Salt Lake Desert News

"South Davis County and North Salt Lake are one of Utah's true pollution hot spots. Pollution from the five oil refineries, I-15, Legacy Parkway, nearby Hill Air Force Base and numerous smaller industries all converge on the area.

"Stericycle in North Salt Lake, the hospital waste incinerator, as a relatively minor ingredient in the larger pollution stew, often escapes public dialogue about our air pollution. That should never have been the case, but especially now that Stericycle has been caught by the Division of Air Quality falsifying records and emitting 400 percent more dioxins than their permit allows."

"Utah has the nation's highest rate of autism - about double the national average - one in every 32 Utah boys, and one in every 85 Utah girls. While genetics play a role, other studies suggest that two thirds of the "epidemic" of autism is environmentally caused. With about 800 new autistic children born in Utah every year, this is a true public health crisis. ...

"The components of Stericycle's emissions read like an all-star lineup of brain toxins for children - dioxins, lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, chlorine, ammonia and benzene - spreading miles from the smoke stack. Despite Stericycle's permit, there is no such thing as a safe level of exposure to many of these highly toxic substances, especially for a pregnant mother."

At the same time lots of news sites are telling us that mercury---methyl-mercury---is also safe, comes this piece from Utah, where almost everyone will soon have an autistic child.

Puget Sound Business Journal

"Seattle Children's Hospital received a $7 million donation to start a new program to support adults with autism and other developmental disabilities.

"Charles and Barbara Burnett donated the money to launch the Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Program.
"The program is named for the Burnetts' daughter, who is autistic. The family has struggled to find adult programs for her since she completed public school in 2009 at age 21....

'"We have the potential to change the face of (Autism Spectrum Disorder) service in our region,"' said Dr. Bryan King, program director for Seattle Children's Autism Center and director of psychiatry and behavioral medicine. 'It's the perfect collaboration at a time when more people are being diagnosed with autism than ever before and adult services are scarce.'

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in every 50 children is diagnosed with autism."

Here's a perfect example of how much doctors or the media really care about autism.  Why aren't there adult services?  Why is the rate only based on studies of CHILDREN?  The last line gives the rate, "one in every 50 children," and NO CARES WHY IT'S HAPPENING.

Health AIM

"A new study analyzed placentas from 217 births and found that placentas were significantly more likely to have abnormal folds and creases in families at high genetic risk for having an autistic child. The placental folds are generally called trophoblast inclusions. Researchers will not know until next year, at the earliest, how many of the children whose placentas were studied will be diagnosed with autism. The children of the study are currently between the ages of 2 and 5. If researchers can conclude that the children diagnosed with autism had more placental folds, it may be an early indicator or biomarker for babies at high risk for the disorder.

"... Dr. Tara Wenger, a researcher at the Center for Autism Research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said, 'It would be really exciting to have a real biomarker and especially one that you can get at birth.'"

I can't even keep up with the pretend science on autism. The comment by Dr. Wenger at CHOP really said it all: "It would be really exciting to have a real biomarker and especially one that you can get at birth."

Let's continue to make-believe that children are born autistic, there's no urgency, and autism is just a curiosity that's "exciting " to study. Covering up this national nightmare will only work for so long.
 
USA Today

"A team of researchers from Indiana University and Rutgers University has developed a new approach that could help better pinpoint therapies for children with autism."
"The method relies on a quantitative analysis of a way a person moves. Researchers say it could eventually revolutionize interventions for children who have a range of conditions, from autism to ADHD."

The Autism Society of IN spokesperson calls this "an exciting beginning" and she can't wait for more research. Let's all pretend that this really means something while we cover up what autism is doing to our country.

Just like the latest study linking autism to some lifestyle choice on the part of the mother, this is AUTISM BUSYWORK designed to make the public think someone somewhere is doing something to address autism. Unless and until lots of people sound an alarm and demand we make a massive effort to stop the epidemic, things are only going to get worse.

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.