The Canary Kids Film Project: How to Stop the Autism Epidemic in Its Tracks
By Beth Lambert
I believe that we have the power to stop the autism epidemic in its tracks. In order to do this, we must increase the number of people who understand the root causes of the epidemic. We must increase the number of people who understand that we are all touched by this epidemic. So how do we increase the number of parents and citizens in this country who understand what is happening to our children? How do we accelerate their learning?
We live in a media age. It is time for a big media solution. It is time for a ground-breaking, paradigm-shifting film, made by an award-winning director, that will raise awareness in a meaningful and powerful way. A film that connects the dots for people. A film that shows how all children in this country are a part of the autism epidemic. A film that can be seen in theaters across the country.
I present to you, Canary Kids: A Film For Our Children. This is a documentary film that is being funded by us, the parents, the scientists, the writers, the advocates, the people who “get it,” who want everyone else to “get it” too. But we need your help.
A New Age, A New Solution
In 2012 The Norman Lear Center at USC Annenberg, a top research and policy institution focusing on the impact of entertainment and media on society, released a research study that answered the following question: Do movies have the ability to change people’s behaviors? By using the documentary film, Food, Inc. as a case study, the answer they found was a resounding: Yes. They did a controlled study and found that after people watched Food Inc. they were significantly more likely to:
- encourage their friends, family & colleagues to learn more about food safety
- shop at their local farmers market
- eat healthy food
- consistently buy organic or sustainable food[1]
So imagine the statistics coming out upon the release of Canary Kids:
People who watched Canary Kids were more likely to:
- refuse antibiotics for their children’s ear infections or viral sore throats
- eat organic whole foods
- try homeopathy before pharmaceutical medications
- replace toxic cleaning and personal care products with safe, green alternatives
- write their Congressmen about toxic exposures in their communities
Now, that is the kind of change that can stop a health epidemic in its tracks.
We Are All In The Same Boat
What is going to make someone come out to see Canary Kids? Canary Kids is not just about autism. For too long, people not directly affected by autism have looked the other way, because they can’t relate to autism. They don’t know what it is, they don’t see how it impacts them. They may not come out to see a film about autism, but they will come out to see a film about their kids.
Most people don’t understand that the asthma epidemic is directly related to the autism epidemic or that the obesity epidemic is related to the autism epidemic. They don’t yet see that the same environmental factors (pharmaceuticals, vaccines, toxins, diet, etc.) that cause symptoms of autism in one child are the very same environmental factors that cause symptoms of asthma in another.
Canary Kids is a film about all of us, and how every single child in this country is a part of the autism epidemic. The goal of the film is to show the many people who are not (yet) directly affected by autism and who don’t feel the same sense of urgency that the autism community does, that we are all in the same boat. I believe that the people who do not have a child or grandchild or close family member with autism will begin to pay closer attention to the epidemic once they understand that their “unaffected” children are actually a part of the autism epidemic too.
“Almost Autism”
The key lies in helping them to see that their mildly affected children are really “almost autism.”
- A child with GERD and projectile vomiting as an infant: almost autism
- A child who can’t stand to have her hair brushed, skin touched, or clothes on: almost autism
- A child with low muscle tone, apraxia and runny stools: almost autism
- A child with eczema over 70% of his body and an inability to sleep at night: almost autism
- A child with chronic constipation and behavioral problems: almost autism
We are all (in our own unique way) a part of an epidemic of chronic illness, and our children . . . they are our little Canaries.
And that brings us back to the Canary Kids Film Project, a project sponsored by my nonprofit organization, Epidemic Answers. The Canary Kids Film Project will take 7 children with a diagnosis of autism, ADHD, asthma, chronic Lyme or some other amalgamation of chronic (environmentally-derived) symptoms and provide them with free healing and recovery services for the period of 18 months.
The film will document their recovery journey while simultaneously providing an exposé on the factors that contributed to their conditions in the first place. Most importantly, the film will connect the dots for people so that they understand that we are all a part of the autism epidemic: Asthma, ADHD, allergies, Lyme, OCD, SPD, LDs, diabetes, obesity, Crohn’s, colitis, rare autoimmune conditions . . . we are all affected.
We are making this film in collaboration with award-winning director Mary Mazzio of 50 Eggs Inc. The film is slated for theatrical release, but we need funding first. We have already raised $70,000, but we need $250,000 more to enroll the children in the program and additional funding for film production. This has the potential to be a game-changing film.
Please consider supporting this film project in any way you can. We believe this film has the power to wake people up. More importantly, we can help 7 beautiful children get on the road to recovery.
Help Us Help Them.
How can I help?
1) Donate. To maintain the integrity of the project and the honesty of the message, we are not taking investors. We are funding this entirely through grants and donations. The more money we raise, the greater impact we will have.
2) Spread the word. Pass this trailer on to everyone you know.
3) Volunteer and help Epidemic Answers raise money and educate people about the epidemic of chronic illness in America’s children. To get involved, please contact [email protected]
Beth Lambert is the Executive Director of Epidemic Answers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the epidemic of chronic illness affecting our children and helping parents find healing solutions. Beth is also the author of A Compromised Generation: The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in America’s Children (Sentient, 2010) and the mother of three young children.
[1] http://www.learcenter.org/pdf/FoodInc.pdf
I believe that a diet full of fruits and vegetables can heal the body inside and out. I have rheumatoid arthritis and I have made so much progress in regard to diet change. My labs have all come to normal range but it took over a year and a half, and I still have about 6months to a year left until I reach my goal.
God designed the body to heal itself, but it can't when we eat in feast mode or put harmful chemicals in our bodies. Try 90/10 rule, eat 90% of your diet of fruits and vegetables , half raw and you will notice a Big improvement within weeks.
Posted by: Mimi | September 22, 2014 at 03:38 PM
I believe that we are doing something pre-natally. It may be that certain children are predisposed already for a genetic reason and that medicines are causing Autism in those children. I continually ponder the use of Pitocin (a correlation to Autism has been shown), Epidurals (a combination of both perhaps), use of strep medication during the labor process - combined with Pitocin, epidural and Pitocin??, vaccines during pregnancy, over use of ultrasounds - heats tissue, and also possibly in neonates when mother has been given breastmilk meds (medication to increase breastmilk).
Posted by: A. Hanck | May 05, 2014 at 12:50 PM
How about the substance abuse epidemic too. Behavioral problems post antibiotics/vaccines.... self medication in teen years, etc... I've been touched as a parent twice, my 30 year old and my 17 year old. I was a lot smarter with the younger one, but both sons struggle. I'm all for all the education and awareness we can muster....
Posted by: jeannie | October 05, 2013 at 03:22 PM
Are most of my evening and later comments not getting to AoA or am I consigned to the doghouse by someone or ?
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | February 22, 2013 at 02:19 PM
Autism has many causes. All affect the language systems of the brain. The brain must be the focus of research. Four years ago I submitted a research strategy to the IACC proposing a way to investigate the effects of vaccines on the brain. See:
http://www.conradsimon.org/files/IACC4feb2009strategy.pdf
Hopes for a cure and recovery make many people reluctant to consider brain damage in autism. We thought our son had recovered at age 7, but by age 17 it was clear he had not. Now he is 50, and as the neurologist told us when he was 20 months old, “He’ll never be quite the person he would have been.” Sadly this is true.
My son’s autism was the result of trauma and anoxia at birth. This is another factor that the medical profession would like to dismiss as frivolous.
How many people think that clamping the umbilical cord at birth is wrong? This little thought of obstetric procedure is dangerous. It can lead to immediate asphyxia if the newborn infant is not breathing. It can lead to ischemic injury of the brain if blood is drained from other organs to jump-start the lungs. The lungs take absolute urgent priority for survival at birth. A baby can have an Apgar score of 10, but with brain damage as the cost.
The Canary Party must investigate all potentially iatrogenic medical procedures.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | February 22, 2013 at 10:31 AM
Curenow, I can sympathize with your position that the fighting Big Pharma and friends won’t be easy, but I wouldn’t say its an impossible fight. Even though we are heavily out-gunned, we do have some important pluses on our side. First, the evidence that vaccines cause autism is too overwhelming and impossible to hide. I remember a poster mentioning how denying the vaccine-autism link is like trying to plug all the holes in a leaky bucket. This pretty much sums it up. Second, economical speaking, autism will prove to be too darn costly. Many have mentioned the looming crisis when autistic kids mature and are transitioned out of school, and society is left having to look after them. Imagine the reactions of ‘average Joes’ taxpayers who now feel that autism does not affect them but will be called upon to fit the bill? Third, autism affects the rich and powerful and the rich and powerful don’t like having autistic kids. If you look at other long-standing injustices, take the war on drugs for instance, they continue because they primarily affect the poor. Yes, the war on drugs have been an ill-reasoned fight that have proven itself to be a monumental waste of lives and money, yet it continues simply because poor, marginalized individuals are paying the price, and often with their lives, while the wealthier ones in politics and law enforcement are benefiting. This is not the case with autisms, which currently cuts across class lines.
Curenow, I addition to not sharing your pessimism that the fight against vaccines is futile, I also have two questions for you. First, what if there is no cure to be found for autism? With all due respect to stories of a few high functioning autistics who are said to be cure but more likely trained to mask their symptoms… With all due respect to these individuals, what about the other low functioning, non-verbal, hand flapping, head-banging autistics that show every sign of being permanently brain damaged? Do we give up on trying to prevent such harm and, instead, invest only in finding a cure that might be impossible? Second, Curenow, even if a cure can be found for autism, why do you think that finding one won’t also entail a fight with Pharma and friends. You said it, Curenow, ‘how can you cure something without finding a cause?’ Well if in their quest to find a cure for autism, scientists dig up more evidence that vaccines are implicated, how do you think this will sit with the pro-vaccines establishment? There is a reason why parents with autistic children have a long history of being treated with such disdain and scorn by the medical establishment. This is also the same reason why Wakefield was so heavily persecuted for trying to help is autistic patients. Any attention given to autism, be it finding a cure, runs the ‘peril’ of pointing to vaccines as being the culprit. The pro-vaccines establishment is well aware of this and their talk of finding a cure may simply be more smoke and mirrors. Curenow, us anti-vaxers fight not because we are foolish. We fight because we don’t have a choice.
Posted by: Greg | February 22, 2013 at 07:50 AM
CureNow : I like your determination , I like your single mindedness . It would be good if you also involved yourself in the protests against vaccines for several reasons .
1. Because PharmaHarma is busying itself trying to make vaccines compulsory for all , and tying that to education and healthcare ....probably including the autistic (ie the already vaccine damaged) .And there is some considerable force behind their efforts (have you seen the famous pictures of the Varicella vaccine promotion in Maryland - families led for vaccination at gunpoint under armed guard?)
2.PharmaHarma has also devoted much of their efforts preventing autism solutions from making it to market .
So they try regularly to put DAN doctors out of business,
they have attempted to take recovered children from their families claiming the parents have medically experimented on their children (book coming out in 2013 of one parents story). As Donald Trump correctly said "there is great dishonest in the vaccine-autism story" .
3. I personally corresponded with a toxicologist who was pivotal in removing a succesful chelating agent from the market .I asked her naively did mercury cause autism , she replied "No" , and she belittled me , and patronised me . Another afflicted parent then managed to ask her if she would accept mercury containing vaccines or dental amalgams for herself or her family , and this toxicologist refused to answer the question saying the question was leading and disingenuous . So she was integral in preventing the treatment of vaccine damaged children .What level of dishonesty do you have to be at to do something like that?
So there are a couple of reason why the funding of these films is important . The cure for autism is already there for some of the lucky ones - it can already be done .
Dr Julie Buckley has written a book detailing the recovery of her daughter - well worth a read - inspiring.
Dr Rashid Buttar has recovered his son , and recovered over 120 children . Dr Stephanie Cave similarly , a true hero .
And it goes on , Jenny McCarthy's son too !
Posted by: gavrillo | February 22, 2013 at 03:44 AM
I believe any widely effective therapies also generally implicate main causes and will not likely become generally available without a broad grassroots recognition of what is going on. I guess I'm personally hoping that more understanding of other likely adverse vaccine effects would help create a climate more supportive of individual choice in healthcare and of truly honest research, and accelerate research towards beneficial interventions.
Most people believe we essentially "cured" polio with vaccination. I don't know if we did or didn't, but I'm pretty sure we are suffering more now because some elements of truth in that history have been buried.
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | February 22, 2013 at 02:54 AM
Th other fallacy is that you can cure anything without addressing the causes. Also things would be measurably even worse without resistance. And what you are doing is playing their game: more damage equals more business.
Of course we must speak, just as people facing much greater odds than this against a great evil in the past had to speak. Frankly, I don't agree with you: the game is changing just because we have been effective challenging lies.
Posted by: For CureNow | February 21, 2013 at 02:50 PM
Bully for me? It's not about me. And FYI, it's not about you, either. Or any other parent. It's about those who have autism and all these movies, videos, etc. don't help those affected NOW. And they won't help future generations, either. The damage is NEVER going to stop. Vaccines will never be eliminated, reformulated, or 100% safe no matter what anyone does. And there are people who will never give up their unwavering faith in them and continue to vaccinate. So vaccine damage will continue unabated and to expect that that will change is what's 'completely wrong' and misguided here. The only responsible thing to do, in the face of that, is to put our energy and resources into coming up with a remedy for this terrible condition. That way, those who are affected now can be restored to health and those who will most certainly and unfortunately regress into autism in the future will be able to be restored to health as well. Our kids now and those of the future don't deserve any less.
Posted by: CureNOW | February 21, 2013 at 02:26 PM
CureNow
You are completely wrong: the most important thing is to stop damaging kids in the first place. Once damage has occured there is no magic formula, however hard you try. Som may improve a lot, some a little but almost none will be the same as if it never happened. Maybe you are successful. Bully for you.
Posted by: For CureNow | February 21, 2013 at 01:41 PM
Twyla, you're wrong. This battle has ONE front: curing kids. That's all that matters. Cure the kids and autism becomes a non-issue. And if you think that's not what I'm working towards, then you are wrong on two counts.
Posted by: CureNOW | February 21, 2013 at 01:09 PM
CureNOW, this battle has many fronts. The time you spend disparaging others' efforts would be better spent working towards what you believe is most important.
Posted by: Twyla | February 21, 2013 at 11:35 AM
Jilly, okay you go fight your unwinnable, nearly 20 year old propaganda war while autism rates continue to explode exponentially, affected children age out of the system with nowhere to go, and extremely sick kids continue to suffer intractable, excruciating symptoms. You run out and wag your finger at the disbelieving, hostile medical and pharmaceutical industries who treat autism parents as if they're insane and our kids as if they aren't even human. But I don't recommend anyone hold their breath waiting for full government funding of anything because our government doesn't have any funds, really. We are broke. And even if there was money to spend, it wouldn't go to help our kids because that would mean all the ex-pharmaceutical execs who went to work for government and all the politicians who sit on Pharma boards would actually have to admit they were wrong. It isn't gong to happen, they would never open themselves up to that kind of liability. The only way we are going to win anything (i.e. help our kids) is to turn our backs on those who created and continue to propagate this tragedy and instead direct our energy and resources to private researchers and scientists who can get the job of finding a cure done. Not an easy feat, to be sure. But easier than trying to fight the industries whose main interest next to making money is to make us look crazy while continuing to not help our kids. You want to win a propaganda war? Cure the kids. That will shut the industry up and possibly even shut them down.
Posted by: CureNOW | February 21, 2013 at 09:39 AM
Before vaccination, infants are subjected to another horrific medical intervention. Clamping the umbilical cord at birth is likely to cause a brief period of oxygen insufficiency. Before the mid 1980s textbooks of obstetrics taught that the cord should not be clamped or tied off until the lungs had fully taken over the function of respiration.
It has been known for more than 50 years now that the auditory system of the brain is damaged by a brief period of asphyxia. Nuclei in the brainstem auditory pathway suffer impairment within 5 to 6 minutes [1]. These auditory nuclei are important for analysis of acoustic features of speech [2]. Injury in adulthood causes loss of speech understanding.
Brainstem auditory nuclei are also essential in promoting growth and connections of neural circuits in the language areas of the cerebral cortex [3]. MRI data now confirm “under-connectivity” in the language areas and other cortical regions like the frontal lobes.
[1] Windle WF. Brain damage by asphyxia at birth. Sci Am. 1969 Oct;221(4):76-84.
[2] Chandrasekaran B et al. Human inferior colliculus activity relates to individual differences in spoken language learning. J Neurophysiol. 2012 Mar;107(5):1325-36.
[3] Su P et al. Myelination progression in language-correlated regions in brain of normal children determined by quantitative MRI assessment. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2008 Dec;72(12):1751-63.
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | February 21, 2013 at 09:05 AM
In response to CureNow : we wont get anywhere until we have won the PROPAGANDA WAR . We have got to get it accepted as fact , that vaccinations are causing a health holocaust .
And that means reaching the masses with our message over and over again . We have to counter the blatant lies being spread by Governments and PharmaHarma and the media .
Only at the point do I expect will we get the full scientific resources we require to cure our children (with full Govt funding). I know everyone will ask what do we do until then , well there are plenty of people doing their very best trying to find the best protocol to fix the issue . And children are being recovered - much to the embarassment of the Govts and PharmaHarma .
To most of us here on AoA , its simply preposterous that anything else causes autism except vaccines . And the CDC and the Govts and the Pharma are fully aware of that fact too - they already know Vaccines cause Autism - and that vaccines cause much more besides - ADHD , sterility , diabetes just for starters .
Posted by: Jilly Ann Beret | February 21, 2013 at 05:21 AM
Thank you for putting together this effort. I had to e-mail for help in donating, but I think I got a contribution sent off.
I think a general understanding of how broad the spectrum of immune/metabolic injury caused by vaccine pollution/environmental pollution is is essential for any true progress in the health of our society.
@ Vaccine.Explorer: Thank you for the link. I wonder if the production would be as ungripping for someone not "affected" as it was painfully gripping for me, but it might be helpful to be able to share that as a resource. I didn't know that someone had worked that hard to depict the MMR story. Did it get much air play or traction at the time? And is there a way to get DVD copies of the film now? Thanks in advance!
Posted by: Jeannette Bishop | February 20, 2013 at 06:31 PM
I think film is a powerful medium and the people behind this film seem legit, would not be too quick to dismiss.
JB Handley
Posted by: JB Handley | February 20, 2013 at 04:10 PM
If the increase in childhood illness was just an epidemic, then putting all funding into research toward finding cures would be appropriate. But this isn't ONLY epidemic increases in childhood illness, this involves corruption at the highest levels of public health, and the public is being scammed in many ways. So, the film is needed. The more the public is aware of the truth and has access to honest science, the closer we will be to reversing these devastating trends and finding real help and real cures for those affected.
Posted by: Linda | February 20, 2013 at 10:51 AM
This has the potential to be a game changer. It's one of the most forward thinking, powerful ideas I have seen in a long time. Once people understand that it's not just about autism, that these policies wound everyone, and that people with autism are simply more vulnerable, broader change will start to occur. It's been true of movements for social change throughout history.
Posted by: Josie Nelson | February 20, 2013 at 09:37 AM
I think this is potentially a good idea because Beth is right--ALL our kids are affected, but most people still think autism is something really different, something genetic--and they don't see the parallels between what autism really is and what is the matter with their kids and grandkids. They don't know their kids/grandkids are also not as healthy, or high-functioning, or well-behaved, as they might have been--and possibly yet could be if they got the right interventions and treatments. I think it this project is a good idea and worthy of support.
Posted by: Sue | February 20, 2013 at 08:48 AM
More money for another autism movie that won't make a bit of difference in the lives of autistic kids and their families. How about raising money to pay scientists to find a cure instead? That seems like a more useful way to spend $320,000.
Posted by: CureNOW | February 20, 2013 at 07:54 AM
In the meantime, there IS a movie that can change the way parents think about autism and vaccinations.
It's called "Hear the Silence" and it's about a brave autism mother and the REAL story of Dr. Andrew Wakefield.
Watch this file here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rT-2S7L-N9c#!
Posted by: Vaccine.Explorer | February 20, 2013 at 07:31 AM