AGE OF AUTISM

The List Keeps Growing: David Kirby on the Autism Vaccine Connection

Managing Editor's Note: Who thinks this list is naughty and who thinks it's nice?

By David Kirby

It’s getting harder to keep up with the list of scientists, doctors, public health officials and government leaders who now believe that a vaccine-autism connection is at the least possible, and should be researched further.

Earlier this week, Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health was added. Now, eight more prominent researchers have joined the group. (See list below – they are the last eight names added).

12/1: 2nd National Stakeholder Meeting. Review of Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan.

Managing Editor's Note: The meeting starts at 8am Pacific time on Monday, 12/1 (tomorrow.) The public is able to listen via webcase. Details within the post.

2nd National Stakeholder Meeting. Review of Priorities in the National Vaccine Plan

Event Date:   December 01, 2008 at 8:00am Pacific.

The workshop will focus on topics related to Goal 1 of the update to the National Vaccine Plan (Research and Development), and on draft portions of the update currently being developed by federal agencies with coordination by NVPO. The draft plan will be posted to the project website when it is given to the committee by NVPO (approximately two weeks before the meeting).

Antibiotics and Autism

By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.

It’s been part of the autistic canon for so long that it often gets overlooked in our discussions of autism.

That is the observation that prior to the development of autism, many of our children had multiple ear infections, which were then treated with antibiotics.  Many parents believe the antibiotic treatment in some way set the stage for their child’s autism.  I know that my own daughter had several ear infections in her first year of life which were treated with antibiotics.

One of the problems in nailing down the extent to which antibiotics may affect the gut flora is that we really haven’t had a full understanding of the bacteria which live in a typical human digestive system.

CT Autism Speaks and Bow Tie Cinema Hosts Sensory Friendly Showing of Madagascar!

Managing Editor's Note: So, do you remember the hell I raised over the jewelry fund raiser for Autism Speaks here in Connecticut?  Well, Autism Speaks' Diana Yeisley has put together an event (not a fund raiser) that I think is just fantastic.  And I'm a big believer that while we can disagree within the community, we can also celebrate great ideas. Diana has organized movie theaters to have "sensory friendly" showings of Madagascar. No previews to bore our kids to death. The volume is a little bit lower. The lights are up a bit. And we can bring in our own GFCF snacks! The event was such a success in Simsbury, CT she's added a showing at the Bow Tie Theatre in Trumbull.  Mia, Gianna, Bella, Mark and I will be there with bells on! 

Thank you to Diana for the wonderful idea. I won't have on fancy jewelry (sigh...) but an easy movie with the kids is a good as 18K gold! If you're in the area, join us!  I'll live blog it too. Here's Diana's note to the CT autism groups with details below:

Hello Everyone -

Due to the OVERWHELMING response that I got from the 2 showings that were done in Simsbury last weekend, I contacted another theater and will be bringing the same thing to Trumbull on December 6th!

Giving Thanks

By Wendy Fournier

At this time of year, many of us pause to reflect on the good things in our lives.  This pause in itself is a good thing.  It slows down the treadmill that so many of us live on from day to day, focusing on the short term goal of just making it to bedtime without a major meltdown, without an episode of pain that cannot be expressed or made better by a hug from Mom, without the terror of a child slipping out of the house or school unnoticed, without scrubbing carpets or walls artfully decorated with things that should never be there.

Sometimes, when it’s quiet, we bravely look toward the future and wonder what it may hold for our families.  Will my baby find her way back to me?  Will she ever call me “Mommy”?  Will she be able to live on her own, go to college, get married?  Will she have someone to love her and care for her when I’m gone?  And then we quickly go back to focusing on those short term goals that aren’t quite so overwhelming to face.

Adventures in Autism: History of Eli Lilly's Thimerosal and Autism

Click HERE to read "History of Thimerosal and Autism" over at Ginger Taylor's Adventures in Autism.

Invented in the 1920’s by Eli Lilly, thimerosal is 49.6% ethlymercury by weight, a neurotoxin known to be more than a hundreds times more lethal to tissue than lead.

Eli Lilly’s safety testing of the product consists of a 1930 study of 22 patients dieing from mengiococcal meningitis in an Indiana hospital. Patients are injected with the solutions and followed until their death, which is within days. Because the patients die of meningitis, they are declared to show no adverse reaction to thimerosal and the product is declared safe for use. Thimerosal is subsequently introduced for use in vaccines and in over the counter remedies as a preservative to kill bacteria in the product.

Elie Ward and the AAP Fighting for the Rights of Vaccine Makers

Managing Editor's Note: Katie, perhaps you should have told Elie you were the daughter of Bob and Suzanne Wright? I'll bet she'd have picked up the phone.  Or you could have called yourself "Miss Tayloe Merck." Or a nice Russian/Italian girl named "Ivana Varicella." That surely would have done the trick.  Thank you for fighting for our kids, Katie.

By Katie Wright

I tried to have this discussion with Elie Ward in private.

I left three messages at her office. I identified myself as a parent of a sick autistic child and a typically developing child. I said I am pro vaccination, but pro safe vaccination and that I would like to speak with Ms. Ward about some of the claims she made in her recent letter to my congressperson, Rep. Carolyn Maloney. (HERE)

No response…

I guess it is far easier to throw one’s weight around in letters to government officials than it is to return parents’ phone calls. Ellie, you feel so strongly about your beliefs yet are unwilling to discuss them with the families you purport to serve? I wonder why?

A New Inquisition?

By Louis Conte

In June of 2005, I was stuck in traffic on I-287 in Westchester, New York. I put on the radio and heard Don Imus interviewing David Kirby about his book – Evidence of Harm. Mr. Kirby was explaining the possible connection between vaccines, mercury and autism. As the father of two boys with autism, I listened. I was impressed with Mr. Kirby’s logical, journalistic presentation.  He presented the vaccine-autism question as a question that needed further serious study. What I learned that day started a process that changed my life and my world view. More importantly, it put my family on a course that changed the way we approached treating our son’s autism. Three years later, my sons are improving.  There is a long way to go, but both boys are living better, healthier lives.

David Kirby triggered this by getting me to think about autism as an environmentally induced disorder.  None of the pediatricians, neurologists or autism service professionals provided my family with this perspective.

For all of you....  ;)

A of A Contest: T-shirt Tagline

We're designing Age of Autism t-shirts and you're invited to submit your idea(s) for the tagline. We're looking for a pithy, "so that's what they're all about" sentence to run under our logo.

Submit your ideas in the comments section. Have fun. Be creative. (But remember, your kids will read the t-shirt too.)  We'll announce the winner in a couple of days.