Asbury Park (NJ)

We asked Suzanne Buchanan, executive director at Autism New Jersey - the largest statewide network of parents and professionals dedicated to improving the lives of people with autism and their families - to help interpret some of these numbers and to answer a variety of questions relating to the causes of autism, areas of focus for research, gaps in funding and other autism-related issues. Her responses follow:

Did the latest numbers from the CDC on autism surprise you? Why or why not?

New Jersey has had the highest or one of the highest rates in the nation since the CDC began this work more than 10 years ago. While the new autism statistics did not surprise us, we are concerned about the high prevalence rate, especially here in New Jersey. Hopefully, we are now seeing the numbers beginning to level off at approximately 2 percent across the country.

A once rare disorder now strikes one in every 45 CHILDREN in NJ. WHERE'S THE ALARM..........I don't see it.

The answers to the questions asked in the headline:

...WE STILL DON'T KNOW.

...NOTHING.

I didn't see vaccines mentioned even once! The question in the headline is NEVER ANSWERED. New Jersey has a one in 45 autism rate and still there's no DEMAND FOR ANSWERS. No one is asking, HOW CAN WE PREVENT AUTISM? I posted comments, especially disputing the claim that one percent of adults have autism.

Fresno Bee

Refusing vaccines places our community at risk from diseases. As people have become distrusting or fearful of government, doctors and drug companies, a sizable fraction have started refusing to allow their children to be vaccinated. It's easy to see why when those parents are presented the worst-case scenario documents to sign before a vaccination is given. Scary stuff....

Reasons vary. Some parents prefer a "natural immunity" to vaccine-acquired immunity; others believe vaccines overload a child's immune system; others say we shouldn't worry about diseases that have "disappeared." Then there's the Jenny McCarthy phenomenon. The former Playboy model has convinced some parents that vaccines cause autism. The one study that linked the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to autism, by British doctor Andrew Wakefield in 1998, has been discredited as fraudulent, and the published paper was retracted. Autism rates are the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated children.

Andy and Jenny have convinced millions.  (I posted comments.)

Jacksonville (IL) Journal Courier

The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a range of neuro-developmental conditions that affects communication, language and social skills - has grown dramatically in the past decade and a half. In 2000, one child in 150 was diagnosed as autistic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By last year, it had swelled to one child in every 68 - 30 percent higher than in 2008 alone. .. . .
Research into the complexities of this disorder is crucial. Congress is considering a measure by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois called the American Cures Act that would boost growth in research through such government facilities as the CDC and the National Institutes of Health.

MORE RESEARCH?  Millions more into dead-end research?  No one wants to honestly and thoroughly investigate what's making our children so sick.

Cape Cod (MA) Times

A nonprofit group hopes to open a 16-unit congregate housing complex in the heart of Orleans for adults with autism.

Cape Cod Village Inc., founded by parents whose children are autistic, plans to buy 3.8 acres of land behind Mid-Cape Home Centers alongside the bike path, with access from Childs Homestead Road.

The board of directors has asked for $350,000 from the Orleans Community Preservation Committee. Voters must approve the grant at town meeting on May 12. . . . An estimated 1 out of 68 people in the U.S. are now diagnosed with autism, according to the latest report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's a 30 percent increase from two years ago, according to the CDC.

These dramatic numbers may be due to better screening and more frequent diagnosis of the disorder, as well as environmental factors and genetic development - no one really knows for sure, said Chris Raber, vice president of the Cape Cod Village board.

But what is certain, is that hundreds of autistic young people will soon be "aging out" of the school systems, where their education is covered by government funding until age 22. These adults, who often require special care and programming, will need a community. . . .

"But there are legions of kids who are aging out, and when their parents get old and eventually die, they'll have no place to go," Miller said.

There've been these "dramatic numbers" and "legions of kids ...are aging out. . ."  I posted comments.

(U of WI) Badger Herald

One in 68 children in the U.S. has an autism spectrum disorder, and the University of Wisconsin's Waisman Center is researching what happens to these individuals as they reach adulthood and adolescence.

The Adolescents and Adults with Autism study began at the Waisman Center after the realization that little research had been done on the transition from adolescence to adulthood for individuals with autism and their families, according to the center's website.

This transition from high school to the real world is notable because it marks the end of structured education for many and increased independence, which often creates a high-stress environment for families, the site said.

There was an exponential increase in diagnoses beginning in 1990, which Marsha Mailick, director of the Waisman Center, said was a factor in the study. . . .

This is the autism busywork center of WI. Notice only diagnoses have increased, not actual cases. I posted two comments. They were removed.


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.