CBS News

"I am fairly convinced that America is not really aware of the pending tsunami of burden that the current autistic rate will put on our workforce and adult support services in the next 10 to 20 years," said one father of a 14-year-old autistic son.

He's not alone in his concerns. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 68 American children lie along the Autism spectrum. That number is far higher than in years past, likely reflecting greater awareness of the condition and changing diagnostic standards. Still, the overall number of autistic children has increased. And autism is not simply a disorder of childhood -- it follows people into adulthood and into the workforce.

Some companies see this as an opportunity.

No comments allowed here, or I would have written....

Dear CBS,

You make no sense. You have an unnamed dad saying there's 'a pending tsunami' but you talk about companies seeing all the coming adults with autism as "an opportunity." . . .

"Of course, it is easier for people on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum to find work, but that doesn't mean work isn't available for people with greater challenges."

Show us where all the ASD adults are working RIGHT NOW.

Easier? And it "doesn't mean work isn't available for people with greater challenges." Would that include those who don't speak, need constant care, and have seizures?

Your media spin here is, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE COMING ADULTS WITH AUTISM THAT NO ONE CAN REASONABLY EXPLAIN, WE'LL ADJUST JUST FINE. No need to ask where they're all coming from. It's just "greater awareness. . ."  So go find the adults that were missed BEFORE all the "greater awareness."

ABC News

Duffy Peterson said that she wishes she had questioned the doctor's recommendations more forcefully. It was only discovered after an autopsy that Abby was born without a spleen, an organ that is an essential part of the immune system. This made her especially vulnerable to germs and viruses, Duffy Peterson said.

Since Abby's death, Duffy Peterson has become a pro-vaccine crusader, speaking before the Minnesota legislature and helping to pass laws requiring childhood immunization in the state. She said that the small but vocal minority of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children for fear of adverse reactions including autism are well-intentioned but irresponsible. . . .

"From a scientific point of view this is a closed question," said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn. "Vaccines have virtually wiped out a number of diseases that used to plague this country -- and they do not cause autism." . . .

ABC News removed my comments after they were posted---even ones where I removed the links. Notice it's Schaffner (expert from Vanderbilt) vs McCarthy (actress).

Bottom line....this child had NO SPLEEN.  ABC News would NEVER cover a child who was injured by vaccines to raise concerns about vaccine side effects.

USA Today

With 95% of U.S. kindergarteners fully vaccinated and one child in six learning disabled, one in 10 asthmatic and one in 50 living with autism, educated parents and health care professionals are asking legitimate questions about why so many highly ...

Barbara Loe Fisher made excellent points here. Vaccines, like any medical product, carry risks.  USA Today is clear whose side they're on. 

This ran the same day.

The anti-vaccine movement was sparked by a 1998 study in a British medical journal linking the MMR vaccine to autism. That study has been thoroughly debunked. But its hold on worried parents has only grown. Fears extend to other vaccines, as well.

Florida Today

The public conversation about vaccine safety and choice began after Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, shielding drug companies from product liability and doctors from vaccine-injury lawsuits. Under that law, $3 billion has been paid to the vaccine injured while liability-free drug companies enjoy profits from a multibillion- dollar market.

U.S. health officials now recommend 69 doses of 16 vaccines for every child. States mandate up to 15 of them - twice as many as 30 years ago.

Barbara Loe Fisher did a great job here. These are the facts about vaccination. They shouldn't upset anyone. Listen to the prescription drug ads all over the TV. They happily tell us, "Side effects include. . . " And they're not minor. The same is true of vaccines. I posted comments.

Boston Herald

A bill that would establish a state autism commission and proposes other strategies for addressing the needs of the growing number of children diagnosed with the disorder is expected to come up for a vote in the Massachusetts House of Representatives this week.

The measure unveiled by House leaders on Monday calls for the development of a training program to help school districts and teachers educate students with autism with the goal of keeping as many children as possible in regular classrooms with individualized attention.

Since it's clear that neither health officials nor the federal government plan on doing anything to address autism, this is going to be a state disaster. There is no comment section here or I'd ask, "

WHY AREN'T THEY ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF THE GROWING NUMBER OF ADULTS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM?  Where is that population?

It's a fair question. We're constantly told that all the kids with autism are the result of "better diagnosing" of a disorder that's always been around. Why aren't doctors applying the same brilliance toward finding the adult population with autism?

 NPR Boston

April is autism awareness month. Awareness is great. But what really frustrates me and other parents of children with autism isn't a lack of awareness but rather how little is actually known about the disorder.

For instance, there is no explanation about why the number of autistic children is exploding. Less than a month ago, the Centers for Disease Control released updated data about the public health epidemic of autism. The CDC found that for children born in 2002, the prevalence of autism is 1 in 68, and 1 in 42 boys. This new prevalence finding is roughly 30% higher than just six years ago and roughly 120% higher than the CDC's findings in 2002 (1 in 150).

I'm incredulous that people still argue that the increase in the prevalence of autism is only due to better diagnosis. Do we really believe that doctors and teachers 20 years ago simply didn't notice the devastating symptoms presented by children affected by autism?

The parent who wrote this thinks someone should be able to tell us something for sure about autism.  It's never going to happen.

Incredibly, no one in mainstream medicine, no health official, and certainly no one in the media, care. They're not bothered. In fact, they're happy to leave autism one big mystery that we have all the time in the world to figure out. The puzzle piece logo is out there to convince us NOT TO EXPECT ANSWERS.

You have to understand that numbers mean NOTHING TO THESE PEOPLE. Officials at the CDC have been scratching their collective heads over autism FOR DECADES. They're the ones who never know if the increase is real.

Where are the adults? It's that simple. Unless someone can find them---we have a lot to worry about. I posted comments.

CBS News

Boys with autism were three times more likely to have been exposed to antidepressants known as SSRIs in the womb than typically developing children, according to new research.

The new study also found that boys whose mothers took SSRIs -- drugs including Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft -- during pregnancy were also more likely to have developmental delays.

Results of the study were published online April 14 and in the May print issue of Pediatrics. . . .

Other experts said the overall risk of having a child with autism remains very low.

Antidepressants AGAIN?  Sometimes they are linked, sometimes they're not.

April 22, 2013, New York Times: Study Links Autism With Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy

Dec, 2013, Antidepressants Safe During Pregnancy, Do not Increase Risk of Autism in Children

When they're not telling us autism is genetic and kids are born with it, they're SUGGESTING it MAY be linked to something or other. The risks are LOW here in the latest "study." No matter. It's money spent on autism busywork. SEE---they're trying to understand autism. NOW GO AWAY!

Here again, autism is tied to something that happens in utero. They'll study anything to disprove a link to vaccines.

Indianapolis Star

Richard Feldman, MD wrote this article:

A number of celebrities continue to promote the notion that vaccines in general, or that receiving too many vaccines too quickly, can lead to autism. British researcher Dr. Andrew Wakefield authored bogus research in 1998 that linked the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to autism. His fraudulent research was finally exposed; he was discredited and lost his British medical license. These individuals, along with others, have contributed to a worldwide immunization scare and have lent credence to the belief that vaccinations are a major cause of autism.

More than 20 credible mainstream scientific studies demonstrate that no such association between vaccinations and autism exists. In fact, a study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and published last year in the Journal of Pediatrics, found no relationship between the number of vaccines received in a single day or in total by age 2 and the risk of developing autism or autism spectrum disorders. Clearly, receiving the full schedule of infant vaccines was not associated with an increased risk of these syndromes.

Dr. Feldman is one more example of a doctor who refuses to look into the evidence that shows HE'S WRONG.  I posted comments.



The Dachel Media Update is sponsored by Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy and their OurKidsASD brand.  Lee Silsby Compounding Pharmacy is one of the largest and most respected compounding pharmacies in the country. They use only the finest quality chemicals and equipment to prepare our patients’ compounded medications and nutritional supplements. Customizing medication and nutritional supplements for our customers allows them to achieve their unique health goals.

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism and author of  The Big Autism Cover-Up: How and Why the Media Is Lying to the American Public, which goes on sale this Fall from Skyhorse Publishing.