Retired 9/11 Firefighter Writes to President Obama About Urgency of Autism

By Tim Dwyer

President Obama

I am sending you these boots to symbolize the fact that my son Colin will never be a third generation NYC Firefighter, Colin like 1.5 million other American children and young adults has Autism.  Our children are getting older and the Autism debate is endless, I just left my sons school and had to step around a student having a “difficult” time sprawled out on the floor, we parents are heartbroken and angry that our beautiful kids are so tormented, they have no future, and we anguish over what will become of them when we are no longer around to care for them.

 We need a cure, and we need your help, it won’t cost you a dime, just a few passionate words. We need you to be brave like my son and bold like President Kennedy when in dramatic and unforgettable fashion he challenged  the scientific community of the day to put a man on the moon, his words were powerful and inspired our nation to one of the greatest achievements in human history.  Our Autistic sons and daughters need you to push the scientific community of today the same way, inspire and challenge them to find a cure for Autism by the end of this decade. We need a champion and from where I’m standing saving 1.5 million lives plus future generations is a far greater achievement than putting a man on the moon.  

Ask the  X Prize foundation to set up a $10 million prize for our cure, if they are not interested we can raise the money ourselves through Autism Speaks the “A” prize,  (Managing Editor's Note: Tim and I had a good laugh over that suggestion but maybe if the President asks, they'll "listen" so to speak) there are so many of us it will only be a few bucks a head. Attached is a check for the first $100.00 for the fund, and I will mortgage my house and liquidate every asset we have if needed.

 The reason we need to go this route is simple, nothing has changed in the last 10 years, millions have been wasted on the same gene studies, and we are no closer to a cure. The CDC has stood by and watched the numbers of new cases grow with horrifying callousness.  We need to get government and big pharma out of the way and put a bounty on Autism's head. I often think about the guys who came up with the HIV protocol they were denied grants and worked out of a garage in Jersey, these are the kind of people who will find our cure.        

 Autism parents are some of the greatest people I have ever met but we are not just a community of parents we are grandparents, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends and neighbors who are all affected by Autism, and we enthusiastically support anyone who helps our children. The rates are 1 in 88 ( 1 in 54 boys) now, 10 years ago they were 1 in 150, what will the numbers be when  your beautiful  daughters (who thankfully have already dodged the Autism bullet) are ready to have children 1 in 2? You will be helping your future grandsons and future generations, who will have to care and fund taking care of millions of disabled people.  Throw down this gauntlet for all of us. See safeminds.org and if you get a chance talk to Rep. Dan Burton he is our only voice in congress. If you would like to meet to discuss,  

Thank you, Timothy P. Dwyer

Tim Dwyer was a 20 year veteran of the NYPD and FDNY. He and his wife Maria testified in the Omnibus thimerosal test cases, are creators of the "Guns & Hoses Comedy event to benefit Autism education, were founding parents who helped open a school for ASD children in Long Island, Maria is a member of the communications committee for Safeminds.org their son Colin attends the QSAC day school in Queens NY.

Comments

[Raymond Gallup]

I know lots of parents/families complain about the CDC, NIH , Autism Speaks, etc. not funding the right autism research. I know that there are lots of good researchers out there like Andy Wakefield and Vijendra Singh who no longer get funding.

Back in 1998, I knew the only way to get the right funding was to create my own autism research organization and I did. It was called The Autism Autoimmunity Project. In 2005 it went out of business but not before we raised $130,000.00.

Wakefield and Singh are still out there. May be some parents can organize an autism research non profit organization and beat the NIH, CDC and autism non profits like Autism Speaks at their own game? It isn't easy but I would be glad to help in any way but I wouldn't want to be in the organization. The reason, it seemed to draw people in that eventually sabotaged The Autism Autoimmunity Project and I wouldn't want to start that over again.

If interested, I can be contacted at raygallup@optimum.net

Raymond

[Raymond Gallup]

Benedetta,

You want accounting of men and women who sat there for 30 years and did nothing.

Ask Henry Waxman, a Democrat Congressman from California that voted for the 1986 law and pushes vaccines.

http://www.whale.to/v/waxman1.html

http://www.whale.to/v/waxman.html

This Turkey fought Congressman Dan Burton who supported families at Autism/Vaccine hearings over the years.

If anybody should be a target to unseat by the Autism community, this political reprobate, Henry Waxman should be number one.

If the Autism community would like do the following, I would definitely be supportive.

Term Limits for the following:

President, one term, 4 years
US Congress, one term, two years
US Senate, one term, six years

Also limit salaries and that they can not be raised by the US Congress and US Senate like they are now.

That the Congress, Senate and President have the same Heathcare and Retirement Benefits that we have and that they are under Social Security like the rest of us. Also, since Obamacare has been passed, then the President, Senate and Congress should be covered under Obamacare (until and unless it is repealed).

If there are term limits and they have to live like the rest of us as citizens of the US, then there might be control of the pharmaceutical company lobbyists since these representatives will be more responsible to the people.

Oh yes, there should be a law, that any form of lobbying by private citizens/companies toward the President, US Senate and US Congress be made illegal and subject to fines and 10 to 20 year imprisonment in a Washington DC prison (not a Federal prison). Lobbying and Lobbyists should be banned altogether.

Again I will join in the effort to support the aforementioned.

Raymond

[Benedetta]

*Empty boots
*The lights going off and not coming back on.
*The water no longer comes through the faucet, you have to carry it in from a bucket from a well you had to dig.
*No body is working and every one is getting benifits - because most with autism are not getting employment - sounds like Greece to me.

Republican or Democrat

Both will go along if vaccine saftey and vaccine injury becomes a hot issue and the American people are good and angry. Well most are not- most are still scared to death of the flu coming in from Mexico. When that happens Republican and Democrat will scrambled to get credit for taking steps to stop the epidemic/stop people like Offit, Cherry and tons of other going from government jobs to pharma jobs. To do what is right and then "neither" will ever mention that they let this diaster go on for the last 40 years-- the last 30 for sure - as it only got worse.

I for one want an accounting of men and women that sat there for the last 30 years and did nothing or worse.

[Not Another Greece]

So Tired,

Per your statement............

"Today's Republicans want to reduce benefits under the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs...programs that many of our kids are already utilizing...or are going to need in the not-so-distant future!!!"

The United States will be another Greece. This article below shows what happened in Greece with mounting debt and entitlements and if Obama gets re-elected, what happened to Greece will happen to the US in Obama's second term.

Not Another Greece

Greece For Dummies

Greece is a socialist country with plenty of entitlements.

Few Greeks work producing products or services which outsiders want to buy, other than the Greek ruins. Therefore there is little income and profits that can be saved and reinvested for future growth.

Even fewer Greeks pay taxes to generate government revenue with which to pay entitlements. Without tax revenue, borrowing is the only source of funds.

So, the Greek socialist government issued sovereign debt in the form of Euro bonds at low Euro interest rates and used the borrowed money to pay the entitlements.

European banks, mainly the French and German banks, bought the bonds and treated them as rock solid assets on their balance sheets. After all, those bonds were “sovereign debt” with the full faith and credit of the national government.

Comes the recession which followed the worldwide financial crisis and with it hard times for all of Europe.

Now when it comes time to repay the Greek debt, Greece has no money, no tax revenue, so it borrows more money form the ECB, EU and the IMF. (NB: U.S. taxpayers contribute to IMF loans!)

This doesn’t sit well with the German workers whose taxes are going to subsidize Greek welfare benefits freely given to socialist Greek freeloaders.

So this time the lenders want assurances that Greece will eventually be able to repay the new loans, thus the ECB, EU and IMF impose conditions to the loans, mainly that the socialists entitlements be cut back, this so the government won’t need so much money in the future.

Well cutting entitlements doesn’t sit well with Socialists freeloaders, so the Greek citizens protest, clash with police, and riot.

http://renohayek.com/2011/06/greece-for-dummies/

[Anti-Vaccine Advocate]

Dear So Tired,

The Facts, not Bashing.

Yes President Reagan did sign National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 into law. Also Barbara Loe Fisher of NVIC worked with Congress to pass this very same law per......

"I worked with Congress in the 1980’s on the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986."

http://ttfuture.org/authors/barbara_loe_fisher

Here is the record of the President Carter, Clinton and Obama, all Democrats.

Forced vaccination with hepatitis B vaccine is also promoted in states by non-profit organizations such as Every Child by Two, founded in 1991 by former First Lady Rosalyn Carter and Betty Bumpers, wife of Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers.

http://www.nvic.org/nvic-archives/newsletter/untoldstory.aspx

(CNN) -- With the promise of coming AIDS vaccines, former President Bill Clinton urged the world's nations Monday not to give up on funding to prevent a calamity.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/19/clinton.aids.vaccine/index.html

Obama Received $20 Million from Healthcare Industry in 2008 Campaign

Currently, the Center's website shows that Obama received $19,462,986 from the health sector, which includes health professionals ($11.7m), health services/HMOs ($1.4m), hospitals/nursing homes ($3.3m) and pharmaceuticals/health products ($2.1m). Miscellaneous health donations (from which Obama received $860,411) are also factored into the current total health sector numbers but are not accessible on the site.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/12-9

Just the facts, both Republican and Democrat Presidents have supported the pharmaceutical companies to date.

One Republican Congressman Dan Burton has worked consistently for vaccine damaged kids with autism. He has had several hearings over the years on the subject.

Regarding Barbara Loe Fisher, a book by Marge Grant talks about Barbara Loe Fisher's involvement with the 1986 law.
Read her book, A Stolen Life. Eye opening about the facts.

See.............

http://dptshots.com/index.html

Anti-Vaccine Advocate

[Timothy Dwyer]

Please, this is not about Obama vs Romney This is about getting away from all the nonsence and focusing on curing our kids or at least developing a cocktail where they can function in this society. We need to show the canidates that we are approximately 5 million plus voters, (parents grandparents sibs and a friend or two) who's main issue is Autism and that in these politically polarized times we vote as one, that our community is important and our vote can tip an election, they should be courting us, as we just saw President Obama do with the Gays. We just want our children back and keep future children from being injured as our kids were,lets vote as a block for whichever canidate will help us get to that end.

[So Tired]

I'm SO TIRED of people bashing President Obama...and then arguing that a Republican president would fight harder for our kids!

Please remember that it was a REPUBLICAN who made childhood vaccines mandatory!!!

On Nov. 14, 1986, REPUBLICAN President Ronald Reagan signed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 into law. (And...who was his V.P.? REPUBLICAN George H.W. Bush...one-time member of the Eli Lilly board of directors.)

The "Space Race" was largely successful because of the increased revenues from higher taxes...that allowed us to "invest" in our nation "putting a man on the moon". (The top marginal tax rate under JFK was 65%. The top rate today is 35%...and many wealthy individuals pay far less than this. Romney pays around 14%).

Today's Republicans want to reduce benefits under the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs...programs that many of our kids are already utilizing...or are going to need in the not-so-distant future!!! (Do you really think that our kids will be "better off" without a basic "safety net" available to them? Do you honestly believe that the political party that gave vaccine manufacturers immunity from vaccine injury lawsuits...will fight to end childhood vaccines now?)

We need to learn about the history of what's really taken place in our nation...and think about what type of future we want for our children. (What did George W. Bush do for the autism community...during the 8 years that he was our president? Do you honestly believe that Romney will do more than Obama...or, will he do less? Could Romney actually make things far worse for our children by advocating for CUTS to crucial programs - educational, social, health, etc. - that currently help so many of our kids? What exactly did Romney do for the autism community when he was the governor of Massachusetts?)

[Raymond Gallup]

Sad but true. Obama will do nothing for autism just like he is doing nothing to help the unemployed, lower energy costs or do anything about the debt our children and grandchildren will inherit. Hope & Change is now Misery, Hopelessness and No Change.

Personally Ann Romney would do more than Obama since she has Multiple Sclerosis and is using Alternative treatments.
Whether Romney beats Obama is questionable since a lot of the American people are hypnotized by the Annointed One. I'm confident the American people will re-elect Obama and get another four years of what they have gotten so far. But in that time, Obama will do nothing for autism since he is reaching into the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry for campaign funds.

[Benedetta]

The empty boots really brings home the message!
Who will fill those boots - not just for firemen but other jobs that really are needed to keep this country moving and important life surviving services given in this country?

We have a cattle dog - when she was still a puppy the sight of a cow sent her running behind us, trembling with fear, but the interest was there. Soon, we would wake up in the morning without a cow in sight. and way out in the pasture all bunched up in a little circle, mad, frustrated was the herd with the dog running around them keeping them penned up. Great cattle dog!

My son has always been scared of storms, he watches the skies and storms with intense interest. He is scared of the electricity going off - even in high school when the electricity would go off during school he would call me - and try to act like it was no big deal - but I knew he was disturbed. He is intensely interested in electricity and traces all the wires down in the whole community. He knows which way the electricity runs through the community. He was agile - did walk at nine months, still has massive upper body strength - built to climb poles.
He was meant to be a lineman.
So, how many other jobs will go unfilled?
The CDC has ruined the nation.
Who knew that the real enemy- were medical/doctors/health/medical federal agencies????!!!!

[Kellie Smith]

I agree with everything you have said 200%. I have been fighting a long battle here and my son is turning 12. I have been met with force and threats of taking my son away and everything. I am not afraid. I have a powerful voice and I want to help or do anything I can to get my son and others help. I have had enough with the politics and the fake preservation of our future in name of the almighty dollar. I wish to take a stand and CHALLENGE our government to finally do something for us! I know about the vaccines, the studies and I know about the meds used and how physicians and drug reps use people in order to get the $... I am sick of the games and the schools are nothing but glorified babysitters. I want my son back (He does live in the home with me) but I am talking about how he was before autism took over! Again whatever I can do or have to do, I will go to the end of the world and back for my son and anyone else in this position. The issues go further than Money but still revolve around money..Sodium laurel sulfate, aluminium, and aspartame in products cause depression, neurological disorders, and even tests show lab rats that have developed holes in their brain from these items and the government is allowing these chemicals in everything we consume. I took all of this out of my home and almost instantly I saw and others saw a difference in my son, myself, and my other two children...Something has to be done. The President is supposed to be a servant of the people, voted by the people, for the people...So when do we, the PEOPLE matter? Tell me what I can do and I will take the LEAD! Enough about awareness, We all know someone or have a cousin, a child, or a friend of a friend, NOW LET's fix this!

[no vac]

May be we should start writing now to Romney, as Obama is not responsive? We need to know what is his stance on autism epidemic.

[cmo]

There will be about 7 billion dollars worth of campaign commercials run by November.

Any candidate who will donate say 10 million or so to directly help Autism families somewhere will have my support.

This would NOT mean donating to a hospital to build "five Autism beds" at "two million dollars" apiece...

[no vac]

What is the purpose of Obamacare?
It looks that this is just another tool for enforcing vaccinations on American children using public money. No toxic vaccines, no care, like in Africa, no vaccines no food for starving children. The next step will be enforced medications with toxic psychotropic drugs to increase profits of pharma sponsors. Can we expect empathy from this WH for vaccine-injured children? It seems not.

http://www.dailypaul.com/156281/obamacare-calls-for-mandatory-vaccination-and-proof-of-updates-to-vaccinations-in-order-to-get-any-healthcare

[Kristine]

Amazing letter.

The trouble is Obama doesn't give a rat's ass about kids with autism. Maybe at one point he did care about the "people" but as with 99% of politicians, he stopped caring when corporations told him to stop caring (or else). Look at Mrs. Obama's obesity cause for example. I have no doubt that she cares deeply about this cause and healthy eating, etc which is why she championed it in the first place. But if you examine the evolution of her involvement in this cause, it's an interesting tale of corporate influence (read: mandates). It began as promoting healthy eating and reducing "junk" food. But I'm guessing the people at frito lay, kraft, and coke/pepsi, etc didn't like her ragging on their products so much. Now her cause is more about exercise. I guess the money is hard to resist.

I don't think all hope is lost. And whether Obama chooses to listen to your letter or not, at some point we'll have to be heard. You know how the medical community is always saying that vaccines are victims of their own success (since we don't see all these infections to know how truly terrible they are, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth, anyway....)? I believe at some point our numbers will be SO IMMENSE that every single person in the country will be directly affected, in their immediate family. And then the damage will be so prevalent, that we will all be victims of our stupidity.

[tiredparent]

Tim, you are my hero for writing this powerful letter!

I agree 100% that we need a cure and have waited too long. I really really hope Obama responds to this with action, that your words instigate change and progress for our children. We should all be demanding a cure.

[Adam M]

RE: BARRY

EXACTLY! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH GOVERNMENT. IT'S USELESS. AT LEAST UNTIL MOST OF THEM HAVE DAMAGED CHILDREN AND THEY ARE CONVINCED IT IS BECAUSE OF THE VACCINES. OTHERWISE ITS JUST EASIER TO DENY IT. IT WASN'T THE GOVERNMENT THAT GOT ME STARTED RECOVERING MY CHILD. AND I DON'T FOLLOW THEIR OTHER ADVICE WITH MY YOUNGER CHILDREN EITHER. THEY HAVE BEEN HEALTHIER THAN THEIR OLDER SIBLINGS AND THAT HAPPENED FROM IGNORING THE GOVERNMENT / HEALTH ESTABLISHMENT.

[Barbara Carroll]

My autistic son is 32 years old and is starting to get a few gray hairs. Nothing has changed in 10 years? Nothing has changed in 32 years. I hope the President actually gets your boots !!!

[Georgia Mom]

The only potential President who has a record of accomplishments benefitting people with autism is Newt Gingrich. In the mid 90s - when autism got no Federal Funding for research or education because it was considered low-incidence - Newt Gingrich PERSONALLY raised over $500,000 for an Atlanta autism foundation to fund the Emory Autism Center, a model classroom for teacher training and direct services for families most-in-need all over the US. That seed money was invested well and STILL funds those programs! Newt also wrote Autism research (brain science)into his 21st Century Contract with America. He understands the crisis and his family is directly affected. Newt is our only hope for a President who is responsive and INFORMED about the autism epidemic. Obama has said he is not in favor of "selective immunization". Does that sound like he's going to protect us? He simply doesn't understand, and is too conventional and too much in the pocket of the AMA.

[no vac]

The attached link tells the story. As long as such corruption exists, people injured by pharma products have no chance of winning and even be heard by those in power. Crippling and killing children and adults with toxic vaccines is a mega business. This is the reality.

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=H4300

[Katie Wright]

You've got it 100% Tim!
So well said.
Where is the govt leadership on this issue? Nowhere.
I agree that gays and lesbians should be able to get married but shouldn't dealing with the autism epidemic be at least as big of a deal as gay marriage?

Bottom line Tim is right. Almost no scientific progress in 10 yrs. All the universities: Yale, Kennedy Krieger, UCLA, Boston Children's....waste 100s of millions of dollars on redundant going nowhere research. How many studies do we need on "learn the signs," how many studies on the fact early intervention is a good thing, how many thousands of brain imaging studies do we need, parental age nonsense...There is a lot of $ on the table but 90% of it is wasted.

Only real government leadership can change this. I forwarded Tim's piece to everyone I know. Think about sending it to your govt reps as well.

[Cassandra]

Tim,

I suggest you put this letter on Change.org or another signature collecting site. This letter needs to be accompanied with thousands of signatures to the President.

New York's bravest have sacrificed a lot already, they should not have to sacrifice their children for the greater good!

[happy]

I think one of Obama's strings is attached to pharma, or he would have done something. The president doesn't care about Americans, let alone, Americans with Autism whom others profit off of. Sorry.... to be negative, and I hope i am wrong,,, But his actions have spoken volumes.

[Nancy]

Tim,
Thank you for your wonderful letter. I hope that it touches the president the way it touched me. I also, will mortgage my house and liquidate every thing I have ever own for a cure.

[no vac]

Tim,
Do not expect the government to protect the people from injuries induced by pharma-cartels for profits. Powerful individuals in the government benefit enormously from this crime against humanity – financially and politically, as they are rewarded for their loyalty to big corporations. The corrupt marriage between the government and corporation was termed fascism by Benito Mussolini. The government will never stand on the side of the people as long as such system exists. People must take care of their own (and their children) life and health by educating themselves and refusing vaccinations.

[Mary]

I hope someone is listening on this!

[John Stone]

Tim,

Yes, we all know it isn't really a matter of funding, it is a matter of complicity - we couldn't make all the children well or restore their faculties overnight (and certainly not by swallow AS's exciting new range of psychotropic products) but we could bring this whole farce to a rapid halt if there was the political will.

Obama's presidency has overseen yet further encroachments by the pharmaceutical industry over the citizen.

http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/12/best-of-aofa-scientists-and-drug-companies-scheme-to-avoid-fda-scrutiny-and-exploit-us-vaccine-progr.html

What is America doing (we have of course very similar things going on in the UK)?

John

[Barry]

The cure for autism already exists, it's called un-vaccinated.

The medical community knows this, and that's exactly why they've been dragging their feet for decades, spending millions to study things which they know couldn't possibly be causal.

They've been stalling the public for years, because admitting what they know ultimately implicates them in an unbelievable assault on our children

This will never end by an admission on their part, but it will eventually end. Because more and more parents are cluing in every day, and eventually they'll all be demanding answers.

They can't keep lying forever.