DR. NANCY MINSHEW & ME: WHO'S CRAZY?

By J.B. Handley

Dear Dr. Minshew,

It’s my understanding that you are a child neurologist and that you have been a professor of psychiatry and neurology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine for the past 22 years, and that today you run one of the NIH’s nine Centers for Excellence of Autism.

I took the time to read this 100 page presentation you gave on autism, which helped me understand your perspective on my son and what ails him. To summarize from your bio on the ASA’s website, you have developed a “model of autism as a disorder of brain connectivity and constrained information processing accounting for many of the manifestations of this disorder.”

The reason for my email today, which I’m also posting on a public blog I write for, isn’t really about my son, it’s about me. You see, after reading many of the things you have written and said, I find myself in a real funk, a state of angst and confusion.

Let me explain: My son was diagnosed with autism about 3 years ago. Since that time, I have devoted myself to reading every printed page of science I have been able to find on autism. I’ve interviewed or seen dozens of different “experts” (as you are often referred to in the press), and my wife and I have worked diligently to do everything we can to help our son.

Unlike you, my wife and I are neither psychiatrists nor neurologists. In fact, we’re both businesspeople, perhaps a background you would not perceive as ideal for understanding autism. On a daily basis, I spend my time making judgment calls with limited and often conflicting information, always with the benefit of reams of data, in order to try and make a profit.

Back to my dilemma. Since you are an “expert” on autism, 22 years deep into your field, I’ve got a real problem on my hands: I disagree with almost every single thing you have written or said about autism. Since we both can’t possibly be right, one of us has to be crazy. I’m scared to death it might be me. As a psychiatrist, I thought you could help.
I had never heard of you until last week when, for reasons I can’t pretend to understand, your name appeared in a number of articles discussing Eli Stone and the relationship between vaccines and autism. Just to remind you of what you said, here are a couple of excerpts I read:

“Dr. Nancy Minshew, Director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Excellence in Autism Research, says it's time to end the debate [about vaccines and autism] because research overwhelmingly proves there's no connection and parents don't need to worry about that anymore. Minshew says it's time real experts dispel the rumors for concerned parents. "They deserve to hear the evidence, the real evidence. So I thought, 'Enough is enough,'" she said. Minshew says people's lives are at stake because some kids aren't getting vaccinated for life-threatening diseases due to incorrect information. Since Thimerosal, an ethyl mercury preservative, was banned from most childhood vaccines in the U.S. seven years ago, autism rates have continued to increase - disproving the link. Minshew says it's only a coincidence that toddlers are vaccinated around the same time autism is usually diagnosed.”

And, this:

“She says one of the problems is that there is no great source for parents to get the best scientific information. Minshew suggests they read a new court ruling from Maryland that determined vaccines do not cause autism. She says because it's written by a judge and not a scientist, it's easier to understand.”

And, this:

"You don't need the guilt of thinking you took your child to be vaccinated and that caused the autism," said Dr. Nancy Minshew, the director of the University of Pittsburgh Autism Research team. "It absolutely did not."

I really didn’t pay much attention to these press mentions of you last week because I’ve grown pretty insensitive to the propaganda effort (as I perceive it) continually underway to defend the national immunization program. Then, a parent forwarded me an email you wrote to him, which I have taken the liberty of including in its entirety below. One of your comments is really contributing to my condition:

“I hope that someday you will have the peace of knowing that autism is the result of millions of years of genetics and there was nothing that was done to precipitate it and there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it. The increase in number of cases reflects the increase in recognition of verbal children.”

Dr. Minshew, this seems like a good time to be more specific with you about my mental state, by discussing the issues I have with your various points of view.

1. You say we are not experiencing an epidemic of autism.

It is maddening for parents like me that our “experts” can’t agree on the most fundamentally important and critical data point in the entire field of autism: is prevalence truly rising or not? This very binary notion impacts everything else. If it’s growing, it’s the environment. If it’s not, it’s genetics. From you perspective, “The increase in number of cases reflects the increase in recognition of verbal children.” I was confounded by this point, because I can’t find a single sentence in the scientific literature to support this. What I do look to is the following:

i. Report to the Legislature on the Principle Findings from The Epidemiology of Autism in California: A Comprehensive Pilot Study
MIND Institute, UC Davis, Oct 2002.
Excerpt:

"There is no evidence that a loosening in the diagnostic criteria has contributed to increased number of autism clients...we conclude that some, if not all, of the observed increase represents a true increase in cases of autism in California...a purely genetic basis for autism does not fully explain the increasing autism prevalence. Other theories that attempt to better explain the observed increase in autism cases include environmental exposures to substances such as mercury; viral exposures; autoimmune disorders; and childhood vaccinations."

ii. National Autism Prevalence Trends From United States Special Education Data.
Pediatrics, March 2005.
Craig J. Newschaffer, PhD [Johns Hopkins University].
Excerpt:

"Cohort curves suggest that autism prevalence has been increasing with time."

2. You say vaccines are proven to not cause autism and that parents should vaccinate their children.

Dr. Minshew, you are either being intellectually dishonest on this point or it is outside of your expertise as a psychiatrist to understand the vaccine-autism issue, Let me explain:

- Thimerosal was not banned from vaccines as you are quoted as saying, so this is a falsehood.

- Thimerosal did not come out of vaccines seven years ago as you are quoted as saying, so this is a falsehood. In fact, it’s still in the overwhelming majority of the flu shot supply at full dose- the flu shot was recently added (2004) to the CDC’s recommended schedule.

- If you believe that focusing on a single ingredient in vaccines (mercury) exonerates vaccines in totality, that’s an impossibility. We have grown our vaccine schedule from 10 vaccines in the early 1980s to 36 today. Yet, we never test the “combination risk” of so many vaccines. No one, except Generation Rescue, has ever studied unvaccinated children and looked at their autism rates. We never look at the aluminum that replaced thimerosal, the live viruses, or the many other toxic ingredients in vaccines at all.

- The parent reports of children going upside-down and developing autism right after vaccination continues unabated. Will you ever listen to them?

It strikes me, and perhaps I’m crazy for saying this, that now that you have publicly reassured parents that vaccines are safe, that you may well be the last person on earth, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, to concede that vaccines are in fact playing a role in autism.

3. You never mention recovered children.

In all the writings and quotes of yours, Doctor, I didn’t read one thing about children who have recovered from autism. Have you ever met a recovered child? Would you like to? Would you care to scan their brains and see how they look? I heard a noted neurologist mention an idea that we should scan the brains of children newly diagnosed with autism, let their parents who want to treat the children biomedically, and then re-scan the brains of any children who have recovered. Does that strike you as an interesting idea?

Dr. Minshew, I read with sadness in your email that you lost a child. My heart hurts for you. Do you have any young children who are part of this generation?

If you do, do you see the reality so many of us see: learning disabilities, food allergies, auto-immune disorders, and ASD everywhere? A world very, very different from the one we grew up in during the 60s, 70s, and 80s, where so many children seem to be sick. A 5 year old’s birthday party where 80% of the boys are in speech therapy, because they need it.

We have, Dr. Mishew, an emerging thesis in our community of scientists, doctors, and parents that seems to tie together so many confounding pieces. A thesis that says what we are witnessing is a wide-scale environmentally-triggered epidemic amongst our children. A trend line of ASD cases that matches, quite exactly, an increase in our vaccine schedule that has moved from preventing deadly diseases to preventing any disease vaccine manufacturers think they can make a profit from. A group of autistic children with meaningful and consistent physical issues that are much more consistent with environmental illnesses than anything genetic. A “gene hunt” for autism that has turned up nothing. A group of doctors who are treating our children for physical ailments and watching them recover.

This is my world, Dr. Minshew, it seems clear as day. It’s so different from yours, I really, really need to know: which one of us is crazy?

Sincerely,

J.B. Handley
Father to Jamison
Co-founder, Generation Rescue

Complete email from Dr. Minshew to a parent:

Dear Mr. ----, I appreciate your passion but what you state reinforces the issue I raised by introducing the opportunity for parents to read the Blackwell Court Decision and the four others before it as well as testimony that was and may still be available on the Autism Speaks website from Andrew Wakefields research technician. I know you know that his paper was withdrawn and that he is under investigation in England for misconduct. During a recent court trial, Andrew Wakefield's technician for this paper reported that the gut samples from the children with autism and those from children without autism looked exactly the same. He reported this to Andrew Wakefield and was ignored. The samples have now been examined by other gi experts who concur with the technicians original reading. This is public record through the court testimony.

I am sorry that parents end up being misled about the veracity of findings such as this. It is very unfair. I hope that you do take the opportunity to read the Blackwell Decision as it provides insights about other so called evidence that parents hear about but don't understand why scientists don't take seriously and also the Sunday NYT Magazine of Sept 16. In addition the Institute of Medicine Committee reviewed all of these studies and will address their validity which includes the interpretation of findings in immunized children with and without autism and samples obtained years after an event in brain development that appears likely to have begun in mid-fetal life.

It is cruel to parents that they don't get an accurate story about such findings or of the extremely broad findings in the scientific literature. I cannot imagine anything worse than to think that you did something that contributed to your child's getting autism or that someone else did. Indeed I feel that way about my son's death but for good reasons.

However, I can assure you that the worlds best physicians and scientists are well aware of the studies you talk about and these studies are not sound- their methods are not or their conclusions are not. And there is an extensive set of findings that support no connections. There is also extensive science on the developmental neurobiology of autism that the developmental disturbance begins in fetal development. Like dyslexia which is not manifest until 2-5 years of life, the seeds are present in the embryo and begin to unfold in cortical development in fetal development. Again I am very sad that families do not have access to accurate information and to far less information than exists.

I hope that some day you will have the peace of knowing that autism is the result of millions of years of genetics and there was nothing that was done to precipitate it and there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it. The increase in number of cases reflects the increase in recognition of verbal children. I know this because the verbal individuals were not recognized outside of research centers when I started 25 years ago and now they are, perhaps because early intervention presented an incentive to notice them. There is a study of adults in state hospitals that shows that many adults diagnosed with schizophrenia have autism. I wish you the best. I wish you peace.
NM [Nancy Minshew,M.D.]

Epilogue:

As a courtesy, I forwarded the above piece to Dr. Minshew one day in advance of posting it on Age of Autism. What follows is a short email exchange between us:
-----Original Message-----
From: J.B. Handley
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 11:54 AM
To: Nancy Minshew
Subject: Re: Nancy & Me: Who's crazy

Says who?

And, tough shit.

J.B. Handley

----- Original Message -----
From: Nancy Minshew
To: J.B. Handley
Sent: Mon Feb 04 11:50:31 2008
Subject: RE: Nancy & Me: Who's crazy

Mr. Handley none of you have permission to share emails that i have sent to you as individuals with anyone besides the intended receiver nor do you have permission to quote me publicly. Unlike the newspaper which was public, private emails to individuals sent confidentially are not for public quotation.

          -----Original Message-----
          From: J.B. Handley
          Sent: Monday, February 04, 2008 2:42 PM
          To: Nancy Minshew
          Subject: Nancy & Me: Who's crazy 
         
Dr. Minshew:

What’s written below, by me, will be posted at The Age of Autism blog tomorrow. As a courtesy, I’m sending it to you first.

I have no issues with you personally. In fact, reading that you lost a child makes me very, very empathetic.

That said, it is my heartfelt belief that you are actually part of the problem with autism, rather than part of the solution. I’m sure that’s a comment you disagree with profoundly, but I really believe history will be a harsh judge of scientists like you who continue to deny the existence of a rising prevalence of autism and mistakenly reassure parents that vaccines are safe – a topic you can’t possibly be an expert on, by the way.

I also thought your email to Mr. ---- reeked of intellectual arrogance in a very close-minded sort of a way. There are many well-credentialed scientists who would take exception to almost everything you believe about autism, but you speak with sweeping generalizations like you are in the only camp that actually knows where truth lies. I also found your continual reference to a court case in Maryland, while 2 tests cases before the Vaccine Court remain WIDE OPEN, to demonstrate either ignorance on your part or a case of selective fact gathering. What if the test cases in D.C. rule in favor of the plaintiffs?

So, I don’t expect us to be pen pals anytime soon, but I’m including the open letter to you below.

Sincerely,

JB Handley

JB Handley is Editor at Large for Age of Autism.

Comments

[mary aspinwall]

If you have an autistic child take a few minutes to listen to a mother whose child made a slow but remarkable recovery with the help of homeopathy.
www.impossiblecure.com. I wish all your children well.
Mary

[JB Handley]

T. Johnson:

Trying to put somene's mind at peace with complete bullshit, particularly when this particular parent is sitting on clear evidence that the MMR vaccine ravaged his son, ends up not being all that comforting, IMO.

JB

[T. Johnson]

I see something important missing in this post. Where is the email from the father to Dr. Minshew? That would possibly put her comments in better context.

My read of her email sounds like she is trying to put the father's mind at peace. What did he write that might prompt her to say that?

[Kelli Ann Davis]

I view this stuff about vaccines with curiosity, but for me my advocacy energy is better spent securing services for my child, working for his future and teaching him as many living skills as I can as he approaches adulthood. I would go crazy blaming people, arguing and living in my (and my son's) past. But I know parents who just can't let go and tell me they are doing it so no one else has to go through what we all have. The only thing is, they are sailing blindly into a future with no plan and as far as I can tell have made no progress in their goal of preventing future occurrences of autism.

God give us all strength to do what we need to do (whatever that is)!

Matthew:

With all due respect -- I think it’s rather cavalier of you to categorize parents as “vindictive, argumentative, and wasting their time” because they choose to advocate publicly and look beyond themselves in an effort to help other children and families.

Unlike you, I do not look on the whole vaccine issue with “curiosity” – rather, I see vaccines (in their present formulation) as a very dangerous threat to the lives of children in this country!

I do not operate from a position of vindictiveness – in fact, Proverbs 16:6 is my guiding principal: “By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for…..”

Nor do I walk into meetings “argumentative” as Proverbs 16:21 is my motto: “….and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.”

In regards to “making progress”….vaccination rates are plummeting in this country (a recent article reported a 74% rate in Indiana which was 39th in the country) and I believe it’s due to the fact that we (the “non-curious” parents) are getting the word out in regards to what happened to our children after they were vaccinated.

Granted, it would be a heck of a lot easier to sit back and not get involved – I could think of a lot better things to do with my spare time – but I can’t because children are still being injured and its my God given responsibility to step up and speak out.

[Barbie Hines]

Matthew:

"I view this stuff about vaccines with curiosity, but for me my advocacy energy is better spent securing services for my child, working for his future and teaching him as many living skills as I can as he approaches adulthood. I would go crazy blaming people, arguing and living in my (and my son's) past. But I know parents who just can't let go and tell me they are doing it so no one else has to go through what we all have. The only thing is, they are sailing blindly into a future with no plan and as far as I can tell have made no progress in their goal of preventing future occurrences of autism."

I applaud you for all you are doing for your son...however, I do not think parents who are fighting the 'vaccine' fight are sailing blindly and making no progress. 10 or 15 years ago many would have told my husband and I to just give our son as much ABA as possible, find a good group home and teach him life skills (he was very, very severe). Instead, a few amazing doctors told us treat him for 'vaccine damage'...try to bring down the lead levels in his body...try to get the aluminum and mercury out...another amazing doctor told us to look at his genetics and supplement some 'weaknesses' in order to facilitate the excretion of this 'bad stuff'...instead of just learning life skills and rote academic skills, our son is reading, laughing and engaging in life. Don't get me wrong, he is not recovered...he is still very afflicted. However, much less than the so-called experts predicted...in fact, they told us he would just get worse through the years...yet he continues to improve each year. If I were to pull off 'my fight', surrender to building his future based on current abilities...well that would just be another great injustice for my son...I'm not living in my son's past...I'm working on giving him the future he was meant to have...I am one of those parents who cannot let go...shame on any parent who can let go...you don't give up on your child, ever...you don't take a road just because it is easier on the parent...you take the road that is best for your child..it is the parents who are 'fighting' that keep the doctors looking for answers, keep the public asking questions and keep the hope of a cure alive...more and more children with ASD recover each year...and it's not because of miracles or parents who let go...

Mid 1990's...I'll bet you didn't know as many children with autism then as you do now, did you?

[DWL]

Wonderful letter. The power of the written word never ceases to amaze me. I don't know what caused our son's autism, but I certainly know enough to not rule out the insane number of vaccines our children are scheduled to receive. Thank you for your incredibly important work!

[JB Handley]

Matthew:

It's clear there are children who have not been vaccinated who have autism. The question is simply how many. Most anecdotal data we can find appears to show far less autism amongst unvaccinated children, which is the point.

According to our health authorities, there should be no difference between autism rates for vaccinated and unvaccinated kids.

It's why we did the phone survey that's on our website:

http://www.generationrescue.org/survey.html

As a parent, the larger question for you is whether or not you believe something in the environment triggered autism in your family's case. If you do, perhaps it provides a roadmap for treatment.

JB

[Joe Herr]

Just for fun (?), lets pretend that "early weaning seems to be an entity in the etiology of infantile autism" (Tanoue)is valid. How can that be correct if autism is a genetic ailment? Bottle feeding runs in families (Like colitis). The lady, when pregnant for the first time, usually consults with her husband or mother on the method to deliver nutrition to the infant. (Lefevre) What about the second developmentally challenged child in a family? When a child has a developmentally challenged older sibling there is an increased likelihood that the younger child will also have autism. There also is an increased likelihood that the child will be bottle fed. (Burd) (Think about nursing a baby when a developmentally disabled child is 'loose' in the house.)

Here goes. Palmer (Google search for "Palmer apnea and snort") states that bottle feeding predisposes the child to sleep apnea.
Nasal congestion can initiate or exacerbate obstructive sleep apnea. Nasal congestion can be caused by upper respiratory viral
infection. (Corey) DpT can cause apnea. The children in intensive
care are monitored for 72 hours for development of sleep apnea. Why not apnea following MMR shot? The children are at home, not in intensive care.

On one of the sleep apnea bulletin boards a number of individuals reported that following treatment of sleep apnea, their reflux, colitis and/or irritable bowel syndrome went into remission.

Remember, in sleep apnea the airway is obstructed and the level of oxygen in the blood is reduced. The brain, as I am remembering, uses about 25% of the oxygen consumed by the body.

Oh yes, Cory includes some other sources of nasal congestion in the paper.

There many roads to Rome and to obstructive sleep apnea.

Joe Herr

[Matthew Morrison]

My son seemed OK for the first 18 months. He never got ANY vaccines, and never has. He was born at our home with the assistance of a midwife, with no complications. We didn't really get concerned until he started pulling away, losing language (just a few words actually) and started engaging in the really odd behaviors. By his second birthday we knew he was way off track and were pretty sure it was autism. I have a friend who did not vaccinate, not because they were afraid of autism but for another reason, and they now have twins with autism. This was the mid 1990s.

I view this stuff about vaccines with curiosity, but for me my advocacy energy is better spent securing services for my child, working for his future and teaching him as many living skills as I can as he approaches adulthood. I would go crazy blaming people, arguing and living in my (and my son's) past. But I know parents who just can't let go and tell me they are doing it so no one else has to go through what we all have. The only thing is, they are sailing blindly into a future with no plan and as far as I can tell have made no progress in their goal of preventing future occurrences of autism.

God give us all strength to do what we need to do (whatever that is)!

[Lisa]

Matthew

That is really interesting. There are three families in TACA (out of over 6100) that DID NOT VACCINATE THEIR CHILDREN and yup - like yours - are diagnosed with autism.

Further research yielded:
- Family 1 - RHOGAM mom (the 25 mcg per shot and she got four kind)
- Family 2 - Dental Work while pregnant (replaced amalgams)
- Family 3 - Lived next to a coal burning power plant

Real stories. So I am just curious - anything like this in your house?
Take care, Lisa A Jeffs mom

[Sandy Gottstein]

Hi Matthew, I was wondering if your child had regressive autism or seems to have been born with it? The same with the others you know about? Any chance the mother got rhogam? Any chance your child was one of those infants that received a hepatitis B vaccine in the hosptial without you knowing about it? (Of course you probably wouldn't know unless you had your child checked for evidence of hep b vaccine exposure.) Also, did she get the rubella vaccine at any time? I have a hypothesis about those non-regressive types and autism that might be relevant.

Also, I don't know if you were implying this, but just because not everyone's autism is caused by vaccines doesn't mean no one's autism is caused by vaccines.

All the best, Sandy

[Matthew Morrison]

What about kids who received no vaccine? Mine didn't. Has autism though. I know many more like him.

[Rachel Lu]

I hope Dr. Minshew can live with herself, because no one else can!
I have 2 boys, both on the autism spectrum. My older son fell apart with in 24 hours of getting his MMR, and by then my younger son had already had a few vaccines. Thank God I stopped his at 6 months. I have been told by several doctors (who told me they would never admit it in public) that my younger son would have been profoundly autistic if I had kept vaccinating him. I have 2 older children (both girls) and I can't tell you what this has done to everyone's life. I love it, first they damage our children, then the insurance companies refuse to pay for treatment to try and reverse what they have done to them! Oh, and I have to say I LOVED J.B's commment to her on the sanctity of "private email" it was pricless!!! I was laughing so hard I almost choked! I would loved to have seen her response to that!

[Pete]

>reading every printed page of science I have been able to find on autism

you're kidding, you really never heard of her?

>Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this weblog
>until the author has approved them

You won't post this, will you?

Pete

[Angelique]

Thank you for standing up for us. We need people like you to help us save our future. I am a firm believer that vaccines destroyed my child. I do not understand how they can say a normal child can regress after 18 months. Go from totally outgoing to totally withdrawn. I do not except thier explanation it just isnt logical. My son was a normal 13 month old child, who started getting really sick at about 8 months old. He was losing the battle is what I think against all the vaccines. By 13 months old he couldnt take anymore. When he had gotten his MMR, I think his immune system had all but completely shut down. About 1 day after the shots his limb node in his groin area, in that very leg swelled. I immediately took him to the docter and what he said took my breath away, " with all his illnesses and now this, do not be surprised if your son doesnt have CANCER." I never even thought of him just getting vaccinated the day before, and niether did the docter obviously. Cancer was all I could think of while we waited for a biopsy, he was slowly withdrawing and I didnt even notice until years later watching home videos of him. I have right before the lastest vaccines and then the day before the biopsy, the one right before the biopsy is about a month after the shots, he is sitting in the corner stacking my shoes, you can tell he was slipping away, he was alot quieter in this movie than he was in the other. He was alot different. So I found another video that was about 4 months after the last, he was gone, totally withdrawn, quiet, to quiet for an almost 2 year old little boy. who wouldnt look when I called his name, who didnt even seem like he noticed anyone else was there. They took my baby from me, no cancer, thank god, but Autism. They will not try to help us cure our kids because that means they have to take credit, and that will never happen. My son was NOT born with Autism. I have two other Typical children one older and one younger. In June of 2007 I had to refuse a hepititus B vaccine at the hospital for my newborn because it contained, let me say this loud and clear, THIRMERSOL. It really makes me mad when they say that all of it has been removed from vaccines, that is a bold face lie!!!! I do not completely blame that ingrediant but I am sure it didnt have a positive affect on my child. My youngest did have one set of vaccines at 2 months but he will not have anymore, also he has been sick since a day after the shots, but he doesnt have Autism! Thanks again for saying what so many of us were thinking.

[doodle]

Gatogorra,

That was a real nice bit there on the increase of metal illness and autism. It would be very interesting to see Grinker's reaction to this. Does he even touch on it at all or does he blow it off in his book? Always attack the main argument of the enemy, it is said, and the "autism rate always the same in history" is definitely the main argument and the key to everything for the CDC.

[MIchele]

Great job JB!! This is one of the best things I've read in a long time. :o)

[LeAnna]

Your site and "Who's Crazy" article was posted on an autism group I am on. I read your site with great wonder and thankfulness for your tenacity in correcting a "professional". I have 3yo twin boys recently diagnosed and going through therapies and soon, preschool. They are one of the "rare" few who have never been vaccinated, although I've caught garbage from their pede even AFTER diagnosis! I am convinced that if I had them vax'd, their autism would be MUCH worse than it is. Also, I have wondered: since they have not had vax's and I HAVE...how much of an effect is that on children of today? I actually had TWO sets of vax's in my childhood bec the military lost my records. I got asthma shortly after the second round. My oldest son does not have autism, but has severe asthma that started after his last round of shots at 3. Perhaps Dr. Minshew was correct in the statement of "years of genetic mutation" (or whatever it was)...yeah...why would we be mutating? How about years of government experimentation and now all those vaccines are building up in our bloodstreams? Better yet...how about all the genetic mutations we've done to our food supply? The amount of artificical ingredients - like the excitotoxing MSG - that the government is still allowing in our foods? What if all THOSE things are making these "mutations" she speaks of?

Anyway, off my soapbox. I really just wanted to thank you for your REAL work in the REAL world if autism!

[Kendra Pettengill]

Since JB is from Oregon, let's look at Oregon as I would love to hear the good doctor explain Oregon and all the other states just like it. Fifteen years ago Oregon had 3 children recognized and receiving services for an official diagnosis of Autism, as noted by the Oregon Department of Education.
Now, let's go with the Dr's. theory that there is no epidemic, simply better diagnostics "catching" the verbal children with Autism. What would you expect the number to be if we suddenly realized some of these verbal children actually were autistic...I will give you 20. In a state with the population of Oregon, improved diagnostics might have picked up around 20 children with Autism. I'll even give you 20 or 30 more children that perhaps were diagnosed previously with something else, but now children with these same symptoms are labeled with Autism. OK, so I will throw in a few more if you really want to give these idiots credit for better recognition, despite the fact that not a single one of us have met one of these great diagnosticians. Our personal stories are more like 1 to 3 years of beating them over the head, demanding to know what was wrong with our child before we finally got some answers, but our experiences don't mean anything in this argument, they never have. So, let's say I give you 97 children that were picked up, that may have been previously missed. That is a lot, and if they were it, we might have a hard time arguing against the better diagnostics theory. But instead, in Oregon, the number that used to be only "3" is now over 6,000.
Does any human being with two neurons to rub together actually believe that 6,000 children were missed in Oregon in our recent past with the disorder we now know all too well from our own children and their classmates.
I will say it again, my town of 1,000 people with an average size per grade at around 40 students has 9 Kindergarters this year with full blown autism. The teachers now say it's easier to count the few kids that aren't messed up than the ones who are. Teachers with 25 years experience say "something is very wrong with our children". There are only five of those Kindergartners who are not on some kind of daily drug or that do not have an educationally significant diagnosis. In the southern part of my county 1/3 of all children entering the grade schools have a diagnosis of Autism, bi-polar disorder, or schizophrenia. Yah, like we all remember those kids when we were children(insert sarcasm here). Maybe the good doctor can tell us why our schools are going broke taking care of Autistic children(ok sarcasm again), if they have always been there. A condition and its symptoms by any other name, still would have had to be "handled" and still would have cost the same amount of money, so why the surge in costs. Hell not just a surge, a tsunami.
Like the others before her and those that will come after, apparently the Dr. has spent far too many of her 22 years in her ivory towers filling out NIH applications for more money.
She should stick to grant writing and measuring how far apart a kids ears are and leave Autism to those of us living with it and witnessing it every day in our lives.

[Gayatri]

"For example, a child develops hand flapping some time after the second MMR/boosters. So did the hand flapping begin in fetal development and somehow wait until the later set of vaccines to present itself?"

Every parent that is intent on recovering their child and has taken a close enough look at the Amy Yasko protocol is aware that hand flapping is a manifestation of an ammonia overload. The pertinent question to ask these omniscient doctors is - what is there in the vaccines that caused my child to get this increased ammonia? What kind of reaction occurs when the vaccine is injected in my child's body to cause him to do this? Do you think that this is something acceptable?

Do you not think that if we say that this happened to my child that you have a moral responsibility and a moral obligation to:

1. find out what exactly happened.
2. find out why it happened?
3. should you not be even a little bit concerned that this exact same reaction has been witnessed by several other parents post the vaccination of their child?
4. does it not bother you that in addition to the increase in autism in the last 18 years there has been a concurrent increase in other childhood diseases as well?
5. do you not even question, well even a teeny tiny bit, that it might possibly have something to do with the fact that you are injecting poisonous neurotoxins into infants and are triggering countless autoimmune disorders in children.

What is it going to take for you to make a simple connection? How come we parents with no medical degree know more about this disorder than you do? Could it be that its because our child is precious to us and we care about him? How come you do not care about what happened to my child? I am waiting for an answer to this very simple question. Here it is again -

How come doctor, you do not seem to care about what happened to my child?