Managing Editor's Note: America, The National Catholic Weekly, ran a piece about autism recently. Teresa Conrick sent a letter to the editor in response. From the piece, ..."If an alarming increase in autism is indeed occurring in our homes, and not just on statistical spreadsheets, then we need to confront this problem as the major health care crisis that it is. Discovering more about what provokes this puzzling neurological syndrome and how it can be treated effectively should be a major C.D.C. priority. Much of the institutional debate surrounding autism spectrum disorder has revolved around its suspected connection to the increasing vaccine load required of U.S. children. More research needs to be done to confirm or deny this hypothesis about the origins of autism before faith in the entire vaccination enterprise collapses. Clearly genetics plays a primary role, but as the numbers pile up the possible effect of so-called environmental triggers like vaccines cannot be ignored. Read the piece HERE.

By Teresa Conrick

Thank you very much for this on target opinion piece.  As a Catholic, a special education teacher but more importantly, as a parent of a teen with severe autism, I applaud your viewpoint as well as a much needed call for help and acceptance.

My daughter was a healthy and happy baby who began to regress after a series of vaccinations before her 2nd birthday.  Many of those were with thimerosal, the mercury preservative that has been around since the start of autism in the 1930's. After a triple live virus vaccine, the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, my daughter broke out in a rash, lost all language, began to have chronic gastrointestinal pain, cried all the time, lost eye contact, and was ill with fevers then was subsequently diagnosed with "Idiopathic" (of unknown origin) autism.  Not one medical professional who dealt with her then (pediatrician, neurologist,psychiatrist) told us that these were signs of vaccine injury.