@Visitor -

We all come to this issue out of our own experience. And I feel and share your frustration. I too worry about where this is all going. And I'm resolutely opposed to mandates. But I do think there's plenty of evidence that this isn't solely a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It's about Pharmaceutical control of politics and media.

What's going on in Arizona right now is a good example. Republicans in the legislature introduced bills to expand exemptions, improve informed consent, and make titer testing more accessible and acceptable. The bills were opposed by Democrats on the legislature's health and human services committee. However, Arizona's Republican governor, Doug Ducey, has recently vowed to veto these bills and any others like them. As he says, "I'm pro-vaccination, I'm anti-measles."

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/432170-arizona-governor-vows-to-veto-any-bills-that-could-decrease-vaccinations

And even in California, it was sort of a mixed bag with respect to SB 277.

https://www.laweekly.com/news/here-are-the-five-democrats-who-voted-against-californias-tough-new-vaccination-bill-5732471

"Two Republicans crossed lines to vote yes, while five Democrats – three who represent districts in Los Angeles – voted no: Mike Gatto, Autumn Burke, Ken Cooley, Cheryl Brown and Patty Lopez." Three Democrats abstained.

I think legislators, like most individuals, get convinced one-on-one. Perhaps in addition to testimony at hearings, it's important to flood legislator's offices with stories of injury, with children in tow, with evidence in hand. Perhaps more listening takes place when it doesn't happen in front of cameras.

Anyway, I'll let it go after this post. Visitor...wishing you well.

I should have said., she wants the government to be willing to use a gun on anyone who resists? Not just me.

What is a waiver?
I thought there was only Medicaid and SSI in which for a young, disabled person gets 2,000 dollars a year; for such an awesome amount; a person may have three tries if first denied. The third time puts a disabled person in front of some judge in a federal building.

A federal building in which they make you go through a metal detector, and in our case the guard ask permission to touch my back, to see if my bra's hooks and eyes are not some kind of weapon. LOL. Suggestion; go braless to federal buildings.

I don't think my sister-in-law with two identical twin boys; one with IQ of 69 and the other with an IQ of 70 knows anything about a waiver either. She went for the SSI too, and was denied.

If only there were jobs that pays for playing video games and watching way out movies.

Still it appears that we came out of this smelling like a rose, for ours are gentle souls.
As I look around at many of my friends' now grown men I recognize sadly that I was not alone after all. The world is full of them.

What should the punishment be to cause not just a few out of one generation, but many out of several generations to never be able to live up to what should have been their full potential? I can't think what that punishment should be?

@ Shelly Tzorfas

Greatly appreciated the article you recommended listing SSRI drugs connected to mass shootings in this country over decades … positively frightening these drugs continue to be prescribed to people with mental health problems. FDA says the risk of violent results from taking these medications is as "rare as 1 in 1,000" but there are literally MILLIONS of people prescribed these drugs. 1 in 1,000 of MILLIONS seems like a HIGH RISK to general population. Everyone should read Shelly's article:

https://www.ladailypost.com/content/brief-history-psychotropic-drugs-prescribed-mass-murderers

On a personal note .. reading the article bought to mind my long deceased mother's experience .. a devout Catholic who suddenly began having thoughts of suicide … soon after being prescribed Prozac by a well-intentioned doctor .. which at that time was relatively new on the market. The doctor immediately stopped the Prozac knowing the inexplicable thoughts of suicide were due to the DRUG. That happened at least 60 years ago …….

@Visitor - good grief, I'm not pro-vax. I am against vaccine mandates, and I am for safer vaccines for those who want them. I don't think all cases of autism are caused by vaccines, but I definitely think it happened in my son's case, and in many others'.

I looked at the links you sent - BTW - you gave me the same one twice. I know that there are Republicans who have opposed Democrats' efforts to tighten vaccine laws. Good for them. I really hope they have success. It's not news to me that Democrats are pushing laws that get rid of exemptions. Makes me furious. As I said, I'm opposed to mandates.

But I notice that Republicans have not actually expanded any of the exemptions that currently exist, in states where they have the power to do so (Republican governor, Republican controlled legislature). And there are red states, such as West Virginia and Mississippi, where the medical exemption is ONLY exemption. That's been true for a while, and there doesn't seem to be much political will to change it.

And at the national level, I haven't seen Republicans in the House or the Senate actually DO anything about the autism crisis or hold hearings about vaccines and safety. And I haven't seen Trump do anything except appoint pro-vax people to head agencies and say people should get vaccinated against measles. Whatever happened to that safety commission he promised?

And if you want to talk about demonizing, I would respectfully point out that calling people "Nazis" "fools" and "mentally unstable" is sort of demonizing. Both sides do this, and I think both sides are wrong. Democrats are a varied group, as are Republicans, and I personally know Dems and Liberals and even some far-lefties who are concerned about our out-of-control vaccine schedule, and who think that vaccines could be behind the rise in autism.

Aimee. Here is an independent assessment.
Republicans reject Democratic attempts to tighten vaccine laws

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/16/republican-reject-democrat-vaccines-1361277

Why are Republicans across the country pushing back against vaccine bills?

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/16/republican-reject-democrat-vaccines-1361277

Despite outbreaks, GOP opposing Democrats' efforts to tighten vaccine laws

https://www.salon.com/2019/04/18/despite-outbreaks-gop-opposing-democrats-efforts-to-tighten-vaccine-laws/

Democrats promise to eliminate vaccine religious exemptions within a year

https://fox61.com/2019/03/13/democrats-promise-vote-to-eliminate-vaccine-religious-exemptions-within-a-year/

Aimee, you pro-vaccine?

I have never heard of a single school shooter who wasn’t on psych meds. Terrell is a victim too. Psychiatrists don’t know as much as they claim about how psych. meds work much less how they work in autistic individuals. Shrinks are gambling with the lives of teens and the lives of others.

cia, if you want to get people to understand that so-called VPDs are not dangerous then why wouldn't you say:

1) Provide me with any observational evidence that a virus has ever jumped from one person to another and immediately caused symptoms? And even if a virus has ever jumped from one person to another, then why would I be scared of these viruses and not the trilions of viruses that rain down on us from the sky every single day? If you can't answer these questions then clearly the idea that viruses causes illness is just an observation free belief - a superstition.

2) Explain how it is that being around one healthy (or sick) unvaccinated child could be any more dangerous than being around the dozens of sick people we would be surrounded by whenever we visit a doctor or hospital?

3) Explain why I should believe that doctors would never alter their diagnosis if a patient is vaccinated?

Oh that's right. You can't ask those questions because they are too extreme (read coherent) aren't they? Apparently the best way to fight this massive war is for every single anti-vaxer to hand over all of our best ammunition to the other side.

Ahhh, we have known for a long time really.

I sent two copies to my two Congressmen in Washington, a decade ago. Did I get a thank you or an acknowledgement? Why no.

Vaccination, Social Violence, and Criminality: The Medical Assault on the American Brain Paperback – January 1, 1993
by Harris Coulter

https://www.amazon.com/Vaccination-Social-Violence-Criminality-American/dp/1556430841/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Harris+Coulter&qid=1556826332&s=gateway&sr=8-1

This has come up many times in the last few weeks. Again, it comes down to knowledge and education. The pro-vaxxers are succeeding in their mandates because we have not successfully taught everyone about the diseases. As long as they can say: a) Your freedom ends at the point it endangers, even kills, my child, and b) Look at all these people who can attest that they got all the vaccines, and nothing bad happened to them, that's why all the medical professionals tell us they're safe, then we're not going to win.

I got something from Levi Quackenboss this morning, which said that yes, in 1960 mortality from measles was one in 10,000 cases. But now it's one in a thousand. (I'm not convinced that that's accurate.) She thinks the reason for that is that people, nearly all of them vaccinated, get measles at an older age, when it's more dangerous. I think it's more that everyone gives anyone with a fever Tylenol or Ibuprofen to reduce the fever, not realizing that that interferes with the immune systems using strategies to preserve your life. Also that people's immune systems have been degraded, weakened and/or messed up into autoimmune/allergic reactions by so many vaccines.

That means that we have to teach people that the best thing for healthy children is to go through natural measles, see Aaby Senegal study on the tremendous survival benefit it gives. There's no instant fix to correcting the problem and giving everyone natural immunity in childhood, but we have to start from where we are. Infants must be sheltered for their protection until the day comes when all their mothers once again have natural immunity with which they can protect their infants. Adults must decide what they want to do: maybe get natural measles when their vaccines wear off, or keep getting boosters for life. But not interfere with everyone else's seeking the opportunity to get natural measles. We'll see cancer rates plunge fifty years from now! Think of that! A victory in the War on Cancer! Teach everyone that the nosode is effective and inexpensive prevention if you don't want to catch measles.

But as soon as they got one instance in which Child 1 catches measles from unvaxxed Child 2 and dies of it, then there would be an uproar, saying that Child 2 has no right to be unvaxxed if it's going to kill others. And also continue with the object lesson of children reacting to the MMR (etc.) within days or weeks with autism and bowel disease.

Right now not many people remember measles. And measles is potentially dangerous enough that it must absolutely be respected and treated appropriately (vitamin A, no fever reducers, three weeks quiet at home after the day the rash appears). But it's so beneficial that most people will want to get those benefits once they learn about them. And those who fear measles can go ahead and get the vaccine, as long as they're aware of the terrible disability the vaccine often causes.

I was a Democrat too until the election of 2016. They used to be the party of defending human rights and the poor and the environment. But things change. I voted all Republican in that election and also this past November. The Democrats have become ridiculous and extremely offensive, but it hasn't always been that way.

Aimee,

I think a big reason for its poor success rate is that it didn't focus on the structures of language, only, at most, on simple phrases like Bye! (while waving), or Thank you! And those don't get you very far in another country. Though better than nothing. My daughter just started responding Good night! when I say it in the evening, about two weeks ago, and it makes a big difference in feeling that we're communicating in a friendly way.

I was putting together the two methods, ABA and English as a Second Language, in a novel way, to show that the situation is similar in both: lack of the language structures in the target language, and with that the entire culturally-constructed edifice of ideas given shape by our language, though the causes are very different. The situation is much more dire for the autist, because if you grow up speaking another language, you still get the structures which enable you to access the concepts of human life, mediated through language. If your language structures are wrecked by vaccine encephalitis, you can't make progress in any area which requires learning concepts or any academic discipline until you have the structures to support them. ABA, for whatever reason, didn't understand that this is the KEY deficit in autism. My daughter's high school speech therapist, when I explained this to her several years ago, said But that would take YEARS to work on every single structure! Yes, it does, it has taken YEARS, but my daughter has made great strides in her ability to use language and understand concepts. So what's the alternative? There is no magic bullet.

Just think what the schools could do if they started from Day 1 with a curriculum based on 1. Greetings, 2. Classroom objects, 3. Simple commands (Run, Pick up the..., Jump, Sing), 4. Colors, 5. Give me the ..., Give him/her the..., Give us the..., Give them the..., etc. You'd have to show ability to use each one before moving on to the next level (what they should do in beginning language classes at any level). They could have Structure of the week at schools, to encourage everyone at the school, staff as well as students, to use the structure when interacting with the autistic students, to reinforce with directed practice. My daughter to this day has never said a sentence with a color used as an adjective. She learned the colors very quickly as a toddler, just never started to use them in sentences. She got the concept, but didn't have the structures in which to use them. Never used the words pretty or beautiful either. Well, I'd better stop there, you've got the idea. But in our homeschooling now, we're doing the Middle East and the breakup of the Soviet Union with all the new countries formed. When I asked what mountain range separates Europe from Asia, I meant the Caucasus, but she said the Urals, and I remembered that she'd learned that on one of our question sheets maybe five years ago, and she remembered it! She had to learn the names of the five Muslim republics which are now independent states, and I asked if she remembered where a young woman was from whom we met at her outside speech therapist's a year and a half ago. She immediately said Kazakhstan. YES! We'd talked about it when we studied the Aral Sea, almost drained now. And now she can rattle off all five of them. I think today we'll complete identifying the names and capitals of the Middle Eastern countries, she learned them much faster than I thought she would, but I crank out a lot of mnemonic devices to help her. I'll never have a more appreciative audience: she waits with baited breath for them and then laughs her head off. They used to let the cedars of Lebanon take root in the bay. Get it? Beirut. The capital of Turkey is Ankara, an anchor to keep the Anatolian peninsula from floating away. In the fertile crescent of Iraq, on the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates, Dad fills a bag with all the dates he can grow. Baghdad. A fisherman in Egypt rowed to the Mediterranean with his pet crow on his shoulder, which cawed all the way. Cairo. I also did them for Ataturk, the Shah of Iran, father and son, Jamal Abdel Nasser, Yasser Arafat, etc.

But all these little steps are necessary building blocks before more advanced comprehension and reasoning are possible. I'm worn out after nearly fifteen years. It might be more efficient to have similar programs at every school with autistic students. They're just going to have to admit that inclusion in the general classroom doesn't serve the needs of this population, who by and large just feel left out, uncomprehending, and inferior, when they could instead be given the tools they need for greater understanding and participation.

On the other end of the spectrum:

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/2/george_monbiot_on_uk_climate_emergency?fbclid=IwAR13grT1UX1o3B_siYtJw16u7x17S6OOIGJd_IHiRV2Ix2zOoVT7zh-R8dQ

So happy for Ms Thunberg! So happy for the environment! I hope she does get the Noble Prize! I’m heartbroken, however that acknowledging the accomplishments of those on the spectrum has come at the expense of helping and preventing the hardships of those who are not on the list for the Noble Prize.

@ Bill

"Since 1996, (I think that's correct), some of these drugs, (maybe ALL of them, I'm unsure exactly), have carried an FDA-mandated "Black Box" warning telling of the small, but very real risk of "suicidal and homicidal ideation and behaviors" from persons given these drugs. The persons MOST affected seem to be adolescent and teenage males, as for the "homicidal" aspect. The "suicidal" aspect seems to more affect females, but the numbers are very close."

From Today's NY Post: "Youth poison suicides soar"

"The suicide rate by poison among Americans under 19 more than doubled in the past decade and more than tripled for girls and women 10 to 24, according to a study published Wednesday.

From 2008 to 2018, more than 1.6 MILLION Americans aged 10 to 24 tried to kill themselves with poison, the Journal of Pediatrics said. More than 1.1 MILLION , or 71% were female. The annual number of attempted suicides by poisoning for kids younger than 19 jumped from 39,367 in 2000 to 78,474 in 2018. The study's authors say the spike could be connected to the rise of smartphones and social media"

It ALWAYS seems to be SOMETHING in the environment .. such as smartphones or social media .. or air pollution and global warming .. never a connection to DRUGS AND VACCINES … how difficult would it be to ascertain if SSI's were involved in MANY IF NOT MOST OF THE 78,474 SUICIDES IN 2018?

Whatever that SOMETHING is CAUSING 1.6 MILLION AMERICANS BETWEEN 10 AND 24 TO COMMIT POISIONING .. IS PROBABLY THE SAME THING CAUSING 54% OF TODAY'S GENERATION TO HAVE CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS … WHATEVER IT IS .. SURE AS HECK IS CAUSING MASS HAVOC WITHIN OUR COUNTRY'S PUBLIC HEALTH.

@jonathan rose -- I always appreciate your comments and the work you do, thank you!

I do take exception, though, to the idea that "psychiatric treatment" is the answer to mental illness. The track record of conventional treatment is horrible, and the drugs they use just lead to more dysfunction. People with mental illness are typically ill because they have been poisoned, and their brains and metabolism don't work well. What they need is a healthy environment and treatment for the multiple poisonings all too common today.

For example, see the work of Dr Kelly Brogan, who treats mental illness with nutrition and a more healthy environment; or Dr Rimland's work for autistic children.

Autism is stroke-like brain damage, especially to the language and social center of the brain. There are many allopathic drugs which may be able to suppress the aggressively acting out of the symptoms, but they all have so many negative side effects that most of us agree that their use should be avoided if at all possible. Allopathic medicine has no treatment of the root problem.

ABA used to be considered the gold standard treatment, I don't know why I don't see much about it anymore. Probably because if people thought about it, they'd realize that the reason for the damage which requires this treatment is vaccine damage, and we can't have that. And it was gold standard for a reason: the demonstration and intensive repetition and practice of very narrowly-defined skills is the only way to build new neural circuits in the brain to replace those that were broken by the stroke-like brain damage. Language and behavior are administered by the same area of the brain, and both are severely damaged or destroyed by the encephalitic brain damage. The only answer is to start as early as possible to create new neural circuits for language, ESL essentially, intensive demonstration and practice. The actual grammatical structures, inborn physically in the brain according to Noam Chomsky, act as shelves for concepts. The concepts cannot even be conceived without the delimiting structures, and without the concepts, the autistic person cannot reflect on or enact in his behavior rights, generosity, compassion, fairness, justice, etc.

This has to become the basis for autism treatment. There are quite a lot of structures required to be able to understand and reflect on a question like How do you think -- feels if you hit him because you want his blocks? And yet current therapy leaps to make the supposition that, as I have been told, of COURSE he understands all the structures as well as concepts involved because he has heard English (or his native language) every day for his whole life. But that's ONLY true if you have the inborn structures in your brain intact, already available to process information received from the surrounding world, as this population does not.

It is well-known that early lead exposure can cause brain damage and violent behavior. In fact, the article below makes a strong case that the removal of lead from gasoline is responsible for the decline in violent crime that we have seen in recent decades.

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/02/lead-exposure-gasoline-crime-increase-children-health/

So it should come as no surprise that heavy metal poisoning from vaccines could also lead to violent behavior.

Bob Moffit is more psychic than he realizes! His is the only comment above, and he's 100% correct, and then some. Without bragging, arrogance, or exaggeration, I'm something of a "Subject Matter Expert" on the topic at hand. First, Bob means "SSRI", for "Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitor(s)". It's a class of psychiatric drugs first mass-marketed in the 1990's. Since 1996, (I think that's correct), some of these drugs, (maybe ALL of them, I'm unsure exactly), have carried an FDA-mandated "Black Box" warning telling of the small, but very real risk of "suicidal and homicidal ideation and behaviors" from persons given these drugs. The persons MOST affected seem to be adolescent and teenage males, as for the "homicidal" aspect. The "suicidal" aspect seems to more affect females, but the numbers are very close.
Persons HAVE BEEN found "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity", or something similar, in MURDER CASES.
Adam Lanza was a psychiatric drug victim, himself. Try looking into his psychiatrist, and the role he played in the shootings. That aspect was COVERED UP. Even the CT. AG's office, in declining to release the FULL report on the shootings, stated that he would NOT release the full report, because to do so would, "CAUSE PEOPLE TO STOP TAKING THEIR DRUGS".
As for Cho, the shooter at VA TECH? Again, PSYCHIATRY and PSYCH DRUGS. Columbine? PSYCHIATRY and PSYCH DRUGS. Parkland, Fla, last year? PSYCHIATRY and PSYCH DRUGS. In fact, I'll go so far as to say in EVERY mass-casualty school shooting, what's the COMMON DENOMINATOR? PSYCHIATRY and PSYCH DRUGS. Please, *try* *to* find an exception. Please do. I don't believe you can find a case where psychiatry and psych drugs, - usually SSRI's, - is NOT involved. I honestly don't see where a subjective "diagnosis" of "ASD" has any real place in this media-CENSORED CARNAGE.
GOD, I hope Friday is not like today. I need some time off!
KEEP UP the GOOD WORK, PEOPLE!
~Bill Bradford

Autism is Brain Injury.

The brain is sick and hurt yet doctors just tell people to go home and research. When you come back to the doctor with your research that shows your child may have a brain injury, you are told you shouldn’t trust google.

The medical community carries the final blame in this tragedy. Brain injury IS TREATABLE.