Why Do Autism "Experts" Know So Little? The DSM-5 Debacle.
By Anne Dachel
Experts know NOTHING about autism. NOTHING. Not the cause or the cure. They’re not sure what the current rate is since the last time they updated the numbers was three years ago but it was based on studies of eight year olds back in 2006. Now they’re also telling us that they don’t even know exactly what autism is.
Stories are out everywhere about the American Psychiatric Association’s plan to revise their manual of mental disorders, known as the DSM, where they’ll be changing what we now call autism.
I’m not sure why we should trust the people who can’t tell us anything for sure about autism. When exactly are they going to get it right? In a couple of years will they be overhauling autism again? I would think that a lot of psychiatrists are embarrassed about the perpetual head scratching over autism, but they’re not. News reports give us doctors who welcome the changes. It seems they’ve finally figured out what the word autism really means.
Parents are worried however. No one is expressing a lot of hope that a new definition will make life better for any kids with autism, in fact, a lot of parents are very concerned that getting rid of the label of autism will mean children will lose critical services.
Now Dr. Catherine Lord, one of the experts working on the DSM changes, hopes that won’t happen. She was on CBS News on Jan 25 saying, "Families are very, very concerned that their kids are going to lose their diagnosis. It's really important to reassure people that there's no intention that that will happen. ...The intention of the new criteria is to better describe children--and adults--who have autism, Aspergers Syndrome, PDD-NOS, ... We don't want criteria that diagnose everyone as having autism. We want to do a better job of diagnosing the people who do. We're not trying to exclude anyone."
And Lord also announced on CBS that for some kids, autism isn’t a lifelong disability. Lord said, “10 to 20 percent outgrow autism--those without other severe problems.” That is a stunning claim. I seriously want to see the thousands of kids who outgrew autism, especially kids who were non-verbal and who displayed all the signs of classic autism we’re so familiar with. I want to see those children today as a typical-acting with no signs of autism.
With all the quibbling over the word autism, no one is ever worried. The Catherine Lords of the world act like we have lots of time to figure out autism and that losing a generation of children to a disorder no one ever heard about 25 years is something we just have to learn to live with. No one talks about what this country will be like when one percent of adults as well as kids have autism and we’re paying and paying and paying. (And I’m sure there are lots of people who look forward to that day so they can say, “See, we told you the rate was the same for adults!”)
I came across a report on autism in the real world recently that made it clear that no matter what officials do to it, autism will bankrupt us. Experts will probably be clueless for many years to come, but the states will have to deal with the reality of autism. This report just came from Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania DPW Releases Nation's Most Comprehensive Autism Needs Assessment.
It’s about the effect autism is having on that state. If you can continue on after reading, “Autism affects an estimated 30,000 Pennsylvania children and adults, and that 85 percent of these individuals also have another diagnosis such as an intellectual disability, physical health challenges or mental health issues,” things get worse.
“Among the findings, the study shows that training in social skills has been identified as the most common unmet need for both children and adults with autism. In addition, it was found that more than two-thirds of adults with autism are unemployed or underemployed, when in fact these individuals are fully capable of working, but lack the social skills to be able to hold or find employment.”
It’s hard to believe people are still learning these simple truths about autism.
Large numbers of people are getting little to no help.
“The assessment study also shows that individuals living in rural areas face increased challenges in accessing critical services and supports. This is a critical issue because 48 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are designated as rural. Most notably, the study found that in rural areas, it is difficult to find doctors, dentists, or other specialty care providers trained to understand the unique behavioral challenges associated with caring for individuals with autism. “
Finally, they tried to find something positive to say with little success.
“The study also found good news. There has been a decrease in the amount of time it takes for families with young children to receive a diagnosis. Even with the decrease, families are still waiting up to a year for a diagnosis, and there remain few to no options for diagnosing adults with autism.”
I would like to ask Catherine Lord and everyone involved in changing the DSM definition of autism what possible relevance their work has to the situation in Pennsylvania and everywhere else in the country. Calling autism by another name, changes nothing. We have hundreds of thousands of neurologically disabled CHILDREN in the U.S. and they don’t know why. A Harvard study back in 2006 put lifetime care cost conservatively at $3.2 million for EACH ONE. After the DSM people finally get done figuring out what to call these children, maybe they’ll work on what we’re going to do with them as adults.
UPDATE:
Top expert, Dr. Fred Volkmar is in disagreement with Catherine Lord.
Five years ago, I wrote the piece, The Really Big Lie About Autism, and I quoted Volkmar who doesn't believe there's been any increase in autism. Instead he thinks autistic people are finally being recognized. I said this about Volkmar:
“In the New York Times article, ‘Study Puts Rate of Autism at 1 in 150 U.S. Children,’ Dr. Fred R. Volkmar, from Yale University School of Medicine was quoted as saying, ‘It appears that the rates are unchanged over the past 20 years or so.’"
On Jan 20, 2012 Fred Volkmar was in this NYT piece on the DSM5: New Definition of Autism Will Exclude Many, Study Suggests
“The changes would narrow the diagnosis so much that it could effectively end the autism surge, said Dr. Fred R. Volkmar, director of the Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine and an author of the new analysis of the proposal. ‘We would nip it in the bud.’ “Experts working for the Psychiatric Association on the manual's new definition - a group from which Dr. Volkmar resigned early on - strongly disagree about the proposed changes' impact. "I don't know how they're getting those numbers," Catherine Lord, a member of the task force working on the diagnosis, said about Dr. Volkmar's report. “Previous projections have concluded that far fewer people would be excluded under the change, said Dr. Lord, director of the Institute for Brain Development, a joint project of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center and the New York Center for Autism.” Now this just out from the Yale Daily News: Redefinition of autism sparks concern:
“Being diagnosed with autism could be a lot more difficult if a new diagnostic definition goes into effect.
“In its next manual on mental disorders, the American Psychiatric Association plans to issue a single set of diagnostic criteria that will merge the four types of disorders on the autism spectrum, which include autism and Asperger syndrome. Although no current patient will be affected by the new rules, research by Yale Child Study Center Director Fred Volkmar suggests that the revision may disqualify a large number of intellectually disabled patients from receiving a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in the future. Though the study is still embargoed, with at least a month before publication, Volkmar presented his data Jan. 19 to the Icelandic Medical Association, creating widespread alarm about the new criteria.
“’I think [the proposed revision] is a mistake," Volkmar said. "It changes people's eligibility for key services, and a lot of people expressed concern.’
“’He said the change would not only affect autistic patients' access to medication and medical services, but also impact their eligibility for special schools. Volkmar also questioned the scientific validity of the decision.
“In their study, Volkmar and his team looked at a group of individuals with moderate cognitive disabilities who had been evaluated in 1994, when the APA was formulating its previous autism definition. Over half of those patients who were diagnosed with some form of autism spectrum disorder would no longer receive that diagnosis if they were evaluated under the new definition, Volkmar said.
“Volkmar said the revision may have been motivated by an attempt to be "economical" at the cost of denying services to some patients with less severe symptoms.
“Meanwhile, the APA said in a press release that the recommendations "reflect the work of dozens of the nation's top scientific and research minds," and insisted that merging the disorders will result in more sound diagnoses. The press released also disputed the fact that any type of person who was previously classified as autistic would not receive an equivalent diagnosis under the new guidelines.”
So will the changes result in real better diagnosing or will they leave out a lot of disabled people simply to cut costs? Clearly, Volkmar disagrees with Catherine Lord and the APA’s proposals for changes to the DSM and he shows that the experts STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND AUTISM or know what in the world to do about it.
Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism. Subscribe to her news service at AnneDachel.com.
Willie;
Dr. David
The greatest commandment is to "Love"
I am grateful for those like you and Dr. Wakefield!
Posted by: Benedetta | February 06, 2012 at 11:28 AM
VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM
First off Thank You Benedetta I am glad that my words and thoughts have worth to you. My prayer to Almighty God, in the name of his son and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is that not only my words but my work has worth and brings not only comfort but complete and utter relief to many if not all of those children who have autism and their families as well. You see my God is the one true living God and the creator of the universe as we do and do not know it and he can do absolutely anything. I just ask in this case that he allow me to help out a very little bit so I can tell everybody how great he, my God is and how wrong they all were and how they have hurt all of these children and families, among other things.
Vaccine science is a fraud plain and simple and it does not matter what we individually do or do not know and believe. All that matters ultimately is what is true. These vaccines are sold and marketed very transparently not for health care supplementation and but simply for money on the front end and the back end. The vaccines cause the users to require a tremendous amount of medical resources including pharmaceutical drugs both prescription and over the counter and the pharmaceutical companies reap huge economic benefits both directly and indirectly from them. Children need and require a tremendous amount of antibiotics and treatment as they are more susceptible to pathogens that a normal immune system would easily vanquish and now so do the elderly with Dementia being the 6th leading cause of death in the USA.
The reality that people in medicine have spread disease and pestilence, pain, suffering and death to children and families in the name of this “science” is nothing less than heresy and there will be hell to pay.
I am a proud physician and Surgeon from a family of seven physicians and surgeons including my cousin Charles Drew the physician who popularized the use of blood plasma that has saved literally millions of lives. The point of this historical fact is to underscore that I am readily familiar with the norms and sanctions of the health care field what is ethical and what is not ethical and what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Catherine Lord’s behavior is clearly not acceptable and it is unethical. Changing the diagnostic criteria to cover the illnesses being caused by the vaccines and not following scientific protocols because it would expose your canard is clearly not only dishonest and unethical but because it injures human beings represents criminal malfeasance. That Catherine Lord has used her position and knowingly conspired with others to participate in this lawless and diabolical plot with not even a hint of qualm or trepidation should give each and every one of us considerable pause.
With regard to my harsh and accurate characterization of Catherine Lord and my faith, I was named after King David in the bible. King David was God’s beloved. David was also a warrior. I have always been a warrior and God knows that there is no fear in my heart. I know God loves me and I want to find his favor and have him smile on me broadly so that I may have my way with this disease autism and make those who spread it my footstool.
VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM
Posted by: WILLIE | February 06, 2012 at 12:56 AM
Facebook User;
Willie comes on ever once in a while. I love reading his stuff, and I have gathered from a long period of time reading his stuff that he is a doctor or something in the medical field. At any rate he is very much in the midst of the medical community, and this mess!So if anyone would know it would be Willie!
That said, there are lots of articles on Age of Autism about certian bacteria in the gut more than other types of bacteria. But these types seem to vary among those with autism. For example; mine has gut trouble but a lot of Candida (yeast) too.
My family for the past 30 years have found that we have a metabolism that is messed up - it is called "acquried" mitochondria myopathy -- Oxidative phosphorylation on the Complex I and Complex III. Our thoughts on it is that the immune system is some how responsible for interferring in the metabolism. Long chain carbohydrates are being sloppily broken down and then being misused by metabolism that makes glucose and then uses glucose. This may leave stuff around that promotes growth of certain microbes and dampens the growth of others.
So getting rid of the bad bacteria that you say will not cure it!
As in the case of clostridium, use the antibiotic, get rid of the bad bacteria, stop using the antibiotic and it comes right back.
We are doing low glycemic, low carb counts, the same treatment that can control seizures -- since both of my adult children have seizures. It does very much help. Our kids also had kawasakis disease and they are finding that the long term effects are - messing up of lipid metabolism. That is pretty much what I have described above.
One of the first test that pushed us to testing our metabolism was low levers of L-carnitine. L- carnitine is a carrier or transport system of long chain carbs from the lyosome orgnelles in the cells to the outer layers of the mitochondria in which energy is made inside the cells.
Good luck and take care of this young man. I am so sorry for your trouble.
Posted by: Benedetta | February 05, 2012 at 03:48 PM
I'm not an expert, I have no reason to whore out my opinion as so eloquently pointed out in a previous post. Just a step father of an aspi who was diagnosed only months ago at age 18. It seems to me there are definite signs that indicate this neurological disorder. I was ignorant and unaware until his near suicide. One physical marker is a unique, newly found, bacteria that is only in the autistic community, causing IBS disorders. More testing on biological markers should tell us who they are at an age when psychological reinforcement can alter the path of antisocial behavior. Music and theater would have been helpful to this aspi but were denied due to his unwillingness to go to a class. To him it was socially uncomfortable and beneath his capabilities. So teachers labeled him the "bad boy" and Kicked him out of the musical play for lack of attendance, yep, that will make an aspi feel good about himself. I have started a non profit corporation called Music Medics to help these kids, because music is medicine.
Educating the public to acknowledge autism and understand the signs is more critical than the label. I feel that if we started earlier on development things would have been quite different for all. Parents, pediatricians, and teachers all need to be taught to recognize the signs; dealing with it early can be a large part of the solution. Legally defining who is and who is not autistic will always be a problem because, and I will quote a psychologist "if you have met one Autistic kid that's all you done, Met one autistic kid! each are unique and hard to label without expensive scientific tests. There are signs and markers and they should me made clear for all to read early. We need to close the barn door before the cows are so far out they can't be reached.
Posted by: A Facebook User | February 05, 2012 at 02:55 PM
VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM
Catherine Lord is simply doing what psych”doctors” do best- what they are told to do.
The pharmaceutical companies are their pimps and they are the willing whores.
When their pimp tells them to call autism a psychiatric disease - they call it a psychiatric disease
When their pimp tells them to blame the mothers and call them refrigerator moms- they blame the mothers and all them refrigerator moms
When their pimp tells them to say there is no increase in the diagnosis despite the obvious rapid increase - they say there is no increase in the number patients being diagnosed
When their pimp tells them that they have to change the diagnostic criteria so nobody is autistic- They change the diagnostic criteria.
You have to understand the these are very, very loyal whores these psych “doctors”, I mean this type of whoring, once the sheets are pulled back, will be considered a whole new art form.
You see since psychiatrist and psychologist are really not scientist they really do not have to adhere to any real scientific protocol or ethics. When their "science" is blatantly failing they simply change the rules and make new "science".
As a simple test think back about what these two groups said about divorce and two parent homes the importance of father’s in the homes in the 60’s and 70’s.You will be quite shocked
These Pharmaceutical pimps find a condom loving psychiatrist like Dr. Lord (PhD), who is the Director of the University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center, and Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
As an aside,as a PhD she cannot even prescribe and aspirin as she has no medical licensure. In the medical profession no one actually even takes them seriously we figure that most of the people who went into psych were nuts and were trying to self medicate and heal for fear of being exposed as actually being crazy. They hold it together just long enough to complete a interview and if successful and out found out get into professional school and live in their whack closet until they get out of school and into residency where they can seek out others with similar problems and declare themselves normal. This scenario has been repeated over and over.
I Dr. Nut Job and my colleague Dr. Whack Job have determined that this condition (that we both have and will not disclose) is normal. Therefore in the name of science we pronounce you all NORMAL (A THAT MEANS WE ARE NORMAL NOW TOO) Wheh!!!! for a minute there I thought we were going to be considered completely and utterly crazy all of our lives!!
That Cathy Lord is in charge of psychiatrist is a farce. This weak group of confused people will agree to just about anything in the DSM book, which is a political book used by whoever is in charge to manipulate our morals and how we view things and to tell people that are actually sane that they are the ones with the problem. In the near future there will be a DSM book that allows adults to have sexual relations with children under certain circumstances and yes you will eventually be able to marry your dog.
Dr. Lord will figure prominently into these circumstances as well. I am sure her pimp has already picked out her dress for that evening.
VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM (NO MATTER WHAT DSM 5 SAYS)
Posted by: WILLIE | February 04, 2012 at 10:29 PM
With regard to the etiology of autism ("Experts know nothing about autism"): AS persons have done so much to further science to date. I bet Autism will remain an enigma until, no doubt, an Aspie puts all the pieces together, figures out the patterns and has the epiphany that will enlighten us all.
Posted by: Martha Schmidtmann Dunne, author "Wait, What Do You Mean?" Asperger's Tell and Show | February 04, 2012 at 06:15 PM
Anne, thanks for exploring "expert" non-understanding so well. Autism (and other developmental disabilities) could have been understood decades ago, and the current clear increase in numbers of handicapped children prevented. Back in 1969 I refused to listen to the sappy advice of pediatricians. I was a chemistry major turned computer programmer, and decided to do graduate work in biochemistry. I had barely begun when the October 1969 issue of Scientific American arrived in my mailbox. There I found the article by William Windle on brain damage caused by asphyxia at birth.
My oldest son suffered trauma and anoxia at birth, and was diagnosed as having "mild" cerebral palsy at 20 months of age. "He will never be quite the person he would have been," the neurologist told us. He did in fact "outgrow" his early motor problems, then was diagnosed with "autism" because of his echolalic speech. He learned to speak normally just before his 6th birthday, and by age 7 seemed to have recovered from all of his developmental disabilities. Sadly by age 17 it was clear he would not attend college.
The Scientific American article by Windle pointed out the damage caused by asphyxia at birth in nuclei of the brainstem auditory pathway. Already in the medical literature, articles on blood flow in the brain revealed these same centers in the auditory pathway to have higher blood flow than any other area of the brain. High blood flow makes the auditory system vulnerable to any toxic substance in the circulation as well as asphyxia. Combine the two, as with asphyxia + high bilirubin, and the trouble is doubled at least.
Why aren't the "experts" familiar with this literature? This is an area of neuroscience they should make the focus of research, not all the analysis of behavioral traits that they want to link to "gene loci" on chromosomes. Loci in the brain, not genes on chromosomes should be where the research funding should go.
Learning to speak requires intact processing of sounds, and maturation of the language areas in the cortex depends upon trophic neurotransmitters produced in intact nuclei of the brainstem auditory pathway. I will continue to try to speak with the "experts" as well as families left on their own to deal with developmental language disorders.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | February 04, 2012 at 08:02 AM
Another terrific piece, Anne. Thanks for putting it all together. I think Dr. Lord has "conversion disorder."
John,
Amos Oz, my favorite author. 'A Tale of Love and Darkness'- the best read.
Posted by: Maurine Meleck | February 03, 2012 at 11:31 PM
Will the DSM changes now mean that my non-verbal, low-functoning boy can be the poster child of Autism?
The present 'image' of Autism as the general public see it is either Rainman or some intelligent but unusual Aspergers boy.
Posted by: Sid | February 03, 2012 at 08:41 PM
".... There is lots more research , studies and tests being done to find out more about the autistic spectrum...."
*************
Yeah yeah, but its all just more elaborately staged tail chasing.
Autism is nothing more than a name that's been invented by the medical community, for the express purpose of creating mystery around a subject for which none need ever exist.
When a plane crashes, the FAA immediately rushes in to begin an investigation. Do these guys waste years studying why some bodies were damaged more than others, or why someone in seat 15-A survived, while the person in seat 15-B did not??? No, they study what the heck caused the plane to come down, and to injure and/or kill all of the people on board. Simply put, they study the cause.... not the result.
The simplest, cheapest, and most important study of all, is the one that the medical community still refuses to do.
Nothing to date, including legislation introduced by congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and congressman Christopher Smith ( http://maloney.house.gov/press-release/legislation-introduced-require-first-comparative-study-vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated) has been able to convince the medical community to complete a comprehensive, comparative study of vaccinated and COMPLETELY unvaccinated populations.
The whole reason they keep fiddling with definitions, and coming up with "scientific sounding" excuses, is they KNOW that whenever this study is completed... the jig will be up,
Posted by: Barry | February 03, 2012 at 08:21 PM
I strongly agree with Dr. Block's comment: "The question is "Why is ASD in the DSM at all?" Autism is a neurological problem, not a psychiatric one."
Posted by: Donna K | February 03, 2012 at 08:17 PM
The question is not "Why is the APA changing the ASD definition?" The question is "Why is ASD in the DSM at all?" Autism is a neurological problem, not a psychiatric one. As a physician, I don't even use the Autism diagnosis. I refuse to give a psychiatric label to someone with a neurological problem. If the child has heavy metals, then Heavy Metal Toxicity is the diagnosis. If yeast is one of the problems then that is the diagnosis. Real medical diagnoses, not psychiatric ones. It is the schools that are saying they can't have services if they don't have the diagnosis. That is not true. The kids can still have services if their disabilities are from real medical problems. Parents should unite to remove ASD from the DSM altogether. Don't let them give your child a psychiatric label when they don't have a psychiatric problem. Mary Ann Block, DO, www.blockcenter.com
Posted by: Mary Ann Block, DO | February 03, 2012 at 06:58 PM
I think that this sorry state of affairs makes it apparent that those of us who believe that vaccines are implicated in neurological illness ,particularly in children, must put more effort into making possible a study that compares vaccinated to non-vaccinated kids. The medical community will fight it tooth and nails, but it seems the only way to wake people up to the dangers of vaccines. That is , of course, if we are correct in our belief about their implication[vaccines] in so much illness. Obviously, money is the real drawback to having such a study done., but there must be a way to secure the necessary funds. We all need to put our heads together to brainstorm ideas that will help to generate the funds to do this. If we don't find a way, vaccines are going to destroy our country in one way or another. The medical community will not help, nor will the government. Anyone want to contact Warren Buffet?
Posted by: ct teacher | February 03, 2012 at 06:22 PM
The EXPERTS do understand autism, because the experts are the parents. The problem is all these other idiots who pretend to be experts and get in the way of scientific progress.
Posted by: Garbo | February 03, 2012 at 05:32 PM
I think the end of this article sums this issue up best "The experts STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND AUTISM or know what in the world to do about it." With diagnosis and awareness for autism at an all time high across the country professionals in the medical field are all trying to wrap their head around autism. There is lots more research , studies and tests being done to find out more about the autistic spectrum. This leads to lots of research results being reported and may clash with other studies going on at the same time. Autism is a disorder that has several different forms and will require much more researching to be done to fully understand it. In the meantime, early intervention evaluations and therapy should be encouraged for any children that show red flags of autism at an early age.
J. Drewes
Bilinguals Inc. / Achieve Beyond Pediatric Therapy & Early Intervention Autism Services
Posted by: Jonathan Drewes | February 03, 2012 at 02:32 PM
Barry said it best, so far.
Some get better, she says?
That is true! Any type of injury - the body does try to compensate and get better,, esp in the young. So how would the DSM table handle an on going healing of the body? Are they going to try to predict which ones are going to get better?
Is it really true that some get 100 percent better?
Mine is better, but he will never, ever be what he was suppose to be and he still has a lot of problems - he goes to a community college and is working hard - studying - but he still takes two pills a day for seizures, he still takes adderol for Attention problems -- so he can be alert enough to drive, he still is not a social butterfly nor does he ever bother to tell me little events in his day to day life. Everything is Fine even when they are not. Talking is not his thing --
I am sorry, but talking in this family is our gift -- Uncles, Aunts, Grandmother, Grandfathers known in the community to give inspirational speeches, telling tales nonstop, a preacher or two, plenty of teachers - well loved because they mostly entertain with their talking.
So getting better -- yes-- as much as one can from a brain injury.
Posted by: Benedetta | February 03, 2012 at 10:01 AM
If the increase of Autism is due to better diagnosis as the so called experts claim.. then simply give a worse diagnosis- and Autism will simply go away?
Posted by: Shell Tzorfas | February 03, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Hi Ann
Yes, it is true that people recover from autism but this is due to the hard work of progressive doctors who treat for metal toxicity and refuse more vaccines for vaccine harmed people.
Going back 20 years autism was a lifelong problem for they got their vaccines more than anyone else, made no attempt to minimise heavy metal exposures etc etc.
How many autism children today would go in for mercury fillings.
They would have to be totally mad in line with anyone even healthy who thinks sticking a gram of mercury next to your brain is a bright move.
However you look one thing strikes you quicker than a jab in the backside is that lots of vaccines equates to lots of autism and no vaccines equates to no autism and the exception as they say proves the rule for their is a LONG list of other ways to get this disease including the aformentioned get loads of mercury fillings.
As to who is ASD this is an exercise in BOX filling, saving money and reducing a problem illness to smaller and smaller numbers.
Tom Verstraeten looked at effects after Al and oil vaccines and the illnesses were split into dozens of different categories so you got 25 of one illness and none of another. Then you do an exercise to say well people today get huge numbers of illnesses and hey presto an illness ONLY possible to get after vaccines (Guillain Barre Syndrome) is actually protected against using more vaccines.
I am sure they are developing a vaccine right now to stop people getting autism. It will have loads of mercury and even more aluminium and will either zap you so you don't get the disease or like SIDS kill you while completely HEALTHY.
Posted by: John Fryer | February 03, 2012 at 09:57 AM
The US of A has recently provided the financial world a few "world class frauds" in the name of financial freedom & "look at us grow..."
The medical community knows exactly what has happened, they are STILL doing the same damn thing, and have no intention of changing their ways. They enjoy their "liability free, mandated" business model.
They owe the Autism community about 3 Trillion dollars.
Posted by: cmo | February 03, 2012 at 09:21 AM
When my son was suspected of having autism as 16 months we sought out the official label from well-know neurologists. Let me first say they both admitted they knew very little about autism because they didn't study in medical school. One neurologist from UCLA actually said "Some of these kids outgrow it." My husband thought that guy must be a genius if he could guarantee our son would outgrow autism. I knew that the doctor was an idiot.
Our son is one of those who was fully ASD--head banging, non-verbal, stimming, screaming, etc. To get him well it took hard work (landing me in the hospital from the stress of it all). Yet, today he is considered fully recovered at 12 years old. So it can happen, but with a lot of work on the part of the parents, not just wishing it away.
Posted by: Mary | February 03, 2012 at 09:12 AM
The UK study printed by the Daily Mail citing 1% of their respondents had some degree of the autism spectrum is absurdly, glaringly flawed. Why?
It was entirely self-selected for those who could actually carry on an intelligent conversation with the interviewer!! - Whereas the vast majority of those with autism would not even be able to properly answer the phone, much less properly provide information about themselves and their health.
As Olmsted and Blaxill made clear in their book, the realistic occurance of those truly autistic started with one in 10,000; then with much equivocation Dan and Mark raised the number to 4 in 10,000 (of course this was after billions of pounds of toxic chemicals and (dangerous) vaccination programs such as for diphtheria had spread through much of society, etc., as was also documented).
Posted by: david burd | February 03, 2012 at 08:42 AM
My family is full of unvaccinated geeks. Not an ASD in the bunch...I know, anecdotal.
Posted by: Zed | February 03, 2012 at 07:50 AM
This is a classic example of medical and psychiatric establishment schizophrenia!! On the one hand, certain culpable political and corporate interests are quite desperate to convince an increasingly worried public, that autism is a perfectly normal manifestation of genetically inherited human characteristics. The high numbers of diagnosed persons with ASD are simply due to better diagnoses and nothing to do with (God forbid) vaccines or other man made sources of environmental toxicity.
At the same time, those same politicians and pharmaceutical industry spokespersons, are beginning to panic about the sheer numbers of persons now being diagnosed with ASD disorders, this is causing huge and costly disruption within our health and educational establishments.
In the UK we have the ubiquitous autism 'expert' Professor Simon-Cohen, very prolific with his theories, but rather short on proven facts, not that this deters him from proclaiming himself an expert in all things 'autism'. I don't want to give him a 'plug' but amongst others he has published a book called Aspergers Syndrome-The Facts. (WHAT FACTS??)
Prof Baron Cohen has invented a Do it Yourself test for autism!! I didn't bother to take the test; it would have almost certainly proved POSITIVE. We are all 'geeks' in my family!!
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html
"Take The AQ Test
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge's Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults."
You see, Prof Baron-Cohen has a theory that 'Geeks' begat ASD children, and he is presently looking for geeky couples to prove his theories:-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9045703/Parents-provide-clues-to-autism.html
"Couples who are both scientists will be contrasted with those couples in which just one partner, or neither, is a scientist. Prof Baron-Cohen stresses that there is no need for “geeky” couples to start panicking about starting a family – but evidence of a link is building."
I'm not sure what Prof Baron-Cohen defines as a scientist or even a geek, but why let that interfere with his daft research!!
The latest piece of public propaganda in the UK was published in the Daily Mail. This research places 1% of all UK adults on the ASD spectrum. No need to ask what 'tests' they used!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2094654/One-100-adults-autism-condition-likely-affect-men.html
"Researchers asked more than 7,400 men and women a series of questions that can pick up signs of autism."
This is all hideously insulting to those parents who are struggling to cope with profoundly disabled children. In the UK our uncaring governments, would just love to find an excuse to withdraw benefits, and care and education support plans from so called 'high functioning' autistic persons, who can then be removed from all the official ASD statistics. Telling parents that their damaged children will 'outgrow' their autism is a two edged sword. Parents whose children improve with dietary and other interventions, will also face the prospect of losing their child's autism diagnosis.
Dr. Catherine Lord says, "The intention of the new criteria is to better describe children--and adults--who have autism, Aspergers Syndrome, PDD-NOS, ... We don't want criteria that diagnose everyone as having autism. We want to do a better job of diagnosing the people who do. We're not trying to exclude anyone."
Personally I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT!! Well done Anne Dachel and AoA for exposing these persons and their hidden agendas.
Posted by: Jenny Allan | February 03, 2012 at 07:39 AM
Barry
I recollect Amos Oz's commentary on Jesus's 'Forgive them father for they know not what the do'. He thought it was too charitable, or as he put it 'They know what they do'. I think it was a talk he gave at a German cathedral years ago.
John
Posted by: John Stone | February 03, 2012 at 07:25 AM
I didn't even recognize Dr. Lord. She diagnosed my son exactly 14 years ago this week along with Bennett Leventhal. Leventhal told us "they" would have a cure for autism between 2 and 20 years for autism. Is he still even around? You're prediction Benny is running out of time.
"They" have made such little progress in the understanding of autism. Lord says some kids outgrow autism? Really? That's new. I thought autism was a lifelong disorder? That's what we were told. Gotta love the ever-changing definition of autism.
Wonder how many children she has diagnosed thru her career? She keeps moving into bigger and better positions in larger more prestigious institutions. This autism epidemic has been awesome for her career. Wonder how much money she has made over the years being an autism expert?
These type of experts are useless.
I'd love to re-introduce her to my son 14 years later. He's not the cute little adorable 2 year old anymore. He's less than 2 years away from collecting DSS for the rest of his life.
Posted by: Andrea | February 03, 2012 at 07:14 AM
this is a great piece, but i disagree with the belief that the experts know nothing.
These snakes know EXACTLY what is going on, and they know that the profession they belong to is 100% responsible for this unbelievable travesty against children
Autism is vaccine damage ... period! Doctors know it, they know that they have caused it, and they will do anything they can to hide that fact, and more importantly to hide from standing up and facing the music for what they KNOW that have done.
I watched my normally developing son completely reggaes as a result of his vaccinations, and i know that THOUSANDS more parents are telling the same tale. And i'm tired of these jackasses trying to cavailarly explain all that suffering away.
Posted by: Barry | February 03, 2012 at 07:10 AM
Thanks Anne
You put me in mind of my BMJ post (magically dated 1 April 2005) regarding Sir Michael Rutter's comments to Private Eye following the publication of the Honda paper of which for some mysterious reason he was a co-author, entitled 'Further bemusement at Sir Michael's role: vagueness and certainty'
'It is not very clear exactly what expertise Sir Michael Rutter brought to the Japanese study. To recap:
'"He told the Eye that as he was not an immunologist he could not comment on the suggestion that giving three separate vaccines a short time apart was the same as administering the MMR triple vaccine. But he added that although it was unfortunate that there was little relevant material published on any possible interference between vaccine components,immunologists whom he had consulted doubted that this was a significant issue". [1]
'On the other hand he also seems remarkably non-commital about other possible causes and scale of the problem:
'"Prof Rutter said that one good thing that had come out of Dr Wakefield's controversial 1998 paper that raised the MMR alarm, which he believed should not have been published in that form in the Lancet, was that it triggered much useful autism research.
'"Some experts convinced of a real rise in autism across the developed world - rather than as many still maintain, better diagnosis and detection - were now looking for an unknown environmental trigger that might interact with an unknown genetic risk. He said that while the MMR could
fit that environmental profile, he claimed his and other researchers work showed it did not fit the pattern."[1]
'So we are faced with the curiosity that as of 2005 Professor Sir Michael Rutter is still uncertain whether there is an autism epidemic or not, vague about the causes if there is, but convinced if there is - without having personally examined the science - that MMR is not implicated.
'You wonder:
'Whether he has sufficient scientific grounds for taking sides?
'Why - as the leading member of child psychiatric profession in the UK for the last three decades - he did not start to take urgent action in the late 1980s to find out what might be going awry, and why even now all these years later it does not seem of greater urgency?
'Why, apart from the MMR issue, researchers were looking for "an unknown environmental trigger" rather than [a] very obviously known one like mercury?
'[1] MMR, The link effect, Private Eye No 1129, 1-15 April 2005, p.27.'
http://www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/30/further-bemusement-sir-michaels-role-vagueness-and-certainty
So all these bungling "experts" have succeeded in doing is wasting another 7 years of our children's lives and dissipating the huge resources which might conceivably have made a difference. Well, what do they care so long as they get paid? 'Unknown environemntal trigger' and 'unknown genetic risk' - just stringing everybody along, with Rutter a world leader in waffle.
John
Posted by: John Stone | February 03, 2012 at 06:45 AM