America is the Land of Opportunity, founded by people who strongly believed if you want something badly enough it can be yours for the taking, with the emphasis on the taking. Another way of looking at it is the “Smash ‘n Grab” philosophy, often enacted after a “Scatter and Confuse” military tactic ensues. Let’s leave that idea alone for now and move on to the rate of autism.
Last Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement on new autism numbers that previously had been embargoed. Communities of people, concerned about the continuously growing numbers, tussle over the question of “why” rather than “how many, really”. We just know there are many children with autism. Americans accept what our government tells us as reported in the media.
In 2007, my youngest son was 9 years old. Abstractors came into his school to count him. This is a boy who is definitely in the system. He was identified with having autism before he was 3 years old. He entered the public school system at 3. He was seen at TEACCH. He is in the autism category for receiving CAP Medicaid. The information that my son has autism has never been difficult to find. Yet, in order to do a thorough count, the CDC covered all reporting areas in this site, one of eleven across the country.
Incidentally, I was surprised to learn that FERPA and HIPAA are not violated when the CDC wants to come into your child’s school to look at confidential records. Permission does not have to be given by parents, nor must parents be notified that records have been opened for strangers to peruse.
Much money and time have been given to count children with autism. A staggering number is being reported, but I know a couple of patient men with an adding machine that came out with scarier facts much earlier than the CDC, using much less money. The CDC came up with their numbers using a limited number of sites; Dr. F. Edward Yazbak’s and Mr. Raymond Gallup’s studies included ALL children known to the US Department of Education. This information is not kept embargoed, but is regularly reported to the United States Congress.
Autism rates have been altered frequently since the first of my three sons was diagnosed. In 1999, after the multidisciplinary diagnostic team said, “Autism” and I said, “What is it?”, I was handed an old one-sheet of facts a speech therapist had lying around. It described autism as a rare, neurological disorder of the brain lasting throughout a person’s lifetime, affecting 1-in-10,000 people. The announcement Friday stated we now have 1 in 110 children with autism; 1 in 70 children are boys with autism.
After that initial diagnosis in 1999, the other two children were also labeled in a little more than a year. And, after the Congressional Hearings on autism in 2000, I didn’t sleep for three days.
Below are Dr. Paul Offit on the left and my Granny Davis on the right. Dr. Offit is a patent holder on a childhood vaccine and author of Autism’s False Prophets. Dr. Offit does not treat children with autism. Granny Davis holds my youngest, the child who was counted with the 8 year-olds in 2006.
Granny is now 101 years old. She adheres to common-sense life practices: hard work, eating fresh foods, taking as little medicine as possible. Her generation took cod liver oil and soaked in Epsom salt baths. Processed foods were a sweet potato peeled, or an ear of corn husked. Granny was probably one of the first in her town to own a copy of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. She was also the first to voice my unspoken fears. She told me my babies needed help.
Dr. Offit decries those who want more research into the current vaccination schedule. He opposes those that would heal children from vaccine injury. I don’t know whose baby he’s holding up in this picture. I only know it isn’t mine.
Photo by Paul Pugliese
Photo by momof3au
Let’s get back to the American Opportunity idea. All the major autism organizations were prompt to release statements following our government’s announcement. All were politely yet vehemently adamant about how we need more research, services, MONEY,…but the truth is we are at war, and maybe we shouldn’t be so polite. Many of our children have been smashed and grabbed. It’s time to smash and grab back.
Tags: Alison Davis, autism, autism rate, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, F. Edward Yazbak, momof3au, Raymond Gallup Go back
Here\’s a link to the \”1 in 88\” study I had difficulty linking in the post. Hopefully, this should work: http://www.thenhf.com/vaccinations/vaccinations_197.htm
With all due respect, this is why I stopped attending the ASNC meetings in my area. I do not believe in the autism-is-vaccine-damage meme, yet no one in that stuffy little meeting room seemed to ever spout anything BUT that belief, as is evidenced clearly by this entry.
Not everyone with an autistic child is stuck in the anger phase of grief. I wish the ASNC would remember that.
I\’m sorry you stopped attending meetings…I respect your beliefs. I speak for momof3au, NOT ASNC. Hopefully, you will accept this is what I believe happened to my children. I still advocate personally for you and your child(ren). Thanks for writing.
Great post, and I love the picture of your Granny with the baby. The CDC has to know, and like Nero are fiddling while Rome burns
.
I\’ve also stopped attending my local ASNC meetings. All sadness, no hope, no mention of biomedical. All I\’m so sorry for you, our kids are so difficult, blah, blah, blah. I couldn\’t take it anymore. I know it\’s difficult and I want to talk about what can possibly help my child- be it either diet, supplements, therapies, how to fund an aba program, how to get the school system to do something other than warehouse our kids.
I wonder if Offit is holding Amanda Peet\’s baby?
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Dear momof3au,
I have been reading all of you post and find this the most critical for us all. Regardless of what you think caused your child\’s ASD and what treatment path you select, I will always respect that parents choice as I think as parents WE know our children best. But we can not deny the numbers ARE growing. For this reason alone we must work together to get to the bottom of this. I am alarmed to know that researchers have been looking at my child\’s school records. Are they simply counting or looking at other things? Why do I not have a right to be notified of this? I asked this question many years ago of the school system and was told not to worry that these surveyors just peeked at my sons records and sure enough did NOT need my permission.
Please see the link to the David Kirby post attached, he has recently interviewed Dr. Insel who has even soften into admitting that environmental factors do need a closer look. My concern is not even with what is the cause but who is going to foot the bill to pay for all the services for these children and adults with ASD. I feel very confident in what had started my path with ASD, I don\’t want to fight about this anymore….I want to know WHO IS GOING TO PAY to house, feed, train and other wise care for my now soon to be adult child after I am gone and I can no longer care for him. That is the 20 Billion dollar question!!
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/12/david-kirby-dr-insel-on-rising-asd-numbers-no-question-about-environmental-factors-.html
Another awesome post.
It just goes to show, \”if you\’ve been to one ASNC meeting, you\’ve been to one ASNC meeting.\”
Certainly these numbers are not new to the CDC, or for any other governmental organization dealing with autism. They have fished around in documents collected at schools and from hospitals for years. There are at least 5,000 cases in wait at the Vaccine Court, tens of thousands of reports to the FDA and CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) that, at the very least, show a reason for concern. These horrific statistics released Friday should cause righteous anger in any parent. Something has to be done, should have been done.
In my view, in order to protect the herd immunity, my son\’s brain was compromised and no one warned, asked, and no one sent flowers the next day or said thank you. Smashed and grabbed him. Pulled him from the window, broke him and put him back. Damaged goods.
I want my son to be given a Purple Heart in this war against ancient diseases, I want him to have a military pension, insurance benefits, I want disclaimers, warnings posted in pediatrician\’s offices stating the fact that vaccines are not safe for some and I want someone to say that they are sorry, in court, in congress, on the front pages of newspapers all around the world. I want this to criminal assault on our kids to STOP immediately!
I know what happened to my son, I saw it with my own eyes and for the CDC to just now, only hint at an environmental causation, years later, makes me pretty damn angry.
I don\’t understand why you think it\’s the vaccine schedule? As someone on the periphery of this (sister with Rett\’s) I don\’t understand why people are so convinced it\’s the vaccine schedule when I know many autistic children who weren\’t vaccinated. Please, can you tell me why you believe this?
I don\’t know much about Rett Syndrome, since my children don\’t have it, but here is a link for other readers if they want to know more: http://www.rettsyndrome.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=4&Itemid=1000
From what I can tell, Rett Syndrome is often misdiagnosed as autism, but is a developmental disorder which may share some characteristics of autism and is genetically caused by a specific variant, similar to Fragile X?
Now for your question, Vegas710: First, let me emphasize I would NEVER say all cases of autism are due to vaccine injury. I would never say all cases of autism are due to environmental causes. I\’m just a parent of three boys with autism. Obviously, any good parent complies with doctors\’ advice. After the three boys were identified, I did what I was told, as I had always done previously. I had their blood drawn for genetic testing. Now that scientists can do microarrays, we had it done again, as much as we could afford (not all is covered by insurance!). All three have normal genetic makeup, other than a SNP on the MTHFR, which many people have that don\’t have autism.
It\’s impossible now for the best scientists in the world to say the vast increases in autism are due to better detection. If you look at the link another reader posted above to an interview with Dr. Tom Insel, head of NIMH and the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, he is telling us environmental causes along with genetic susceptibility cannot be ruled out anymore. If we are going to study environment, I feel we must also look at what is being directly injected into pregnant women and infants, which is a lot different and a lot more than used to be injected. Bernadine Healy, former head of NIH, joins me with many others in the autism community in this desire for better and more research. Lee Grossman and Jeff Sell from the Autism Society of America have also advocated for this. They are not a couple of conspiracy theorists.
In a nutshell, this piece is about how we all have to fight much harder for funding. We can\’t just sit back and expect a handful of advocates and our government to carry on with business as usual. Because there are SO MANY now. I personally have a problem with the many shots I received when pregnant, and the many shots my boys received when babies. I have children I saw regress after becoming ill- after immunizations. Hope this helps in your understanding. All, feel free to comment. As long as we\’re respectful, this is an open discussion.
I think that sometimes the passionately anti-vax stuff gets in the way of real research and better funding.
My daughter has epilepsy. Very common among little ones. NO KNOWN CAUSE. It\’s frustrating, beyond frustrating. I keep wondering why they don\’t use the info coming in from all the kids at the different seizure clinics to do more research. So I will continue to push for more research into epilepsy but you will not find me insisting that it\’s caused by some random environmental factor because I don\’t know. And you won\’t find me accusing the medical community of ignoring me or of \”not listening to the mothers.\” This is what I hear from the \”vaccines cause autism\” people and I just don\’t get it. The martyr attitude is off-putting.
This is the first post of yours that I have read so I am not pointing fingers at you or anything. Just wondering about those you align yourself with.
I align myself with my children. I am not \”anti-vax\”, but rather pro-research.
Pro-autism research? Or pro-vaccine-causes-autism research? I\’m not trying to be mean or anything, you seem like a respectful person so I wanted the opportunity for a real conversation.
Why are parents so focused on vaccines, to the point that they demonize the doctors who create life-saving vaccines? I\’m obviously pro-vaccine, there\’s no doubt that they save lives. But we all want safe vaccines, including the doctors who create the vaccines. I\’m trying to understand why parents latch onto vaccines as the problem.
In this post you go after the creators and manufacturers of vaccines but you don\’t mention the other research that is (or should be) being done. So I assumed you were one of the people who is more focused on vaccine research than on autism research. (like I said, this s the first post of yours that I have read)
Dr. Offit does not oppose autism research. He opposes research on vaccines because the testing has already been done and the numbers show no causal effect. Like many of us in the autism community, he wants the research to focus elsewhere. But he\’s called a monster and baby-killer for that. Maybe you are not one of the people who does that but this post shows that you agree with their basic premise and so I thought maybe you could help me understand.
Maybe you can help me understand. Are you getting paid to post? I\’m not. If you feel a need to research this more, perhaps other blogs or websites might help you. If you feel a need to understand me more, read my other posts, please. Just click on momof3au on the left banner. Okay, I\’m done; time for me to get lunch ready for my kids.
I\’m not following… I asked you personally why you feel the way you do, what research should I be doing elsewhere? Of course I\’m not paid. My info is not hidden, if you click my screen name you can see exactly who I am. I don\’t like being treated like a troll when I\’ve been respectful and transparent.
I just had questions for you, I tried to be respectful while voicing my own criticisms. I assumed that since you posted this you were interested in talking about it.
vegas, it\’s hard to understand the use of the wording, \”The martyr attitude is off-putting.\” Assuming you assume \”martyr\” means angry versus self sacrificing then that\’s your opinion, and you are certainly welcome to it. My anger has put me outside many circles I was once included. I know it puts people off, so does talking about child abuse or rape or cancer. No one wants to hear about real life horror and tragedy that could one day find it\’s way into their own life. Sure, a kitten stuck in a tree is much more of a dinner conversation topic than how a kitten was run over by a bus, crushing it\’s back legs, wrecking it\’s bowels, and how it has to be nursed and cared for 24/7.
No the use of the word \”martyr\” used as a way to hammer your point of someone who feels victimized is wrong in case, fair use for some things regarding a victim so I can see a confusion, a hint of ignorance perhaps, or some sort of lazy attempt to cut your true feelings short and concise.
However the use of the word \”martyr\” if you are meaning the one most people associate with the word regarding self sacrifice (Christ complex) is provokingly aggressive. Do you suggest that our children sacrificed themselves voluntarily? They rolled up their little pant legs on their own? They understood what the vaccines meant to accomplish and what the potentials for harm were prior to the shots? That they weighed the risks presented to them by the pediatrician and signed a consent form with full knowledge that the vaccine could cause seizures, encephalitis, death? (leaving autism out of it for a second) Martyr is not what my son is, it is not who I am, my son is a victim, I am angry that my son is a victim. Neither my son, nor myself or wife were told of any risk, we knew nothing except that the needle hurt piercing his tender flesh.
Suppose your cute little baby, just barely walking, was playing in the backyard one day and someone snuck up and hit him in the head with a baseball bat. Let\’s just say the assault didn\’t kill him, let\’s just say it might not even cause a permanent disability, but for a year or two or ten your son has to learn how to talk again, how to play, walk, listen like \”other kids\” his own age. All that therapy, all that work to get him to poop in the potty instead of his pants, instead of smearing it on the walls, all those doctors appointments to get blood drawn, MRI\’s, EEGs just to prove that your child had a brain injury. Your love can carry you thorough all that, and Im sure has since your daughter has epilepsy you have a feeling for that sort of dedication and support. But the one thing missing is that pretty soon you learn of other children playing in their yards getting hit in the head just like your son, and still no one arrested, the perp is still on the loose. Let me ask you, knowing your son was fine one minute and laying on the ground next to a bloody baseball bat, wouldn\’t you be a little upset? Would you need proof that there was someone causing these assaults? The more other parents tell of similar assaults wouldn\’t you want a posse rounded up to hunt for the criminal? I would hardly call any of these parents a \”martyr\” or their injured child a martyr, at best its\’ misleading, at worst it is cold hearted and just evil.
Now I know it\’s not the same thing, obviously when someone whose child is smashed in the head with a baseball bat, that person calls 911 and a search goes out to find the devil that did it, in some of our cases though, we dial 911 and no one shows up, and even if they happen by they do not ask for any evidence or any description of the assailant. And oh yeah, you take them to the emergency room and find out insurance doesn\’t cover baseball bat injuries.
Martyrs? Was the little boy I read about in the paper the other day, the one taken from her home and sodomized at knife point, was he a martyr? If his parents were a little pissed about it would they be martyrs?
I know Im jumping all over you for something so seemingly trivial, but it\’s not the first time Ive heard it being used to describe outraged parents and quite frankly it\’s time to set the record straight. If you mean victim say victim, if you mean pissed off parent just say so. Heck Im sure after reading this martyr isn\’t the first thing that comes across your mind when searching for a word to describe me and my off-putting attitude, a-hole I can live with.
Love the comment about your granny. My mother, who is almost 80, kept screaming to me that something was wrong with my son when he was just six months old. She said he had yeast. She told me that his bowels were not working right. She told me many things that it took many years of research to find a doctor who confirmed all of the things my mom told me. The older people know. My mom has been my biggest help and support for biomedical intervention for all three of my children. She knows more than most doctors.
my baby girl had one vaccine–DTP–at four months. She came down with autism after that. I can describe to you the changes that occured, day by day. My husband and I video taped these changes. Vaccine damage is real. Do you have to experience everything to know that it is real? Seriously, vegas, look around you–1 in 70 boys? what do you think is causing it?
I don\’t know what is causing it, and neither do you and it\’s scary as hell and they NEED to do the research. But if we are ONLY focused on vaccines we could very possibly miss the real problem.
When I said martyr, I was using it in the conventional \”martyr syndrome\” way. I wasn\’t referring to angry parents and I was not using it to refer to the child victims of autism. I was referring to a very vocal fringe within the autism community and I tried to be clear about that. I\’ve seen terrible behavior written off because parents are angry and I think we owe it to our children to not use them as an excuse for our poor behavior. As I mentioned before, my daughter has epilepsy, among other things. I\’m intimately familiar with the fear and anger that comes with a diagnosis that includes no cause and no prognosis.
I apologize for using the term martyr, I was not referring to you or the author of this post.
Though I am not a mother of autism, I am part of the autism community and there are a number of beautiful young men and powerful mothers that have part of my heart. What I am seeing from the bloggers on either end of this hugely polarized debate is the want for a greater understanding of why and how to help these amazing children. Unfortunately, in the quest for this, the argument always seems to find its way back to the demonization of the mothers who want to understand more about vaccines. I have been asked multiple times, as a young professional student, what I “think about the vaccines.” And my answer remains the same: I don’t yet know enough to have an answer I feel confident with—but–do I believe in the genetic component or a biologic vulnerability? Yes. Do I believe in a mother’s intuition? Yes. Do I think that environment plays a huge role in health outcomes? Yes….it’s no secret that minority populations are vulnerable to negative health outcomes given the fact that landfills and large factories that pollute water and air quality are placed in low income neighborhoods of those who cannot afford to advocate for better conditions. ..it’s called environmental racism…Do I believe that research is full of politics and connections? Yes. And I’m not just talking about autism research. I am a graduate student and I have had a number of professors talk about how often researchers who have a huge vested interest in certain findings fund research that reveals these wanted findings, while other research that refutes them finds a way to the bottom of file cabinets. Do I believe that finding one explanation/cause can be generalized to every child with the same condition? NO. There are a number of ways to get cancer, why can’t this be the same for autism?
In one post, momof3au stated that she was pro-research and she was questioned about whether or not she was only pro-research-on vaccines. To be honest, she can be both. It’s also no secret that funding for autism research is being poured into genetic research…and if a handful of studies conclude that researchers are unable to locate gene influences, do we just throw out the idea of genetic vulnerability? No, what we do do is pour more money into examining other genes. Yet, a few studies examine vaccines and since no causal outcome was found, this area was abandoned. So for a mother who wants to understand more about how vaccines did or did not play a role in her sons’ autism, then part of her is required to be pro-vaccine related research. Because these mothers are not the ones in power, the ones with money, and the ones with political and other big connections who are vehemently dismissing the vaccine debate, they must push for more research in this area. Sadly, the result of this continues to be the same: polarization that leads to fighting back and forth…fighting which has the potential to get the community nowhere. ALL of these issues need to be discussed in a forum that doesn’t seek to get either sides point to be believed by the other side, but instead in a forum that respects that there are differing opinions and is committed to finding a way to offer equal funding and respect to all.
The next thing I wanted to comment on is this continued demonization of the vaccine mothers. Anger is more commonly a secondary emotion in response to an initial feeling/emotion. Typically, it is embarrassment, disappointment, or sadness that occurs before the onset of anger. And for these mothers who may appear to some to be angry, I believe are also still grieving and sad mothers who are desperately trying to figure out how to advocate for their children, understand and accept their potential role in their child’s condition, and make sense of the loss that occurred the day they found out that their child had autism. Anger is a part of the 7 stages of grief….the final stage being acceptance and hope. I believe that these mothers will not be able to reach this stage until those in power agree to hear them and give them a chance to have more funding to do this research.
And a last note on the misunderstanding of the vaccine mothers. They are NOT anti-vaccine. They are pro-better understanding of vaccines. If they were anti-vaccine then they wouldn’t be pushing for alternative vaccine schedules…schedules which give a child all the necessary vaccines just with more space in between to help their bodies become strong enough to handle the vaccine’s requirements.
It is important to remember that EVERYONE’S goal is the same: To HELP these children in every way possible. And we continue to lose sight of the fact that everyone shares in this common goal when this polarization and demonization (of both sides) occurs. Numbers are rising, services are being cut, families are grieving…bottom line…..so let’s get together and do something….anything….all things that we can.
Fantastic comment. I obviously went about it all wrong but this is exactly what I was hoping for.
For clarification, when I refer to \”anti-vax\” I do mean anti-vax. I know many, many people who refuse all vaccinations. I have no argument at all with adjusting schedules. We adjusted or vaccine schedule for my girls because of my sister\’s Retts. I don\’t believe there is a causal link but I didn\’t want to wonder if I was at fault if one of my daughters turned out to be on the spectrum.
Good folks,
As admin of this Blog I appreciate everyone\’s passion.
I\’m going to ask that you be respectful as well as thoughtful in your comments. Some of the imagery used in the comments is not needed as people of all ages read the posts and comments contained in this Blog.
I will also take this opportunity to remind everyone that Blog contributors and commentators do not reflect the views or positions of the Autism Society of North Carolina, it\’s staff, or Board of Directors. In fact, if you asked any of the above you would likely received various responses to different issues.
It\’s okay to disagree, but please move the \”conversation\” part of this discussion over to our website Discussion Boards. The discussion board feature was added to the site just for this type of dialog.
There are numerous issues that face the autism community. Additional research into vaccines, effective treatment methods, etc. is always needed. However, in addition to that, there are critical services that individuals with autism and their families may need on a daily basis that are not readily available for all. And to top that off, funding for those types of services and supports is usually one of the first casualties of state or federal budget cuts.
So, please please visit our website (www.autismsociety-nc.org) and click on the Discussion Board link to register and share your thoughts and helpful info about what you have learned on your journey with autism.
Happy Holidays,
David Laxton
David Laxton, on December 22nd, 2009 at 3:25 pm Said: Edit Comment
Good folks,
As admin of this Blog I appreciate everyone’s passion.
I’m going to ask that you be respectful as well as thoughtful in your comments. Some of the imagery used in the comments is not needed as people of all ages read the posts and comments contained in this Blog.
I will also take this opportunity to remind everyone that Blog contributors and commentators do not reflect the views or positions of the Autism Society of North Carolina, it’s staff, or Board of Directors. In fact, if you asked any of the above you would likely received various responses to different issues.
It’s okay to disagree, but please move the “conversation” part of this discussion over to our website Discussion Boards. The discussion board feature was added to the site just for this type of dialog.
There are numerous issues that face the autism community. Additional research into vaccines, effective treatment methods, etc. is always needed. However, in addition to that, there are critical services that individuals with autism and their families may need on a daily basis that are not readily available for all. And to top that off, funding for those types of services and supports is usually one of the first casualties of state or federal budget cuts.
So, please please visit our website (www.autismsociety-nc.org) and click on the Discussion Board link to register and share your thoughts and helpful info about what you have learned on your journey with autism.
Happy Holidays,
David Laxton
Thanks for the post Alison. I agree wholeheartedly. Vaccines and overvaccination are for sure a trigger to autism. One among other environmental triggers.
I have no idea why my son has autism. It could be genetic (though to this point, we have exhausted the genetic testing with no answers) but we have no family history. He also had a \”perfect\” MRI- his brain looked \”awesome\”. Well, clearly it\’s not awesome because he is 5 years old and does not speak or respond to much, can\’t eat with a spoon and has the safety awareness of an infant. It could be his vaccines- I doubt it but I cannot know because he got the HepB vaccine at 12 hours old (yes, it\’s for an std that he had exactly zero risk of contracting) My point: no cause is ruled out for me until the cause is found. And I mean that on both an individual level (the cause of my son\’s autism) and a more global level (why so many sick kids? why the autism numbers are so out of control?)
There is currently NO funding going to vaccines/autism connection. There are many people (not a vocal minority) that have expressed concerns about the current CDC vaccination schedule (in connection with autism, but also other medical conditions that are on the rise- asthma, adhd, allergies, diabetes, autoimmune disorders….) The research that has been done to date has been extremely poor in both scope and methodology. It took me awhile to really accept that it could be the vaccines but once I actually read the studies instead of the aap or cdc policy statements, I saw that this question about vaccine safety is NOT answered.
It is critical that we advocate for better and more services and supports for our kids, without a doubt. However, right now autism is a MAJOR health crisis for the US. Major. Unless we get serious about studying causes, treatments, and cures, without being afraid of inconvenient answers, then these children will totally bankrupt the system.
Think adult services are hard to find now? Pshhawww! You haven\’t seen anything yet. Come visit my 5 year old\’s prek classroom. Go talk to the director of pre-k special education for probably any district in NC. They are panicking about serving these 3-5 year olds. There comes a point where our kids may be entitled by law to education, housing, disability benefits- but realistically there will be too many kids to even feasibly help them.
We can and should continue to advocate for these services and supports (indeed my child will definitely need these for his whole life) but with the current rate of autism in the population, I think we need to focus strongly on stopping the brain damage of children! The increase scares me tremendously- not just for my severely autistic child- but for my typical children (actually ALL children). The impact on society will be enormous.
America got a huge surge of autism after 1985, when many new doses of mercury vaccines were added to the pediatric schedule . In India we got our huge surge of autism after year 2000, when the same vaccines were added to the Indian Pediatric Schedule. I did not expect that it would be so easily apparent in my little nursery school of 60 kids- but in fact, it was, From 2003 we had autistic or near autistic kids every year. One year we had 6 near- autistic and 1 fully autistic and on top of that one spastic kid and one who lost nearly all hearing after DPT vaccine. So, I too am very angry and not from grief, as I myself have no autistic child. Im just angry and sad when I hear about the suffering of the children. Some of the autistic kids do suffer a great deal. Because the WHO will not speak against mercury vaccines, an Indian child can get 8 or 9 mercury vaccines by age three and a half. If many doctors were using the mixed four in one and five in one vaccines, and imported vaccines, our autism rate would be one in 20. All of these people who say that studies show no causation by vaccines should be required to add , \”..and its just a coincidence that all the symptoms of autism are also symptoms of mercury poisoning.\” – so that everyone , even a child would know them for what that they are. I am referring to the doctors and CDC employess here.
Only want to say your article is impressive. The lucidity in your post is simply striking and i can take for granted you are an expert on this field. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with succeeding post. Thanks a million and please keep up the respectable work
\”the testing has already been done…\” is simply not true. What testing? Oh, you mean the pharma-paid for studies on ONE vaccine out of 36, or TWO vaccine ingredients out of what – 50+? Is that the all-conclusive studies you are referring to that show no link?
P.S. – at it height, polio affected 1 on 3,000 people. In my state, 1 in 67 boys has a neurological disorder. Might we be just trading one epidemic for another?
we have come a long way from the original thought of the cause of autism was a cold hearted mother, that didnt have a heart for her children. can u imagine what it would have been like as a parent of a child who was diagnosed with autism say 50 years ago. all of the guilt and hardship for those parents. through research the professionals have done it was found to be not true. THERE IS RESEARCH TO THE FACT THAT VACCINATIONS HAVE CAUSED AUTISM. MY DAUGHTER IS A LIVING BREATHING CASE OF THAT
i have a 15 year old daughter with autism. she can speak, and do care for herself, but won\’t allow anyone except me to physically touch her, wouldnt know how to cross a street by herself, and money, well thats a hard one also. she thinks like a 6 year old and basically does those things, still watches kiddy shows on tv. i do not know why she is autistic, we were suspicious at age3, we had it pointed out, we were in denial, nothing wrong with our child. we finally had her diagnosed, it hasn\’t been an easy ride, but she does learn even though its a younger age learning. i am not blaming anything for her autism, it could be multitudes or nothing. Fortunately i had another child before she was diagnosed, if i had known before, i may not have had him, out of 3 children, she is the only one with autism. i have had them all vaccinated, everything the same, but for some reason she is different. i am not searching for the answer, it could take a lifetime, and what is done is done. we love our hannah the way she is, and she is God\’s special blessing.
Thanks for sharing as always! Love the pic of granny & your baby! Doesn\’t seem possible they are 12?