AGE OF AUTISM

Olmsted on Autism One Radio: Somali's Tell Their Story -- And Blast The NYT

EDITOR'S NOTE: This week I interviewed several people involved in uncovering the cluster of autism cases in the Somali immigrant community in Minneapolis, for Autism One radio. We discussed their courageous efforts, along with the recent New York Times story that portrayed them as poor and poorly informed -- easy prey for anti-vaccine zealots. But as you will hear, they are plenty capable of thinking for themselves. I'm proud to say they will join us on a panel at Autism One in May. We will stand with them no matter what nonsense the mainstream media and public health officials cook up to counter the truth. -- DAN OLMSTED
 
LISTEN HERE

March 26, 2009 SPECIAL EDITION
12:30 pm - 1:30 ET
www.AutismOne.com/radio

The Somali Community and Autism: The Situation, the Truth, and the Press
Host: Dan Olmsted, Editor, Age of Autism
Guests: Abdulkadir Khalif, Abdirisak Jama, Hodan Hassan, Patti Carroll

A of A Q&A: Dr. Liz Mumper on The Rimland Center for Autism

Managing Editor's Note: Click HERE to learn more about the Rimland Center for Integrative Medicine and Dr. Liz Mumper and her staff.

By Dan Olmsted

I owe Liz Mumper a lot – she and Jill James first got my attention when they discussed Jill’s research at the Environmental Working Group in Washington. I asked her if I could come to her pediatric practice in Lynchburg, Va.; she said yes, and for three days tutored me on methylation and immune responses and biomedical interventions -- and introduced me to the first children with autism I ever met, along with their families. Recently – three years after that first visit – we sat down in Lynchburg to catch up on her work, the new Rimland Center she runs there, and improving access to biomedical treatment for the growing number of affected children.

AOA: Tell me about the new alliance with the American Academy of Pediatrics. For a lot of people in the biomed community, that was just jaw-dropping, but also greeted with some skepticism given the AAP’s approach in the past. Were you surprised by it and what are your hopes going forward?

Dr. Mumper:  I am cautiously hopeful that we will make great progress, given our common ground that unites us – the well-being of children.  We are in the initial stages of sharing ideas and forming collaborations.  I am working with several wonderful AAP representatives in the complementary medicine arena.

AOA: You wear a lot of hats. Describe them for us.

A of A Q&A: PEDIATRICIAN ON AUTISM, PART 3

By Dan Olmsted

Editor's note: This is the third installment of a three-part interview with Dr. Julie Buckley of Ponte Verdra Beach, Fla., a DAN! doctor with an affected child -- and some important observations on the state of our children's health and how to improve it.

AOA: I've never understood why having a discussion about vaccines is somehow imperiling public health, because it's not ALL vaccines or NO vaccines – that may be some folks' position – but what I hear from people like you is we've got to find a way to manage this and also to reformulate the vaccines so we're not causing problems And to respond, "Well, you're going to kill us all because we're going to bring back infectious diseases" just doesn't make much sense to me. Public policy debate is what happens in a democracy that leads to better outcomes. So I just don't understand why your kind of thinking is seen as so threatening.

Buckley: I think it's threatening for several reasons.

A of A Q&A: PEDIATRICIAN ON AUTISM, PART 2

By Dan Olmsted

Editor's note: This is the second of a three-part interview. I first met Dr. Julie Buckley of Ponte Verdra Beach, Fla., at the NAA convention in Atlanta. The formal sessions had ended for the day, but as usual some interesting discussions were going strong at the hotel bar. It was too crowded and noisy to have much of a conversation, but I picked up enough nuggets from Dr. Buckley that I wanted to hear more. So the next day we sat down in an empty conference room and had a proper talk. She touched on many key topics, from the relative health of never-vaccinated kids to the struggles of DAN! doctors helping children with autism recover. Sometimes, those children are their own.

AOA: What possible role could vaccination against deadly illness play in somehow bringing on more illness in kids? What's going on? Do you have a theory?

Buckley: I do. There is no doubt in my mind that the environmental exposures that kids are subjected to play a huge role in triggering off a chronic illness, and when we talk about autism and really when we talk about so many other illnesses – the autoimmune diseases, the allergy, the asthma -- we're talking about a generation of kids who have had something shift. This beautifully delicate balance in the immune system, where it's just tremendously delicately hanging …

A of A Q&A: PEDIATRICIAN ON AUTISM, VACCINATION & RECOVERY

By Dan Olmsted

Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part interview. I first met Dr. Julie Buckley of Ponte Verdra Beach, Fla., at the NAA convention in Atlanta. The formal sessions had ended for the day, but as usual some interesting discussions were going strong at the hotel bar. It was too crowded and noisy to have much of a conversation, but I picked up enough nuggets from Dr. Buckley that I wanted to hear more. So the next day we sat down in an empty conference room and had a proper talk. She touched on many key topics, from the relative health of never-vaccinated kids to the struggles of DAN! doctors helping children with autism recover. Sometimes, those children are their own.
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AOA: How did you get started down this road?

Buckley: I had a very small and growing neurotypical practice when my daughter regressed, and then I figured out what we needed to do for her and then began working with other children and working with kids with autism. And very quickly my autism practice really outstripped my neurotypical practice. But the people who stayed in that neurotypical practice were those who were already very interested in not vaccinating, or who had siblings of children with autism, or parents in the community who for whatever reason didn't want to vaccinate their children, and knew that I was not going to scream at them at the top of my lungs – that if that was their wish, I was going to abide by it.

AOA: That sounds a lot like Homefirst, the medical practice in Chicago that welcomes people who choose not to vaccinate, and says it has seen almost no autism in never-vaccinated kids who were born at home. So what are your observations, given the diversity of kids in your practice? What do you see in terms of health outcomes for vaccinated versus non-vaccinated?