AGE OF AUTISM

Podcast on Autism One Radio: David Kirby and Mark Blaxill At DC Autism Briefing Today

The first photo is of David presenting, Mark is seated facing the attendees. The second photo is of Mark presenting. Waiting for updates from today's briefing by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Christopher Smith (R-NJ) all week.  You can view the PowerPoint presentation in full HERE. The podcast will be available after the event at Autism One Radio.

UPDATE House & Senate RSVP List for Maloney Smith Autism Research Briefing

Below is the updated list of 70 attendees for the Maloney/Smith autism briefing. We've included which members are part of the Coalition for Autism Research & Education.

Friday, July 17 at 9:30 AM 210 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC. Thanks for your calls, they worked!

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) are hosting a special briefing for Members of Congress and their Staff to discuss issues related to autism research and treatment. We hope that you will attend the briefing to learn about the changing dynamics of the autism debate, as you will find many in government and science believe this debate is far from settled.
(Details below the jump.)

*Member of the Coalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE) – The Congressional Autism Caucus = 19
 
*^Member of the Coalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE) – The Congressional Autism Caucus - who also sent staff to Sept. briefing = 12
 
**Co-Chairs – Coalition for Autism Research and Education (CARE) – The Congressional Autism Caucus

Are your representatives on the list? If not, please call them. White House Switchboard: 202-456-1414, Senate Directory Here, Congress Directory by State Here.  

SENATE
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) – Will attend in person (?)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) – Will send staff member

An Overview of the Fourteen Vaccine Studies

Part 4 in the 14 Studies Series
By Julie Obradovic
 
By now, I hope many of you have downloaded the studies from the 14 Studies website (HERE) , put them in a binder and have started to read them. If not, please consider doing so. This series is meant to prepare our community to best counter the common notion that “science has spoken” and vaccines have nothing to do with Autism. The more of us there are to do that, the more effectively we can change the trajectory of our children’s lives.
 
At this point we have established the true issue of the debate (should those who will be held accountable for Autism be able to investigate themselves); the context of the debate (the history of why and how they are allowed to); and the positions of those involved (whether or not Autism is a whole body disease with an environmental cause or a purely genetic disorder that is rooted in psychology, and what the implications of those positions mean for research).
 
We will now begin to examine the results of their internal investigation.

Why Are Only 39 of 158 C.A.R.E Members Attending the Maloney Smith Autism Briefing?

If you were a member of the Congressional Coalition for Autism Research and Education, wouldn't you make learning about the most recent developments in autism research, policy and treatment a priority? See briefing details HERE.

Please contact C.A.R.E. members from your state and ask them to attend personally or at least send a senior legislative staffer. White House Switchboard: 202-456-1414, Senate Directory Here, Congress Directory by State Here. Friday, July 17 at 9:30 AM 210 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC.

C.A.R.E. Member Attended '08 or RSVP '09 

Brady, Robert (PA) 08 
Castle, Michael (DE) 08/09 
Doggett, Lloyd (TX) 08 
Green, Gene (TX) 08 
Kline, John (MN) 08/09 

Is Fast Tracking Vaccines Dangerous? Ask Gabrielle about Gardasil.

Preventing Gardasil Vaccine Injuries & Deaths
by Barbara Loe Fisher
 
She is just 16: the intelligent, lively pretty girl from Kansas, who was a high school gymnast and cheerleader and got straight A’s until, in 2008, three Gardasil shots changed her life and she became one more Gardasil reaction statistic.

Today, Gabrielle never knows when she will be back in the hospital emergency room. Diagnosed with inflammation in the brain and body, the brain seizures won’t stop. She has had strokes. The right side of her body is weakened. She is in almost constant pain.  Gabi has developed lupus now. Her doctor says she could die.
 
Fast-Tracked Vaccine
 
Gardasil vaccine was fast tracked to licensure by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006. It contains genetically engineered virus-like protein particles (VLPs) and aluminum, which affect immune function. The exact mechanism of protection is unknown and the vaccine has not been evaluated for the potential to cause cancer or be toxic to the genes. It is a vaccine that, by the summer of 2009, already caused more than 15,000 thousand reports of vaccine reactions, including more than 3,000 injuries and 48 deaths…..
 
Read more with live links to references and watch a VIDEO HERE.

Barbara Loe Fisher is the President of The National Vaccine Injury Center.

 

You Can Participate Tomorrow: IACC to Consider Vaccine Research

IACC’s Wednesday, July 15 meeting (Details HERE) will again consider researching vaccines as a cause of autism.  The public meeting will be held from 8:30 to 4:00 in the Polaris Room, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20004. 

Registration for In Person Attendance HERE.   The meeting will also be available by phone, 888-455-2920, access code 3132846.  View via Live WebCast HERE (not live until tomorrow.)

There will be two opportunities for public comment at the meeting, one in the morning following the joint meeting with the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and discussion of vaccine safety and autism, and the other in the afternoon, following discussions of the NIH-funded Autism Centers of Excellence and the National Database for Autism Research.  Updates will also be presented from the Services and Strategic Planning Subcommittees. The full agenda is HERE. 

Those wishing to make public comment should contact Lina Perez, Office of Autism Research Coordination, 301-443 6040,
IACCPublicInquiries@mail.nih.gov, and submit a written copy of your remarks (5 minutes or less) 24 hours prior to the meeting.  Written comments may also be filed.

The first Strategic Plan for Autism Research (HERE), January 26, 2009, contained no research projects addressing vaccines as a cause of autism, in violation of both the letter and spirit of the Combating Autism Act of 2006.  The CAA directed IACC to develop and annually update a strategic plan for autism research, with a sufficient budget, with the mission to find the causes (including environmental) of autism and appropriate treatments. 

Vaccines were the only specific environmental cause singled out in the legislative history. 

Noon Today on VoiceAmerica: Barbara Loe Fisher and Teri Arranga on Flu Vaccines

On the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel (HERE)
Tuesday, July 14, 12:00 noon ET
Autism One: A Conversation of Hope
Host: Teri Arranga
Guest: Barbara Loe Fisher, Co-Founder and President of the National Vaccine Information Center

Topic:  Flu vaccines: What you must know, with Barbara Loe Fisher

Call Your Legislator to Attend Reps. Maloney & Smith Autism Vaccine Briefing

The automated email system is not reaching the legislators quickly enough. We need you to please place phone calls to The White House, your Senators and your Representative inviting them.

When you receive a reply from your lawmakers, send an email to kirbylecture@gmail.com We'll keep a running tally of RSVP commitments at Age of Autism.

White House Phone Numbers
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

Senate Directory Here

Congress Directory by State Here


Friday, July 17 at 9:30 AM
210 Cannon House Office Building
Independence Avenue, Washington, DC.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) are hosting a special briefing for Members of Congress and their Staff to discuss issues related to autism research and treatment. We hope that you will attend the briefing to learn about the changing dynamics of the autism debate, as you will find many in government and science believe this debate is far from settled.
(Details below the jump.)

Sample script: "I'd like (insert name) to attend or send a staffer to Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Christopher Smith's (R-NJ) Second Autism Congressional Briefing An Update On Federal Autism Research And Treatment Initiatives on Friday, July 17 at 210 Cannon House Office Building. Two nationally known speakers will be presenting the science and public health ramifications of vaccines and autism.  Please, may I have a formal RSVP and who will be attending? Thank you."

Thoughtful House Responds: Sunday Times Defies Press Complaints Decision on MMR Autism Stories

Managing Editor's Note: Scroll down to read email correspondence as well.

Sunday Times Defies Press Complaints Commission

Paper Notifies Media Oversight Agency that it Will Not Remove from its Website False Stories about MMR and Dr. Andrew Wakefield  
 
(Austin, Texas) – The Sunday Times of London, a Rupert Murdoch News Corporation paper, has defied direction from the UK’s Press Complaints Commission (PCC) to remove from its web site controversial stories it has failed to substantiate, which allege Dr. Andrew Wakefield “fixed” data relating to the MMR vaccine.  The reports by correspondent Brian Deer are the subject of an extensive complaint filed with the PCC by Wakefield.

The PCC last week issued an unpublished directive that the stories be removed (see below).  They were taken down immediately, unannounced, but the Sunday Times has now defied the PCC by putting the stories back online after complaining Dr. Wakefield publicly announced the PCC’s directive. 

UK Government Minister Misled Parliament over MMR Autism Link

By John Stone

Dawn Primarolo as UK Government Health Minister misled Parliament in a written answer to Conservative MP Mark Pritchard that Bailey Banks’ successful damages claim in the US Federal Court for an autistic condition caused by the MMR vaccine was “non autistic”, stating Bailey had a “non-autistic development delay”.

Now, health minister Mike O’Brien has agreed in a letter to an MP that the ruling referred to a diagnosis of an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.  “Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified” is a category of Autistic Spectrum Disorders which does not fall into any other autism category”. There is no misunderstanding amongst experts of what it means. The paediatrician advising the court, Dr Lopez, decided against a diagnosis of autism not because Bailey Banks did not have autistic symptoms but because his condition was vaccine induced.