AGE OF AUTISM

ABC Nightline To Feature Controversial Shock Treatment at Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts

Watch ABC Nightline Tonight and go to ABC News HERE to learn more. Students at the Judge Rotenberg School in Massachusetts are subjected to electric shocks, with parental knowledge and approval. This school has been part of an ongoing debate on how to manage behavior, treatments for behaviors and the human rights of children. (As an aside, I grew up in Attleboro, Massachusetts and Judge Rotenberg played golf with my father at Highland Country Club. Rumor has it Judge Ernie played about as honestly as Judge Smails in CaddyShack. KS)

MDRI to be featured on ABC Nightline scheduled to air tonight

MDRI documents torture against children and adults with disabilities living at a Massachusetts residential school and files “urgent appeal” to United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture

Washington, DC – June 30, 2010 - Mental Disability Rights International’s (MDRI) latest report and “urgent appeal” to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, to demand the United States government end the torture of people with disabilities immediately, will be the topic of tonight’s ABC Nightline.Torture not Treatment: Electric Shock and Long-Term Restraint in the United States on Children and Adults with Disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC), documents the use of electric shocks on the legs, arms, torsos and soles of feet of children and adults with disabilities – for weeks, months and sometimes years. JRC uses punishments as treatment and US advocates have been trying for decades to close the school and end these practices.

Nightline host, Cynthia McFadden, interviewed MDRI Executive Director Eric Rosenthal, JD and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak for the piece.

Skepticism: It's a Good Thing, Unless it's Vaccines.

By Julie Obradovic

Kids still asleep. Coffee in hand. Open shades and a window. Beautiful day in Chicago. Pop on the TV to see what's happening in the world. Good Morning America. George Stephanopolous. Like him. Tune in.

What's this? A new study of a bunch of studies shows cholesterol medication may actually not be necessary, helpful, and perhaps even dangerous in people who don't have heart disease? You mean not everyone should be taking cholesterol medication no matter what? Dr. Richard Besser, GMA's go-to medical professional, weighs in. My coffee spits out.

Besser: "...We don't have experience looking at this in people over decades, which is really what we should do (comparing those who have heart disease and those who don't)....There are definitely side effects...We want to make sure they are only used in people who are going to benefit....Over time, more and more drug trials are sponsored by industry. And it's been clearly shown that industry sponsored trials are more likely to show a positive result....Not only are trials being sponsored by industry, the data are being collected by industry, they are being analyzed by industry, and written up by industry. For many trials....the lead author doesn't even get to see the primary data. They see the results tables and write up and sign their name on it."

Stephanopolous: "How do we trust all this?"

Besser: "Well, I am very skeptical, and I think people need to be very skeptical about this. You need to see a number of different trials. You need to understand who did these trials, and do they have a vested interest, a financial interest in the results."

Stephanopolous: "Should people stop taking their medications?"

Besser: "....Talk to your doctor if you have questions...diet, exercise, and stop smoking. Those are the things that stop heart disease! It's clear!"

Why doesn't this same logic apply to vaccines? In the land of unicorns and fairies, vaccines are portrayed as essentially benign. No side effects, only extremely-rare-well-worth-it ones that are probably only coincidence anyway. Industry being involved in the studies that say so is considered good science, not a conflict. Question that and you are a conspiracy theorist. Suggest that the government or medical institution is really no more objective given their ties to the industry, their role in the problem, the huge foreign policy and political ramifications they could face, the fact we're primarily talking about harming children and how emotional and defensive that makes people, and well my friend, you are not only a conspiracy theorist, you're a dangerous nut job.

David Kirby: Get Our Farm Animals Off Drugs, First Get Our Politicians Off Farm (and Drug) Money

Please read the full post and comment at HuffPo HERE. David's book, Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment is available now at Amazon.

Get Our Farm Animals Off Drugs, First Get Our Politicians Off Farm (and Drug) Money

When it comes to all the addictions that plague our society, there are two that rarely get enough attention, let alone a badly needed intervention: our factory farms' addiction to low-dose antibiotics, and our politicians' addiction to high-octane cash from mega industries like Big Ag and Big Pharma.

On Monday, the FDA gingerly announced that it is thinking about maybe recommending that livestock and poultry operations use antibiotics more judiciously.

Many animal factory farms (or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations -- CAFOs) rely heavily on sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics mixed into animal feed to prevent disease and make their animals grow faster. Operators can buy these pharmaceuticals by the barrel-full at a feed store, without a prescription and without the supervision of a vet. According to some figures, up to 70% of all US antibiotics are given to farm animals.

Most CAFOs need these drugs to make a profit. Take the antibiotics away and many would not be able to cram so many animals into such a tight confinement without those creatures getting sick and dying. And without these drugs, the industrialists would not be able to get their pigs and chickens to market with the warp speed they are now able to achieve -- and that would mean more feed, less profit...

Is Low Risk of Seizures Low Enough for Parents Facing MMR and Chicken Pox Vaccines?

From USA Today. My oldest had a febrile seizure. And then a four year  grand mal seizure ordeal. You do not want to witness your child having a seizure. The first may not be the last. KS
 
The NYT ran an article today HERE, and takes a more cautionary approach than the USA Today version, suggesting breaking up the vaccines for safety.

Toddlers who get a vaccine that combines the measles-mumps-rubella and chickenpox immunizations are at twice the usual risk for fevers that lead to convulsions, a new study reports.

By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY

Combining two common childhood immunizations — the chickenpox vaccine and the joint measles, mumps and rubella shot, or MMR — slightly increases the risk of fever-related seizures in toddlers, a new study shows.

Authors note that the overall risk of seizures is very low.

All four vaccinations are critically important, and experts say that children shouldn't skip or delay any of them. And while fever-related seizures may be frightening to parents, they aren't actually serious and don't cause permanent harm, says Nicola Klein, author of the study in today's Pediatrics.

Parents who are concerned may want to ask for two separate shots — MMR and chickenpox — instead of taking the four-in-one combination called ProQuad, says Klein, co-director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center in California...

Youngster Drowns

One of a parent's worst fears comes true in New Jersey.  Read more at NJ.com. Our sincere condolences to the family. Please support FOUND, an autism safety initiative from our sponsor NAA. 
 
It was a pond with no name.

Signs warned against swimming , boating and fishing, but people liked to walk around it, nestled off to the side of a condo complex in Bernards Township. Today it was the scene of tragedy, after an eight-year-old boy believed to be autistic found his way down the gentle grass slope to the water’s edge and drowned.

Authorities would not identify the young victim, but neighbors said there had been a frantic search underway hours earlier for a missing child... Read more at NJ.com.

John Odgren's Parents Speak Out

The comments at the newspaper are particularly mean spirited, ignorant and troubling. From The News Telegram in Massachusetts. Please pop over there and read them.

 —  John Odgren stopped receiving invitations to birthday parties when he was a second-grader. As a child suffering from Asperger's syndrome, he was isolated and desperate to have friends, according to his parents, Paul and Dorothy Odgren.

While other children his age mingled easily with their classmates, their youngest son's social circle was small. His mother recalls having to intercede on his behalf.

“I begged the (other) mothers, ‘Please let your son come see my son,' ” Mrs. Odgren said. “He didn't know how to make friends.”

The ordeal of living with Asperger's, a form of autism, has been a lifelong companion for the Odgrens, who two months ago watched in a Woburn courtroom as their son was convicted of murder in the first degree.

A Middlesex County jury rejected John Odgren's insanity defense and he was sentenced in April to life in prison without possibility of parole for the Jan. 19, 2007, stabbing death of James F. Alenson at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in Sudbury.

The 15-year-old angelic-looking freshman was stabbed in a school bathroom before the start of classes and his mother, father and two siblings never again saw alive the promising youngster they sent to school that day.

For the Odgren family, the loss of their son and brother has been a lifelong process. John Odgren, 16 at the time, and suffering from mental illness and Asperger's, took a kitchen knife to school and plunged it into James Alenson's heart. Fearful from the Stephen King novels with which he was obsessed, John Odgren believed that the 19th would be a day of doom — a fear that proved only too correct.

Two families will never be the same... Read the full story in the News Telegram.

Autism Genome Project Phase 2

By Katie Wright

The results of The Autism Genome Project’s Phase 2 results were published last week with much fanfare. Media outlets all over the world covered this story. Reporters titled their stories: “Incredible breakthrough,” “Amazing Discovery,” and “Putting the pieces of the puzzle together!” I am so tired of that last one.

After reading the study I came to a number of conclusions. Scientists are very excited about new technology enabling them to better study DNA. This technology has greatly improved their turn around time. These scientists are obviously very intelligent and hard working, exhibiting tremendous dedication to their belief (not mine) that autism is mainly a genetic disorder. My second conclusion is that a TREMENDOUS about of time, money and other resources have been invested in this project, probably more than any other autism study- ever. I would love to know the exact dollar amount, $100 million, more? The need to justify the use of such resources is inherently powerful on a conscious or unconscious level. My final conclusion is a question: How does finding 3% of the genes associated with one of probably dozens of variants stop this out of control epidemic and how will it help kids living today with autism?

Listen I am not saying I have all the answers or this is easy. Even if it meant finding a cure for autism I could not decipher a microarray. But unfortunately, many families feel that the authors of this study have confused hard work, great collaborative efforts and basic science discoveries with meaningful progress towards uncovering the causes of autism. I think recent discoveries that upwards of 25% of ASD kids have a mitochondrial /metabolic disorder, 50% have GI problems and an exponentially increasing number of ASD are regressing into the disorder are all more powerful discoveries than learning 3% of the genetic cause of possibly 1 of 100 variants or autism. However, comparatively zilch has been invested into these huge discoveries.

I have a theory called “Big Man, Big Machine.”  It is inherently more glamorous, exciting, clean and publisher friendly to conduct high tech driven gene research, develop new and exciting microarray technology and buy expensive MRI machinery, than actually interacting with autism families and learning about the biggest research gaps.  How many of these scientists want to learn about endless failed interventions, frightening and incessant diarrhea or life destroying regressions following adverse vaccination reactions. Because if, God forbid, that were to happen autism research $ would have to be spent on deciphering why the terminal uleium of so many kids look like craters on Mars, why Tylenol exacerbates adverse vaccine reactions, why children with families with a history of autoimmune disease are at the highest risk for autism and finally how the hell does a combination of multiple viruses and dozens of toxic (completely unresearched) adjuvants affect a babies’ central nervous system? Messy and controversial right, who needs that when we can bypass the needs of ASD kids altogether and stick with “Big Man, Big Machine” research. I don’t think these scientists intend understand how autism has truly morphed from a “highly heritable psychiatric disorder” to a form of environmentally triggered brain damage- much like a traumatic brain injury.

None of the genome data is showing us the mechanism that is causing the spontaneous mutations. What is turning on “these rare genetic variants?” Autism is endlessly heterogeneous. It isn’t like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrous. There could easily be 100 variants of autism. 25 more years of sequencing genes still will not uncover the most important causation factors, nor will it halt autism’s relentless increase. I appreciate the authors’ candor when they said it might be decades until a drug is developed to treat some of the variants of autism. Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of time. These are the study’s conclusions:

1) Autism risk genes are rare variants in the genome

2) Some new autism genes were discovered. Genes involved with cell growth, communications and genes that respond to environmental stimuli. Hmmmmmmmm. Autism involves genes that are responsive to environmental stimuli…

3) The genes appear to cluster around a specific biochemical pathway in the brain. Drugs could possibly be developed to recover the function of these pathways.

Teri Arranga Interviews Susan Delaine Author of The Autism Cookbook

ON THE VOICE AMERICA HEALTH AND WELLNESS CHANNEL
TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 12 NOON ET
www.health.voiceamerica.com

Click HERE to enter our contest for a free copy and stay tuned for a very cool promotion!

Gorgeous, EASY, and gluten- and dairy-free:  THAT'S what you'll find in The Autism Cookbook by Susan Delaine, mother of a son with autism and numerous food allergies.  Join Susan and Teri as they talk about the Delaine family's journey, how to read food labels, the benefits of raw foods and organic foods, food substitutions, and more.  And with more exciting news from Skyhorse Publishing, hear how you can get a free copy of Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism when you purchase The Autism Cookbook beginning July 8th.  Visit www.SusanDelaine.com and www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

Watch Jeremy Sicile-Kira's Commencement Speech

We ran a post about Jeremy two weeks ago, HERE. Below is his commencement speech. Congratulations, Jeremy, and thanks for the inspiration.

Win The Autism Cookbook by Susan Delaine from Skyhorse Publishing

M. Altmeyer is the winner!

“THIS BOOK IS A WONDERFUL RESOURCE GUIDE WRITTEN TO HELP THOSE CHALLENGED
WITH AUTISM.”
—Fran Wenbert, CNC, CNHP, Natural Health Educator

THE AUTISM COOKBOOK
101 Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Recipes
By Susan K. Delaine

Susan K. Delaine has struggled for years with her autistic son’s food sensitivities and health discomforts. After painstaking trial and error, she found that a gluten-free and dairy-free diet, combined with healing arts, positively affected his dietary health, as well as his emotional and mental health. In The Autism Cookbook: 101 Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Recipes, Delaine offers to everyone a strong case for how a nutritious diet, free of dairy and gluten, combined with a spiritual living can enhance the health of an autistic child and adult.