Mark Blaxill: Lies, Damned Lies and CDC Autism Statistics
By Mark Blaxill (A "Best of AoA" post from 12/09)
It’s official now, real autism rates have exploded to 1 in 100 American children. We’re facing a national public health emergency of historic proportions. Bigger than swine flu. Bigger than polio. Bigger than almost anything one can imagine except AIDS. No matter how hard some may try, it’s impossible to escape the inexorable upward march of the numbers. Even Tom Insel, head of autism research at NIH and not exactly the autism world’s greatest forward thinker, has conceded the obvious: “There is no question that there has got to be an environmental component here.”
Following last week’s release of the latest CDC autism surveillance report, no amount of methodological obfuscation (“autism prevalence has clearly gone up but there are no real incidence studies”), epidemiological nihilism (“we simply can’t know without large scale, well-controlled, prospective studies”) or social deconstructionist nonsense (“autism is an intolerant invention of modern society”) should escape scorn . Anyone with brain, a conscience and an ounce of integrity must acknowledge that we face a crisis. Meanwhile, those who would accuse the autism parent community of “denialism”, unscientific reasoning and irresponsible irrationality need to explain how their own theories, so dependent on the evidence-free suggestion that rates are rising because of “better diagnosing”, deserve to be considered respectable scientific speech. There is no more unscientific position in public health today than the fiction that rising autism rates come from better diagnosing. Let’s be clear, the only evidence for better diagnosing is wishful thinking. Our public health institutions deserve no credit for a job done better; quite the contrary, they deserve an investigation into their negligence.
Nowhere is the institutional pattern of negligence, deception and propaganda surrounding autism more apparent than in the work of the Autism Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) network. The design of the ADDM, a project of the CDC and its parent agency the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), reveals in sharp relief how determined CDC is to evade its autism responsibilities. And while there is no evidence of fraud in the preparation of the ADDM data, that’s about the only good thing you can say about the work. To be blunt, every ADDM publication so far has betrayed a fundamental dishonesty, reporting analysis that has been twisted for bureaucratic purposes to mask and suppress the magnitude of the autism problem. It’s a disturbing display of the triumph of public relations over professionalism, propaganda masquerading as science.
In their latest exercise in spin management, the CDC released a new ADDM publication last week: at noon on the Friday before Christmas. The timing of this release-- a transparent attempt to bury the surveillance news as deeply as possible-- was an indication of the seriousness with which the CDC treats the autism problem. In case anyone missed it, the leadership of the DHHS in the Obama administration has clearly selected influenza as their priority health policy concern; but their autism policy position has been less clear and this release of the ADDM findings marked the first major autism position statement of the new administration.
It was a sad day. For those of us who held out hope that a change in administration might create an occasion for change in autism policy, it’s time to declare the honeymoon over. With this release and the despicable way it was handled, the new administration has now taken ownership for the failure of America’s autism policy. They’ve even managed to take data suppression to a new, post-Verstraeten level. Blame Secretary Sebelius, blame Tom Insel, blame CDC Director Tom Frieden, or blame Obama himself. But make no mistake; the policies of the Obama administration are looking like a disaster for the autism community.
That might sound a bit harsh to the disinterested observer. After all, didn’t the CDC just come out and admit that the rates have gone up and are basically 1 in 100? One might think it would be unfair to criticize the new administration for publishing numbers that essentially confirm what the autism community has been arguing for years. How exactly, one might reasonably ask, could one argue that CDC has twisted the surveillance from ADDM to obscure the autism epidemic?
Ah, the joys of deconstructing CDC statistics. How do they lie to us? Let me count the ways.
1. Start the history of autism in 1992
CDC surely understands that a huge part of the controversy over rising autism rates is defining when the increases started so we can better locate the environmental roots behind autism’s recent rise. They also understand that the criticism over CDC’s own role in this controversy begins with the escalation in the childhood immunization program that started with the introduction of new vaccines for Haemophilus influenza B (Hib) and hepatitis B in 1990 and 91, respectively. And they certainly understand that an honest investigation of the effect of their own policies must include a comparison of autism rates for children born in 1989 or earlier with those born in 1991 or later.
So what has the CDC done with ADDM? They left the investigation of children born in the 1980s out of the ADDM entirely! According to ADDM, the history of autism surveillance starts with children born in 1992. Anything before that becomes ancient history as far as CDC is concerned.
But what makes this omission even more dishonest is that the CDC began its own autism survey work with data that did include children born in the 1980s. In fact, they led one of the more thorough autism survey analyses ever conducted, one in which CDC-paid clinicians personally conducted diagnostic interviews for every suspected case of autism in a target population in Brick Township, New Jersey born between 1988 and 1995. They can even compare this NJ data with their own data from four NJ counties in ADDM (which included Ocean County and Brick Township).
And what did CDC find when they did this thorough analysis?
• That among children born 1988 or 1989, there were exactly ZERO cases of full syndrome autism; yet by the 1993 birth year the full syndrome rate had soared to 1 in 128.
• That cases of all autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) went from a rate of 1 in 225 among children born between 1988 and 1991 (the most precise data breakdown received from CDC) to over 1 in 80 for children born in 1992.
• And that the rates of ASD found in its ADDM analysis of children born in NJ in 1992 and 1994, far away the highest rates in the ADDM network, may have actually understated the autism rates in some parts of NJ.
We know all this not because the CDC actually published these numbers honestly on its own (their published report on the Brick Township survey actually denied that there was an upward trend!), but because SafeMinds founder Sallie Bernard had questions about the findings, asked CDC employees for unpublished data and received some partial responses. Left to its own devices, however, the CDC chose to launch its official history of autism rates starting with children born in 1992. The only conclusion one can draw is that they don’t really want the world to know what autism rates were before 1990.
The sharp rise in NJ autism rates for children born between 1988 and 1994 is displayed in Figure 1. (Click to enlarge)
2. Hide behind diagnostic changes and then don’t control for their effect
The solitary argument supporting the denial of the autism crisis is the notion that autism rates have risen due to “better diagnosing” and a broadening of the diagnostic criteria for autism. The fragile factual foundation of the “better diagnosing” argument lies in the adoption of a revised set of criteria for an autism diagnosis in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). DSM IV was published in 1994 around the time the autism epidemic was first becoming visible.
There was nothing special about the 1994 revision of the DSM. First published in 1952, the DSM, the bible of the psychiatric profession, was first revised in 1967 (DSM II). “Infantile autism” was slotted within the broader category of pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) and first formally included in the third edition, which was published in 1980. Seven years later, the revised third edition was published and with it an update of the DSM criteria for autism (renamed “autistic disorder”) and the PDDs. Then, seven years after the revised third edition came the fourth edition, with another refinement of the criteria for the PDDs and “autistic disorder.”
The key point to remember is that the DSM criteria for all “mental disorders” are revised regularly and autism is just one part of this ongoing process. If you read the literature surrounding the autism revisions, you will see that the DSM IV was never intended to radically expand the definition of autism. Quite the contrary, these revisions are mostly technical publications designed to aid practicing psychiatrists in making consistent diagnoses. But since the timing of this new volume coincided conveniently with the upsurge in autism cases, history has been rewritten. Because as the first children of the Age of Autism were born in 1991 and went in to receive their first diagnosis of autism at the average age of four or five, the DSM IV criteria had, quite naturally, just been introduced.
Very little about autism or the PDDs changed in DSM IV. There was a bit of tightening in the checklists. The “age at onset of symptoms” threshold (implicit in Kanner’s phrase “infantile autism” but jettisoned in the revised third edition) was reintroduced and set at 36 months (DSM III had it at 30 months). The overall intention was described explicitly in 1997 by some of its designers: “The change from DSM III to DSM III-R [revised] is an example of the broadening of the concept of autism; from DSM III-R to DSM IV, a corrective narrowing occurred.” [emphasis added]
But there was one material change in DSM IV. For the first time, Asperger’s syndrome was included as part of the PDDs. That should have been neither radical nor confusing. After all, Asperger’s syndrome, by definition, doesn’t involve the language deficits of full syndrome autism. Because of that difference (quite obvious and not confusing for parents, but seemingly the confusion at the root of the epidemic for others) the age of diagnosis usually comes much later: typically eight years of age for Asperger’s vs. three to five years of age for autism.
There’s nothing wrong with including Asperger’s syndrome in the PDDs. Indeed, formally recognizing the disability of those with only the social and behavioral deficits of the PDDs was a step forward. But that small bit of progress should never have been allowed to confuse the issue of time trends in autism. The arithmetic involved isn’t very hard. It’s like avoiding confusion between pandemic swine flu and other upper respiratory infections like the common cold (hmm, maybe there’s a pattern HERE). If you want to control for the impact on autism surveillance data of the DSM IV inclusion of Asperger’s syndrome you can do one simple thing.
Separate diagnoses of “autistic disorder” cases from cases diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.
And for that matter do the same thing with PDD-NOS, which with one label or another (as “other infantile psychoses”, “infantile autism, residual state”, “atypical PDD”, or just as PDD “not otherwise specified”) has always been included in the PDDs.
But what approach did ADDM adopt? They did exactly the opposite. CDC dumped all PDD diagnoses together in one big lump, therefore specifically choosing NOT to measure the effect of the diagnostic revision they intimate has changed the rates.
Why on earth would CDC not require more precision in the gold standard of autism surveillance? They certainly know how to conduct a more detailed analysis. They did it in Brick, where they measured both the rate of all autism spectrum disorders and full syndrome autism. You can see the results in Figure 1, which shows how ASD rates in 6 year old children born in Brick Township in 1992 (1 in 82) compared with children born the same year (and surveyed two years later) in a four county sample that included Brick, (1 in 99 had ASDs). And while Brick ASD rates in the 1992 birth year are a bit higher than the ADDM rates, they show a consistent trend before (rising sharply) and after (leveling off) even though they were diagnosing children earlier (and possibly missing some milder Asperger’s cases).
The NJ data don’t give you any reason to believe the changing diagnostic criteria have anything at all to do with the rising rates. They simply show that the ADDM methods are designed only to perpetuate the confusion over what’s going on with autism.
3. If the sample doesn’t suit, change it
One of the oddities of the ADDM network is how unstable it is. The “2000” report (actually 1992 births diagnosed by 2000) lists 6 states as part of the network, a list that grew to 14 in the “2002” report (1994 births diagnosed by 2002). Given ADDM’s biennial reporting cycle, most of us who were waiting for the “2004” report last week were surprised to find the main emphasis on the “2006” numbers. This latest version included 11 states, strangely eliminating 2 of the 6 states in the 2000 group and 4 of 14 in the 2002 group (meanwhile, the numbers for “2004” were buried in an appendix; more on this below). What could possibly explain this revolving door of ADDM states? Why wouldn’t CDC simply choose a representative sample of states and counties and follow them in consistent fashion?
Well for starters, the ADDM sample is almost certainly not representative. The Department of Education (DOE) provides data on special education enrollments via the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (see Fighting Autism). Based on the IDEA standard, CDC has consistently excluded from ADDM the states with the high autism prevalence rates; at no point have the top 5 states in the IDEA rankings, Oregon, Minnesota, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut, been included. New Jersey, by far the state with the highest rates ever surveyed by CDC barely makes the IDEA top 10. ADDM has also excluded states with their own surveillance activities. California (15th in the IDEA rankings), the state that launched the earliest alarm over rising autism rates is also not part of ADDM. Neither is Minnesota, a top 5 state that has also been the site of prior autism surveys.
In addition to excluding states with high rates and prior independent surveillance, ADDM has also manipulated the network. They have had four reporting cycles and have modified the states in each cycle, moving old states out and new ones in. There is no apparent scientific reason for these changes, nor has CDC given any explanation for the changes in the ADDM network.
So one can only assess the effect of these changes by judging the impact of their actions on the ADDM results as the network evolved over the four reporting cycles. These actions suggest that the CDC’s changes to the ADDM network have systematically reduced the ADDM reported rates and lowered their reported rate of increase.
Specifically:
• CDC has removed states with high and/or rising rates. Following the 2002 report, NJ, Utah (UT), West Virginia (WV), and Arkansas (AR) were all removed from ADDM (an action that was not visible to the public until last week). These 4 states were ranked #1, #3, #5 and #6, respectively out of the 14 states reporting results from 2002. This systematic purging of high prevalence state is visible in Figure 2 below. (Click to enlarge)
• This purge not only excluded states with high rates in 2002, it also excluded 2 of the three states with the largest rates of increase between 2000 and 2002: WV with a 39% increase in just 2 years, and NJ with a 7% increase. Only the CDC’s self-managed program in GA, with an autism growth rate of 17%, remained in ADDM.
• In 2002, CDC added Alabama (AL) to the ADDM. AL is one of the bottom 10 states in the IDEA rankings, and at the time it entered had the lowest rate in the ADDM network. CDC retained AL in the network for all subsequent reports. Most recently CDC added Florida (FL) to the ADDM in 2006. FL (which is close to the median in IDEA) entered ADDM with the lowest reported autism level of any state.
• Pennsylvania (PA) and Colorado (CO) were both removed in 2004 (or provided no records) and then reinstated in 2006. CO is another bottom 10 state in IDEA. And although the full state of Pennsylvania is in the top 10 of the IDEA ranking, Philadelphia County (the ADDM site) has autism rates well below the statewide average. Both PA and CO autism rates were among the lowest in the latest ADDM report. (Click to enlarge)
In case anyone is missing the point, these are not neutral shifts. It doesn’t take a degree in statistics to figure out that if you remove the states with the highest rates in the sample, the average rates will go down; similarly, if you add in states with low autism rates, the average will fall even further.
And if you try to compare these averages while the sample is shifting, you will report misleading trends. The ADDM network estimates for 1992 birth year (2000 report) are not comparable to the latest estimates for the 1998 birth year (2006 report). Only 4 of the 6 original sites remained in 2006; and only 10 of the 14 sites reporting in 2002 remained in 2006. The exclusions and additions skewed the data in critical ways.
Even so, the ADDM rates went up anyway. Figure 2 shows that rates within each state rose consistently (every line on the chart goes up) despite the biased shifts of the overall sample. Maryland (MD), North Carolina (NC) and Missouri (MO) rates rose consistently throughout the period. Rates in South Carolina (SC) went down through 2004 and then shot up in 2006. Rates in Arizona (AZ) started out among the lowest in the ADDM, but as of 2006 are the highest in the network. Only Wisconsin (WI) shows a mixed recent trend, with a declining rate between the 2004 and 2006 reports.
In short, last week’s high autism rates would have been significantly worse had the CDC not manipulated the ADDM network to keep the rates low. As a result, some observers even called the ADDM report good news because the average rate of 1 in 110 was lower than an earlier report of 1 in 91. But that’s simply an artifact of CDC’s monkeying around with the sample: there’s little doubt that the “official” rate of 1 in 110 would have risen to over 1 in 100 with the inclusion of higher recent rates in NJ and the elimination of FL.
4. Spinning the numbers down
If states moving in and out of the ADDM network were the only evidence of manipulation, one might argue these changes were innocent coincidences, driven by a handful of unavoidable local funding problems. But the CDC’s statistical sleight of hand runs far deeper than that and is revealed most clearly in the packaging of trend information in each ADDM report release.
Trend reporting requires comparing data from different time periods. And when it comes to trend analysis, it doesn’t take a degree in statistics to know you should always compare “apples and apples” between one time period and the next. This ought to be an easy thing to accomplish in a highly organized effort like the ADDM project. But CDC has consistently twisted its reporting to suppress the evidence supporting increases in the autism rate.
Two ways this suppression has been demonstrated are revealed below in Figure 3, where the red markers and lines show what CDC reported and the black lines show what an honest, “apples to apples” comparison would have shown instead.
1. Apples and oranges. In 2007, CDC released results simultaneously from its 2000 and 2002 reports. The initial 2000 ADDM survey contained six sites and the 2002 network was expanded to 14. When releasing the two reports on February 9, 2007, CDC’s accompanying press release noted that ASD prevalence for children born in 1992 was 6.7 per 1,000 (the “apples”), while the prevalence for children born in 1994 was 6.6 per 1,000 (the “oranges”), implying that the rate was the same (or might have even gone down) over the 2-year time period (these two numbers are represented by the two red markers in Figure 3 for 2000 and 2002). But these were not comparable numbers. A true “apples to apples” comparison of the sites included in both studies would have shown a 10% increase in those 6 sites over the two year period (the black line labeled “fixed 6 state set” in Figure 3). (Click to enlarge)
2. Oops, we forgot to mention 2004. But this increased rate was lower than many of us would have expected. So for nearly three years we have been waiting for the release of the 2004 numbers. It had taken six years to release the 2000 numbers and four years to release the 2002 data. But despite the natural expectation that the process might go faster, nearly five years later, the 2004 data had still not been released. To the surprise of knowledgeable observers, when the next ADDM report was issued last week, there was almost no mention at all of the 2004 findings. Instead, the entire focus was on the 2006 results. The extended delay occurred because CDC failed to issue the 2004 numbers at all! Why might they do this? One clue is revealed in Figure 3, which shows the second “apples to apples” comparison of states included in both the 2002 and 2004 surveys (the black line labeled “fixed 8 state set”). Based on an honest comparison, between 2002 and 2004, the autism rate rose by 31%. Why CDC failed to report the 2004 numbers entirely is anyone’s guess. Perhaps they hoped the numbers would flatten out in 2006. But as the red line from 2002 to 2006 shows, the upward trend simply continued and so ADDM was forced to report a 57% increase in autism last week. This time, and to their credit, the CDC’s report (the dotted red line) was a true reflection of an “apples to apples” trend. (Click to enlarge)
As autism rates have converged toward 1 in 100, CDC now seems to have abandoned its enthusiasm for suppressing the real autism data. Instead, it simply announced the ADDM results the week before Christmas on a Friday afternoon, hoping no one would notice they don’t have a plan to do anything about it and went back to work on the swine flu.
But it’s worth pausing for a moment to reflect on a few numbers in the latest release. Any average rate, of course, includes a mix of groups with both higher and lower risk. We all know that autism rates are higher in boys, but it’s still mind-boggling to think about the toll autism is taking in some demographic groups. The rates in the most seriously affected clusters now are over 2%. By my calculation, the autism rate among white males born in Missouri in 1998 is 1 in 45. In Arizona, it’s even higher, at 1 in 42. I know it’s not fashionable to worry these days about white male American boys. Maybe it’s time to start.
It’s night in Jungleland
The reason these male demographics stand out is because autism rates are three to four times higher, of course, in boys. They’re often (but not always) higher in white, non-Hispanic populations. They also seem to be higher in states, like NJ, with serious pollution concerns and/or aggressive vaccination policies. These two environmental factors, leading suspects in the autism epidemic, are front and center in NJ, the state with the oxymoronic nickname, “The Garden State.”
Every visitor to the Garden State who flies into Manhattan or Newark spends some time driving down the massive refinery strip on the NJ Turnpike. Bruce Springsteen, NJ’s unofficial poet laureate, wrote songs about this scar in the middle of the state’s main commercial corridor, the inescapable stigma of any New Jersey native, trying to defend their state to outside visitors. Springsteen wrote about going “New Jersey Turnpike ridin' on a wet night 'neath the refinery's glow, out where the great black rivers flow.”
Not far away from the great black rivers, in the sprawl that defines the greater New York metropolitan area lies the heart of the American pharmaceutical industry. Merck’s headquarters are in Whitehouse Station, NJ. Johnson & Johnson is headquartered in New Brunswick. Major headquarters for Warner Lambert, Squibb, Wyeth and Schering-Plough were all NJ-based prior to their acquisition by larger companies and retain extensive operations all through the state. Their outsized political influence has led to unusually aggressive childhood vaccination policies.
When it comes to demographics like this, things can get personal and they do for me. I’m a white, non Hispanic male. I was born and raised in New Jersey. My father, who commuted to Manhattan his whole career, took on the chairmanship of a local autism charity when he was dying of cancer during the 1980s. One of his partners at Morgan Stanley had an autistic son, who was the only child with autism I knew who lived in my hometown. I don’t know what the autism rate was back then, no one ever did a formal survey, but it wasn’t very high. Everyone knew autism was rare.
But I was born in 1958. Just over thirty-five years later, my calculations from the ADDM report for 2004 suggest that 1 in 50 white males born in NJ in 1994 were autistic. That was the highest rate ever reported in the US until Arizona and Missouri overtook it in last week’s report. If I had been born a few decades later, I would have fallen into that demographic. Maybe my own life would have been dramatically different. That’s enough to make you pause.
As a teenager growing up in NJ, I grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen’s music: I danced with pretty girls to Rosalita, played fake saxophone riffs along with Clarence Clemons and drank beer with my high school buddies singing along with Born to Run that “we got to get out while we’re young.” So I found myself wondering this weekend, what would The Boss think about all this? I surfed the internet reading through some of his song lyrics and found a small bit of inspiration in the lines below. I thought of changing a few words to fit the current situation, but you don’t mess with The Boss.
Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz
Between flesh and what's fantasy and the poets down here
Don't write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be
And in the quick of the night they reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand but they wind up wounded, not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland
1 in 100 children. 1 in 50 boys like me. No one sounding the alarm. What is our world coming to?
Mark Blaxill is Editor-at-Large for Age of Autism and a Director of SafeMinds. To read this post in .pdf format click HERE.
Rates of Autitism are increasing ( my opinion ) is because we are OVER VACCINATING our children... as the number of vaccines rise, so does the number of children being diagnosed with the disorder... The big Pharma companies are reaping all the benefits while our children suffer... why are so many vaccines mandated ???? Because the Big Pharma Companies rule Washington... God is going to have HIS WAY with the idiots before it's all over... all will pay for destroying innocent children's brains... absolutely INSANITY....
Posted by: Patty Cottingham | May 24, 2010 at 10:36 PM
Whenever the government makes a benefit available, people will find creative ways to collect it. Such is the case with Autism.
While my heart goes out to those families with truly autistic children and their struggle, I also believe that autism is being overdiagnosed for financial gains in some instances. I grew up with an autistic brother in the 1960s. To this day, he has never spoken his first word, and remains emotionally detached from all others in the world. He lives in a group home, goes to a sheltered workshop and will require some kind of custodial care for the rest of his life. There is no connection between his disorder, and the badly behaved grandchildren of some of my friends who are now being called "Autistic" and with that diagnosis come government disability checks to their families. These are smart, very articulate children, fully connected emotionally to their families and the communities. My observation is that they have been spoiled and poorly disciplined, and the subsequent behavior problems are being inappropriately called "Autism" by child psychologists who will then be paid to treat them for the next several years. And while the psychologist makes money, so do the families who failed to discipline. They are rewarded with a disability check for the child while the school systems are overwhelmed with demands for special services for these special children. The social cost of this manipulation would be staggering if someone knew how to gather the data and compute it. The disability checks come from our already overburdened social security system, and the "special education" of these children is costly and deprives the other children whose much greater needs may never be able to be met.
Posted by: Lyn Silver | February 23, 2010 at 09:13 AM
The United States Centers for Disease Control has become an out-of-control monster, committed to self-serving careerism and a stupendous lust for power, medical and political, over the populace.
The most recent and flagrant example is the $7 Billion CDC insisted be spent on the Swine (H1N1) flu vaccines, and blithely stated (I am not making this up) that the large quantity of mercury in the flu shots to be given to both 6-month babies and pregnant mothers was completely harmless!!!!
Not to mention all the other poisonous ingredients in the flu vaccine. China has at least one good quality: In China, our CDC leaders fate would be the death penalty, quickly done.
My favorite CDC acronym is Centers for Disease Cons (or Centers of Disease Clowns).
Posted by: david burd | January 29, 2010 at 10:03 AM
Autism diagnosis has gotten better BECAUSE rates have gone up.
Posted by: Lynn Johnson | January 19, 2010 at 04:46 PM
So, if we were to compare New Jersey, which had been already high in stats, to Arizona and Missouri, which now outpace it, can we tell what vaccines were added to their school requirements during that time period. Were any vaccines that were already on New Jersey's list of kindergarten or preschool requirements subsequently added to Arizona and Missouri requirements, and therefore show themselves in the rising stats in a "catching up" sort of way?
Posted by: Jenny | January 17, 2010 at 09:34 PM
Mark, You are a statistics sleuth, and I greatly appreciate your knowledge and expertise when it comes to examining this information and exposing the lies consciously and consistently orchestrated by the CDC, AAP, NIMH etc. As a former New Jerseyean, I say we contact "The Boss", meet him at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park for a drink and tell him what's really going on. Can you imagine if he was on our side? Thanks again Mark.
Maureen
Saving Our Kids, Healing Our Planet sokhop.com RaisingHealthyKidsNaturally.blogspot.com
Posted by: Maureen H. McDonnell, RN | January 17, 2010 at 01:17 PM
Mark,
Extraordinary article. How can we get honest scientists, politicians, health care workers and people with power to read and digest this. The activities of the CDC are beyond belief!!!!
Posted by: Michael B Schachter MD, CNS | January 17, 2010 at 07:10 AM
Mark great article! Was just speaking with another autism mom this afternoon about "the LIE" (you would think over six years into treating my autistic son my blood wouldn't boil at the mere mention of it, but it still does.. everytime)!
In 1996 my oldest son (not asd) got the MMR and within 2 wks. was dx. with ITP (on the adverse reaction list!). He saw the top hematologist at Joe DeMaggio Miami Children's Center where he was given IVIG (surprise, surprise!). Though he had many biomed ASD characteristics (chronic ear infections, a milk allergy, diahrrea, poor sleeper) he had few DSM IV ASD characteristics (some sensory and poor transition, no cognitive delays however). When I met with the Dr. I remember asking about ITP blood disorder as I had never heard of it (we were just so damn thankful leukemia was ruled out on testing, the dx. of ITP thrilled us!), and he said it wasn't that rare, he saw ONE case a month! Now this was in 1996. If ITP is on the pharma. list as an adverse reaction to the MMR and this one hospital was seeing 1 case a month back in 1996, I wonder IF any are statistically being correlated to the MMR even today?? I doubt it, my physician certainly never put two and two together! Six years later my third child had a reaction to his vaccines at 1 years old, but he experienced full cognitive decline within 8 wks. and was dx. with severe autism at 20 mos. Again, the onset of fever, chronic diahrrea, ear infection, strep (prevnar vaccine) and an infected shot site didn't stir up any concern of a reaction by the Pediatrician. I had to practically beg for the consideration of an Autism dx. from him at 14 mos. old (my son was evaluated at a cognitive level of a 3 mos. old baby by Early Intervention at 20 mos. old!) You would have had to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see what was happening! That Ped. specialized in Allergy and Immunology.
And so the lie continues..
Posted by: Tracy McDermott | January 16, 2010 at 06:23 PM
Thelma
CDC is the Center of Disease Control located in Atlanta, Georgia. A federal government agency.
Thanks Lynn for your input into zinc. I can't take Zinc without getting seriously nausous.
Sorry Mark that my post was off topic. It is a shame that when things are discovered that are not correct in foot notes that what they wrote should be thrown out - forgotten. What has happened to our America?
Posted by: Benedetta | January 16, 2010 at 01:59 PM
Oh steve, your archiac thinking is getting the best of you....have you taken into account the underreporting issues of lyme, the faluty testing, if not the prevealance of lyme due to it being sexually transmitted. Plueez....you know nothing of the paridigm that must shift. Not saying this is the total reason for the autism increase, but certinaly, infections in families are prevealent for lyme, who have autistic and ADHD children.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | January 16, 2010 at 01:26 PM
Thelma, I'm assuming you were being sarcastic so I'll assume you already know that CDC stands for Center for Deception and Corruption!!
Posted by: rukidding? | January 07, 2010 at 09:03 PM
I hate initials: what is the CDC?
Posted by: Thelma Homer | January 01, 2010 at 05:47 PM
haha, Jack, good article -- and under #6 you could add calling people "anti-baseball".
Posted by: Twyla | January 01, 2010 at 12:18 AM
REF: Le fameux psychiatre francais installé au Québec Qui demend tout lien entre l'autisme et les vaccins utilisent de faux diagnostics de troubles envahissants du développement pour changeur Les droits de garde
Dans cet Espace de Liberté Santé je dénonce, Facette je dévoile L'Autre, la voix sournoise Qui ne dit pas son nom, Qui sert de tremplin Dans les tribunaux pour les gardes d'enfants, le travail de sape Qui contribue malheureusement a la déstabilisation volontaire de nos enfant je rappel a ce propos le * 5ème Congrès scientifique Tenu à Québec en mars 2007 SERVICES AUX ENFANTS TED MYTES ou réalité, PRECISION ET INJUSTICE DU DIAGNOSTIC DE L'AUTISME * des services à la carte entretenant des situations d'une injustice l'egard d'enfants,
Occasionnant d'inutiles Pertes de temps et d'énergie, en maintenant des normes artificiels pour la notoriété et l'obtention de fonds de recherche, des hypothèse, Clinique des impressions, des bilans non complètes, de la diversion, de l'excès de notoriété et compétence, serviteur d'un OFFRIR aux privilèges des services rapides d'accessibilité, étiquetant une enfant de l'ONU jamais pour le plaisir d'malintentionné parent de l'ONU, déjouer le système judiciaire s'approprier le destin d'un petit être sans défense par le biais des services sociaux,
Puisse-t-il un seul instant Envisager LE FRENCHDOCTEUR sans conscience ni respect des humains, * * détenteur de répandre la science, spécialiste des tribunes des «services à l'enfance, Puisse-t-il que Réaliser ses impressions diagnostiques sont a bien des Égards qu'hypothèses et PEUVENT être discutées Dans un espace démocratique,
* Peut-il Réaliser Avoir Pose des gestes contraires à la déontologie de la médecine au Québec Suite A UNE SEULE Rencontre avec l'enfant sans Compléter les bilans, IL a appelé le père Dans le couloir, pour lui passer un message avant de revenir annoncer brutalement le Sinistre A la Mère''enfant autiste sans appel''Références des bilans pour orthophonie, ergothérapie et psychologie demeures sans suite depuis aout 2007 *
Puisse-til * * lieu Accorder ad'autres Professionnels de la santé AYANT exclu le psycho-diagnostic de trouble autistique ou de troubles envahissants du développement de ce petit enfant pris en otage, la documentation en mains, sans recourir a la persécution et Occuper les tribunes des services à l'enfance
Puisse-t-il Réaliser * * * * Qu'il y va de la santé et de l'Intégrité d'un petit enfant autiste catalogué avec déficience intellectuelle par défaut alors Qu'un éminent docteur en psychologie AYANT visionné l'examen de l «ADOS une affirme le contraire, un commentaire Donc PEUVENT-ILS être Qualifiés de grands experts et se retrouver à la direction de département d'hôpitaux pour enfants
Puisse-t-il Réaliser les Répercussions D'UNE Telle responsabilité quant aux subsequentes Décisions sur l'impact brutal survenu au niveau du PRIMAY SOIGNANT de ce petit être privé de sa figure d'attachement Lui maître des tribunes à l'enfance,
L'enfant Dans sciemment Dirigé Une institution de lourds cas d'enfants autistes non verbaux avec Déficiences intellectuelles et Associés déficiences, AYANT Été sauvé de justesse par la commission scolaire,
Au nom de prestige et de Renomme, UNE Escalade AYANT Cause de sérieux dommages psychoaffectifs, mais réversibles, épreuve pénible, dure à surmonter, rien n'est perdu, Le Potentiel de l'enfant demeure intacte, que l'enfant ait Malgré Été déstabiliser, Il fait des Progrès considerables de langage et communication, le naturel revient au galop Tranquillement, facteur temps, beaucoup de chemin à faire
C'est donc ça la sinistre aventure: 100 pages de documentées du Dr Mabuse
Posted by: amal | December 31, 2009 at 02:17 PM
Just criminal.
A couple months ago I wrote a far less informative sarcastic blog about what the CDC does with numbers:
http://thelenseofautism.blogspot.com/2009/09/cdc-offers-advice-to-mlb.html
Posted by: Jack | December 29, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Dr. Lane states at the end of her segment: "In states of depleted glutathione and excess oxidized glutathione, free Zinc is released in brain cells. This free zinc is toxic to the mitochondria, causing cellular hypoxia and a generalized neurological malfunctioning that we now recognize as Autism."
How does this jibe with the the following information from Woody McGinnis, MD?: "Zinc is a crucial nutrient in autism, and after careful observation of thousands of patients, clinicians are now comfortable with higher zinc doses. For optimal absorption, zinc picolinate or citrate, 1-3mg/kg/day, is given away from other minerals and cereal grains (but O.K. with bedtime vitamin C). Mean-or-above red-cell levels on follow-up testing are desirable.
Blood testing is used to assure that zinc dosing is not in excess. After a few months, plasma zinc should not exceed the upper limit of normal, and serum copper should not fall below the lower limit of normal. To avoid artifact, zinc should not be given 24 hours prior to blood testing. Higher zinc doses can suppress manganese, which can be given 5-20 mg/day"
Also what about the benefit of zinc in blocking the uptake of aluminum into the brain?
Posted by: Lynn | December 28, 2009 at 03:34 PM
Steve, look at vet maps..that map does not show that lyme can be contracted in utero, or passed by breastmilk...get a clue...
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | December 28, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Classic Blaxill! Hard-hitting, no bullshit, provacative piece that provides much to think about. Thanks, Mark, and happy holidays!
Posted by: akmom | December 26, 2009 at 03:29 PM
CCD Updaait 0217: Awtism rayts rileesd sho noe n sevin nwo dyegnoced. DCC annd uther xpurts worn tha tif thay dohn;t becumb wurce ate dyignocing Awetizm wi maye evintyualee halve anne epiedemik. Arthurs cunfurm datea maebi fawtee beecaws awl spelchekurs r mowphunkchuneng.
Posted by: Nick | December 25, 2009 at 11:36 PM
This gets very personal for me as well, Mark. My son is a white, non-hispanic male, born in October, 1994 at Princeton Medical Center in New Jersey. One of the 1 in 50.
Oh, the horror. And oh, the shame on an entire nation for not giving a shit.
Posted by: Amy Becker Clark | December 25, 2009 at 05:44 PM
Kathy - Lyme is indeed regional and this map does not appear to match autism prevalence patterns.
http://www.aldf.com/usmap.shtml
Posted by: Steve | December 25, 2009 at 05:35 PM
Lyme is not in the US, and is only geographical? Where did you get that hair brain answer? It's in all fifty states dude...and could be sexually transmitted...see www.ilads.org And, I never say that is the only cause, your right, it's all the things like a giant toxic soup, lasagna layers of damage that is causing this lovely equation.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | December 25, 2009 at 01:10 AM
Thank you, Mark. Finally got to sit and read this. This is an historic document-- and what a shameful history is being repeated, even amped up in this administration.
The ability of the health authorities to look away from the plain facts can't be idiosyncratic-- I see the people behind this fraud: the sad little schemers and stumbling denialists with much more power than they ever should have been granted, making an ugly disaster even uglier with every clumsy, guilty breath. How this revolting mess must extend to their personal lives! I don't even want to know.
I only know that what we have on our side are the people attracted to the truth. That can't be an idiosyncrasy either. So Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the Blaxills and all the extraordinary, deserving people working to solve this terrible problem. You've all saved more lives than you'll ever be able to count.
Posted by: Gatogorra | December 24, 2009 at 09:40 PM
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
Posted by: Fed Up | December 24, 2009 at 02:27 PM
As if this was on topic re:lyme
No "missing link" is *THE* missing link. We have overwhelemed immune systems. Vaccines as whole and the immediate and inherited epigenitic damage they started to cause decades ago are the stars of the show. Natrual pathogens such as Lyme and clostridium are certainly players, but their consequences are made possible the the cascade of vaccine damage and the gates opened by the destruction of the immune system.
I respect Lyme as a problem. However, I am sick of uni-cause marchers, even if it is a legitmate cause, hurting the credibility of the broad notion of environmental causes. Take a cue from those who very unfortunately stated (and a couple still do I suppose) "its not the vaccines but the mercury in them". It would have been nice if things were this simple but any parent of an MMR kid knows that premise was complete bullshit.
Lyme is regional, it dosent exist in certain parts of the world (or US for that matter). So keep saying Lyme is *THE* missing link and someone will use that simple fact to shoot down the entire notion of an environmental trigger.
Promoting one issue at the expense of other legitimate ones is not helpful.
Posted by: Steve | December 24, 2009 at 02:19 PM
For some reason, the CDC is 4 to 8 years behind in releasing any Autism data at all, and then when they do, it is well beyond distorted and hyped.
Posted by: cmo | December 24, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Also, Lets not forget about autism and vacination relationship. How come they don't mention this in this article. What are they trying to hide!!!! Query "vacination frequency". Right around 1993 CDC started requiring over 50 vacinations by the time children reach the age of 10.
Posted by: Tom Addison | December 24, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Dr. Lane;
This glutathione/calcium channel blocking stuff? I have tried to understand it.
What I think I understood is that for some reason the pump of the cell is not working.
So the calcium flows into the cell as the glutathione flows out. Am I even close?
From what I thought I know is that something messed up the ATP energy cycle. It may not even be in the mitochondria but another orgenalle of the cell called the perixosomes, and the breaking down of long chain carbs is not happening. (thanks to Kent)
Step one: Something messes up the mitochondria or energy cycle
step two: Pump fails and calcium goes into the cell while glutathione is pumped out.
step three inflammation sets in
step four cell death occurs.
Now am I even close?
Posted by: Benedetta | December 24, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Excellent article.
One thing that strikes me is the government's emphasis on flu. That illness lasts a week or so, while autism last a lifetime.
What would be a better use of the resources?
Posted by: Pat Huber | December 24, 2009 at 09:47 AM
Mak Blaxil, this is amazing. When journalist refuse to ask question you can rest assured that educated citizen will pick up their slack. Thank you. I too grew up in NJ, practically underneath that power plant where the fish would periodically turn up belly up.
Posted by: AnaB | December 24, 2009 at 08:59 AM
In my heart I know the missing link that is nota being explored and/or ignored is lyme disease. All the doctors use Quest labs which is only 8% NOT 80, 8% accurate. Instead of making a clinical diagnosis, they rely on Quest. Major children's hospitals diagnosed my son with Asperger's; PDD-NOS; severe ADHD, we had him tested for food/chemical allergy testing prior to giving in to trying meds. He was positive for numerous allergies, but that was only one factor, not the answer. One doesn't drop from an IQ of 170 to 116 with autism!
Son was 14 when MOM found the lyme component as 12 y/o brother was dying from lyme! Both children were BORN with lyme disease. Insurance companies do not want doctors diagnosing lyme properly because it would bankrupt them! GP's are not educated in lyme and too difficult to manage with chronic, late-stage lyme, it's extremely involved to treat properly and there is NO cure! Older son still has difficulties, irreversible neurological damage, from the lyme being in his brain but we don't have the monster who took over my son's body/mind we were dealing with 12 years ago. In my heart, I believe so many children/adults are being put away, in prison, families ripped apart and placed on destructive meds (on developing major organs) unnecessarily, just flat out missing the boat on this subject. Yes, a book is in the works, hope I can complete it to help as many families as possible. What is happening is just wrong.
Posted by: Joanne in West Chester, PA | December 24, 2009 at 08:40 AM
PUBLIC SUBMISSION As of: July 28, 2009
Tracking No. 809c7480
Comments Due: June 08, 2009
Late comments are accepted
Docket: FDA-2009-N-0138
Joint Meeting of the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee, and the Anesthetic and Life Support Drugs Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting.
Comment On: FDA-2009-N-0138-0001
Joint Meeting of the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee, and the Anesthetic and Life Support Drugs Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting - Notice of Meeting
Document: FDA-2009-N-0138-0005
Kerry Scott Lane MD - Comment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitter Information
Organization: St. Mary's Medical Center, W. Palm Beach, FL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Comment
Acetaminophen, Glutathione Depletion, and Regressive Autism
Acetaminophen toxicity in the liver is well established. One of the known toxic
effects of this commonly used drug is depletion of the most important antioxidant, glutathione. Disease states linked to depletion of glutathione and excessive amounts of oxidized glutathione, versus reduced glutathione, include Diabetes, Atherosclerosis, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH), and others.
Regressive Autism is a condition that has defied a definitive pathobiology to
date. The attachments enclosed reveal that acetaminophen, by exacerbating an
already depleted glutathione antioxidant system due to a preexisting condition,
triggers autism in the peri-vaccination period by reducing glutathione levels to
below a critical level. Adequate glutathione levels are crucial to the effective functioning of the Metallothionein (MT) System. The MT system is involved in metabolism of metals, as is glutathione. However, the MT system is especially critical to the metabolism of Zinc in the brain. In states of depleted glutathione and excess oxidized glutathione, free Zinc is released in brain cells. This free zinc is toxic to the mitochondria, causing cellular hypoxia and a generalized neurological malfunctioning that we now recognize as Autism.
It appears acetaminophen alone is not enough to cause Autism. The co-morbid
pathobiology is due to the creation of a state of abnormal gastrointestinal biology
due to antibiotic administration to the infant. This allows the replacement of the
normal GI flora with yeast overgrowth by Candida species and others. Many yeasts and fungi produce mycotoxins which have been shown to be pathological to man and animal alike.
Recently interest has focused on a mycotoxin known as Gliotoxin which has
been shown to be immunosuppressive, by killing CD4 cells, along with a multitude
of other deleterious effects. Gliotoxin has been shown to form adducts with glutathione, essentially removing it from the pool of bioavailable antioxidants. Over
fifty per cent of Candida species have been shown to produce Gliotoxin.
If we envision a sequence of events that results in an undesirable yeast in the GI
tract, causing a depletion of glutathione and generalized oxidative stress, followed
by a vaccination that includes a metal adjuvant (mercury or aluminum), followed
by the administration of acetaminophen (antipyretic) to an infant- at a critical
period of neurodevelopment- we can envision the pathobiology of Autism.
The enclosed attachments from peer-reviewed articles are a roadmap to the above described pathobiology. I suggest the FDA act with all due haste to make this material public so the autism epidemic can be properly managed. Additional focus should be directed to the AIDS syndrome, which also involves depletion of glutathione. It would seem acetaminophen is inappropriate in this setting, and
possibly in most settings.
Kerry Scott Lane MD
St. Mary’s Medical Center
June 6, 2009
Posted by: Kerry Scott Lane MD | December 24, 2009 at 08:27 AM
The CDC, like most government agencies, is controlled by liars who do the bidding of the powerful controllers of the so-called military-industrial complex. Vaccines are given for profit and for population control - they don't actually help the immune system and indeed they damage the immune system and can foster a variety of problems in the body due to the way they inject pathogens and chemicals directly into the body creating harmful immune system reactions and potential corruption of DNA. Once people admit this they can take steps to reverse the damage and heal the children. People need to act independently of the government and mass media instead of following like sheep what the so-called authorities say.
http://www.phinsights.com/autism.html
Posted by: Jed | December 24, 2009 at 08:21 AM
To response to the question "What motivation do the people at CDC have to deceive us (or fool themselves)?
Linus Pauling (one of the champions of Vitamin C and nutrition being the keys to health (i.e. prevention) can be quoted: "Of all the professions, those in the medical world are the least likely to question what they have been told."
Also, as to top CDC chiefs (look at Julie Gerberding now going over to Big Pharma and getting richer), they have been gradually drifting into the pocket of Pharma, from the dawn of modern (poisonous) vaccines beginning in the 1940's.
Nevertheless, at the bottom is the human trait of being addicted to social/political power, and unfettered control of the masses. The likes of Anthony Fauci, Julie Gerberding, Thomas Insel, on and on, exemplify this perfectly. The underlings at CDC just follow their orders (nothing new here, either).
The only way to change this may end up being massive revolt by the populace, with our autism catastrophe providing the powder.
Posted by: david burd | December 24, 2009 at 07:52 AM
Its MSG that is causing all the problems. The US Congress has passed 30 ingredients to allow the food industry to hide it in. Natural Flavors is the biggest culprit.
Posted by: Brian | December 24, 2009 at 07:34 AM
I am a physician and have declined vaccines for my daughter over the consternation and firing by her pediatrician. I am now her pediatrician and she is doing great. But I don't believe these physicians are evil, I believe they have been brainwashed during residency to believe the lie. And when your reimbursement depends on the lie it really makes you blind to the realities. The pediatricians are given talking points and coached to deal with parents concerns.
I simply tell my patients I don't take vaccines and encourage them to research them. If they want to discuss it I will happy to tell about SV40 and polio vaccines as a starter.
When so much medicine is going towards evidence based medicine; I have a question. Where is the evidence vaccines work?
Posted by: A Doctor | December 24, 2009 at 07:07 AM
The same problem, with statistics being skewed and twisted and strangled, occurs with cancer clusters.
Various government entities try hard and -- with only 1 exception that I know of, succeed - at denying there IS any cancer cluster. Anywhere.
They declare that the "border" of a cluster runs right through the middle of a neighborhood riddled with cancer. ("We have to use zip codes. That street ends this zip code.")
Or they do that thing Mark talked about, they move the age up or down to exclude enough cases so that, suddenly, poof - no cancer. And so on.
The call themselves "cluster busters." They're proud of it!!! Probably there are lots of CDC workers, plus lots of pediatricians, who are proud of defending vaccines. ("Saving millions of lives every year," is how they look at it.)
The exception is Fallon, Nevada. Tungsten in the air and water. Arsenic in the water (although the town FINALLY got a treatment facility). Mercury left over from gold mining. Plus of course the childhood vaccines. They had an "unexplainable" cancer cluster.
I wonder what percentage of children are on the spectrum?
Posted by: DisgustedWithDoctors | December 24, 2009 at 03:20 AM
where are the references for the data? what document are the tables taken from? URLs are fine... thanks
Posted by: todd | December 24, 2009 at 03:04 AM
Is this entirely about money? Are there any other factors that are at play here?
Thank you for your excellent work and I said it once before you deserve a Pulitzer.
Posted by: Nora | December 24, 2009 at 02:40 AM
Thanks Mark for the analysis.
My question for Obama: what does the number need to be to matter?
Posted by: Lisa | December 24, 2009 at 01:13 AM
Mark, Thank you very much for this very thorough analysis. It makes me wonder when we'll find someone with a conscience that was involved with this process. It kind of makes me want to change careers and move to Atlanta to get a job.
Posted by: ObjectiveAutismDad | December 23, 2009 at 11:58 PM
I love the comment about the old dad physician...this may be relevant in this increase...just when did physicians become carpetbaggers for more vaccines, I would like the exact date on that...and I think it would coincide with this increase!
Secondly, I really understand why this happened. I do preach that a host of things can cause autism...the environment is exploding with toxins in our air, food and water...which probably sets up the problem to be sure...but while really thinking on this, i came up with the following conclusions: Found on an obscure website...and I totally agree with it.
Like the material used to produce experimental allergic encephalitis, vaccines contain substances which qualify as "adjuvants." These substances initiate reactionary antibody formation. Common adjuvants used in vaccines are aluminum hydroxide and aluminum potassium sulfate. In the body, formalin coating around the injected material dissolves, releasing all bacterial and viral particles from animal culture sources. Substances such as thimerosal and these other adjuvant chemicals irritate body tissues and increase the action of accompanying bacteria and viruses, as well as the reaction of the immune system to the foreign protein antigens, potentially damaging neurological membranes where the myelin sheath has only partially protected the nervous system. This can result in mild to severe neurological damage, leading to learning disabilities and other nervous system disorders, or death, especially upon subsequent injections, since body has already been sensitized, promoting allergic reactions of increasingly severe nature.
I am sure, most of our toxic world helps the myelin damage along, and the immune collapse...but the fact remains, the universal trigger IS vaccines, and THEY know this...and until people realize this and come out of their deep slumbers...then autism will continue...as long as parents agree for children to be vaccinated on any schedule, on any "safe" adjuvented vaccine...
The lies are numerous...do we ever think that the day will come that they will concede this issue? Think not...sorry...
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | December 23, 2009 at 11:33 PM
This is an awesome analysis, I'm printing up PDF copies. Then I can just hand one to the next idiot I meet in a public forum who recites the "better diagnosis" mantra (usually a psychiatrist). For those wondering why Colorado numbers are so low, it's exactly as Matt has outlined. A lot of school districts here avoid the A word like the plague on IEPs, which falls right in line with their philosophy to provide the absolute minimum of supports and services. Unfortunately, most parents eat this up and are thankful their children aren't "labeled." When my kids were in public school, I estimated the rate in their elementary school at 1 in 50, yet my district had one of the lowest reported rates of autism in the state!
Posted by: mlinn | December 23, 2009 at 11:20 PM
What motivates the folks at the CDC to mislead?
Posted by: Coralie | December 23, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Between the FDA (Federal Death Administration), CDC (Center for Deception and Corruption) and AAP (American Academy of Propaganda) it is a wonder that they are even admitting to the "official statistic" of 1 in 100, considering that the previous "official" statistic, 1 in 150, was based on children born in 1994. Government public school records have a more accurate accounting, although they don't include private schools or home schooled children. In 2007, these records demonstrated 1 in 67.
When 1 in 150 is really 1 in 67
By Raymond W. Gallup & F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP
"The U.S. Department of Education has recently released the official figures for autism/ASD by age and state for school year 2006-2007, in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s requirement that comprehensive annual reports be published and presented to the United States Congress. "
http://web.archive.org/web/20071223152720/www.vaproject.
org/yazbak/1-in-150-is-really-1-in-67-20071005.htm
Posted by: Autism Grandma | December 23, 2009 at 10:53 PM
Mark,
This was so well researched and written, hitting both brain and heart. Please keep sounding the alarm. There will be days of reckoning.
You are also so correct that the Obama honeymoon is over. It all breaks my heart. Never give up.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | December 23, 2009 at 10:18 PM
I am sooo thankful my oldest 2 children were born in 1988 and 1990. My daughter just missed the hep B shot by mere weeks. After doing DNA testing at Genova diagnostics on all my children I am 100% sure as is my DAN doc that I would have had 3 children on the spectrum. The only reason my 3rd didn't descend completely into autism and has recovered completely is that my Dad is an old doc and having been an ICU nurse I knew Docs were not always correct. "AND I DO WHAT I WANT!"
1st after having 2 kids I didn't ask permission to put my son on hypoallergenic formula so spared him ear infections and then antibiotics. My Dad who had kidney failure was adamant about not giving advil and tylenol after shots, he felt they were toxic. I'll never forget the day when I was telling my Dad about my son's language disabilities and how i felt it was due to the hepatitis B shot he got at birth. He didn't believe me. Why would they give an infant a vax for a sexually transmitted disease? Why would they put mercury in the shots? Why would they vax a baby that young when EVERYONE knew their immune systems were immature. He had to look it up he was so incredulous. He would of been 81 and he felt the pediatricians today were dangerous and the vaccination schedule was "evil." If he could see it why can't the docs today see it maybe bc my dad practiced when he wasn't owned by big pharm and he could treat his patients as he felt best using his critical thinking rather then only what the insurance company would pay for. The best thing we can do for our children is to NEVER take them to a pediatrician.
Posted by: Maureen O | December 23, 2009 at 09:48 PM
"And while there is no evidence of fraud in the preparation of the ADDM data, that’s about the only good thing you can say about the work"
I live in one of the reporting states with two diagnosed kids in the school system. With everyone on the IEP team in agreement with my 8yr old's (non-verbal) (2)diagnoses, the boss who has never seen my child refuses to include autism in his IEP. My oldest (14yr old Aspbergers) is also selected for exclusion from these numbers.
Unless my family is being singled out for some reason, I fear these numbers are much, much worse than what is being reported.
Posted by: Matt | December 23, 2009 at 09:15 PM
I agree, Obama has been an unmitigated DISASTER for our community. The hell with him, he's starting to reek of failure and may well be a one-term president anyway. And yes, I voted for him. Now that he's shown himself to be a warmonger and Pharma-servant I feel like I might as well have taken a chance on McCain, who was rumored to have an open mind about vaccines and autism.
Things are going to get worse before they get better at this point, I am afraid. Not for individuals but in terms of more and more kids developing autism, because our rulers are determined to push more and more vaccines. The only good news is some of the public (those despised "college-educated moms") are starting to wake up.
If any politician, right-wing, left-wing, Muslim, Christian or devil-worshipper comes out and says, we need to investigate the connection between autism and vaccines, not only will he or she get my vote, I will work my butt off for that person and even donate any spare change. If any political consultant happens to read this blog, please take note. Because I suspect there are a lot of us out there ready to become single-issue autism voters.
Posted by: julie | December 23, 2009 at 09:03 PM
Minnesota has 1 in 67 eight year olds (both boys and girls) in special education with autism. That is for the entire state!
http://www.fightingautism.org/idea/autism-state-rankings-prevalence.php
Posted by: Dan, tx | December 23, 2009 at 06:38 PM
Jen;
You thought that one of your son's problems was caused by tylenol that you were taking before he was born? But he is not as bad as your other son that had vaccines. (Am I remembering correctly?)
A nurse practioner was discussing this with me, and she had observed a lot of the same thing going on in her practice. First child of a family that was vaccinated was bad, but even the next child that received no vaccines was affected too.
She started asking them about the mothers vaccinations. Many of thsee mothers had been vaccinated with booster as far back as a decade ago. A couple even remembered that they had passed out with their first Hep B vaccine and could not finish taking them the rest of the three boosters.
The immune system - how it decides to react - what catches it on fire is passed on - not only through the mother but through the father too.
My daughter had a Hep B vaccine two years ago at age 26, she now has high SED rates, she is a little stiff and tires easy but she still is working 12 hours shifts at the hospital. Even if she gets better and has a child is it going to be okay???? For the Eve to a Christmas Eve I have wanted to cry all day.
We are doomed!
Posted by: Benedetta | December 23, 2009 at 04:54 PM
"...the autism rate among white males born in Missouri in 1998 is 1 in 45"
just so happens my PDD son was born in MO in 1998. His autistic brother in MO in 2000
Posted by: Fed Up | December 23, 2009 at 03:39 PM
If we think the HHS red tape and rabbit hole are vast now, I can't imagine how we will ever get sunlight on autism if the Dem healthcare passes:
-- Creates a new “Bureau of Health Information” (not to be confused with the already existing National Center for Health Statistics) within the department of Health and Human Services. The BHI will be led by a new “Assistant Secretary for Health Information.” The new assistant secretary will coordinate with the recently-created “National Coordinator for Health Information Technology” – who is responsible for monitoring the $19.5 billion in the stimulus law to implement “a nationwide interoperable, privacy-protected health information technology infrastructure.”
Not only do electronic medical records get priority over the nations children with autism, so do "communities of color" with the Dem healthcare bill:
-- Found on pages 240 through 248 of the Senate manager's amendment, requires that six different agencies each establish an “Office of Minority Health.” The agencies are the “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.”
Posted by: FeFe | December 23, 2009 at 03:34 PM
Mark, thank you for dissecting the lies with such detail, and thanks for pointing fingers directly to the Obama administration. I've voted for him (no other real choice was available) but I always had the gut feeling that Obama would be as centrist as it comes and would have nothing to do with change of any kind. His campaign chest told the real story behind the "hope & change" BS, with Wall Street and pharma at the top of his contributors list. If there was any doubt, making the explosive CDC report public on the Friday before Christmas tells you all you need to know about this administration.
Thanks Julie for the historical perspective, I never thought about it but it's just what we are going through. I have a few acquaintances from Argentina that still claim that the dissapeared were just in hiding while vacationing in Europe, and this is invariably said with a scornful smile. Beyond disgusting.
Thanks Jake for your invaluable views, as always.
Posted by: we shall overcome | December 23, 2009 at 02:26 PM
Madvocate, I usually agree very much with your posts, but I could say today that if you are waiting for things to improve after the Obama administration, you must be a rather young person. One of the great lessons of life is to know that when something bad ends, guess what- Things may get better, but they may also get worse. Sometimes what one abhors, appears in retrospect to be not so terrible after all. The real force for change lies with us- not with the government. Let us give thanks if they at least do not impede us.
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | December 23, 2009 at 02:02 PM
Michigan;
Decided some years ago to get into the business of making their own vaccines.
We moved up there from Kentucky in 2000 and my son found lots of company who had similiar conditions. The owners of the house we bought had an autistic son and they blamed the DPT shot. The realtor that we used had a nephew that had autism and she blamed the DPT shot.
The small school in the small township of Freeland, Michigan that snuggled inbetween Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland high school had 20 autistic kids in it!
Can states with high autistic rates, maintain themselves, econonmically?
Posted by: Benedetta | December 23, 2009 at 01:48 PM
Shame on the last several American presidents!!! I completely see the high number of boys affected. The trouble is time is catching up with them (CDC,AAP etc.). The statstics are getting scary.
Posted by: jen | December 23, 2009 at 01:47 PM
If we have the science of why autism is autism, then the arguments should stop and treatments and preventions should begin
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/clifford.g.miller/Mitochondrial.html#Why_Vaccines_Can_Cause_Autism
If we know this, then screw the CDC and all their cohorts, this information needs to get out to the general masses, as they must now question the "status quo". Healthy children come about because peole actually DO things to make it so....not just "let it happen naturally"...
We can no longer not question the vaccine policies of the past and future, we must question everything, and most of all question if MY CHILD is going to have a problem, based on immune and genetic underpinnings in your family individually.
Posted by: Kathy Blanco | December 23, 2009 at 01:43 PM
Thank you. Bless you. And F them.
Posted by: Garbo | December 23, 2009 at 01:29 PM
Thank you for this analysis. I've been wondering about the changes in the ADDM sites from year to year, and the delay in reporting the 2004 data. This explains it so well.
Posted by: MB | December 23, 2009 at 12:53 PM
I can't read any more. I can't take any more. It has become too much.
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?) Mark 15:34
Psalms 22
Posted by: bensmyson | December 23, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Hey Mark, being on the spectrum isn't so bad. You face a lot of significant challenges in life, true, but you learn to overcome them. And looking back, you feel a sense of pride that you've managed to best them the way you have. That's what I feel whenever I think of all the bullies who harassed me in school (though to describe what they did as "bullying" I feel would seriously understate the brutality of what I went through), the teachers who stood by and let it happen, getting only me in trouble whenever I fought back, and the school administrators who treated me more like an inmate.
No, you would not have danced with pretty girls, mingled with celebrities or had high school buddies to drink your beer with. That is the trade-off for feeling the tremendous sense of accomplishment I felt after fighting my way out of special education, fighting off the bullies, restoring relations with my new teachers and administrators and all around managing to adopt to a society that was overwhelmingly hostile to grade-schoolers on the autism spectrum unfortunate enough to have been born in the eighties like I was, before the huge rise in autism that finally made educators wake up and start treating autistic children with more respect. The closest society came to even attempting to help out people like me was by tossing us a whole lot of meds, which only made things worse.
And people may be reading this and think about how awful it must have been for me to have had this disability, how awful the treatment was that I had been dealt. But the fact is: had my autism and all the problems that came with it simply never existed, I would have never known if I'd have been able to overcome them as I did.
Sure I never had as distinguished an academic career as some of my classmates, never could have gotten into Princeton, but that's what universities like Brandeis are for!
And speaking of Brandeis, I know I've thanked you for this already Mark, but thanks again for coming to Brandeis that Monday to give such an excellent presentation. A lot of students I spoke to afterwards really liked your speech!
Posted by: Jake Crosby | December 23, 2009 at 12:08 PM
"And although the full state of Pennsylvania is in the top 10 of the IDEA ranking, Philadelphia County (the ADDM site) has autism rates well below the statewide average. Both PA and CO autism rates were among the lowest in the latest ADDM report"
I don't know how this is - trust me there is rampant autism in PA!
Through my informal Facebooking of my high school classmates (and I've only touched about 10 of the 186 students) - I've uncovered three of us with kids on the spectrum - that's certainly higher than 1 in 100 in Central PA!
Posted by: Diane | December 23, 2009 at 11:45 AM
I have found comfort in "The Bosses" words during the ups and downs raising my son.
THE RIVER
BADLANDS
Thanks Bruce. How 'bout a concert for AoA and our hungry hearts?
Posted by: Just another mom | December 23, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Thanks for the analysis. I knew it had to be worse than what they were saying. I live in a neighborhood that's about 80% hispanic and there are no autistic kids in my neighborhood or attending my neighborhood school. My son attends a school a few blocks away that is about 80% white and full of autistic kids. My son (white)is the only autistic kid "bused" in from my neighborhood. I have always thought it strange the number of middle class white boys with autism. Might even lead one to believe that they have been targeted.
Posted by: Maggie | December 23, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Every year I teach a unit on The Disappeared in Argentina, where under military dictatorship in the late 70's early 80's the government simply rounded up those they labeled the "subversives" and raped, tortured and most often, killed them. The children born in captivity were secretly given to military families and friends of the government.
Tens of thousands of people disappeared during this reign of terror. For years, family members of the disappeared reached out for help to no avail, and then formed support groups and underground networks to find their loved ones. When the numbers got large enough, they took to the streets to protest. U2 even wrote a song about it.
Those not personally affected by this discounted them as crazy conspiracy theorists, or worse, deserving of what happened to them even if it were true. No one would believe their first hand accounts of how their loved one was taken. They were accused of lying and imagining things. The number of people affected was always underestimated.
But for most people not directly affected by this, it wasn't that complicated. They couldn't possibly believe it were true. This wasn't the Dark Ages; it was 1980. The idea of the government perpetuating and covering up something this horrific was too much to fathom. Besides, it was a dangeous time politically and if some dangerous people had to be arrested, so be it.
An Oscar Award winning film, "La Historia Oficial" tells the fictional story of a mother who unknowingly adopts one of the children born in captivity and her search for the truth. I show it at the end of the unit.
In it, there is a scene in which the real grandma of the child and the main character meet for the first time. Realizing she has been mother to a child that was stolen, she starts to cry. The grandma responds stoicly:
"Llorar no sirve. Llorar no sirve." Crying doesn't help. Crying doesn't help.
Ever since I entered this seemingly parallel universe of Autism, I have thought about that movie and that line. The parallels to this period in Argentina's history and what we are going through are not lost on me.
Our children are disappearing right in front of our eyes, and have been at epidemic proportions for almost 20 years now. We have cried out for help to no avail, instead accused of lying, fabricating, misleading, and more. We are considered dangerous, and yes, some people believe even if it is true what happened to our kids, that's just the way it goes.
In my darkest times one of the things I remember is that even this dark chapter in Argentina came to an end. Eventually the truth was too overwhelming to deny anymore. Too many people affected. Too many lives destroyed. At one point in 1995, the country declared there was no way to ever make it right and that the country had to forgive and move forward. In the last few years, however, that has changed. Those in leadership positions at the time are being jailed and prosecuted. Justice has been delayed, but it is happening.
I don't often cry about Autism. I've confessed in previous posts how I deal with my pain, and I'm not joking when I say I do repeat the words "Llorar no sirve" on many occassion.
But today...when I read this? When I read the real incidence numbers of Missouri and Arizona? What is it, 1 in 42 or 45 boys?
Well, the tears just came. The magnitude of this human disaster hit me in the gut and sucked out my breath.
Crying may not help, but right now, it's the only thing I can do.
Posted by: Julie Obradovic | December 23, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Considering the autism statistics, it's no longer such a great thing to be Born In the USA, especially for boys.
Thank you for this excellent analysis.
No one has sounded the alarm, and no one in any official position of authority ever will. There's way too much at stake for the parties responsible for this tragedy, which includes the media who, with few exceptions, enthusiastically cooperates with pharma/CDC.
I'm counting the days til the end of the current administration which is as bad as if not worse than previous ones on the autism epidemic.
Posted by: madvocate | December 23, 2009 at 11:33 AM
This would be a great lesson for a class in "How to Lie With Statistics" which is the name of a book I read a long time ago. Thanks for taking time to detail the specific methods of statistical lying by the CDC. I used to think the Verstraeten study was an exception, but I have come to wonder if there is any public health research or reporting that is honest.
Posted by: Sue | December 23, 2009 at 11:18 AM
mark you are an incredible, enlightened, much needed soul! thank you and my glass is raised to bruce and all you nj boys!
Posted by: Debbie Voss | December 23, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Thank you for the thorough investigative reporting. Now, maybe this can be a press release to a major news networks? Wait until the holidays are over so it might get more attention. Yeah, I'm full of wishful thinking today.
Posted by: Deb in IL | December 23, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Every step of the way on this new health care bill - pharm has been right there! Making deals behind close doors.
We are doomed!
Posted by: Benedetta | December 23, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Thank you Mark for this most thorough analysis!
I couldn't agree with you more on the outright negligence of the CDC, the current administration as well as the "so called" medical professional vaccine/thimerosal apologists. They have all failed our children, failed to sound any alarms and actively deceived the American people at the expense of it's children. It's beyond criminal and I wonder how they are all able to sleep at night.
Thank you for your truthtelling and ever ready activism. We are blessed to have you on our children's side. Happy Holidays to you and to the 2 beautiful ladies in your life. I'm hoping for a New Year's 2010 awakening in the public who will no longer stand for blatant propoganda.
Peace, Allison Chapman
Posted by: Allison | December 23, 2009 at 09:44 AM