AGE OF AUTISM: OUR STORY SO FAR
By Dan Olmsted
This week marks three months since Managing Editor Kim Stagliano and I launched Age of Autism at the National Autism Association Convention in Atlanta. In that time, we've come quite a distance – with well over 100,000 "hits" (visits), several hundred "posts" (articles) and a couple of thousand comments.
None of this was on my radar when I left United Press International last summer after three years of writing The Age of Autism column, but as a friend of mine said at the time, "I think this is a blessing in disguise, and not much of a disguise." That quickly proved true as several autism organizations coalesced to sponsor this site. In fact, our biggest achievement is simply this: providing a common forum for the enviro-bio community – people who believe autism is an epidemic and therefore primarily an environmental illness and, as such, it is treatable.
And that this constitutes a national health emergency that needs to be addressed urgently, directly and with a minimum of euphemistic, kowtowing blather.
The other fact I'm proudest of is the diversity and quality of our contributors and the news they've helped us make and break. We were the first to report that the American Academy of Pediatrics wanted ABC to censor Eli Stone's mercury episode, leading to a national outcry; that the government's Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee planned a series of closed meetings and that a key official of that group is the wife of a prominent epidemic denier; that the FDA and CDC won't say if they're testing vaccines for mercury content (it doesn't look like it), prompting a U.S. Congressman to demand answers.
Katie Wright took on the science advisers at Autism Speaks; Editor at Large Mark Blaxill shredded the CDC's seminal Brick Township study, proving it had hidden the first signs of the epidemic increase in autism behind a stone wall of statistical trickery; J.B. Handley made mincemeat of sloppy thinking and timid leadership in the autism advocacy community.
We named Jenny McCarthy our Person of the Year and Michelle Cedillo our Child of the Year. Media Editor Anne Dachel blasted mediocre media coverage and passed out gold stars to those who deserved them, and Legal Affairs Editor Kent Heckenlively offered vivid accounts of the vaccine court proceedings.
All this, and we're just warming up. We hope you like what you've seen so far and will keep clicking, contributing, commenting – and sharing our conviction that this is a fight worth winning.
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
Just wanted to say a friend turned me on to this site and it is one of the best things I have ever seen related to Autism. I can come on here and read and read and read... I laugh my butt off, get misty eyed, get angry, and feel so thrilled that all of you here at the Age of Autism will hold the weasels in CDC, and other national agencies (who want to shoot our kids full of garbage) accountable for their actions!!
Keep up the awesome work!
Posted by: Jan | February 16, 2008 at 05:12 PM
Don`t worry everybody I got your back. Carry on, the truth shall set you free. They can run but they can`t hide,any longer. Keep up the good work. Dave
Posted by: David Troutman | February 13, 2008 at 08:31 PM
You folks are too kind -- but if it results in more brisket from Brooke, I'm not going to complain about it! And seriously, it's an honor to be in the middle of this with all of you.
Posted by: Dan Olmsted | February 12, 2008 at 02:06 PM
Dan,
Thanks for the warming up post--I feel like it's a part of a pep rally that will surely get so many more people motivated. You have posed great questions in the past and offered fresh insight to get many people active in finding relevant and useful information to help their children. I'm so glad to be a part of this community despite how I got here. It is unfortunate that my son stumbled onto the spectrum from his vaccines but at least I have a sounding board to get him help.
Cathy
Posted by: Cathy Jameson | February 12, 2008 at 01:05 PM
Age of Autism is amazing and YOU are amazing too Dan! You have given me new hope that the truth of what is and has happened to our children will be told. Your dedication, respect and fierce support of us as a community is extraordinary. You and your contributors are top notch and give a view of this epidemic that you rarely find elsewhere. You say you hope we like what we've seen so far - well we LOVE it!! My most heartfelt thanks to you and each of your contributors.
Michelle's Mom - Theresa
Posted by: Theresa Cedillo | February 12, 2008 at 11:31 AM
I love you Dan. Okay, there, I've said it, it wasn't so hard. You wanna know why? Because you don't have a child with autism. And you care like you do. So, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! for everything you do to try to move us through the age of autism into the age of Recovery.
xo
Posted by: Heidi | February 12, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Dan
Have to say it again...you're one of my heroes. Best thing is that you are such a darn good writer. I am doing a repeat of the brisket, thought you liked it!
See ya Thursday.
Brooke
Posted by: Brooke Potthast | February 12, 2008 at 09:17 AM
Thank You. This is the first web site I check in the morning and the last at night. I am a parent of an autistic 10 yr old. Early intervention has come and gone. I pray the teenage years do not go as fast without some help. I have nightmares of what will happen to my son into adulthood. It is great to have a honest source.
Thanks again,
Tim
Posted by: Tim Welsh | February 12, 2008 at 09:01 AM