Meet The Age of Autism's Mark Blaxill & Dan Olmsted At the NAA Conference
Managing Editor's Note: Mark your calendars for The NAA Conference in St. Pete this weekend to meet Dan and Mark. They'll be in Minnesota in December. See below for details. From their website:
A groundbreaking book, THE AGE OF AUTISM explores how mankind has unwittingly poisoned itself for half a millennium.
For centuries, medicine has made reckless use of one of earth's most toxic substances: mercury—and the consequences, often invisible or ignored, continue to be tragic. Today, background pollution levels, including global emissions of mercury as well as other toxicants, make us all more vulnerable to its effects. From the worst cases of syphilis to Sigmund Freud's first cases of hysteria, from baffling new disorders in 19th century Britain to the modern scourge of autism, THE AGE OF AUTISM traces the long overlooked history of mercury poisoning.
Now, for the first time, authors Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill uncover that history. Within this context, they present startling findings: investigating the first cases of autism diagnosed in the 1940s revealed an unsuspected link to a new form of mercury in seed disinfectants, lumber fungicides and vaccines. In the tradition of Silent Spring and An Inconvenient Truth, Olmsted and Blaxill demonstrate with clarity how chemical and environmental clues may have been missed as medical "experts," many of them blinded by decades of systemic bias, instead placed blamed on parental behavior or children's biology. By exposing the roots and rise of The Age of Autism, this book attempts to point the way out – to a safer future for our children and the planet.
November 13
Tampa, FL
National Autism Association (NAA) Conference
All day event
Trade Winds Island Gulf Resort
5600 Gulf Blvd.
St. Pete Beach, FL 33706
December 4th
St. Paul, MN
Parents United Against Autism
1:00 pmUniversity of Minnesota--St. Paul Student Center Theater2017 Buford Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55108
Dan,
I found this article about Torrey's recent work on an "insanity virus." No mention in the article about why this virus would have started causing an epidemic of insanity.
http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jun/03-the-insanity-virus/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C=
Posted by: Carol | November 11, 2010 at 04:40 PM
As I read the book I was taken back to my childhood and found so many instances where my family was affected by our vaccines.
My siblings and I were heavily vax'ed as babies and children in the late 1960s and early 70s. My younger brother was 2 when he had so much drool dripping from his mouth that it hung to the ground for what had to have been a year - it was blamed on his molars. To read your book that this is a symptom of mercury poisoning stopped me in my tracks. This brother went on to have a mouthful of mercury fillings and today has a son with asperger's/autism.
I also remember an especially painful tetanus shot after stitches...the pain at the injection site lasted for weeks. Soon after that shot I needed glasses and started having migraines that started with severe visual disturbances and I could not tolerate the sight of bright yellow or pinstriped fabrics that were in fashion at the time - those colors and patterns triggered migraines.
So, yes, go Dan & Mark, go! Keep opening more eyes and inspiring more research and discovery on the myriad problems caused by mercury in medicine.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 11, 2010 at 03:59 PM
Carol -- you were ahead of me, at least -- i never even thought to wonder why 1 percent of the population would have severe mental illness. We stumbled across the possibility, and Fuller Torrey's brilliant book which deserves a wide audience, because once you start looking at the environment and mercury's harmful effects ... it's the like the energizer bunny, you can just keep going and going ... let's hope all the hard work everyone's doing results in a safer world for our kids.
Posted by: dan olmsted | November 11, 2010 at 08:41 AM
My husband and I will be there can't wait!!!
Posted by: Julie | November 09, 2010 at 01:42 PM
After reading _Age of Autism_, I got _The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present_ by Torrey and Miller.
I've often thought about how peculiar it is that our species evolved over hundreds of thousands of years with one out of every hundred members utterly demented. It never occurred to me until reading _Age of Autism_ that widespread mental illness could be a relatively recent event.
I feel paradigms shifting!
Posted by: Carol | November 09, 2010 at 11:43 AM
University of Minnesota-my alma mater. Wish I could go, but since i cannot-I will pass word around to my friends and relatives there
Bundle up Dan and Mark, it's colder than--------------------------.
Maurine
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | November 09, 2010 at 11:08 AM