Anne McElroy Dachel Questions Mike Stobbe
By Anne McElroy Dachel
The story that autism hasn't increased, that the skyrocketing number of children with the disorder are nothing new is getting coverage everywhere in the media.
AP writer Mike Stobbe assures us that "many experts believe these unsociable behaviors were just about as common 30 or 40 years ago. The recent explosion of cases appears to be mostly caused by a surge in special education services for autistic children and by a corresponding shift in what doctors call autism."
I would like to ask Mike Stobbe this question: "If these kids with autism have always been here, but mislabeled as something else, then what did we do with them?"
As a parent and a teacher, I can tell you that it's very hard to miss an autistic child, even a mildly affected one. We would have had to provide help for their special needs, even if they weren't labeled "autistic." Why are our schools overwhelmed with so many children with special needs who weren't here twenty years ago?
Stobbe's baseless claim makes no sense in light of the endless waiting lists for services. Pretending that the autism epidemic isn't real is comparable to looking at the naked emperor parading down the street in Hans Christian Andersen's the Emperor's New Clothes and raving about his beautiful garments.
Mike Stobbe dismisses any real increase in affected children. His story is eagerly picked up everywhere, but he never has to prove it. If autism was just as common 30 or 40 years ago as Stobbe says, then where are all the misdiagnosed, undiagnosed adults with autism at a rate of one in 150.
Why isn't Mike Stobbe looking for them to back up his report?
Where are they living Mr. Stobbe? What are they doing? Many many parents desperate about their children's future would love to know. Show us how society has addressed their needs and accomodated them.
Until you can do that, please stop telling us that the autism epidemic isn't happening.
Anne McElroy Dachel is the mother of a son with autism spectrum disorder and dedicated advocate. She lives in Wisconsin.
Here's another gem from Mike Stobbe of the AP:
"Fears that the preservative or something in vaccines themselves can lead to autism remain entrenched in some quarters — despite no evidence from the most rigorous scientific studies."
I'd love to get a link to those "rigorous scientific studies" - because AFAIK there are only a few, very suspect epidemiological (statistics) studies. Easily manipulated, they are far from scientific. I think we all know where Mike Stobbe is coming from...
Posted by: Jeff Jones | October 09, 2009 at 02:33 AM
Columbia University - Dr. Mady Hornig
Has conducted studies with lab animals having known immune system damage, and 100% of those lab animals developed the lab animal analog to autism when injected with thimerisol in the same % for body weight as what we've been giving children.
The CDC study intentionally used animals which were known NOT to have immune system problems, a clear case of making sure the results were what they wanted. American medicine is based on everybody's bodies reacting the same to medications, and makes little or no leeway for those whose bodies are "a bit" different.
So, I would infer that IF a child has a damaged immune system and is injected with mercury-laden products, he or she will probably develop autism, whereas the "normal" child is probably not harmed, although no studies show what happens with the vast numbers of injections we now suffer our children to bear.
Nurses working with premature babies know that they have NO immune system yet, why do we assume that once the infant is born their immune system is fully developed all of a sudden?
David Felt
Sierra Madre, CA
Posted by: Dave Felt | March 08, 2008 at 11:05 AM
For distribution
Ray Gallup
[email protected]
F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP
[email protected]
When 1 in 150 is really 1 in 67
by Raymond W. Gallup & F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP
at: http://www.vaproject.org/yazbak/1-in-150-is-really-1-in-67-20071005.htm
SSI for autism for children/adults has gone from 45,684 in 2002 to 84,240 in 2006. In 5 to 20 years Medicare/Medicaid along with Social Security will be in deep trouble with families applying for SSI as children with autism reach age 18 years old.
Posted by: Raymond Gallup | November 05, 2007 at 06:31 PM