Trailer: A Story of Hope and Autism

By John Stone

Following the exoneration of John Walker-Smith in the High Court in March I wrote to the Lancet’s editor, Richard Horton, pleading with him to re-instate the Wakefield 1998 paper in the interests of children in the UK being denied medical investigation and treatment following the witch-hunt against Wakefield and colleagues both in the Sunday Times, and latterly British Medical Journal. Horton replied lamely:

“Dear Mr Stone - I would be horrified if doctors did not take the symptoms of any child seriously. So I sincerely hope that a child with symptoms of autism would be examined and investigated with care and sensitivity.

“My Best, Richard Horton”

(Email, 15 March 2012, 10.07pm)

To which I fired back:

“That is why you should re-instate the paper. It has become ideologically taboo in this country to accept that there is a real problem. The GMC tried to make out that the cases were fabricated and that gastro symptoms were only superficial, and the judge decided that they only selected the evidence which suited them. But for years members of the medical profession have been terrified to follow in their footsteps, and really based on the words of Mr Deer, Evan Harris, Tony Blair and Liam Donaldson. Two of these people may have been doctors of a sort but none of them had the knowledge, the ethical probity or the kindness of John Walker-Smith.”

And answer came there none: Dr Horton may or may not be “horrified”, but so far he is not prepared to do anything about it. As Martin Hewitt pointed out here last week there is not now the faintest scientific or legal reason not to re-instate the paper. But unfortunately this not only a matter of historical fairness. As the case of Jon Edwards – highlighted in a new film from Autism Team – makes abundantly clear, until our political class and medical establishment address their bad consciences nothing for these children is going to happen in the United Kingdom.

This is the trailer for the film about Jon Edwards ‘Changing Lives’. That's Jon's Mum in the photo above holding up one of the adults sized nappies he wore until.... Watch the trailer.

John Stone is UK Editor for Age of Autism. Dr Horton's email address is richard.horton@lancet.com

Autism “Awareness” and NOT born with It. Now What?

By Cathy Jameson

I used to love the month of April. Spring.  Flowers.  Sunshine.   Warmth.  My birthday.  Yes, April was always a fun time for me.   Now, I really can’t wait for it to be over.  This autism “awareness” that takes over, the blue lights, the ridiculous studies that happened to be reported saying not to worry folks, autism is yet again just Mom (or Dad’s) fault.  I’m done with April.  I’m done with “awareness”.

What’s a girl to do though?  Give up?  Give in?  Walk away?  Scream?  Two days linger in the month that now seems to take the longest to end.  I have two days left to avoid the blue light special some big org wants to shine in my eyes.   I won’t take autism awareness sitting down.  No, I won’t.  And, no I didn’t.  I am ready to usher it right out the front door because May is around the corner.  And, you know what that means?  Well, actually it means nothing.  I’m sure it’ll be back to the regularly scheduled autism hum drum diagnosis that just happens to happen, and I’m just one of those anti-vax nutcases.

I hate to be so negative, especially on a Sunday, but no day is a good day for just awareness.  I had my own little agenda to really step up the “awareness” efforts within my circle of friends and family.  I decided to have my own “NOT born with it” campaign after watching a video of children who were also NOT born with it.  It’s a beautiful tribute to hundreds of children.  In my campaign I needed to show more than just one photo of my kid.  My idea was to share pictures of Ronan from birth to now -- cheery, happy, chubby, absolutely adorable baby pictures.  Over the month the theme of the picture changed to the progression of parts of Ronan’s life that have him look like a lifeless, distant, sensory-affected, neurologically challenged, dependent child.   Because on some days, he is exactly that. 

Why do this?  To torture myself with the reminders with what I had, what could have been or what should have been??  No.  I did it for one reason:  because Ronan was NOT born with it.  And to show people the progression to regression.   And because I know people know.  And I know they don’t want to admit they know some of it happened because of vaccines.  And because I don’t want what happened to my kid to happen to theirs. 

 

Check out that smile, eye contact and total cuteness.

NOT born with it.

 

One of my favorites.

NOT born with it.

Making smiley smiles and babbly babbles.

NOT born with it.

My Autistic Son has NOT Ruined my Life

By: Jamie Pacton

My best friend is obsessed with tragic mom blogs. She spends way too much time in her work-from-home day reading sad stories about moms whose kids have terminal diseases, rare genetic conditions, and a host of other maladies that are really quite heartbreaking.  I’m not quite sure what pulls her to these narratives— it could be a can’t-look-away-from-flaming-wreckage voyeurism, or it could be from a sense of there-but-for-the-grace-of-god-go-I reflection on her own happy, healthy kids, or it could be something else. Even she’s not sure, but she keeps reading. 

When my son—who’s only 4 days younger than her oldest son— was diagnosed with severe autism last year, she expanded her tragic-mom-blog reading to encompass autism and other delays.

Recently, she sent me a link to a heavy-heavy conversation between parents of kids with special needs. She warned me that it was “VERY heart wrenching (think Tragic Mom Blog level CUBED) and while it opens a window of perspective for me - it might flood you with emotion (good & bad)....”

And so, I went here at once:

On this page parents of kids with disabilities confess the deep, dark thoughts that literally that keep them up at night.  These parents are raw, candid, and utterly grief-stricken.  Since I’ve been there before and since I still get daily grief bursts for the life-my-son-could-have-had, I read on, and on, and on.

As I read two themes emerged:

1.     My disabled child has ruined my life

2.     I wish he/she was dead

Sheesh.

Want to know why these comments are, as my best friend warned me, “tragic mom blog CUBED”?

Simple: moms of kids with terminal diseases are desperate to have their kids pull through, to live, and to grow old.  They want life for their children.

The opposite is true of the parents with disabled kids who have written on this website.  According to these parents: the best we can hope for our disabled kids is an early death.

Mush From the Wimps: Autism Speaks and the CDC Take Over Capitol Hill as Rep. Smith Bows Out

By Dan Olmsted

After attending Wednesday’s congressional briefing on the latest autism statistics, I found myself with three questions, despite having asked several at the briefing. They are variations on the same theme, and not exactly new, but seem more pressing after more than an hour of listening: Why is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still in charge of monitoring and explaining the rise in autism? Why are the CDC and Autism Speaks cozying up to each other in such a public way at this particular moment? And why was the Congressional host heaping praise on the agency when it covered up the first signs of the epidemic -- and in his home district in New Jersey, of all places?

The event was co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Mike Doyle (D-PA) and billed as “a Congressional Briefing on the Centers for Disease Control's recent announcement that autism now affects 1 in 88 American children.” 

Rep. Smith began the proceedings, which drew probably 30 people to a room in the Rayburn House Office Building. Congressmen often try to make news at these kind of events, and before he started speaking an aide passed out a statement by Smith headlined, “Global Autism: ‘A Developmental Disability Pandemic’ – 67 Million People Affected According to Autism Speaks.” Then I realized the statement was from May 31, 2011. Nothing new to say, I guess.

Smith began by describing the CDC’s Brick Township study, which started after a parent reached out to the congressman in 1997 (he’s been around for 16 terms, as he pointed out). The parent was concerned about “an apparent prevalence spike” in autism. The CDC investigated, Smith said, and “did an expert study that was extraordinary … and all of a sudden it became clear that it wasn’t just Brick. It seemed as if there was some game changer somewhere in the population causing this huge new increase in autism.”

Well, not exactly. In fact, not at all. The CDC did find a rate of 1 in 150 children in Brick Township – the highest ever reported anywhere in the world to that point – but said no conclusions could be drawn from the data about whether there was an actual increase. (That refrain has become familiar, repeated time and again by the CDC at Wednesday’s briefing. Some things never change.)

In our book, The Age of Autism – Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-made Epidemic, Mark Blaxill and I took a look at the actual data the CDC used in its Brick Township study, which the group SafeMinds had obtained from the CDC. In fact, the autism rate in Brick Township was actually zero in 1989, the start of the study period. Not one kid had autism.

As we wrote, “Once you have the real trend data, you can figure out how hard the CDC had to work in order to report a result that said there was no trend. … If this wasn’t a cover-up, it’s hard to think of a polite synonym.”

So the opportunity to recognize, report on, and try to intervene in the autism epidemic years ago was lost, and lost by the CDC itself. Since then, hundreds of thousands more children have developed autism in the United States alone. Today, though, the CDC remains in charge of studying the rate of autism and looking for the reasons behind it. In response to a more recent spike in autism in the Somali population, the CDC said it was going to do a really thorough analysis and cited the Brick study as precedent for the kind of really thorough job it would do. Oh, joy.

Natalie Palumbo's "NOT Born This Way" Art Project Draws Attention to Version of Autism Often Overlooked

By Anne Dachel

I recently received an email from a high school student in Lexington, SC. Natalie Palumbo, 17, is a person we can all learn something from. Her life experience is both a wakeup call and example of what love and support really mean. Natalie came across my name when she read my story, "Autistic: Different vs. Disabled and Media Portrayal", about the image the public often gets of autism from the news-stories about high functioning kids who seem pretty normal.

Natalie's brother Anthony, 21, has autism and of course, it's had a dramatic impact on her life too. Natalie wrote to tell me about an art project that she did entitled, NOT Born This Way. The quality of her work speaks for itself and there is a chilling quotation from Beth Arky of the Child Mind Institute:

"For parents whose children were among the first wave diagnosed with Autism, the pressing issues have gone well beyond awareness. These parents face the harsh reality that when their children reach 21 or 22, alll the educational supports and services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act will vanish. This forced transition pushes them into the woefully lacking system for disabled adults."

This is the side of autism that no one is talking about. The experts and health officials who happily tell us that all the disabled children everywhere are the result of "better diagnosing," never have to prove it. No one has ever been able to show us a significant population of adults with autism-especially severe autism, whose symptoms are easily recognizable. It seems that doctors aren't doing "better diagnosing" when it comes to the adults. Officials and experts also don't have to show us where all these children will end up someday. If it's really "better diagnosing," young adults with autism will go where autistic adults have always gone—but no one knows where that is.

I was so impressed with Natalie's work that I asked to interview her about her life and her views on autism. Here's what she had to say.

Question: Your brother is obviously a big part of life. How has autism affected him?

My brother has low verbal autism. Anthony's speech is limited to short phrases to communicate his needs and desires. He is extremely echolalic, which for him is the rote repeating of dialogue from television, movies, and video games complete with gestures. The echolalia can go on for hours, and he will choose dialogue to match his mood. If he's angry, he might choose dialogue where someone is screaming. He has obsessive compulsive disorder, and can make the same request every few minutes for several hours. Anthony is lovable with a sense of humor. The challenge comes from his extremely repetitive and obsessive nature. Extreme patience must be applied to everyday life every minute of every day.

Question: What do you see ahead for Anthony?

Anthony does not grasp concepts. The idea of working a job, even when you don't feel like it, is beyond his thought process. He feels no social pressure to comply with authority. Anthony is good natured, which is the very quality that makes him vulnerable. He can't interpret intent or be wary of danger. With such limited language capability, he needs constant supervision. Anthony will not be able to live independently. My parents will take care of him, and when they can't, I will take over.

Question: What services are available?

Anthony is aging out of Special Education in June 2012. While services and programs were discussed, the consensus was that none of them were appropriate for someone with low verbal autism who needs constant supervision. There were no programs that met his specific needs. Anthony can be agreeable, but only when you can match his thought process, which takes lots of dedication. None of the programs were structured for individuals who needed constant mediation and supervision.

Question: On your work are the words, "NOT BORN THIS WAY." What do you mean by that?

Anthony was not born with autism. He was born healthy, and met all developmental milestones until 15 months when there were no words. Anthony suffered a severe allergic reaction to penicillin at 12 months. He had head to toe nickel sized hives, swollen joints, and high fever for four days. In spite of this, his vaccination schedule was adhered to without waiver. All of Anthony's vaccinations had the mercury preservative thimerosal. Anthony exhibited many mercury poisoning symptoms for years, only to be told that "many children with autism share these characteristics" and his symptoms were dismissed. This forced my parents to research on their own. As Anthony got older, fewer and fewer specialists wanted to help.

Demonic? No, “Give Autism A Chance” in Austin.

By Dan E. Burns

Facebook rumors circulated that the café was “demonic,” but that didn’t stop an overflow crowd from enjoying “Give Autism A Chance” at family-friendly Spider House in the keep-it-weird city of Austin, Texas. Our teens fit right in at this funky eclectic coffee house. The goal was to demonstrate that young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders can contribute to the workforce and give back to society. And in this laid-back campus refuge, they did.  Patrons only joked with him when my son, Ben, swiped a finger through the whipped cream on somebody’s waffle cake.

How did it go? Lainey Melnick writes, “Thank you all for a delightful event. My son, Daniel Freeman, had a wonderful time and is really hoping it leads to some new opportunities.” And maybe now he’ll get them. Jennifer Kaut, Autism Employment Specialist with Texas Rehabilitative Services (DARS), was there to give Ben and other job-seeking young adults a second look. “As an ASD mom,” she said, “my goal is to revolutionize the transition to jobs statewide.”

Here’s how Leslie Phillips, Houston Chronicle blogger, ASD mom, and Canary Party supporter experienced the event: It was a brilliant weekend in Austin for the US launch of Give Autism a Chance. Two hard-working dedicated teens pulled off the event with help from some parent advocates, capable young adults with autism, and visitors from UK including Autism Trust founder Polly Tommey. Dan Burns, board chair of Autism Trust USA, was also on hand with his wife Sue, and adult son Ben.  (Read more at Leslie's Chron blog.)

Here’s video of Ben clearing tables:

Here’s local video news coverage coverage of “Give Autism a Chance.” (Note the video is on FB and might not be accessible to all readers.)

The surprise for me was how much we enjoyed our kids.  In a restaurant.  The surprise for Ben’s mom: “I was astonished at how much he could do.”

Dan E. Burns, Ph.D., is Adult Issues Liaison for AutismOne and the author of Saving Ben: A Father's Story of Autism. Burns is developing the Autism Trust USA, modeled on The Autism Trust (U.K.) and focused on the creation of new campus communities where adults with autism can work, live and improve their skills and talents in a creative and supportive environment.

Autism On the Seas Announces National Grant Program Funded by Skyeward Bound Ranch

AUTISM ON THE SEAS^® ANNOUNCES NATIONAL GRANT PROGRAM FUNDED BY SKYEWARD BOUND RANCH

Program Offers Eligible Families with Special Needs the Chance to Enjoy a Cruise Vacation of a Lifetime

National Program Rolls Out Regionally Highlighted by Contests Offering Cruise Prizes Benefitting Local Non-Profits Supporting Autism

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) April 24, 2012 -- Autism on the Seas (AotS), a niche travel company catering to vacationing families with special needs, and Skyeward Bound Ranch (SBR), a non-profit charity dedicated to providing social and recreational interaction for specially challenged youth, jointly announced today that they will kick-off a national grant program enabling eligible low-income families with special needs children to enjoy a vacation experience of a lifetime.

“Announcing this grant program now, during National Autism Awareness month, is an opportune time for us to get the word out to families with autistic children,” says Mike Sobbell, founder and owner of Autism on the Seas. “Through our partnership with Skyeward Bound Ranch, we are now able to offer special families, who are otherwise unable to afford a cruise or resort getaway, a means to take a REAL vacation with us and other like families, in an environment that is comfortable, accommodating, accepting and FUN!”

According to Dalace Duvall, CEO of Skyeward Bound Ranch, with the grant program officially underway, regional kickoffs, highlighted by a contest starting this month in Texas, will continue to rollout across the U.S. through 2013. “Up until now, Skyeward Bound Ranch has largely operated as a local charity in the state of Texas. By partnering with Autism on the Seas, we can now offer children with special needs and their families from all over the U.S. an opportunity to get away and enjoy a sense of fun and normalcy. This will be a first for many of our families and we are grateful to be able to bring happiness to these most deserving folks,” adds Duvall.

“I Need a Special Vacation” Essay Contest Kicks Off in Texas

Starting in Texas, over the next 12-18 months, AotS will run in-market contests with participating local autism advocacy groups, as well as local chapters of national organizations, such as Autism Speaks and the National Autism Association. Families interested in entering the contest will be asked to write a 150-word essay on why they need a special vacation.

The winner will receive a paid cruise or land resort vacation with AotS. Additionally, the non-profit autism advocacy organization named on the entry form by the winner will also receive a cruise. The organization may use the cruise to raise funds or however they wish. Runner-up prizes will also be included.

Contest rules and submission deadlines will be listed on the AotS website, AutismontheSeas.com. As the promotion is rolled out in each market, AotS will make announcements and post updates to their website. AotS is accepting entries from Texas contestants starting April 24th. The submission deadline is May 31st; winning family and organization will be selected and notified by June 20th, 2012.

Esteemed Panel of Contest Judges to Select Winners:

•     Dr. Stephen Shore, Assistant Professor, Special Education at Adelphi University,

Author of “Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome,” “Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for people on the Autism Spectrum” and Coauthor, “Understanding Autism for Dummies”

•     Kim Stagliano, Managing Editor of http://www.ageofautism.com, is the author of “All I Can Handle: I’m No Mother Teresa” and “House of Cards,” writes for The Autism File and The Huffington Post
  
  
•     Todd Tyler, Vice President of Marketing, Dynavox Technologies, the world leader in assistive technology for the disabled
  
  
•     Samir Patel, President of OxyHealth, LLC (http://www.oxyhealth.com), the leading manufacturer of safe, medical grade, portable hyperbaric chambers for clinical and personal use

Revisiting Denmark – More Rotten Than Ever

By Brian Hooker

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is lying about Thimerosal in vaccines and the autism epidemic.  This is something that many parents, researchers and advocates in the autism community have known for years.  More importantly, there is not just one lie but a string of many falsehoods, starting as early as 1999. 

I am the proud parent of a wonderful 14-year-old young man with autism.  I also am a PhD Biochemical Engineering researcher.  As such I am trained to design, initiate, complete and evaluate research studies.  The studies used to exonerate the use of Thimerosal in vaccines and other medicines are just plain bad science, and worse - they are riddled with out-and-out lies.

To explain the totality of scientific and policy malfeasance in the CDC around Thimerosal and autism would take on the size of a PhD dissertation.  I personally have obtained many stacks of documents from the CDC via the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) showing a consistent pattern of deception.  To give the AOA readers a taste of the blatant nature of the deception, I thought we could revisit Denmark…

In 2003, Dr. Kreesten Madsen and his coworkers out of Aarhus University in Denmark published a scientific paper in the journal Pediatrics claiming that after Thimerosal was phased out from infant vaccines in Denmark, starting in 1992, the incidence of autism, based on the Danish National Center for Registry-Based Research, actually increased significantly, rather than decreasing. 

This paper, completed in close collaboration with the CDC, was lauded as a “strong piece of evidence” to claim that exposure to Thimerosal in infant vaccines is safe and not causally related to autism. 

Subsequently, the publication was used in May 2004 by the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review (IOM ISR) Committee, along with 4 other fatally flawed epidemiological studies, to proclaim that “The body of epidemiological evidence favors the rejection of a causal relationship between Thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism” and further recommend that “the committee recommends that available funding for autism research be channeled to the most promising areas,” inferring that further research on the link between Thimerosal exposure and autism should NOT be completed.

Now, for most of you who have followed The Age of Autism (AOA) on a regular basis, including the Thimerosal-autism debate, this is OLD news.  Each of the 5 studies cited by the 2004 IOM report has been soundly thrashed on a scientific basis due to numerous methodological flaws and inconsistencies, which appear to “stack the deck” towards dismissing any causal relationship. 

In fact, if you visit the website Fourteen Studies, the scientific problems with these research publications are laid out in black and white.  Even my own brother-in-law (Jeff Trelka) and I wrote a letter to the editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, way back in 2004, in which we “dismantled” the Madsen, et al, 2003 paper due to gross methodological flaws.  But it gets much worse.

Back in 2004, I had the distinct fortune of meeting Dr. Mark and David Geier of the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs (CoMeD, Inc.).  With their encouragement and assistance, I started to submit a large number of FOIA requests to the CDC, including one that dealt with the Madsen et al. 2003 paper.  After waiting for two years, finally on September 8, 2006, the CDC released some heavily redacted email correspondences between the “Denmark group” from Aarhus University and employees of the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) of the CDC.  Within these correspondences was a Nov. 13, 2002 email from Dr. Marlene Lauritsen (a co-author) to Dr. Poul Thorsen (another co-author), Kreesten Madsen (the lead author) and Dr. Diana Schendel (of the NCBDDD of the CDC) which stated:

“Attached I send you the short and long manuscript about Thimerosal and autism in Denmark. <REDACTED> I need to tell you that the figures in the manuscript do not include the latest data from 2001. I only have these figures as a paper version and they are at work <REDACTED> But the incidence and prevalence are still decreasing in 2001.”

At the time, I went back and checked the final published paper that appeared in Pediatrics just to find out that the 2001 data discussed in the email had been omitted and, sure enough, if the email was correct, would show a downward trend in autism prevalence in Denmark from 1999 to 2001.  Properly including these data would have nullified the paper’s assertion that the “rates went up.”   The appearance: These data were withheld with the full knowledge of the CDC to cover-up a downward trend in autism rates in Denmark since the phase out of Thimerosal.

Although there was no CDC employee listed as a coauthor on this article, the same FOIA request revealed that NCBDDD employees took an active editorial role in the publication.  In fact, Dr. Jose Cordero, then Director of the NCBDDD, wrote the cover letter accompanying the manuscript when it was submitted to the journal Pediatrics requesting an “expedited review”.  In the letter to the editor of the journal, he stated:

“Contrary to what would be expected if [T]himerosal was linked to autism, the authors did not observe a decline in the rate of autism with the removal of [T]himerosal containing vaccines.”

Now, wait a minute!  This statement is false!  The 1999 to 2001 incidence data show a clear downward trend according to co-author Marlene Lauritsen.  This disparity bugged me for some time as did the heavily redacted nature of the material that it took the CDC 2 years to produce via FOIA.

The Lancet should Reinstate the Andrew Wakefield Paper

By Martin Hewitt

In the wake of the High Court judgment on Professor John Walker-Smith’s appeal against the decision of the General Medical Council (the UK regulatory body for doctors) to delicense him, what should now happen to the retracted paper he co-authored with Dr Andrew Wakefield? The decision lies with The Lancet editor, Dr Richard Horton. But what are the grounds for reinstating the paper as a properly conducted clinical investigation into 12 children with autism and bowel disease admitted to the paediatric gastroenterology department at the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) London in the mid-1990s? The paper was the focus of the GMC’s trial of the three senior authors on charges of serious professional misconduct which led to the delicensing of Walker-Smith and Wakefield.

Background

Few academic articles have been dogged by the controversy attending the now retracted  Lancet Paper ‘Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children’ since its publication in February 1998. (Another link to retracted paper here.) In seeking to avert controversy The Lancet published an editorial accompanying the paper to warn against drawing the wrong conclusions that the paper had established that the MMR caused autism and bowel disease. The paper, which went through several cautious redrafts, said it "did not prove an association between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described”, adding that “Virological studies are underway that may help to resolve this issue”.

On publication the RFH took the exceptional step of holding a press conference to launch the paper in the hope of preventing the media and public from concluding that the MMR was unsafe and to avert a collapse in MMR take-up. When Dr Andrew Wakefield the lead writer was asked by the press if he would personally support the three-in-one MMR vaccine, he responded by advising parents to choose the single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines spaced out at intervals. Whilst his comments were seized on by the press as evidence that the MMR was unsafe and by the medical establishment as highly irresponsible, his answer accorded with official government policy. At the time the government vaccination schedule offered the choice between MMR and the three separate vaccines, in accord with the Department of Health's express policy when the MMR was launched in 1988.

The Kill Pill: Murder, Madness, and the Army's Mefloquine Cover-up

By Dan Olmsted

It’s great that the military, the VA, and the mainstream media are giving more attention to the awful mental health problems plaguing soldiers and veterans. What's not so great -- in fact, awful -- is their continuing failure to recognize the role played by the military’s own toxic anti-malaria drug.

Until that occurs, the toll will continue to rise.

The federal government has a long and sorry record of ignoring, suppressing, and covering up the truth about the drug, called mefloquine and also known by the brand name Lariam. You can almost hear the silence as the Pentagon holds its collective breath in hopes that Sgt. Robert Bales, who allegedly went on a rampage last month in Afghanistan, killing 17 villagers and setting some of them, including children, on fire, was not prescribed the drug.

That answer will emerge in time, though many have wondered why the Army won't say so if he simply didn't take it. Either way, the renewed attention from the Bales case should not be allowed to pass without reprising the military’s unconscionable history with the drug it invented and licensed to Roche pharmaceuticals, and the role of other federal agencies, in particular the FDA and CDC, in approving and recommending it. This is important because the effects are far worse and far more frequent than the military cares to admit (just check the official product label for “suicide,” "hallucinations," "psychotic or paranoid reactions," and “aggression”), and because (also per the label) they can last “long after” someone stops taking it. In many cases, that means forever. What was once a problem for deployed soldiers is now a problem for more and more reservists and veterans every day.

It is also important because the failures surrounding this drug go straight to the issue of pattern and practice -- whether the federal government is doing its job in protecting citizens from unsafe medicines. (The drug's manufacturer, Swiss-based Roche, has much to answer for as well. It stopped distributing it in the U.S. a couple of years ago but a generic remains available.)

Mefloquine has been damaging U.S. troops often enough for long enough – since the Somalia action in the early 1990s, soon after the drug was hurriedly approved in 1989 – that there are now thousands of veterans with very clear mefloquine toxicity ranging from chronic dizziness to psychosis to unrelenting depression. Some of them – an undetermined but not insubstantial number – are now dead, and some of those have taken with them family, friends, and bystanders who happened to get in the way of a full-blown mefloquine rage.

Now the VA is adding hundreds of psychiatrists to help veterans with their mental health nightmares. Nicholas Kristof of the agenda-setting New York Times has called attention to the veteran suicide rate of one every 80 minutes. The drugging of service members with everything from Adderall to Prozac is being recognized for the problem it is. But a widely prescribed pill that can cause suicide and homicide? It is still strangely absent from this discussion.

Trifecta!

By Cathy Jameson

So, while driving around town Wednesday, I had a great brainstorming session.  I had a brilliant idea.  I actually had two brilliant ideas.  By the time I got a chance to sit down and type though, I lost my writing mojo.  I stepped away from the computer thinking I’d just come back later to type when my ideas returned. 

Later that night –nothing.

A day goes by - no ideas. 

Another day and I feared the worst – NOTHING! 

I had nothing to share! 

But then I recalled something. 

Then, I saw something. 

And, I also remembered something. 

I now have three stories to share.

…

First Story: a recollection

I recalled that the National Infant Immunization Week was coming up.  Is it scary that I remembered that this “event” was looming on the calendar?  It’s more like ungodly fear that I feel as I think about this campaign.  If you’ve never heard of it here’s the write up from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website:  “National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) is an annual observance to highlight the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrate the achievements of immunization programs and their partners in promoting healthy communities. Since 1994, NIIW has served as a call to action for parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers to ensure that infants are fully immunized against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases.  NIIW 2012 will be April 21-28.”

Grab!  Stab!  Wheee!  Be free!  Free of what?  A preventable disease like pertussis that isn’t so preventable with the vaccines on the CDC’s recommended schedule?  Ooooops!  

April is not OK

By Kim Stagliano

Thursday was the 17th anniversary of the bombing in Oklahoma City, OK. I swung by Fox News. Nothing on the home page. Popped over to MSNBC. Nothing on the home page.

How is it that the nation has simply "gotten over" the horrific day when a deranged man who looked a lot like many of us white Americans (you know, not like "terrorists" - insert eye roll) murdered 168 men, women and children?

From the Memorial website: On the morning of April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh parked a rental truck with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and at 9:02am, a massive explosion occurred which sheared the entire north side of the building, killing 168 people.

April is also "Autism Awareness Month," although our kids are also forgotten in so many ways. Our government has sat by and calculated how to sugarcoat the unfolding catastrophe that is swallowing families as greedily as the brick and mortar crushed so many in Oklahoma on that terrible day. Autism rates have skyrocketed from 1 in 250 just a few years ago to at least 1 in 88 today. 1 in 54 boys.

If you are a woman of childbearing years you should be quaking in your boots. Autism takes the entire family like a bomb. Nothing is ever the same even where there is joy and happiness. NOTHING is ever the same.

There are Tim McVeighs behind this epidemic. They hide in high places. We've elected them. They work in the media. They are physicians. They create laws and medical edicts you must follow. They set policy. They know.

They loaded the truck and haven't taken their foot off the gas pedal yet.

I visited the Oklahoma City memorial several years ago courtesy of autism. We went  to a Chiropractic clinic there, after mainstream medicine had told me to take my kids home, love them, watch them seize and suffer and then prepare for a group home. It is a simple, moving memorial of elegant chairs. I'd like to sit down and rest. Not this month. Not ever. 

Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism. Her new novel,  House of Cards; A Kat Cavicchio romantic suspense is on SALE for $.99 as an ebook and is available from Amazon in all e-formats now. Her memoir, All I Can Handle I'm No Mother Teresa is available in hardcover, paperback and e-book.

 

Autism Society of America Displays Inaccurate Billboard

Update: ASA Reponds to criticism today HERE.  While feedback has been very positive, some individuals on Facebook have expressed concerns about the word “born.” Please note the intention of the billboard, which was completely funded by an individual donor, was to get a message out to the general public about the rising incidence of autism. The billboard was not meant as a venue to state the Autism Society’s organizational position about the finer points of the cause or course of autism. We provide more detailed information on our website. So an "individual donor" can state a message that is not in keeping with the organization overall? Interesting.

Managing Editor's Note: There has been a thread on FB of parents posting photographs of their children who were not born with autism. They run (with parental permission) at the end of this post. Perhaps ASA needs visuals to understand?

By John Gilmore

So what is with the Autism Society of America anyway? They are trumpeting on their Facebook page that they have put up a big billboard that says, “1 in 88 children are born with autism.” What? Haven’t these people even heard of regression? Is it still the 1980s? What is going on over there?

When my son was diagnosed with autism in 2002 there were 10 Autism Society chapters in New York. Since then three simply folded their tents and disappeared including the one in Queens, New York’s largest county.  The Manhattan chapter consists of one, I am not exaggerating, one elderly woman who started the “chapter” back in the 70s. The Brooklyn chapter is half a dozen of the original founders. And several other chapters are very low visibility as well. Some are quite active and vigorous, but how do you have chapters of an organization dedicated to a specific disorder fold in the middle of an epidemic, and in the middle of America’s largest city. What gives?

This might be part of the problem. A couple years back the Autism Society changed their governance practices so that instead of the members electing the national board, the board itself appoints new directors becoming self-perpetuating, and answerable only to itself. If you look at the board now compared to a few years ago there is a stark difference: parents have disappeared.  In 2006 at least nine of the fourteen board members were either parents or on the spectrum. Today, according to the biographies provided on the ASA website, 2 are parents and one member is on the spectrum, out of 15 directors. Many of the other board members are affiliated with businesses that sell things to the autism community, or are affiliated with service providers. One of the board members did not mention in her ASA website bio that she is the mother of a deceased child with autism, and I learned this only from following a link to a newspaper article from the website of a foundation she created. What is she hiding?

Given the experience the majority of parents I know have had with schools, service providers and administrators the last thing we need is a major autism organization dominated by people who do things to and “for” us and our children without the life experience we have. It’s like a veteran’s organization that excludes vets.

And it leads to the Autism Society spending large sums of money on a billboard that is patently false, and denies the lived experiences of hundreds of thousands of parents who witnessed their child losing speech, losing connection and retreating into autism.

It is a lie. It is insulting, and it should be taken down as soon as possible. If you agree please give the headquarters of the Autism Society of America a call at 1 (800) 328-8476 and politely ask them to correct their billboard or take it down.

 John Gilmore is Executive Director of the Autism Action Network

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Greater Good Film in Portland, Oregon April 21

Date: April 21, 4:00 PM

Event: The Greater Good documentary Portland Premiere

Location: Cinema 21- 616 NW 21^st Ave., Portland, Oregon

Filmed partly in Portland, THE GREATER GOOD is a character-driven that explores the cultural intersections where parenting meets modern medicine and individual rights collide with politics. The film offers parents, doctors and policy makers a safe space to speak openly, actively listen and to learn from one another. Mixing verité footage, intimate interviews, 1950s-era government-produced movies and up-to-date TV news reporting, THE GREATER GOOD weaves together the stories of families whose lives have been forever changed by vaccination. This showing of the film will be a fundraising event for the film's community outreach program. After the film, there will be a panel discussion with director Kendall Nelson, Dr. John Green, an expert appearing in the film, Janelle Hall, Washington Coordinator of the National Vaccine Information Center, and MyLinda King, mother of a child with a vaccine injury who appears in the film.

Tickets available online at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/234100

Facebook event details here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/343808648991277/

Current TV will air encore broadcasts of The Greater Good in April and May.  Join the filmmakers and experts from the film for a live chat while you watch this Sunday Sunday 4/22 4pm ET/1pm PT

Details here:

http://current.com/specials/greater-good/

Autism and Nutrition

By Josie Nelson
 
We know that dietary interventions are an important part of the healing equation and they often improve the quality of life in even the sickest of children, setting the foundation for therapeutic and biomedical treatments to make a bigger impact.   So many families have not yet heard that message, or maybe they’ve heard it but were told it couldn’t possibly be true. 
 
Author of the book Nourishing Hope for Autism, and creator of an education and cooking class program called Cooking to Heal, Julie is an engaging speaker who makes the food connection very concrete and understandable for new parents and practitioners while still challenging and teaching the old-timers among us who might be stuck in a food routine that could stand some improvement.  Her practical approach goes well beyond GFCF.
 
The fact that Julie  is travelling is traveling to five different cities during Autism Awareness Month strikes me as a great opportunity to mobilize folks in five different communities, families who might not have the opportunity to travel to national conferences, families who might not yet know how to access the remarkable resources this autism community has to offer, families who should be working together in their own communities to halt this epidemic before it goes any further.
 
So please, if you can, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, email and old fashioned flyers too (access the flyers from this link)  – but spread the word across these five cities as a simple but concrete way of helping just a few more precious children and their families.  Think schools, churches, health care providers, community centers, playgroups and more.

Minnesota Book Award Goes To Error Laden Entry: With Committee Knowledge

Managing Editor's Note: You know when an author writes about Thimerosal and MMR in the same sentence that he or she has no grasp whatsoever on the autism/vaccine issue and is merely spouting from other uneducated sources. 

By Patti Carroll

Group Gives Award to Author They Knew Had Lied in his Book

The results of the 24^th Annual Minnesota Book Awards were announced last night at a gala celebration in downtown St. Paul.  The Minnesota Book Awards have been coordinated by a group called The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library for the past few years, and are intended “to showcase the tremendous literary talent and output of our state”.

However, a stain has been cast on The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library after a book called “Fool Me Twice – Fighting the Assault on Science in America” was given an award in the General Nonfiction category.  The award is tainted by the fact that not only did the author blatantly lie in this supposed “nonfiction” work, but the coordinators of the event were aware of this fact well in advance of the awards ceremony.

I first heard of this book when my local community newspaper published a glowing, half page review of it back in December.  It caught my eye because the review claimed that this local author had identified potentially harmful myths, including vaccines cause autism.  I checked the book out of the library a few weeks later, and was outraged when I read the small section on vaccine refusal.   Even though this topic was listed in the review and on the book jacket itself as one of the main “myths” the author covered, there were only a few pages in the book that even touched on the subject.  And the coverage was downright insulting to one who had actually lived through most of what the author was writing about.

I called Ann Nelson, the coordinator of the book awards, in mid-February to notify her that there were several factual errors in this book.  During a rather strange conversation, she told me that there are many different opinions on this topic – to which I calmly replied “Yes, but this is not a book that was nominated in an “opinion” category, this is supposed to be factual”.  She then said that they do not really concern themselves with content in the books they consider for awards, but rather writing style and general appeal.  “What?” I said, “How can you not consider content in a NON-FICTION book?”  She then went on to say that she had never heard of a nominated book that was pulled from consideration for an award, and that there was no process in place to do this.  But I continued to appeal to her, listing some of the blatant errors.  She seemed concerned, and asked me to put something in writing for her and Alayne Hopkins, the director of the book awards.

Here is what I sent to them two weeks later:

February 29, 2012

To:         Ann Nelson

               Friends of the St. Paul Library Book Awards

               325 Cedar Street

               St. Paul, MN 55101

 

From:    Patti Carroll

               Consumer Safety Advocate

               Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota

               6031 Culligan Way

               Minnetonka, MN 55345

Dear Ms. Nelson -

I am following up on our recent phone conversation during which we discussed the fact that a book titled “Fool Me Twice” - by Shawn Lawrence Otto is being considered for a Minnesota Book Award under the general nonfiction category.

Katie Wright: Confessions of an Obese Autism Mom

By Katie Wright

OK, my secret is out. I am a big fat load and my out of control eating caused my son's autism. The minute I found out I was pregnant I started eating all the food I could get my hands on. I ate a lot of tuna fish. My doctor says it is good for the baby and perfectly safe if I ate it 3-4 times week. I was 45 when my son was born and my husband was 70. I am told those are the typical ages of new parents who later have a child diagnosed with autism.

When I wasn’t eating I laid awake at night scheming how I could secure a disproportionate amount of our city’s educational services for my unborn child. If Christian had to have a disability so be it! I wanted those easily available free services given to all children with disabilities. In fact I actually sought out the autism diagnosis because I heard that a lot of families in my neighborhood had autistic kids and were receiving all these incredible therapies. As Dr. Peter Bearman says, autism is socially contagious! Don’t I know it!

As I got fatter and fatter I got social security to pay for a jazzy scooter. How I loved zipping  around town, knowing I had, yet again, figured out a way to work the system!

I lived on the edge when I was pregnant. I watched a lot of TV (now I know TV is a major autism trigger.) I walked in the rain (apparently very dangerous to unborn children.) I knew I was playing with fire but I loved it!

Whenever I was slightly sick I immediately scooted over to my doctor’s office and demanded all the medication I could get. Like all Moms I liked to take a lot of medication during pregnancy. I never gave a thought to how it would affect my unborn child. Anti-biotics, SSRIs, you name it I took it! A healthy Mom is a happy Mom, right?

Then there was the stress. In retrospect I have learned that stress probably causes autism as well! Who knew? Stress was hard for me to avoid while pregnant. Do you think it’s easy dreaming up schemes to rip off the government? Well it’s not. Sure I loved my government paid for Jazzy scooter but getting around when you are obese turned out to be hard, stressful work. While I was pregnant I was really worried and stressed out that my child might not qualify for all the amazing, free educational services in my town. I needed a back up plan. I scouted out other towns with more services and made plans to move if I lucked out and autism was in the cards.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield Exclusive on American Investigator: Autism Numbers Likely far Higher than One in 88

By Richard Moore

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Richard Moore on the American Investigator and for The Lakeland Times, internationally renowned and controversial autism researcher Dr. Andrew Wakefield says recently announced numbers on the prevalence of autism – which showed a two-year spike from one in 110 children diagnosed with ASD to one in 88 – are likely understated and by a dramatic order.

Hear the entire interview on the American Investigator podcast at www.rmmoore1.com at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 17, 2012. The entire podcast will be devoted to the issue of autism. In addition, the interview will appear in Friday’s edition of The Lakeland Times (www.lakelandtimes.com).

“The CDC data (that children born in 2000 have a one in 88 risk of autism) is actually out of date,” Wakefield said. “If you extrapolate that risk of developing autism to a child born today, you may be looking at something as high as 1 in 25 or 1 in 29. That's an absolutely staggering level.”

Wakefield was referring to the fact that the new CDC numbers were based on 2008 data of eight year olds diagnosed with autism. Thus the numbers reflect the risk of autism for children born in 2000; because the numbers have continuously escalated, children born in 2012 are likely at much higher risk.

In the interview, Wakefield reiterated his belief that the autism epidemic is environmental, and vaccines are a prime culprit.

"You do not have a genetic epidemic,” he said. “The cause is environmental. Yes, the cause is complex, too, but the way you unravel a complex mystery is to listen to the parents' narrative. What actually happened to the child? This is where medicine begins. This is where the clues come from. And when we were working on this back in (England in) 1995, the parents told the story that their normally developing children regressed after a vaccine.”

Wakefield also offered concerned parents some important advice.

"Challenge your doctors,” Wakefield said. “Don't just say it’s OK because my doctor says so. Say, 'OK, could you tell me the science upon which you base your opinion that the current vaccine schedule is entirely safe?’”

America's Men: Are Marriage and Children Literally Driving Them Crazy?

By Julie Obradovic

As of this week, I now know five people my age who have been married to or are married to a man with a mental illness. Five. And that's only the ones I know about. Three of the five marriages have ended in divorce because of it. It's alarming to say the least.

The story is always the same, too. Right after they got married and started having children, something changed. For some, it was a subtle change or a pattern of behavior that took years to pin down. For others, it was an intense episode of mania or depression that required immediate psychiatric attention. The man these women had thought they married...who they insist they married...changed. He became selfish and immature, withdrawn and impulsive, irrational and reckless, depressed and sometimes suicidal. He was, in short, like a stranger.

The most common aspect is that it started right after a baby was born. For one, it was after she got sick. For another, the onset began pretty much immediately after saying their vows. One now sees the signs started in college, but didn't realize what it was. All of them agree, however, marriage and children exacerbated it.

For a long time, most of the women chalked it up to rebelling against being tied down. Suddenly, faced with the enormous responsibility of providing for a wife and family, they regressed into their childish ways, trying to live vicariously through their unmarried friends. 

The men insisted that wasn't the case, however. They loved their wives and kids, they pleaded. They didn't know why they were doing these things. They begged for forgiveness, support and understanding.

These wives then made excuses for them. They blamed it on their husband's parents or siblings. They fought for them. Sought counseling. Prayed their hearts out. And eventually, got a diagnosis, bipolar being the most common. 

Sadly, however, the diagnosis didn't fix anything. Yes, it put a name on it, and that was some relief. But managing such a condition proved very difficult. Finding the right medication and dose was painful at best. One husband literally went crazy when put on the wrong drug. He was hospitalized for it. He then became an unemployed, pot-head, video-gaming junkie, and she left him. This was a guy who graduated at the top of his class from a very competitive university. Who had never done drugs before. It was a stunning and tragic downfall. He was barely in his thirties.

Another husband feels good after the right medication is given, but only for a little while, and only to build up a tolerance. He constantly needs more. He has tried to go off, but his depression sets in almost instantly when he does. He is horrified at the thought of spending the rest of his life on medication. He too is in his thirties.

I've asked my parents if they knew this many people with mental illness when they were in their thirties. My dad knew one. My mom knew a few, but speculated there were more. She wondered if maybe no one talked about it then, making it less determinable. She also said many of them were Vietnam vets who had never been the same.

Fair enough, I agreed, but here's the thing. No one talks about it now either. These women that I happen to find out had a husband with a mental illness weren't exactly advertising it. And none of their husbands were in the military. They talk about it like it's a dark, awful secret, still trying to protect the reputation of the man this happened to...even the exes. There is still such a stigma attached to mental illness that most people only figure out it could be one after they have been a part of it. We don't exactly advertise the warning signs or anything.

Before I knew anything about Autism, I'm fairly confident I would have chalked up all this diagnosing to the pharmaceutical industry wanting to make more money. Many mental illnesses appear on the surface to be nothing more than a maturity-chip or responsibility-chip missing. "If they would just grow up..." many claim. 

But I know these men. They are grown up. They were grown up. And something happened. Something changed. The familiarity in those sentences is haunting. It's just like regressive Autism. Something. Happened.

But what? I wondered. What could trigger all of this in so many young men these days? 

I did some research and came across a few well-accepted components of their mood disorder. It often starts in the early twenties, and grows worse from 25-40. It is almost always triggered by a stressful event. There is no genetic explanation, although they believe there is a genetic susceptibility. And the environment, although they don't know how, is at play. It is lifelong. It can only be managed, not cured. And the treatment prognosis is actually not that good. All eerily similar, no?

Additional research, however, some that I've been doing to prepare for an annual Autism presentation I give, coincidentally just reminded me of the identification of the disorder. It was in The Age of Autism by our very own Olmsted and Blaxill. Emil Kraepelin, the German psychiatrist who met with Leo Kanner to look for native Americans with GPI (a form of neurosyphilis) in the 1920's, named the disorder in 1902. Throughout the 1800's, mental illness was exploding all over Europe, and Kraepelin made a career out of naming, describing, and categorizing them. He is literally the father of the DSM.

But something else was going on in the 1800's at that time. Men, women, and children were being doused in mercury. From mercuric chloride, used in some syphilis treatments, to mercurous chloride, used as a topical agent for cuts and wounds, there was no short amount of it anywhere. Add to that, the industrial revolution was underway, literally belching tons of it into the air to be sprinkled over everyone. Their book details these incidences in exhaustive and stunning detail.

Which made me think. Many mental illnesses, like bipolar disorder per se, weren't identified until only about 150 years ago. They sprang onto the scene at a time the world was being doused in mercury, medicinally and environmentally.

Today, we are still doused in mercury, especially environmentally, and still by means of our teeth and medicine. And in the mean time, three variations of biploar disorder have been added to the DSM, most of which reflect milder versions. Isn't it at least possible that our chemically saturated environment is triggering a mental break down in young men experiencing significant stress for the first time in their lives? Is it possible mercury, metals, andstress also combine synergistically? It certainly seems so.

Either way, I'm horrified by what I see and what I know. The destruction has become so catastrophic, and at times, completely overwhelming. It's not just our children, it seems. We are all at great risk for becoming or loving someone who is susceptible to becoming very, very neurologically sick these days....particularly our young men.

Julie Obradovic is a Contributing Editor to Age of Autism.

Mayer-Johnson to Offer $10,000 Donation Match for Autism Awareness Month

Mayer-Johnson to Offer $10,000 Donation Match for Autism Awareness Month

DONATE HERE

Boston, MA – The National Autism Association (NAA) announced today the launch of a $10,000 match donation program supported by Mayer-Johnson, the maker of products to support participation, communication and learning for students with autism.
“We are delighted to have such a generous corporate sponsor during autism awareness month,” says NAA President Wendy Fournier.   “This effort not only shows their commitment to the autism community, but indicates their desire to get others involved by supporting our organization as well.”

This matching opportunity will allow NAA to raise a total of $20,000 in the month of April.  For each donation made through the dedicated portal, Mayer-Johnson will match it dollar for dollar.  Donors may visit the official NAA web site at www.nationalautism.org  for information on how to make their donation beginning April 1.

Autism Awareness - Not For Sissies

By Cathy Jameson

My five-year old fell in a heap in my lap at last Wednesday morning.  She was watching me get Ronan’s seizure medication ready.  I saw her watching me and asked, “Hey, Iz. Do you know what this is for?”  She nodded her head.  Not being a morning person, much like her mother, words are hard to muster before 8 a.m.  But, her intense stare and curiosity had me continue, “I know you know it’s his medicine, but do you know why he has to have it?”  Izzy replied, “Yes.  Well, no.  What’s it for again?” 

Being five, cute and inquisitive is part of her life right now.  She knows Ronan has some limitations but she also knows he’s quite capable.  She, like all of my children, is genuinely in tune with Ronan’s needs.  She wants more than the best for him.  I tiptoed back into the conversation because I didn’t want to let this connection with her brother slip away.  “He has seizures and this (pouring in the meds) is supposed to help them stop.”  Over the breakfast bar I could see her inquisitive eyes quickly turned into eyes full of sadness and pain. 

“Seizures?  Mommy, why?  Why does he have to have seizures?” I gave her the G-rated version of what happened to Ronan because I didn’t want to fill her head with too much doom and gloom.  She’s heard so much medical talk about Ronan in the past, but I didn’t know how much she truly understood about the science behind Ronan’s problems.  Since she’s the kid sister and arrived into the family after Ronan’s vaccine injury she has only known his signs, symptoms and the talk of seizures, mito disease, blood work and more.  To her this part of his life is his “normal.”  She missed seeing first-hand what happened, but I didn’t give her enough credit.  Izzy understood the explanation I gave about Ronan, his brain, the seizures and examples of what his body can’t do.  She looked at me and said, “So, Ronan got his shots, then he got seizures and now he can’t talk and play like me.”  Bingo.

We only had 10 minutes left to finish breakfast, throw food into lunch boxes and get Ronan up (because he’s slept through the night every night for almost 3 weeks straight (yay!) I let him sleep until the very last minute). I had to leave the conversation with Iz to finish running around the house making sure all five kids were ready to get up and out the door.  I couldn’t leave the kitchen though.  Izzy quickly came around the counter with tears in her eyes.  “What’s this? What on earth?” I thought.  Never had I realized that she could handle the conversation or truly understood how devastating her brother’s injuries were.  But she did.  “Mommy, why?” was now more of an implored prayer.  Then a string of questions, these more accusatory, “Do they know? Do the doctors know what they did?  Do they know about Ronan?” 

“Oh, damn straight they know alright!” I wanted to say as she then demanded, “What are they doing about it, Mommy?” 

I gently spoke but firmly replied, “Yes, honey.  They know.  The doctors know all about Ronan and what happened to him.”  I continued to explain what I know happened to her brother, how I knew it, and what we as a family can do together to help Ronan get better.  In between hugs and holding her tightly, Iz sobbed.  She cried for her brother.  She cried for the injustice and she cried for the repercussions we feel at home.  Then she asked, “But, what about me?  Did I ever have seizures or shots or not talking like Ronan?”  I stroked her hair and said, “No, sweet girl.  You know what?  Ronan helped save you from what he’s going through.  Because of what happened to him Mommy learned better how to take care of you!  I got smarter and said, ‘No way, not for my IzBiz.’”  I assured her she had no worries about vaccines or flu shots or seizures or not talking.  Her eyes brightened, “So, Ronan helped get me a new Mommy?”  Now I was smiling, “Well, sort of, silly.  I’m still his Mommy and of course I’m your Mommy, but I’m a much smarter Mommy now.  I am a better helper for both of you.” 

Big hugs were shared.  Eyes were dried and my precious five-year old smiled again.  I quickly got us ready for a busy day ahead and together we raced out the door.

Watching the siblings go through this 'awareness' is painful.  They are so beyond being aware. They are way too smart for that. Izzy is fully aware of how frustrated Ronan can get when we’re in the car.  If he can’t tell me or use his sign language to show me what he wants while I’m driving he will sometimes get upset.  Sometimes his shoe comes flying off in retaliation or Izzy’s hair gets pulled (because she’s the closest person sitting next to him). The awareness of how much that hurts?  Fully aware.  If Ronan gets out of the house despite the locks and constant surveying I do for him, Ronan’s little brother is quick on his feet ready to retract big brother back into the safety of our home.  The awareness of how frightening having a wanderer for a brother?  We’ve all lost years of our life from it. 

Ronan’s siblings want more than awareness.  Just ask them.  Awareness can only get us so far.  Look what happens when only awareness is pushed: we now have an even higher autism rate with 1 in 88 are diagnosed.  Ronan’s siblings have been aware every single day for years now.  This one month to shed awareness on autism?  Really?  I’d be curious what the statistics are from April 1 to April 30 on how many new people became truly aware of autism and then if those people were actually going to do something about it.  If no earth shattering stats? I’d like to know how much money was spent (or wasted) on the awareness campaign.  Then, to really prove a point, I’d like to tally how much money families had to spend on non-covered therapy, medical appointments, emergency room runs, special dietary foods, supplements and medications for that month.  If the money spent to make regular people aware totaled is more than what people had to spend on autism-related care, oh boy.  Head’s should roll.  Can you imagine how many lives would be a little bit better if that money was better appropriated?  How many children might be a tad closer to recovery?  How much relief some of us might have from the bills, the efforts and the stress that comes with raising someone on the spectrum?  Relief would be nice. 

Age of Autism Contest: The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (And Their Parents)

We have a copy of a new book for a lucky AofA reader.  Called The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (And Their Parents) by Elizabeth Verdeck and Elizabeth Reed MD from Spirit Publishing.  Leave a comment to enter.

This positive, straightforward book offers kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) their own comprehensive resource for both understanding their condition and finding tools to cope with the challenges they face every day.

Some children with ASD are gifted; others struggle academically. Some are more introverted, while others try to be social. Some get “stuck” on things, have limited interests, or experience repeated motor movements like flapping or pacing (“stims”). The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders covers all of these areas, with an emphasis on helping children gain new self-understanding and self-acceptance.

Meant to be read with a parent, the book addresses questions (“What is ASD?” “Why me?”) and provides strategies for communicating, making and keeping friends, and succeeding in school. Body and brain basics highlight symptom management, exercise, diet, hygiene, relaxation, sleep, and toileting. Emphasis is placed on helping kids handle intense emotions and behaviors and get support from family and their team of helpers when needed. The book includes stories from real kids, fact boxes, helpful checklists, and resources. Sections for parents offer additional information.

Autism Research Institute Spring Conference April 26 Newark NJ

We're fortunate to have conferences year round from organizations seeking to provide the best in treatment, education, living, employment and other pressing topics in autism. Traveling isn't always easy for us though - goodness knows.  This year, the Spring 2012 ARI conference is in Newark, NJ at Liberty International Airport. That means you can hop onto AMTRAK from almost anywhere on the Eastern seaboard and chug chug right to the conference. No airlines, no taxis, no hassle.

Register HERE

From ARI:

We've brought back our popular "Buddy Pass" rates exclusively online. Pre-register a group of two or more online to attend a General, Science or Diet Session, then add as many friends as you want for the sessions they want, and you'll all save 25% on your registration.

Note: 25% Discount does not apply to practitioner seminars, fees for continuing education credits, printed books or special events. Discount is automatically applied at checkout when you register online.

FRIDAY GENERAL SESSION - APRIL 27TH
7:30-8:15
       
Registration, Exhibit Viewing, Hosted Coffee, Cash Breakfast
8:15-8:30
       
Welcome Announcements
SPEAKER  Stephen Edelson, Ph.D.
8:30-9:30
       
The Time Is Now
SPEAKER  Andrew Levinson, MD
9:40-10:30

The Titanic Wave of Autism: “You will lie there and drown!”

“You will lie there and drown!”

 By Jake Crosby

 That was what my great-great-grandfather, first-class passenger and Civil War veteran Captain Edward Gifford Crosby (that's his ship in the photo), said to my great-great grandmother Catherine Elizabeth Halstead Crosby 100 years ago on the RMS Titanic after the ship struck an iceberg and began sinking. He rousted her out of bed and had her go into a lifeboat along with his adult daughter, my great-great aunt Harriette Rebecca Crosby. They were both saved by the RMS Carpathia. But because of the women and children first custom, Edward did not get into a lifeboat. He perished along with two-thirds of the ship’s passengers and crew instead.

With the recently reported autism prevalence of 1 in 88, the words of my great-great grandfather take on a new meaning. They don’t just describe what will happen to sleeping passengers on board a sinking ship, but rather what will happen to a sleeping nation as the autism prevalence continues to rise, as more crooked members are appointed to a federal autism committee and as vaccine industry front men continue to give public talks unchallenged. Like the passengers onboard the sinking RMS Titanic, we cannot afford to just lie there.

But this quote has more than a figurative meaning to our community. The mortality rate among people with autism is twice as high as the general population, mostly because of drowning accidents. As with the Titanic, there are real lives at stake and inaction will cost more lives. There is a modern, manmade epidemic of titanic proportions largely caused by our vaccine program, which shields vaccine makers from personal injury litigation. We do not have anything to fear of challenging people like Seth Mnookin or Paul Offit at their speaking events around the country, only what the consequences of not challenging them will bring. As long as we do not, our nation will lie there and drown in its own complacency.

--

Jake Crosby has Asperger Syndrome and is a contributing editor to Age of Autism. Jake is a 2011 graduate of Brandeis University with a BA in both History and Health: Science, Society and Policy. He currently attends The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services where he is studying for an MPH in epidemiology.

Managing Editor's Note:  There is a site called Lives Lost to Autism that memorializes children and adults whose lives have been cut short by their autism - through drowning, parental murder, caregiver assault. Autism kills from the outside in.

Best of AofA: CDC Infectious Disease Policy and The End of an Era

We ran this post in June, 2009. As autism numbers and chronic health issues grow with CDC at the helm of American healthcare - we thought we'd share the post with you as an encore.

K Paul Stoller, MD, FACHM

On May 31, 2009, the last surviving passenger of the RMS Titanic, Millvina Dean, passed away in her sleep at the age of 97. She was only a nine week-old infant when her family boarded 3rd class to steam to a new life in the USA (when her father lost his life on that fateful night her mother and her older sister returned to England.)

She, like the rest of the ships passengers, never knew that the steel that was used to construct the ship’s hull had contaminants  in it that made it especially brittle at low temperatures and it would never have passed quality control today and couldn’t take the stress of the collision that awaited her on April 15th 1912.  Millvina never knew that there were design flaws in the ship itself . She never knew that when warnings of ice bergs ahead was conveyed to the Capt that the response was to be full speed ahead, nor that the ship had an inadequate number of life boats should something go wrong.

The marvel and tragedy that was the RMS Titanic was a short-lived monument to ego.

The analogy to the ship of fools we call the Infectious Disease Division of the CDC is striking. The CDC was created to fight the scourge of Malaria – that fact alone should tell us something given that malaria is alive and well. To fight most infectious diseases, the CDC has adopted a medical practice, vaccine,  that has its roots in the 19th century – the science was not well understood then and on a certain level that fact hasn’t changed.

The largest and most infamous vaccine was polio – this vaccine was foisted on the public by scientists who were warned that an environmental factor was causal in the epidemic experienced in the first half of the 20th century, but all the blame was put on a virus alone which may have been nothing more than an opportunistic player. Even today the fact that pesticides, specifically organochlorine pesticides, may have caused the vast majority of the paralysis called polio is not something widely known. That lesson  was lost along with the true price we are paying for the ever-increasing use of pesticides.

The polio vaccine, both the original IPV and then the oral OPV were contaminated with the SV40 virus, which is now recognized as a carcinogenic agent and this virus is now found in many types of human cancers. This disastrous mistake that infected millions may continue to affect many despite claims it has been cleared from OPV. The true impact of the SV40 virus on humanity was never honestly dealt with nor has responsibility been taken.

The late Maurice Hillerman, who had been the head virologist at Merck, is video recorded addressing the issue of another infamous virus that was distributed in vaccine we now call HIV.  Don’t expect to see the true history of HIV presented to the public anytime in our lifetime. Today, all egg-based vaccine, such as the MMR and flu vaccine, are contaminated with Avian Leukosis virus and reverse transcriptase – so a virus known to cause cancer in another species along with an enzyme that can write viral DNA into our own DNA is being injected into millions, but since 200 recipients failed to show any seroreactivity it was deemed not be a problem.

Small short term studies, often conducted by those with conflicts of interest, show smooth sailing ahead -  no long term follow-up… no reason to change vaccine policy course.

Austin Young Adults With Autism Step up to the Table at Spider House Café

Austin Young Adults With Autism Step up to the Table at Spider House Café International ‘Give Autism A Chance’ campaign partners with local cafe to showcase the talents and skills of young adults living with autism

Austin, TX (PRWEB) March 30, 2012

On April 22, young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will serve lunch to guests at the Spider House Café as part of an international ‘Give Autism A Chance’ campaign to prove that the young adult ASD community can live productive lives and work within a wide range of professional capacities. This campaign is strengthened by a partnership among The Autism Trust UK, The Autism Trust USA (ATUSA), and An Independent Me, a new vocational camp and assisted living environment in Austin for locals with autism. Other young people with autism from all over the world will be showcasing their skills by contributing artwork and crafts for sale at the event.

The Austin event is instrumental in this worldwide campaign to help teenagers and young adults with autism secure jobs. It will also help educate potential employers on the many contributions that people with autism can make when provided opportunities.

Drafted into The Autism Wars

By Anne Dachel

April 7, 2012, The New York Times, published the story, The Autism Wars by Amy Harmon.  The title was intriguing.   Just what would The Times consider an autism war? After reading it, I gathered that the fight is over the definition: Are the current criteria too board?  Are we still missing kids?  Is it over-diagnosing or under-diagnosing?   

 Amy Harmon is described here as “a national correspondent for The New York Times who has written extensively on autism.”  Extensively on autism?  I’m curious why someone who supposedly has a lot of background on autism is content to open her article with this paragraph:   

“THE report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that one in 88 American children have an autism spectrum disorder has stoked a debate about why the condition’s prevalence continues to rise. The C.D.C. said it was possible that the increase could be entirely attributed to better detection by teachers and doctors, while holding out the possibility of unknown environmental factors. “

Over the last twenty years, as the autism rate exploded, the CDC has had no answers.  The definition of autism was broadened in 1994, but with every stunning increase, it was explained away as “better diagnosing.”. In 2002, the rate was one in every 250 kids. In 2004 it was one in 166. In 2007, it became one in 150. In 2009, it soared to one in 110, and now it's one in every 88 children, one in every 58 boys.  Why, after 18 years, are doctors finding still more children with autism?  Shouldn’t the rate have stabilized years ago if, as many claim, there’s been no real increase?  This doesn’t bother Harmon.  She’s not asking why officials still can’t tell us a thing about a disorder that is now so common that everyone knows someone with an affected child.  She seems satisfied to tell the public that there’s may be “the possibility of unknown environmental factors.”

This is it parents.  If a top autism reporter at The New York Times can’t give us anything definite about autism, who can?  There isn’t even a projection of when someone at the agency that gets billions to run health care might actually know something for sure.  A new mother with a healthy, normally developing baby needs to be aware there’s nothing she can do to prevent her child from ending up on the autism spectrum.  If, at eighteen or twenty-four months, her baby suddenly stops talking and making eye contact, and at the same time starts rocking and lining up toys, doctors are helpless.  Whenever they finally agree on a definition of autism there still won’t be any real answers.   (And this is what Autism Awareness Month should really be about.)

2nd International Symposium on Vaccines

2ND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON VACCINES THE DWOSKIN FAMILY FOUNDATION

Held at the 8th Annual Autoimmunity Congress, Granada, Spain

To view abstracts for the symposium click HERE.
Chairperson:  C. Dwoskin, USA
Chairperson:  C. Shaw, Canada

WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012
12:30-12:35    Introduction
C. Shaw, Canada
C. Dwoskin, USA

12:35-12:55    VACCINES, OXIDATIVE STRESS, AUTOIMMUNITY, AND CHRONIC MULTISYSTEM HEALTH OUTCOMES
Speaker:  B.A. Golomb, CA, USA

12:55-13:15    ALUMINUM ADJUVANTS: RECENT INSIGHTS

Speaker:  C. Exley, UK

13:15-13:35    THE NEUROTOXICITY OF ALUMINUM: IMPLICATIONS FOR ALUMINUM ADJUVANTED VACCINES
Speaker:  C. Shaw, Canada

BMJ's Godlee Swears She Did Not Know Wakefield Lived in Texas In Face of Documentary Evidence

'On Thursday 12 April 2012 British Medical Journal's appeal against Andrew Wakefield's libel suit being heard in Texas goes before Travis County Court in Austin. John Stone, AoA's UK editor, reports on developments in the case.'  You can donate to the Andrew Wakefield Justice fund HERE.

BMJ editor Fiona Godlee swears that she and her colleagues did not know that Andrew Wakefield lived in Texas, in the face of documentary evidence.

By John Stone

In an attempt by British Medical Journal to wrest Andrew Wakefield’s libel case from the jurisdiction of a Texas court its editor Fiona Godlee has denied ‘under penalty of perjury’ that she and her colleagues were ever aware that Wakefield resided in Texas, despite numerous references in the journal to this fact since 2005. The declaration which was made to the court twice, first on 28 February 2012 and then on 5 April, coincided on the second occasion with the presentation by Wakefield’s lawyers of annotated evidence that the fact had often been reported by the journal. This claim must cast doubt on Godlee’s competence and reliability as a witness. It follows her remarkable claim last year, at a meeting of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, that she did not know that BMJ’s business partners Merck and GSK were manufacturers of MMR vaccine . It also follows the revelation last month that BMJ had not had the article by Brian Deer – on which its claims of fraud against Wakefield were based – externally peer reviewed, as claimed at the time of publication, (See BMJ HERE.)

The wording of Godlee’s twice made declaration is as follows:

‘Indeed, to the best of my recollection, even though I was aware that the Plaintiff had relocated  to the United States, I do not believe that I knew that the Plaintiff was a Texas resident at the time of these publications, and I am not aware of anyone else at BMJ publishing group who knew the Plaintiff was a Texas resident.

‘I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.’

Meanwhile, an affidavit (paras 28-38) from Wakefield’s lawyers (signed John D Saba)  lists references by the journal going back six and a half years:

Clare Dyer on-line 10 November 2005  ‘High Court judge criticises Andrew Wakefield for trying to silence his critics’ quote:

“Dr Wakefield, who now works in Austin, Texas…”

Owen Dyer on-line 12 July 2007  [print version 17 July] ‘GMC hearing against Wakefield opens’ quote:

“Dr Wakefield, now lives in Austin, Texas…”

Owen Dyer on-line 3 April 2008  [print version 5 April 2008]  ‘Wakefield tells GMC he was motivated by concern for autistic children’ quote:

“Dr Wakefield, now lives in Austin, Texas…”

Clare Dyer on-line 29 January 2010  ‘Wakefield was dishonest and irresponsible over MMR research, says GMC’ quote:

Dr Wakefield…is now executive director of Thoughtful House Center for Children in Austin, Texas..’

Nobel Laureate Luc Montagnier, M.D To Present at Autism One Generation Rescue Conference

YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS THIS -- IN PERSON -- AT THE AUTISMONE/GENERATION RESCUE 2012 CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, MAY 25, 11:30 AM

The Westin Yorktown Lombard, IL (outside Chicago)

Go to Autism One Generation Rescue Conference to register ($25 processing fee, conference is free.)

AUTISM: The Microbial Track    
Presented by Nobel Laureate Luc Montagnier, M.D., and the group CHRONIMED

Health authorities in many countries are concerned - and rightly so - of the significant growth in the number of children with a specific neuropsychiatric syndrome, autism. The most recent CDC US statistics give an estimate of 1 child in 88 affected by an autism-related syndrome. The sociopsychological aspects of this complex syndrome should be treated as such, but we researchers and doctors believe it necessary to go further by looking for organic causes and from this, derive a policy of both treatment and prevention. The observed increase may come from genetic factors -- real factors to be sure -- but factors that have not changed in the various populations affected in less than a generation. On the other hand, we must consider environmental factors as they have changed considerably our biosphere: infant nutrition, air pollution and pesticides, increased exposure to electromagnetic radiation of all frequencies associated with the globalization of human communication, and changes in our microbial flora.

Obama Administration Gives UK Blog Federal Autism Committee Representation

By Jake Crosby

Leftbrain/Rightbrain, a pharma-friendly UK blog, has now been given as much representation on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) as the world’s largest autism charity, Autism Speaks. The UK blog is actually cited on the HHS website as a leading reason Matt Carey (Click here for photo), who anonymously blogs on the site under a pseudonym - the cartoon character “Sullivan,” - was made a public member of the IACC, even though Leftbrain/Rightbrain is neither owned by a US citizen nor has a registered US domain name. Meanwhile, the following US autism organizations have no representation on the only federal committee that advises HHS solely on autism policy:

National Autism Association (NAA)

Autism Research Institute

Talk About Curing Autism

Age of Autism

The Autism Trust USA

AutismOne

Generation Rescue

Carey was falsely cited by HHS as having blogged frequently for a U.S. autism organization when in fact he had only written one blog post for it prior to his nomination. He has written many hundreds of posts for the UK's LeftBrain/Rightbrain.

Despite the fact that the vaccine-autism controversy is a dominant issue in the autism community, the Obama Administration appointed numerous promoters of vaccine industry talking points and only one person sympathetic to the other side. This violates the HHS’ own policy for federal committees, as stated on the IACC Call for Nominations:

The Department strives to ensure that the membership of HHS Federal advisory committees is fairly balanced in terms of points of view represented and the committee’s function.

Of the total 15 public members, only two are known to have cited the role vaccines may play in causing autism. The remaining 13 members include a former Merck VP, a vaccine industry front group president, an academic colleague of a millionaire vaccine industrialist and a Simpsonwood attendee who wrote Pediatrics urging the journal to publish Poul Thorsen’s fraudulent thimerosal study. And of course, that list includes Matt Carey.

Years before Carey disclosed his identity as the lead writer on LeftBrain/RightBrain, he authored a post for the blog called:

Why Generation Rescue shouldn’t be on the IACC

Unlike any member of Generation Rescue however, Matt Carey does not even represent an American autism organization. He complained that Generation Rescue was “lobbying hard for a seat on the IACC.” and claimed that all groups representing the “’autism is caused by vaccines’ segment of the community” should be represented by IACC member Lyn Redwood. Carey blatantly advocates for tokenism on a federal committee - a violation of HHS policy cited above which calls for committees to be “balanced in terms of points of view.”

There are many other examples of Carey’s behavior that should have disqualified him from participating in a federal autism committee. Under another of Carey’s Leftbrain/Rightbrain posts, freelance writer Brian Deer left several comments blaming parents for their children’s autism:

And they wonder why their children have problems with their brains.

Autoimmunity and Autism

By Teresa Conrick

A recent study  just came out that seemed important.  It showed that some children [thirty-six percent] with an Autism diagnosis had significantly higher serum S100B protein levels than healthy controls and that those with severe autism had significantly higher serum S100B protein than children with mild to moderate autism.  The study was looking at levels to determine autoimmunity in Autism and since my daughter has both severe symptoms of Autism and has been positive for autoimmunity on the antinuclear antibodies test, this study seemed very relevant.   Though 36% does not seem like a huge number, there may be factors involved lowering it.  It seemed reasonable to explore this more as to why this would be.  More data can be obtained too too, it appears-- "Elevated S100B levels in biological fluids (CSF, blood, urine, saliva, amniotic fluid) are thus regarded as a biomarker of pathological conditions, including perinatal brain distress, acute brain injury, brain tumors, neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric disorders. In the majority of these conditions, high S100B levels offer an indicator of cell damage when standard diagnostic procedures are still silent."

This S100B, according to the Autism study,  "...is a calcium-binding protein that is produced primarily by astrocytes. Increased serum S100B protein levels reflect neurological damage. Autoimmunity may have a role in the pathogenesis of autism in some patients. Autoantibodies may cross the blood–brain barrier and combine with brain tissue antigens, forming immune complexes and resulting in neurological damage......"Furthermore, S100B protein may act as a cytokine [46,50,51], and in vitro studies have shown that, at high levels, S100B protein can induce the neuronal expression and secretion of proinflammatory IL-6. Elevated levels of S100B have been detected in the CSF of MS patients during acute phases or exacerbations of the disease [50], and it has therefore been proposed that elevated S100B protein may be indicative of active cell injury [51] and can reflect an axonal and glial pathology."

Tics and Toxins: The Crazy History of Conversion Disorder

By Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill

If you want to know what’s wrong with the diagnoses of “conversion disorder” and “mass psychogenic illness” recently given to high school girls with tic disorders in New York State, the place to start is not the rural villages of LeRoy and Corinth but the cosmopolitan metropolis of Vienna, Austria.

More than a century ago, Sigmund Freud treated a 17-year-old he called “Dora.” She had a cough, migraines, trouble talking, a weak left leg, depression, and other symptoms. After she passed out, her worried parents took her to Dr. Freud, a neurologist with a home office who was working on some interesting new ideas about unexplained illnesses. He was already treating Dora’s father.

Freud diagnosed Dora with “hysteria” – it was all in her head. She had unknowingly converted psychological stress into mental and physical symptoms, he believed. Based on his write-up of the case -- "Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria ('Dora')" -- she became one of the best known of a dozen early cases that shaped the history of psychiatry.

Seventeen-year-old Thera Sanchez, and a dozen other girls who developed tics last year at LeRoy Junior/Senior High School, are in a sense Dora’s twenty-first century peers – teenagers suffering from a baffling disorder. In addition to the Tourette’s-like symptoms, Thera and the other girls repeatedly passed out, had trouble walking, and suffered from migraines, joint pain, rashes, breathing problems, and hair and weight loss.

The Buffalo neurology clinic that examined most of the girls and the state health department say they have “conversion disorder,” an updated but essentially identical diagnosis to Dora’s hysteria. Like Freud, the doctors didn’t find anything physically wrong with the girls in LeRoy, so they declared it must be psychological.

“We have conclusively ruled out any form of infection or communicable disease, and there’s no evidence of any environmental factor,” said Dr. Gregory Young of the New York Department of Health following a three-month investigation.

But in both Austria and New York, we believe, the doctors have misdiagnosed what is much more likely to be real physical illness that has nothing to do with stress or trauma. In Freud’s cases, the trigger was actually mercury poisoning from medicines that were in widespread use back then, a new idea we propose in detail in our book “The Age of Autism – Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-made Epidemic.” In New York, infections like strep or Lyme Disease, and/or environmental factors like toxic fungi or spills from gas wells on the school grounds, are the likeliest triggers for the illnesses.

What’s really sickening, though, is the use of this antiquated and unproven diagnosis in place of rigorous investigation and appropriate treatment.

Even though much of Freudian theory is now regarded as quaint, wrong-headed or downright destructive – blaming parents for serious biological illnesses like schizophrenia, for instance –  hysteria and its successors have gotten the medical version of a hundred-year hall pass, reflecting the power of the psychiatric establishment to create its own version of reality.

To explain why – why Freud was wrong about hysteria and why today’s medical industry is making the same mistake and doing the same disservice to patients -- we need to take a trip back to a time and place not entirely unlike our own.

--

Vienna at the turn of the 19th century into the 20th was in the grip of cultural and political turbulence that created its own catchphrase, “fin de siecle,” or end of the century, usually followed by malaise or some other term denoting angst, uncertainty, upheaval. Amid the glitter of the ancien regime, the gears of the far-flung, polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire were gnashing loudly. A young man named Adolph Hitler had come to the capital from the hustings, nurturing deep resentments toward the wealthy and artistic, many of them (like Freud) Jewish.

MedicAlert Foundation to Honor LA County Sheriff’s Detective with Extraordinary Meritorious Service (EMS) Award

Managing Editor's Note: We recently welcomed Medic Alert to  AofA as an advertiser. They are running an April promotion for autism wandering safety.

Who:  The MedicAlert Foundation, a leader in emergency medical information services, will recognize a Detective of the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Norwalk Station for coming to the aid of a MedicAlert Foundation member. MedicAlert Foundation Board Member, Tom Levin, will present an Extraordinary Meritorious Service Award to Detective Mark Christiansen.

When: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 1:00 p.m.

Where:  Norwalk Sheriff’s Station 12335 Civic Center Drive · Norwalk, CA  90650

Why: The award recipient was responsible for caring for an adult MedicAlert member with autism who had wandered from their home. Detective Christiansen’s recognition and response to the member’s MedicAlert ID enabled him to instantly access the member’s medical history and to identify the patient’s needs. MedicAlert’s emergency response team worked with Detective Christiansen to ensure that the member was safely returned home.

The MedicAlert Foundation Extraordinary Meritorious Service Award honors first responders who have recognized the MedicAlert medical ID and contacted MedicAlert’s 24/7 Live Emergency Response Service Center to access vital medical and identification information to provide the best care and services for members of MedicAlert Foundation.

From the Editor: May Flowers

This looks like the real month for autism awareness -- Autism One; IACC protest; the Wakefield suit (Texas? Where is Texas?), and who knows what else. May-be the start of something big?

Looming? The Autism Crisis is Here.

By Anne Dachel

We’re still reeling from the news.  One in every 88 children born in 2000 has autism.  Among boys alone, it’s one in 54.  That’s supposed to be an average, but the rates in individual states are truly horrific.  In New Jersey, it’s one in every 49 children, one in every 28 boys. In Utah, one in 47 kids has autism.  These numbers are for  today’s twelve year olds.  We don’t even know what the rate is for younger children.  Still, doctors and health officials attribute it to better diagnosing and no real increase.  Members of the media have conveniently repeated this claim with each and every increase over the last decade.  No one bothers to ask why doctors are still learning to recognize autism when the changes in the definition of the disorder were made in 1994.  One would think that the rate would have stabilized years ago.  Instead, like a conquering army, autism is relentlessly consuming more and more children. 

Something has to be done.  We desperately need answers.  Parents are frightened.  There’s nothing a mainstream doctor can tell new parents to do to prevent their healthy baby from also ending up on the autism spectrum.   On April 4, 2012, Mark Roithmayr, president of Autism Speaks, had a story about the new numbers on Huffington Post.

“We are dealing with a national emergency that is in need of a national plan. At 1 in 88, we now have more than 1 million children directly affected by autism. According to a newly released study, the annual cost of autism in the United States is a staggering $126 billion annually, more than tripling the cost analysis from six years ago.”

Roithmayr called for a national plan to address the autism crisis.  He wants“a call to action” that, among other things,

“Funds more environmental research detecting the causes of autism.”

“Addresses the growing issue of adults with autism, specifically around continuing education, employment, housing/residential living and community integration; here, too, we need a focus on a National Training Corps to recruit and train professionals to work with our adults.”

He called on the President and the Republican Presidential candidates along with the members of Congress to “commit to this National Plan.”

It was all pretty impressive and at first glance, it seemed like maybe things would be changing, after all, Autism Speaks is the country’s leading autism science and advocacy organization.  They’ve given millions for research and they’re constantly cited in news stories on autism.  If anything could wake this country up to the autism epidemic, it would be Roihmayr’s rallying cry. 

Incredibly, no one seems to be listening to Autism Speaks.  In fact, in the last couple of days there has been a massive effort to MAKE THE AUTISM CRISIS GO AWAY.  Major news sources are out to convince the American people that autism is a genetic condition and that there’s been no real increase at all, despite the new numbers.

Family Commences Civil Action Against First Student for Assault of Autistic Child

Managing Editor's Note:  The law suit below stems from the assault(s) against my youngest daughter Isabella on the special ed bus in 2010.  Her case elicited concern and kindness from all of the autism community - I appreciated and was encouraged by the unity and support. That photo is from 2006, and is one of my favorites. (We were on a trampoline, not auditioning for a Breck commercial.) Our children with autism are not acceptable targets for bullies and abusers.  None of them. Whether born with autism, regressed into autism, 3 years old, 43 years old. NONE OF THEM. The timing of this lawsuit, just before Good Friday and Passover, while unintentional, is appropriate, I think.  The press release from our attorney follows below. Thanks, everyone. Kim

Attorney Michael T. Meehan of Meehan, Meehan and Gavin, LLP has commenced a civil action against First Student, Inc. on behalf of Isabella Stagliano, a minor child with severe autism.  The lawsuit stems from a series of acts of physical abuse committed by Jennifer Davila, who was employed by First Student Inc. as an "aid" for special needs students traveling on a First Student, Inc. school bus.  The minor child was a nine year old special needs student diagnosed with autism. She was not able to speak.   First Student, Inc. contracted with the Trumbull Board of Education to provide transportation for all students, including special needs students enrolled in the Trumbull school system.  Additionally, the operator of the First Student school bus at the time of these incidents was Evelyn Guzman; the mother of Jennifer Davila. and Guzman was arrested and charged with the felony offense of risk of injury to a minor for texting and driving said school bus.  Guzman is currently on  probation.

As a result of the acts of physical abuse, Jennifer Davila was arrested and convicted for her conduct.  First Student, Inc has been named in the lawsuit for failure to properly train, supervise, inspect, or investigate its employees for unreasonable risk of harm to the minor child.  As a direct result of the conduct of First Student, Inc. and its employees the minor child suffered permanent personal injuries and damages.  In particular, the conduct of First Student, Inc.'s employee has had an emotional and educational impact on the minor child.

April is autism awareness month.  According to National Autism Association, "Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social impairments, cognitive impairments, communication difficulties, and repetitive behaviors. It can range from very mild to very severe and occur in all ethnic, socioeconomic and age groups."

Autism statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identify around 1 in 88 American children as on the autism spectrum–a ten-fold increase in prevalence in 40 years."

This lawsuit is brought on behalf of this minor child as a voiceless victim and all the other special needs children who  may become victims of physical and emotional abuse as a result of of their disability. ###

Healing Hearts - A Homecoming

By Cathy Jameson

A Homecoming

Babies come in all colors and sizes.  Some are born quickly while others take their time arriving.  Some babies are free of medical issues while others are riddled with one problem after another.  One such baby was born in April of last year.  

She was born on the 15th and placed in my best friend’s arms on the 18th at the start of her adoption process.  As the first week went by, my friend discovered the baby had several congenital heart defects that were going to require immediate monitoring, several evaluations and what would end up being a lengthy hospital stay.  The baby had only been home three days with her forever family before being admitted to the hospital and later life-flighted to another.  This story may sound familiar to some of my long-time readers because I introduced this child to you to you on Easter morning last year.  It seemed appropriate to do so because her story reminded me about celebrating the chance to hope.   Not all of us can muster energy to celebrate anything as autism consumes so much of our lives.  But to go out and grab some hope for someone else?  I always will.

When I wrote the story, I asked the Age of Autism community to remember how precious all life is and to please offer some healing thoughts and prayers for this child.   The baby was going to need lots of them.  She required much more medical attention than any of my children ever had.  My friend called me with questions hoping I could give her some advice.  She confided in me her fears.  We got through some rough times together, and I was always in awe of how my friend remained faithfully strong despite how terribly frightened she was.

The baby needed round-the-clock care and medications I didn’t know how to pronounce.  A few touch-and-go moments occurred and open heart surgery was eventually required, but the baby pulled through and grew stronger.  I was grateful to peek into this little life and to hear how much she touched the lives of those who loved her and of those who cared for her immediate medical needs. 

Homecoming - Take 2

In the early summer months, the baby was released from the hospital.  What a homecoming that was!  I breathed a huge sigh of relief knowing how blessed that child was.  The family was grateful for this chance to come home again.  They came home renewed and with a changed routine - one that allowed them to tend to the baby as better "heart baby" parents.  Starting life again with their new normal, they maintained weekly appointments with several providers.  Follow up care was a priority, and the family had been blessed to find knowledgeable doctors the first go round.  They continued to learn a great deal for their daughter and tried to stay attuned to any changes while keeping her healthy.