Autism

[Sifmole]

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I know a psychologist who works with severely autistic children. He showed me a video of one child's progression with therapy. It was truly remarkable. I have no idea how duplicable that result is, but no question I would get my child his team's help.

Some here have pointed out that the sum of [mentally retarded + autistic] as a percent of population hasn't really changed. That says volumes. In both cases, social support can make a great deal of difference.

The whole MMR vaccine / thimerosol "controversy" always struck me as highly contrived. There is only a speck of mercury in the vaccine. Please compare that to the bioavailable amount found in the average can of tuna. Also, thimerosol used to be a major component of contact lens solution. So before blaming the vaccine, at least show plausible exposure increase. In any case, there was a huge study in the New England Journal of Medicine showing zero association between MMR vaccine and autism, and thimerosol is being phased out of vaccines. btw, if mercury is your worry you should get the Republicans out of office as soon as possible. It would be relatively cheap to radically drop the amount of mercury being released into the environment from coal plants, etc. I believe the State of North Carolina even passed laws as such -- laws that were overridden by federal law disallowing such restrictions -- but don't quote me.

Tangent: The US population sits on the cusp of herd immunity to measles. It takes something like 85% of people being vaccinated to prevent widespread outbreaks, which is right where we're at. Major outbreaks will happen in the coming decade if MMR utilization rates drop further. People forget how bad that disease was for the unlucky 1%. We as a country need to stop focusing on the latest fad in what vaccines theoretically do -- they will always get blamed for something, just like herbals will always be claimed as the cure for something -- and instead focus resources on a massive public health project of the scope of the Framingham Heart Study to identify the causes of the atopy spectrum of asthma/allergies/atopic dermatitis and the causes and best treatments for autism. Send the research money after the biggest coming threats. The cost would be trivial compared to the amount of money spent on the diseases, not to mention compared to the suffering of the afflicted. [/tangent]

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Ask yourself this though -- when there was a very large CDC investigation into this issue and it reached congress, all documents that had been produced were sealed and locked away. Then sometime later a rider was added to the Patriot Act making it impossible to sue Eli-Lily (sp) for any condition or harm related to certain vaccines -- one of them being the MMR.

Why?

I am the father of a nearly 7 year old son with autism. I don't know why he has this condition. I do know that his diet has a huge effect on his ability to deal with day-to-day life and many alternative therapies have had a significant effect on behavior and ability to learn. So it is an odd world that you enter when you begin to deal with autism.

[mrmr]

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Ask yourself this though -- when there was a very large CDC investigation into this issue and it reached congress, all documents that had been produced were sealed and locked away. Then sometime later a rider was added to the Patriot Act making it impossible to sue Eli-Lily (sp) for any condition or harm related to certain vaccines -- one of them being the MMR.

Why?

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My guess is because the results of the CDC investigation suggested that Eli-Lily (sp) is not responsible for any condition or harm related to certain vaccines -- one of them being the MMR. That is, if anything resembling what you've described actually happened.

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I am the father of a nearly 7 year old son with autism. I don't know why he has this condition. I do know that his diet has a huge effect on his ability to deal with day-to-day life and many alternative therapies have had a significant effect on behavior and ability to learn. So it is an odd world that you enter when you begin to deal with autism.

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Here are a couple of articles.

http://www.discover.com/issues/jan-0...link-debunked/

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...ex_html?page=1

I'm sure you have your own sources, but it is important to remember that just because you don't know why your son has the condition does not in any way suggest that there is a government conspiracy and/or that researchers are producing fraudulent reports.

Current science seems to indicate that vaccines did not cause autism. We don't know what does cause it, yet. If you want a more definitive answer than that, you're leaving the realm of medicine and entering the realm of religion.

And by the way, in no way is this kind of thing unique to autism. For just about every incurable, particularly fatal, illness, there are vultures out there preying on the victims with black market so-called cures and therapies, and "plausible" evidence that the government or big business or doctors don't want them released to the public. It's con artistry 101: desperate people will buy anything hopeful.

Pushing false but hopeful information on desperate people, even if it is not for personal monetary profit, is a sick form of con artistry that needs to be exposed and attacked.

[Tyrannic]

I found this thread really interesting and informative.

My little cousin(9th grade) has aspergers and has very strong basic math abilities and memorization capabilities. For instance, when asked what day of the week my birthday falls on in 2222 he will answer in seconds.

He has a lot of problems in hist/science b.c. he just memorizes the text but does not understand it. For instance in bio, we jsut grappled with the electron transport chain. He memorizied how it works, got an 100 on the test associated with it, but doesn't understand it. Thus, the teacher gave him a point deduction, which we talked about for I felt it was a little unfair.

He's getting into stocks. Def. +ev there. lol.

[Matt Flynn]

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Ask yourself this though -- when there was a very large CDC investigation into this issue and it reached congress, all documents that had been produced were sealed and locked away. Then sometime later a rider was added to the Patriot Act making it impossible to sue Eli-Lily (sp) for any condition or harm related to certain vaccines -- one of them being the MMR.

Why?

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conspiracies involving dozens of people do not stay quiet or secret and do not exist.

companies cannot put out a vaccine under current tort law without specific exemptions. they'd be signing their own bankrupty papers.

all the best to you taking care of your son! he's lucky you care so much.

[MaxxDaddy]

Hey guys, my girlfriend currently works as a teaching assistant in a school for children with autism in New Jersey. She works with 15 and 16 year-old boys who are about twice her size and differ in their communicative abilities and behavior. She's a lurker in the forums, but doesn't feel like joining at all. She's been reading this thread and she wanted me to post something for her. Here you go:

A few people have mentioned Daniel Tammet, but I don't think I saw any mention of his book (sorry if I just missed it). I am about halfway through Born on a Blue Day and it may be the most interesting book I have every read, especially as a person that works with teenagers with Autism. It provides a perspective into the mind of someone with an Autism Spectrum Disorder that really made me step back and think about the unusual habits that my students display. I understand why we try to "control" and "contain" certain behaviors in order for them to be functional/acceptable community members in the eyes of the wider community, but the insight I have received from this book really made me think about how little we really understand about why they act the way they do. Just wanted to contribute something and recommend this book. I really think it is an important perspective for anyone that is interested in Autism, a family member of a non-communicative person with Autism, or someone who works with those with Autism.

[jjlied]

How much longer until we all communicate solely through machines? Is "Autism" a disease or an evolutionary trait? With the remarkable innate abilities that many, if not all(note their inhibited communication)autistics possess, when will punctuated equlibrium, the Mayan Calendar, and "Autism" be recognized for what it is. The future of humanity is now.

[joop]

Just wanna throw this out there, maybe somebody has some info on this, haven't seen it mentioned thus far...

Isn't it true that it's only in the US where there has been such a sharp increase in the number of diagnosed cases of autism? Other coutries such as the UK, France, Australia, etc, have not seen such a sharp rise.

Does anyone feel this could point to a cause of some sort?

[goodgrief]

Heh. I must have had some grasp on normality even at my worst, I wasn't going to punch myself in the face, I'd much rather punch you in the face.

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You had everything from kids who seemed almost "normal," except that they loved to study something involving a pattern, often memorizing train scheduled. On the other extreme were kids would couldn't talk at all, and who would spend all day punching themselves in the face, wearing gloves.

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[goodgrief]

I thought the increase in autism was worldwide or at least "worldwide" in first world countries such as Japan and Western Europe. Not just North America. Considering the supposed link to mercury and coal-fired plants, I would expect to see lots of Asperger's in China as well -- and don't we? They might not be officially diagnosed, but I guess we can tell a dweeb/nerd when we see one, right?

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Just wanna throw this out there, maybe somebody has some info on this, haven't seen it mentioned thus far...

Isn't it true that it's only in the US where there has been such a sharp increase in the number of diagnosed cases of autism? Other coutries such as the UK, France, Australia, etc, have not seen such a sharp rise.

Does anyone feel this could point to a cause of some sort?

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[ike]

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conspiracies involving dozens of people do not stay quiet or secret and do not exist.


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wow thats optimistic/insane.