Age of Autism Weekly Wrap: All Apologies
By Dan Olmsted
Apologies are in the air this week. There's the presidential campaign battle over who if anyone apologized, or should have, or should now, or should not, for what. Then there's the apology the thalidomide manufacturer proffered 50 years after the fact for the damage done by that drug. Anne Dachel wrote about this (see below) and the obvious analogy to thimerosal, the organic mercury component still in flu shots.
There is no reason in this enlightened day and age to be using a chemical like that in shots given to pregnant women and babies in the United States, and in all kinds of vaccines given to children around the world. The same ingredient was banned decades ago in pesticides because of its glaring toxicity. Plenty of evidence has since been marshaled to show its connection with autism and other serious disorders.
But if history is any judge, an apology for thimerosal will probably take another half-century. Meanwhile, there is every reason to push for apologies that could help weaken the grip of orthodox medicine -- and particularly psychiatry -- on the brain damage it likes to call "autism" and to control with prescription drugs and behavioral therapy. Here are a couple that the autism community might consider pushing for now:
Apology Number One: From the University of Chicago and its Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School. This was the stomping ground -- literally and figuratively -- of bully boy Bruno Bettelheim, who cooked up the idea of homicidal mothers driving their appropriately terrified infants into the "empty fortress" of autism. Beloved during his life as a wise and benevolent guru of disturbed children, revelations after his death showed him to be abusive to the children at the school. And his blame-mom paradigm slowed by decades the understanding of autism as a biological disorder.
The damage he did to families and individuals coping with autism is beyond description. But you'd never know it by checking the Orthogenic School's Web site. Yes, it's still there, still treating disturbed children -- and, unfathomably, still shilling for Bettelheim!
Under "Our History and Mission": "Founded in 1915, the school received worldwide recognition under the leadership of previous school directors Dr. Bruno Bettelheim, Dr. Jacqui Sanders, and Dr. Betram Cohler. Today it is under the direction of a dynamic team of professional staff that utilizes a wide variety of treatments in the care and support of students at the School. ..." They even recommend two of the sainted Dr. B.'s books.
You cannot be serious! These folks needs to acknowledge the disastrous legacy of Bettelheim, and apologize specifically to people with autism and their families.
Apology Number Two: From Johns Hopkins. Hopkins is where autism was first identified, and where it was first linked to "refrigerator parents" by its discoverer, Leo Kanner. Vile publications by Kanner and others followed. Kanner recanted without apologizing -- attacking Bettelheim while claiming he, Kanner, never disparaged parents. Hopkins needs to acknowledge the black mark on its record.
I'm sure there are other entities and individuals who ought to offer their regrets and their promise to do better. If you know any, suggest them here.
The idea of demanding apologies NOW, not after another half-century of damage, is not unique to me. John Gilmore suggested that a couple of years back in a comment on AOA:
"I have always thought that the American physicians, especially the psychiatrists, who I don't really consider physicians, owe people with autism, their families, and especially the mothers of people with autism an profound apology for the way they adopted and expounded the refrigerator mother theory without a scrap of evidence to support it.
Current physicians like to pretend that this incredibly damaging irresponsible, intellectually lazy and deeply misogynistic policy was from the distant past and has nothing to do with them. I think it has everything to do with current practice.
I have always thought we should have a formal campaign to demand an apology from the American Psychiatric Association to the mothers of people with autism."
--
Speaking of rewriting history, I was interested this week to see the battle over Sharyl Attkisson's
Wikipedia entry. On the subject of vaccines, it says: "Attkisson's reporting on vaccines has been criticized with Steven Salzberg characterizing it as being 'anti-science' and spreading 'anti-vaccine misinformation.'"
This is a little like saying, "Bob Woodward's reporting on Watergate has been criticized, with a writer of Republican press releases calling it biased." On her own blog, Attkisson writes: "Beware the paid naysayers and fringe bloggers who propagate false Web propaganda against me and others who investigate their industry and conflicts. Watch for pharmaceutical interests disguised as 'scientists' or pretending to be average 'commenters' on ridiculously vitriolic blog stories that claim those who look into vaccine safety are 'anti-vaccine' or 'nutty.' They want you to believe that for a reason. You know better. The public is getting wise."
I've been bemused by my own mutating Wiki bio. It paints me as a Moonie acolyte, focusing on my time at United Press International, omitting the inconvenient biographical facts that I was an original staff member of USA Today and wrote a book called The Age of Autism. And won some awards. And went to Yale (and graduated). And etc.
This sentence in the bio shows what's up: "Olmsted wrote a series about a discredited hypothesis linking vaccination to autism." Oh right, discredited. Discredited by the people who edited the Wiki bio.
By the way, USA Today turns 30 years old today. Happy Birthday to you!
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Another long-running battle is whether the Amish have anything to tell us about autism. I posted the comment AOA received this week from "Cindy":
"As a journalist I've done many stories with the Amish of northeast Indiana. I've been to their homes, eaten dinner with them, and ridden in their buggies. Three years ago I was working on a story in Shipshewana, the very hub of Amishland in this part of the country, when I had the opportunity to be at an Amish family's home where there were very young children, including a newborn. I couldn't help myself-- I wanted to know if these children were vaccinated, so I asked.
"The mother told me, no, her children were not vaccinated. Were any Amish children she knew vaccinated, I pressed. Yes, she said, some Amish vaccinate, usually the ones whose children were going on into public high schools. She commented that it was getting harder and harder to get OUT of vaccinating because of the pressure put on the community from health officials, and of course, schools. I then asked the obvious: Do you know anyone with autism, I asked.
"The mother said yes, two children in her community had autism, a cousin's child, and another who was not related. Were they vaccinated, I asked. She looked bewildered and said, why yes, they WERE vaccinated. ... did that matter, she wanted to know. So I asked, was there a reason they were vaccinated. And she said, well, the father worked in the local factory and the babies had been born at the hospital, not at home. And the doctors had said vaccination was good... "But I don't know," she said. "Why are you asking me these things? Are vaccines bad? What..." Her voice trailed off, and I said, well, I just was trying to figure some things out in my own head because some people thought vaccines caused autism.
"I asked her did she know ANYBODY in her extended community ANYWHERE that had autism that was NOT vaccinated. At that point her husband answered, and said they had heard of other children in other communities, not many, but they were vaccinated because they went to public schools, he said. The mother wanted to know more. At that point I said I just didn't know enough about the topic to give her more information.
"BUT--I do know more now. And I'll tell you what-- I don't work for the newspaper anymore but I still live near the Amish communities. I have an Amish farmer a couple miles from me whose daughters will personally deliver fresh eggs & whatever else you want, right to your door, clopping into the driveway with their buggy. And what I see in the stores and all around me are more and more Amish children who look tired, who have those all-too-familiar dark circles under their eyes-- the circles that tell you here's a kid who's not as healthy as he/she could be. And I can't help wondering, and wanting to ask the parents, did you vaccinate this child? Do you know any Amish with autism?
"Folks, the Amish communities are being pressed to get vaccinated. As they assimilate to "English" ways--more out of financial need than anything else--that include schooling and use of English doctors, it won't be long before the Amish, too, will be reporting more and more autism. I'm so concerned about this I'm thinking of asking my new employer if there isn't some way I could do an investigative story with these folks before it's too late. And I promise you, having lived in this area nearly 20 years now, it is soon going to be too late."
--
The real-time damage to the Amish -- sounds like something we might hear an apology for in about half a century. When, of course, it's too late.
--
Last week I ended my wrap by pointing out all the pesticide spraying going on, mentioned the tic
disorders at the high school in LeRoy that followed crop-dusting last September in an adjacent cornfield, and wrote:
"When you look at all the spraying that's gone on recently from Manhattan to Dallas to LeRoy, you have to wonder when the next cluster of 'hysterical' students is going to emerge.
"The school year is young. I predict it will be soon."
A couple of days later, state health officials said two more students at LeRoy have developed tics and a third suffered a relapse. Some blamed continued media attention for triggering new instances of what they insist is a psychological disorder. Oh, please.
--
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
oneVoice, thanks for contributing again to this conversation, and please do continue your research on obstetric interventions. In 2004 (before older books were moved to the depository), I was able to pull one textbook of obstetrics after another off the shelf at the Harvard medical library. The older texts all taught that the umbilical cord should not be tied (or clamped) until its pulsations ceased. Pulsations are from the baby’s heart continuing to pump blood back to the placenta. When the fetal pathway for blood flow has changed to pump blood to the lungs, blood flow to the placenta will cease. Then only is it safe to cut the cord.
When the clamp was introduced a little over 100 years ago, instruction for its use was to wait for pulsations of the cord to cease before clamping. By the 1950s it was acknowledged that the cord was often being clamped before blood flow to and from the placenta had ceased. Episiotomy was advocated as a routine procedure, and to preserve the “sterile field” for surgical repair, the cord was clamped and the baby transferred to neonatal specialists.
A young mother-to-be recently told me that in Boston hospitals they are no longer clamping the cord. I hope this is true. She is also postponing the first hep B vaccination. These changes are the result of strong grassroots demands, and being implemented very quietly. Let’s see if this might result in fewer Boston-area children developing autism.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | September 29, 2012 at 07:09 PM
I blame The marketing of Oxytocin and introduction of
"Active management of the third stage(placental stage)".
They have not examined how this process will effect the newborn (early clamping),but implemented this practice about
the same time autism began to rise.In my mind everything is connected: an anemic or hypoxic baby will have a weaker immune system; add the damaging effects of toxic adjuvants and vaccine ingredients;combine it with a weaker gut system
and NOT breast feeding (no maternal antibody transfer); and finally the damaged or weaker blood brain barrier. Need to mention the on-going insults on the immune system: 36-40+ vaccines,some multiples,not counting the yearly flu vaccines
Take this
information very seriously PARENTS,I AM SAYING THIS AFTER THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF RESEARCH.
Posted by: oneVoice | September 28, 2012 at 06:21 PM
@oneVoice
Thanks for your posts on the outrageous procedure of umbilical cord clamping, which most people have come to take for granted.
Mercer and Skovgaard published a paper in 2002 that points out how clamping the umbilical cord abruptly stops placental blood flow in unpredictable ways. Most important is the transfer of blood into the capillaries surrounding the alveoli of the lungs. Oxygen transport is dependent upon sufficient blood (hemoglobin), and oxygen is the most urgent ongoing need for all aerobic species.
The lungs take absolute priority, and blood will be drained from the brain and other organs to supply the alveoli. The Apgar score may be a perfect 10, but the brain left ischemic. Ischemia damages the blood-brain barrier, which enables passage of bilirubin into especially nuclei of the auditory pathway and subcortical motor nuclei. Components of the hep B vaccine and vitamin K injections likewise gain entry via the impaired blood-brain barrier.
It is an outrage that obstetricians are so unaware of the damage they inflict with the umbilical cord clamp.
References:
[1] Mercer JS, Skovgaard RL. Neonatal transitional physiology: A new paradigm. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2002 Mar;15(4):56-75.
[2] In PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ search for Mercer JS
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | September 23, 2012 at 06:10 AM
Please review the important research study from Midwifery professor Judith Mercer, that the Obstetricians and the medical doctors are desperately trying to block.I will provide detailed info in the future.
Posted by: oneVoice | September 21, 2012 at 09:17 AM
The other issue is -with earlier clamping- less stem cells available to finish the wiring and support the developing brain. Hypoxia and anemia is a big issue and lot of the doctors do not understand the benefit of delayed clamping:
1,higher oxygen carrying capability,due to more hemoglobin,
2,better oxygenation,no hypoxia or anemia,
3,higher iron reserves for the developing newborn,
4,better growth and energy level for the newborn,
5,better temperature maintanance/ability for the newborn,
6,better colour and higher Apgars given to the newborn,
7,newborn less likely will need any resuscitation after delivery,as higher blood volume will expand the lungs,fluid moves out from the alveolis,
8,more stem cells available to allow for organ maturation.
Parents need to demand delayed clamping and educate the doctors.Our babies must be protected and delivered with the greatest care.
Posted by: oneVoice | September 21, 2012 at 12:50 AM
I personaly would be very interested in seeing the statistics for Autisim is the Amish communities.
Posted by: Bonnie Price | September 17, 2012 at 06:08 PM
There was a documentary done about the "Refrigerator Mothers" I can't imagine what it must of been like for these women. As tough as autism is for us, I think these mothers rasing kids during the fifties adn sixties had it much worse thanks to the likes of Bettelheim. Time has shown that he was a QUACK and should be remembered as such.
"Refridgerator Mothers" Documentary trailer:
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/refrigerator_mothers
Posted by: Sarah | September 17, 2012 at 12:59 PM
This Bettelheim guy seems like a real charmer!
Posted by: Carter's Daddy | September 17, 2012 at 10:38 AM
It is hard to believe there is even a remotely accurate count of the number of autistic children in India, this charity discusses some of the difficulties on their site:
http://www.autism-india.org/afa_autisminindia.html
Nonetheless there are nearly half a billion children in India below the age of eighteen, so the figure of ten million being autistic may not be that far off the mark.
And it is a horrifying prospect.
Posted by: GH | September 17, 2012 at 06:19 AM
Clementine, I hope you are right. I too dont want any fake apologies. I want changes in systems and medical texts so that this does not recur. Meanwhile, Im hoping for an opportunity to pay for some peoples names to be engraved in the black granite autism wall of shame. Just as an example, I could pay a thousand dollars to get the M engraved for Marie McCormick , who decided in advance that she was "never going to come down " that vaccines cause autism (No matter what the research showed)
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | September 16, 2012 at 01:46 PM
To John Stone, The figure of 10 million Indians having autism is interesting to me. Although there are certainly large numbers of autistic kids in big cities with plentiful hot-shot pediatricians who push the new vaccines, ten million for the whole country seems far too high. Why? We have a large population of people living in poverty, and when you question these people, you find that they give no or few vaccines. Even among the middle class, it is not uncommon to find families that are sceptical about vaccines. India has the highest Muslim population in the world, and vaccines are not popular with that community.
What I have noticed is that those who have made it their mission to do therapy for autistic kids, like to tell people how important their work is and one way of doing that is to say how COMMON autism is. ( And remember, John, the doctors just didnt notice it before and the families hid the children away )(sarcasm intended) So what they probably do is to take some statistic from somewhere- perhaps from the U.S. and extrapolate it onto the population of India.
There is an interesting feature of autism in India which I believe illustrates the role of fish mercury in causation of autism. If you take a map of India and put dots for the autism centers, you will find that all of the early centers were on the coasts!, except for the one in Delhi, which was started by a mother who is from Assam - a part of India where people eat a lot of fish. Of course, now with the proliferation of vaccines containing mercury , autism centers are springing up everywhere.
Even with our enormous population, I doubt if you will find 1 million autistic kids in India. Of course, that would be one million too many
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | September 16, 2012 at 01:29 PM
@Jenny Allan
Thank you so much for the link to the Daily Mail article on changing attitudes about clamping the umbilical cord. The comments from readers are most interesting, and indicate that a grass-roots movement is taking place, despite much “professional” insistence that the cord be clamped quickly.
Dr. David Hutchon has indeed been a pioneer in promoting return to traditional and evidence-based principles of childbirth. The anatomy of the fetal heart must change to redirect blood-flow to the lungs rather than the placenta. Dr. Hutchon and Dr. Andrew Weeks have devised a special table on wheels with oxygen and instruments used for resuscitation that is rolled over to the delivery bed to allow placental circulation to continue during resuscitation. In fact, blood filling the capillaries around each of the alveoli is far more important than ventilation with air or oxygen.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | September 16, 2012 at 10:13 AM
I can think of a few places to start. Let's see...how about one from our pediatricians out of none other than the University of Chicago. I would love to hear them apologizing for letting my child disappear right in front of their very eyes without even an ounce of alarm...like when her head swelled in two months time...or the lump on her leg at injection site wouldn't go down for weeks...or when she drooled buckets and buckets of saliva from her red, inflamed mouth for YEARS...or when the yeast infections wouldn't stop...or the eczema...or the ear infections...or the bronchial infections...losing eye contact...losing speech...unable to crawl...and then walk without a gait...afraid of sounds, crying at the vacuum or someone singing...staring into space, looking right through us.
Or how about one from the neurologist at Children's Memorial Hospital who, after waiting 4 months to get in with him, handed me a card to a psychologist after examining her (while she was stimming on his chair), and said, "Sometimes when we are disappointed in our children, they can manifest that disappointment as a delay." Yes, mom and dad, your disappointment in your child is the reason she can't talk. Why she's so sick. And this card is for YOU. To go figure out why you don't like your child. This was in the year 2004!
And maybe one from the privately paid speech pathologist who told me sippy cups were the reason for so much speech delay. If only we parents would stop with the sippy cups.
Those would be a good start, yes. But only a start. And I'll tell you what. If I'm not alive when these apologies come, I can accept that. But they better well come in her lifetime.
Posted by: Julie Obradovic | September 16, 2012 at 09:11 AM
Perhaps it is better for that these people are still in denial over their obnoxious heritage - it tells you that the institution is always more important than the damage and cruelty it inflicts. Back-slapping and self-congratulation in perpetuity. Never mind about our children.
Posted by: John Stone | September 16, 2012 at 05:34 AM
Teresa:
I am so sorry you had to go through that, with your place of employment and a seriously ill child. It really just burns me what everyone has had to contend with.
Dan; Great article!
Apologies; are best said by quick compensation and medical care, but we all know that.
We do know that meaningless apologies are coming sometime in the next 50 years.
For those that are left - please attend the press release and give them the finger for me.
Posted by: Benedetta | September 16, 2012 at 02:27 AM
@Eileen Nicole Simon
You might be pleased to hear that a rethink on umbilical cord clamping is taking place in the UK, but from the comment about 'doctors' below, reforming the present practices will take some time!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2190353/Midwives-told-drop-30-second-rule-cutting-umbilical-cord-delaying-shown-benefit-babies.html
From above:-
"The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists updated its guidance last year to recommend the cord ‘should not be clamped earlier than necessary, based on a clinical assessment of the situation’.
Although hospitals will still be able to decide their own birth protocols, it is likely that they will follow RCM policy.
David Hutchon, a retired consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist who has campaigned for years for a change in policy, said: ‘This is very welcome.
‘But whether doctors will take any notice is another issue.
‘There’s a lot of ignorance out there and people have just blindly followed guidance for years without questioning it.’"
Posted by: Jenny Allan | September 15, 2012 at 11:53 PM
[PDF]
Postmortem brain abnormalities of the glutamate neurotransmitter ...
pevsnerlab.kennedykrieger.org/.../Purcell_Neurology_2001.p...ShareFile Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
by AE Purcell - 2001 - Cited by 190 - Related articles
genes that were significantly up- or downregulated in autism. ... the glutamate system were identified on further analysis, including glutamate receptor binding ...... fore important to take into consideration clinical ... GFAP, a biochemical marker of astrocytes, increases .... an increased capacity for glutamate uptake and in- ...
does this not match up to the mercury poisoning post I posted earlier today from NIH..autism and mercury poisoning look awfully similar ...yet the new study is suggesting the same and calling it genetic..while we don't give salacylic acid in the presence of flu and chicken pox, we may be delivering the perfect mix via vaccine to cause an encephalopathy, not reyes encephalopathy but one with a different biological synergy
Posted by: barbara j | September 15, 2012 at 10:57 PM
As usual, your commentary is spot-on. I have a great love for the Amish and their ways, and am saddened by the report that more of them are vaccinating and being "assimilated" into modern schools - with visible damage. It makes me want to polish up my "vaccine facts" power point, put it on paper, and drop it as a leaflet over Amish communities!
Thanks again, Dan.
Posted by: Cindy Griffin | September 15, 2012 at 07:14 PM
The psychiatric profession is kind of a racket. They have much to apologize for including the refrigerator mother debacle, lobotomies, and closing hospitals to send defenseless schizophrenics out to live under bridges or in prison with hardened criminals. As a profession these people never seem to look back and take responsibility for the great harm they have caused. They are always acting like looking into your own past is so important for insight. Hey guys, take your own advice!
Posted by: Lisa | September 15, 2012 at 06:37 PM
John,
I agree. It is also disheartening that the NIH has become pharma light. They should be in the business of figuring out the basic mechanism of diseases. This new NIH center is completely unjustified.
Posted by: Cassandra | September 15, 2012 at 05:54 PM
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1012104/pdf/brjindmed00016-0019.pdf
What happens after exposure to low doses of
mercury or lead? It has been shown that both
mercury and lead inhibit the astroglial capacity to
take up glutamate75 76 (fig 6) and even low concentrations will inhibit the activity of glutamine synthetase,7"78 the enzyme that converts glutamate to
glutamine in astroglia.W If there is a slowly progressing disturbance of astroglial glutamate uptake, or
glutamine synthetase activity, or both, then synaptic
glutamate transmission will decrease to compensate
and less glutamate will probably be released. A
decreased neuronal activity mostly results in an upregulation of surface receptors79
'
and it might be that
the glutamate receptors will become more sensitive
Today's news..http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/250295.php Autism is an inherited condition.
These negative outcomes are associated with an increased output of a particular neuronal glutamate receptor- in charge of regulating the signal transmission between neurons. The brain's function and development is disrupted over time by an excess of these receptors, which inhibits the adaptation of the synaptic signal transmission during the learning process.
Posted by: barbara j | September 15, 2012 at 05:26 PM
Yep! they use thalidomide in Prozac ...Yep! they use Prozac for A.D.H.D...probably trying to link .. Autism /Prozac/ADHD/Thalidomide /All in the one bucket ...
If you cant nail them shame them..
SHAME ON THEM..
Thanks Dan again..how you got all that in within, a couple of hundred words beats me...
Angus
Posted by: Angus Files | September 15, 2012 at 05:23 PM
Penicillin and other antibiotics discovered in the 1940s were miracle cures for many infectious diseases. No one questioned their use in treatment of infections in newborn babies. However, by the 1950s serious problems came to light, and use of sulfisoxazole (gantrisin) had to be stopped. Then the disastrous results of prenatal thalidomide came to light. Synthetic vitamin K was routinely administered at birth from 1945 to 1961, and had to be stopped. By the early 1970s diethylstilbestrol, used to prevent miscarriage, was found to be the cause of vaginal cancer in female offspring, and later to be the cause of male genital malformations.
Medical errors continue to go unrecognized. The worst is clamping the umbilical cord immediately after birth. Use of a clamp on the umbilical cord was begun a little over 100 years ago, but always with the rule not to clamp until pulsations of the cord had ceased. By the 1950s episiotomy became more and more a routine procedure, and immediate clamping of the cord was adopted to preserve the “sterile field” for surgical repair. By the 1970s, the suggestion was made that clamping the cord early could prevent high levels of bilirubin in the newborn, and by the mid 1980s textbooks of obstetrics no longer taught that pulsations of the cord should cease before clamping.
Pulsations of the cord are from the baby’s heart continuing to pump blood to the placenta to receive oxygen. Interrupting this ongoing placental respiration after birth is more and more being recognized as a medical error. It will most likely take a strong grass roots effort to get this procedure stopped. I believe that clamping of the umbilical cord immediately after birth has a great deal to do with the increasing autism epidemic.
Note also, the Amish wait for pulsations of the cord to cease before clamping the cord.
References:
[1] Robertson AF. Reflections on errors in neonatology I, II, and III. Journal of Perinatology 2003; 23: 48-55, 154-61, 240-9.
[2] Kroening E, Zink T. Learning from an Amish birth. Fam Med. 2008 Feb;40(2):91-2. http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2008/February/Emily91.pdf (see p92).
[3] Lookup “umbilical cord clamping” in PubMed
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | September 15, 2012 at 04:27 PM
The endless media hype & bias is nowhere more clear than in the "Wakefield witch-hunt" which was front page news and made all the morning network news shows...
...compared to the complete "shrug and play stupid" / lack of coverage in the indictment of the pathetic Autism researcher Dr. Thorsen of Denmark.
They also announce "each and every possible flu death" this time of year in order to hype the vaccine shots.
Of course there is no mention EVER of the over 80 Gardasil death cases on file at the CDC vaccine court, which most Americans do not even know exists.
Posted by: cmo | September 15, 2012 at 03:39 PM
Who has access to change Wikipedia bios? I've heard that access is pretty open.
"Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism. Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or, if they choose to, with their real identity."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About
Can you make changes to your bio, Dan? At least it should mention your Yale degree and your book Age of Autism. And the language should be more unbiased.
Posted by: Twyla | September 15, 2012 at 03:34 PM
We are always told by vax defenders that it is not possible to do a study comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children because there are not enough unvaccinated children. But among the Amish there are.
We are also told that if there is less autism among Amish it is for genetic reasons. But if the reasons are genetic, shouldn't someone be interested?
It's a travesty that this is not being touched, that these studies are not being done.
Posted by: Twyla | September 15, 2012 at 03:30 PM
Excellent article. This is what journalism should be, along with what the brave souls who expose the flaws in other parts of the system - such as craven foreign policy and financial corruption, what is going on here is just as important, and in many ways parallel. Sadly, as the timeline of revolution goes, "autism" as a euphemism for corporate-induced brain damage, let alone "genocide" is barely yet a concept. And just like the government ensures that the blame of global anti-americanism fall on trivial things such as Youtube videos instead of their disastrous, violent empire, they will spend every last cent doing the same sleight of hand with any sort of mass fraud occuring domestically, whether this regards the economic or physical health of its citizens. The government is wholly owned by capitalism now, and we all know what happens to even perceived threats against profit.
I think the Thalidomide similarity cannot be repeated enough. This is something that can really click with the people, we just need to explain to them that autism is a less visible form of damage since it's confined to the brain(well, initially).
imho there is a place reserved in heaven, if there is one, for the contributors on this website. And also of course to any of those who would risk their career for the hope that a sliver of light would fall upon the contrived mystery that's called "autism".
Posted by: Joy B. | September 15, 2012 at 02:52 PM
Bettelheim was also a fake who lied about his academic credentials.
Posted by: Theodore Van Oosbree | September 15, 2012 at 02:21 PM
Cassandra
It is very difficult to have a charitable thought about Collins. Having declared in 2006 that most of the US's chronic diseases were environmental in cause he then sets about looking for genetic therapies! We are just accelerating down the road to destruction. Did I not read today that India now has 10m autistic children? There's an advertisement for western development 21st century style!
Posted by: John Stone | September 15, 2012 at 10:25 AM
We should not expect the psychopathic vaccine pushers (PVPs) to apologize for their crimes against humanity. Psychopaths never do. We should prosecute them as Nazi genocidal murderers. I agree with the others, they (PVPs) are panicking now that despite of their notorious pseudoscientific lies and falsifications spread with the help of corrupted journalists, humanity finally gets it: toxic vaccines are killing and maiming children by millions. And parents are preparing to get them, demanding justice. Between the two US presidential candidates, I believe, Pres. Obama is more likely to defend vaccine injured children. Romney does not understand anything, except how to make money at the expense of others.
Posted by: no vac | September 15, 2012 at 10:19 AM
"The National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) new translational research center has its first chief: Christopher Austin, a neurologist and former Merck researcher who has run drug discovery efforts at NIH for the past 10 years. NIH Director Francis Collins announced the appointment this morning at the inaugural meeting of the advisory council to the 9-month-old National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)."
"A Harvard-trained developmental neurogeneticist, Austin worked on genome-based drug discovery at Merck for 7 years. In 2002, he left to become adviser for translational research at the National Human Genome Research Institute, where Collins was then director. Austin helped launch NIH's molecular libraries program, a set of industry-style small molecule screening centers at academic institutions. Until recently, he headed NIH's intramural screening center and other programs, such as drug development for rare diseases. When NCATS was created, these were folded into its preclinical division."
Posted by: Cassandra | September 15, 2012 at 10:13 AM
"... There is no reason in this enlightened day and age to be using a chemical like that in shots given to pregnant women and babies in the United States, and in all kinds of vaccines given to children around the world....."
****************
I agree that there is no good reason for Thimerosal to be in vaccines. Unfortunately, it is definitely there for a reason, and I think Dr. Hal Huggins has identified that reason with the following quite:
""Thimerosol is the preservative in immunization shots, so anytime you get an immunization shot you are undergoing the same procedure that in the University Lab we used to give animals auto-immune disease---give a little tiny injection of mercury. And when you get an immunisation shot you are getting a little tiny dose of mercury there."
An autoimmune disease represents a life long drug prescription for the sufferer, and a life long customer for the drug company. That in my opinion, is very big rea$on.
I also believe that there is mercury in every vaccine.... including the ones that aren't supposed to have it, and the ones that are supposed to have removed it. And although I obviously have no way to prove I'm right about that, I also have no way to prove I'm wrong.
Posted by: Barry | September 15, 2012 at 08:47 AM
Hi Dan,
I so agree with this!
Having worked in the psychiatric "milieu", at a for-profit HCA hospital in the 1980's into the 90's, right when Megan was regressing into autism, I knew of many then who worked with him and adored him! Walking around there as my own daughter was being diagnosed with autism was a nightmare.
There was and is still a grandiosity and ownership that psychiatry glaringly displays regarding these illnesses - autism, schizophrenia, bipolar, psychosis, adhd (and currently trying to own PANDAS) - these are MEDICAL issues (microbes/metals) BUT they DO NOT want to give up their grip.
An apology is long overdue and it is our community that is leading the way in pointing out this despicable and wrong practice.
Posted by: Teresa Conrick | September 15, 2012 at 08:45 AM
Sharyl Attkisson's Wikipedia entry: "Attkisson's reporting on vaccines has been criticized with Steven Salzberg characterizing it as being 'anti-science' and spreading 'anti-vaccine misinformation.'"
I wonder if Steven Salzberg and Wikipedia effort's to rewrite history will eventually characterize President Obamba's inaugural address statement as "anti-science":
"And we have watched as scientific integrity has been undermined and scientific research has been politicized in an effort to advance predetermined ideological agendas."
Would it be fair to ask .. based on President Obama's inaugural statement .. if "scientific integrity" in the United States has become an oxymoron?
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | September 15, 2012 at 08:39 AM
They are terrified of truth sharing online. I'm not waiting for an apology....I'm going to tell every human I know the TRUTH. They can't contain this and are in clear panic mode online, with their frantic random commenters and angry blogger and wiki hackers.
I smell fear.
Posted by: Clementine | September 15, 2012 at 08:28 AM