Review of An Unfortunate Coincidence: A Mother’s Life Inside the Autism Controversy
Best of: The Politics of Pumpkins

Dachel Halloween Wake Up: More Trick Than Treat

Halloween-jack-o-lantern-ABy Anne Dachel

Autism, the eternal puzzle: a disability affecting around two percent of CHILDREN with no known cause, prevention, or cure. 

The truth is, it's no longer to acceptable to talk about ANYTHING but awareness and services when it comes to autism. In fact, "neurological difference," not disorder, is the correct way to discuss autism.

(And certainly the chilling subject of regressive autism where typically developing kids lose learned skills, including the ability to talk, is verboten.)

I imagine that we'll be seeing an end to any studies on the cause of autism, even those fruitless searches for the elusive autism gene.  It's now time to embrace autism as a regular part of childhood and young adulthood in America. Of course something so common and often having such an impact on an individual means that some charges have to be made in order to assimilate such a significant part of the population. 

That's exactly what's happening. We're being educated to accept autism as a normal part of the human condition everywhere in the media. Here are some recent examples. (Notice the use of "sensory friendly"/"autism friendly" in these stories.)

Oct 27, 2016, NBC Denver: Swallow Hill Music to perform first sensory friendly concert

It will be Swallow Hill's first sensory friendly concert, specifically designed for individuals with sensory sensitivities and developmental disabilities.

The intended audience includes people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, who can be easily over-stimulated, especially in unfamiliar settings.

Oct 27, 2016, Good Housekeeping: Toys R Us Offers Quiet Shopping Hours for Kids With Autism—More stores should copy this great idea.

 Toys R Us just made a big change that will help parents of children on the autism spectrum shop with less stress this holiday season. Stores across the United Kingdom will host a quiet shopping hour free of in-store distractions on November 6, according to the Telegraph.

The plan is to turn off the in-store music and announcements, dim the fluorescent lights, put in autism-friendly signs and mark specific quiet zones throughout the store. These factors were chosen specifically because they can make autistic children and adults feel overwhelmed or even cause them physical pain, Daniel Cadey, autism access manager for the National Autistic Society in the United Kingdom told the Telegraph….

We're hoping Toys R Us locations in the United States will adopt this idea too. Parents have petitioned for sensory-friendly aisles in Target and ShopRite with local success, but children on the autism spectrum and their parents deserve a place to shop comfortably year-round, no matter where they live. After all, Toys R Us is a place where a kid can be a kid, right?

Oct 27, 2016, Miami Community Newspapers: Little Orphan Annie at the Banyan Bowl, and Jazz!

The Saturday matinee is Sensory Friendly (a slightly edited down version with lower sound levels) for children on the autism spectrum, and the ticket price for the Saturday matinee is $5.

Oct 27, 2016, MyEastonShore.com (MD): Sensory-friendly Trunk or Treat offered

Kinera’s Trunk or Treat will kick off at 2 p.m. with a sensory-friendly “trick or  vendors and businesses will have tables and trunks decorated in Halloween style, and participants will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite display. Trick or treaters are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes and will be able to participate in the crafts and games station, as well as trick or treating at the vendors’ tables for treats and giveaways. The sensory-friendly portion of the event will last through 4 p.m.

Oct 27, 2016, (St. Joseph MO) News Press: What's up, Oct. 27, 2016

Sensory-friendly family movie, 10 a.m., St. Joseph Public Library, East Hills branch, 502 N. Woodbine Road. For information, call 816-236-2136.

Oct 26, 2016, (Sharon, PA) Herald: Things to do from Oct. 26, 2016

SPECIAL EVENTS

  • Sensory-friendly trick-or-treat open to the community at Capable Kids, Hermitage, on Sunday. Staggered start times to prevent crowding from 2 to 4 pm. Open trick-or-treat from 4 to 5 pm.

Oct 26, 2016, Film Journal International: (Austin,TX) Alamo Drafthouse introduces sensory-friendly screenings

The new "Alamo for All" are sensory-friendly screenings open to all ages, including infants. Like its "Baby Day" predecessor, at these specially designated screenings the house lights are left a little brighter and the sound is turned down a little lower. The feature film will run without the Alamo Drafthouse's signature preshow and without trailers. Moving around the theatre and noise will be allowed….

Finding a sensory-friendly screening at Alamo Drafthouse and planning your next trip will also be much easier, thanks to a new page on the Alamo Drafthouse's website—drafthouse.com/program/alamo-for-all—where guests can find an up-to-the-minute list of screenings in their area as well as full details on sensory-friendly policies.

Oct 26, 2016, Lagniappe Weekly: (Mobile, AL) Calendar of Events: October 27–November 2, 2016  

Sensory-Friendly Trick-or-Treat
The American Autism & Rehabilitation Center will host its second Sensory-Friendly Trick-or-Treat event in its Daphne facility on Friday, Oct. 28, 4-6 p.m. This event is geared toward families with special needs who may find it difficult to participate in traditional Halloween festivities. For more information call 251-210-1632.

Oct 25, 2016, Broadway World: American Repertory Ballet Announces its 2016 Annual Nutcracker Season

American Repertory Ballet will open the Nutcracker season in New Jersey at Union County Performing Arts Center's main stage in Rahway on Saturday, November 19 at 2 p.m. On Sunday, November 22 at 1 p.m., for the second time annually, ARB will present its Sensory-Friendly Production of Nutcracker. This abridged, one-hour, performance is especially for children and adults with special needs and is made possible by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders as part of the UC Sensory-Friendly Theatre series.

It is subtle, pervasive, and constant, and we’re all getting the message: If your child ends up on the autism spectrum, just accept it. What better way to make an epidemic of disabled children go away?—Urge everyone to just make adjustments.

What is undeniable is the fact that we have to do this. Movie theaters and community organizations didn’t suddenly decide to provide for individuals with special needs—people who’ve always been around, just neglected. The sensory friendly accommodations are happening because of the drastic number of kids on the spectrum. The need is huge; the response is what you’d expect. This is just the beginning. Every public service will have to specifically address this population. We have no choice. (The key is to keep on pretending nothing is wrong.)

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.

Comments

@Gary

"AFM is rare...one in a million" Snort. Any bets it's related to vaccination.

Gary Ogden

Off topic, but Seattle Children's Hospital is reporting eight cases of AFM, with one death. Three are still hospitalized. The CDC is calling AFM the "exact cause" of the affliction, whatever that means.

Cherry Misra

Anne, Thankyou again for pursuing this topic. Here, once again we have a case of The Emperors New Clothes. The adults think that autism is just a matter of awareness and adjustment. But what about the peers of the autistic kids? I asked my 11 year old grand daughter if there were any autistic kids in her school, and she replies immediately , with strong feeling, "Yes, Its so sad." My 9 year old grandson was not so charitable. I asked him about his standing in the choir, next to an autistic boy and then I added, "He seemed to be upset " My grandson was simply dismissive, "Oh yeah, They do that randomly" Clearly he wasn't spending any of his time on those randomly tantrumming autistic kids.
Yup, being autistic is fine and dandy- "Just another way to be" (as the T shirt tells us)

Cherry Misra

@Louise Stanley, When you research SSPE on Google in the U.S. , it is always described as a result of real, wild measles, but interestingly, in Indian textbooks of immunology- It is described as also a result of the measles vaccine.Iin the Indian textbooks, aspiring doctors are vehemently told that it is still better to take the vaccine, despite the danger of developing SSPE. It is so rare , you see. Nevermind that SSPE is something like having a slow case of rabies.
I am sure that the CDC knows very well that SSPE is caused by the vaccine and here is how I deduce this: I once watched a documentary about our heroes at the CDC who came to a little town in Southern U.S. They were able to diagnose a disorder in a small child there, that had stumped all the doctors. (By the symptoms you could see that it was SSPE) In the documentary, we are never told WHAT the diagnosis actually is . But we are told that it will be fatal. I believe that they avoided telling the name of the disorder, because some smart people might have caught on and said, "OH she had the measles !" and they would have had to say, Well, no, she had the MMR (or measeles vaccine" Friends, How many more issues have been distorted with lies by our health agencies, pandering to the pharma sociopaths.. What kind of educations are our doctors getting. ?
What kind of Messiah do we need to return medical science to truth and reality?

Linda1

Excerpt from the link I just posted:

"SSPE has an average period of latency of 7–10 years (range, 1 month to 27 years) after measles virus infection"

And MMR trials followed recipients for I think 14 days, maybe less.

Linda1

The CDC's SSPE "discovery" is just their Halloween message. They're having a bit or trouble selling their witch's brew AKA MMR right about now, so they have to ramp up the fear factor. Measles isn't scary enough? Ok, then add some SSPE to the spell. It could happen anytime. No one is safe, mwahahaha.

And the description of SSPE sounds a lot like MMR injury stories:

"Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a progressive fatal disease of the central nervous system that is caused by a persistent measles virus infection. Early clinical characteristics of SSPE may be variable, but they often include behavioral changes, cognitive deterioration, sporadic episodes of falling, and such optic disturbances as chorioretinitis [1, 2]. As the disease advances, neurologic symptoms, such as myoclonic jerks or spasms, become more pronounced, and the patient develops severe physical and mental impairment. SSPE has an average period of latency of 7–10 years (range, 1 month to 27 years) after measles virus infection, and death generally occurs ∼1–3 years after the onset of symptoms. There are known risk factors for SSPE, such as the development of measles virus infection at an early age (i.e., before 2 years of age), and most studies have noted that a greater proportion of cases of SSPE occur among males. The reason why measles virus persists in some individuals and results in deadly consequences is unknown, but it is likely to be host related [3]"

http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/192/10/1686.full

Benedetta

Maybe this October; A little witch flew over the CDC and dropped a pumpkin bomb filled with spiders.

Maybe SPIDERS along with Dr. William Thompson will be haunting and cursing the CDC long after the season.

Barry

So they should be reporting that if children have already had measles it is dangerous to have a vaccination. "

****************

There is no such thing, as a time when it is safe to receive a vaccine.

ATSC

Louise,

Perhaps it's because vaccination shifted the normal age for catching measles to the under fives, who are more vulnerable to complications, and children who've already had a natural measles infection are being vaccinated against measles in the MMR when they don't need to be.

ANGUS FILES

Louise Stanley,

Thanks good to share.As a well thought of friend succinctly put it to me to day..


"Clue is in '''patients who had contracted measles BEFORE being vaccinated'.
So they should be reporting that if children have already had measles it is dangerous to have a vaccination. "

MMR RIP


Me.

The vaccine strain measles virus reactivating and causing all these problems. Makes sense because unvaccinated would have conferred natural immunity unlike the vaccine. They destroyed natural herd immunity and now they are cherry picking data to support mass vaccination instead of admitting what is really happening. I didn't even flinch. Not one single word of any main stream media outlet is to be believed under any circumstances, period.

Louise Stanley

Angus - Thank you for the link. From the link:

"The condition, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), was once considered extremely rare, posing a risk to just one in 100,000 children with a history of measles.
Recent research from Germany updated the incidence to one in 1,700 among children infected before the age of five. Now a new US study has shown the danger to be much more real for infants, with as many as one child in 600 being affected.
The only certain safeguard against SSPE is universal vaccination, experts stress. With enough of the population immunised, the spread of measles would be contained well enough to protect infants too young to receive the vaccine."
"Scientists do not know what causes the virus to reactivate, but when it does the result can be SSPE - a horrifying condition leading to memory loss, mood changes, involuntary jerking movements, muscle spasms, and occasional blindness.
Eventually patients may become comatose or enter a persistent vegetative state. Death is inevitable as a result of fever, heart failure, or the brain's inability to control vital organs."

So this is the scaremongering we can expect next down the pipeline.

I have to wonder why at one point it was extremely rare and is now becoming more common. I don't imagine it would ever have anything to do with compromised immune response resulting from vaccine damage.


ANGUS FILES

In the meantime measles has become nastier they brought us measles and we got killer measles..

Fatal measles complication 'much more common than thought'

http://home.bt.com/news/uk-news/fatal-measles-complication-much-more-common-than-thought-11364109318239

MMR RIP

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