AGE OF AUTISM

Olmsted on Autism: The deeply unlearned Kristina Chew

By Dan Olmsted

There are two things that bug me about Kristina Chew -- one, the fact she thinks it's funny to joke about me being shot and killed; and, far more than that, her preposterously precious and condescending style when she criticizes the way anyone she doesn't agree with writes about autism. 

These two things merge into one single sin -- the abuse of language by someone who thinks that's what they're writing about. Someone who would choose to describe herself as "a Classics professor in Jersey City, New Jersey, a blogger (formerly at AutismVox), a translator (of Virgil), and an advocate every day for her son, Charlie." 

After you've been through enough Chew, you know what's coming even without the Classics and Virgil references-- another exegesis with tropes drawn with abandon from the wide range of literature with which she is ever so familiar and sprinkles like pixie dust over her presumably agog and agape readers.

Autism Not Genetic –Says Expert Professor Simon Baron-Cohen

By Clifford Miller

In responding to John Stone’s Age of Autism article ‘Simon Baron-Cohen: Thinking Differently About Autism’ on One Click News, Prof Baron-Cohen not only firmly conceded that autism is in part environmental  -  contradicting the Offit doctrine beloved of health officials on both sides of the Atlantic  – he seems to have offered a further hostage to fortune. The point is taken up now by Clifford Miller on the ChildHealthSafety website HERE, who demonstrates that Baron-Cohen offered a fallacious proof that some cases of autism were “genetic”, based on instances of autism in identical twins. Yet, less than three weeks ago Baron-Cohen was kite-flying the idea that genetic screening for autism might soon be possible.  As usual there seems to be some confusion as to what Prof Baron-Cohen really thinks. The case continues to unravel... HERE.

Clifford Miller is a practising UK lawyer, and graduate physicist of Imperial College, London. In 2007 he organized the successful defence and exoneration of London GP Jayne Donegan HERE against charges of giving misleading evidence on vaccine safety and effectiveness.

 

Child Warrior: Liam B!

Meet Child Warrior Liam B! Looks like Liam is jumping up a storm! Our Child Warriors are so named for Jenny McCarthy's book, Mother Warriors. 

Silent Frog

By Cathy Jameson 

I have pictures of my kids on the refrigerator like any parent does. I have magnets for the local pizza joint, a couple of letters from a plastic alphabet that haven’t been lost or thrown out and a few magnetic words that have survived several moves and small, sticky hands.  Magnetic words used to define my love for any piece of literature I could get my hands on.  This past weekend, while cleaning out my bathroom, I found a lone magnetic word and slapped it on the fridge.  It happened to be next to another word hanging over Ronan’s picture.  The phrase “silent frog” stared with steely eyes.  My son who struggles is in fact very quiet.  Many days, he’s almost too quiet.

Witness a NY Religious "Sincerity Test" for Vaccine Exemption

By Rita Palma

This can’t happen in America. But it can in New York.

You’ll see a ‘sincerity test’-- conducted by a school attorney when my husband and I filed a religious waiver to refuse vaccines for our boys. David Cohen, attorney for our school, wanted to make supersure that we really, really believed in God. Of course, those people who lie about their belief in God are much more prone to diphtheria, hepatitis, measles, etc.—those disease-ridden atheists must be kept out of the public schools.

(There are three You Tube videos of the test.)

We failed our ‘sincerity test’- twice.

Child Warrior: Liam, aka "Batman!"

Meet Liam, oh, excuse me, meet the Caped Crusader! We could use a Superhero, Liam! Our Child Warriors are so named for Jenny McCarthy's book, Mother Warriors.  To the Bat Cave!

Continue the Protest of Federal Autism Committee’s Deceitful Reversal on Vaccine-Autism Research

Managing Editor's Note: The easiest way to participate is to click HERE and read the info on the Autism Action Coalition site.  We've copied the info below, but please, go to their site for details and to particpate in this action alert!

Autism Telephone Call Action Alert! Your Response to Our Email Message Alert Was Overwhelming – tens of thousands of Messages Were Sent. Now it's Time to Call Congress!

“The bureaucrats responsible for this scandal are on the wrong side of history…”
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Kirby, Huffington Post 1/27/09

Last week The Autism Action Coalition asked the autism community to send letters to key government decision-makers objecting to the inexcusable actions of the Federal members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in retracting vaccine-autism studies. Your response was overwhelming and thousands of letters were sent!

We’re asking for your help again before the next IACC meeting takes place – less than a week away! We are asking you to call 3 key legislators who are critical in making sure that autism research addresses the mounting health crisis of people with ASD.

Call Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543

Call Senator Mike Enzi at (202) 224-3424

Call Representative Chris Smith at (202) 225-3765

Paula Crossfield on HuffPo: "A Friend of Our Kids"

Paula Crossfield is a HuffPo blogger (she writes about food, see her site, Civil Eats) who draws the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, mercury really is a problem for our kids.  Click HERE to read and comment please.

Until now, parents of children with autism who have spoken up about their fears that their child's disorder came on the heels of vaccination have been given the status of heretic. But it turns out that the increase in autism we have been witnessing over the last few decades could be a result of the over-all increase in the body burden caused by mercury in our air and water, and by proxy the fish we eat, our vaccines and dental fillings, and now, in our high fructose corn syrup, a substance marketed and consumed most often by those most at risk: children...

 

An Addendum to February's "First Read"

Managing Editor's Note: David Kirby's post  Il Mercurio and the AAP on the Italian study has been duly noted by Dr. First of AAP. Dr. First has updated his site. Molto bene. Click HERE.

It has been brought to my attention that in the study on thimerosal briefly highlighted below, I noted that groups did or did not get thimerosal and had similar results in terms of neuropsychological developmental outcomes. Reading of this study will indicate that both groups studied actually did have thimerosal in their vaccines, one group having 62.5 micrograms cumulative intake and the other 137.5 micrograms cumulative intake. While the amount of thimerosal in the lower group studied in Italy is less (according to the author of this study Dr. Tozzi) than the small amounts used in this country, I do want to correctly indicate there was no group studied that received no thimerosal whatsoever in their vaccines. The results of this study suggesting essentially minimal (if any) differences in developmental outcomes remains as stated--although a limitation as noted by Dr. Tozzi is that there was no comparison group with zero exposure to thimerosal. I appreciate the readers who have brought this to my attention so that I could more accurately clarify my interpretation of this study. Please read this article for yourself to learn more.

 

Pediatrics Warns Docs about Dr. Sears and the Alternative Vax Schedule

Pediatrics is warning it's members about the alternative vax schedules that its customers, its clients, its PATIENTS are demanding.  And that politicians, parents, doctors, scientists and other sane people are now considering the norm, not the exception. And look! Another Rotovirus vaccine has been licensed!

Read the full piece HERE.

Please visit Ask Dr. Sears, and make sure you buy The Vaccine Book for unbiased information that puts your precious child first.
 
A WARNING ABOUT DR. ROBERT SEARS’S ALTERNATIVE VACCINE SCHEDULE

In a special article in the January issue of Pediatrics, the authors discuss the increasing popularity of a book by Dr. Robert Sears (The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child) in which he provides alternative vaccine schedules for parents who want to decline, delay, or reduce the number of vaccines. The authors of the special article provide information about the fallacies of the alternative approach and summarize misconceptions of families and physicians who opt for the alternative schedule. All physicians who care for children should read this article to increase their understanding of alternative vaccine schedules and to better inform parents.

Guess who wrote the "special article?"  Dr. Paul Offit. HERE.