Note: Yesterday, Anne Dachel wrote about a family in Ireland struggling to care for their son with autism. We Are Tired. We Are Broken. THIS is the autism reality most families live. If you have a loved one with autism - no matter the level - who can live independently without any worry strictly related to their autism - you might just have found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  I will tell you that autism is CRUSHING aging parents. And siblings.  Example: A young man who works at my daughters' day program told me yesterday that his 21 year old brother with autism is in in college and he WORRIES EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY about him because he has no safety instincts. In August, we had a Mom at the end of her rope, and her hopes that the world would ever care for let alone help her adult daughter, shoot both her daughter and herself. This is why we still publish AofA.

By Anne Dachel

Ireland: AS I AM autism charity ignores autism epidemic

After recent stories revealing the utter desperation of parents with autistic children in Ireland, I was surprised to see an article that seemed oblivious to what’s happening in that country.

Sept 10, 2023, “Dublin mum behind autism fundraiser The Sparkle Ball is fighting back against 'no services, no help and no support’”

She has three children as well as her step-son Michael, who works tirelessly alongside her to raise funds and awareness for people with autism, raising €224,000 to date

Dublin mum and autism advocate Ciara Jones is in the process of organising the biggest iteration of her glamorous event The Sparkle Ball for Autism to date.

Not only is this event an excuse to get dressed up and enjoy an evening of great food and entertainment, it's an event with heart, as every penny raised goes into funding services for autistic people in Ireland via the charity AsIAm.

Her teenage son Gavin is autistic, and is the driving force behind her family's fight for better services and understanding.

Ciara has been on what she describes as a "never ending" career break since 2018 so she can dedicate more time to her family, and her advocacy work has gone from strength to strength since.

She has three children as well as her step-son Michael, who works tirelessly alongside her to raise funds and awareness for autistic people. To date, Ciara and Michael have raised an incredible €224,000 [$240K} after founding Ireland's biggest Family 5km Run, which is now in its 5th year. …

Michael, as well as being a barrister, has dedicated his life to the autism community of Ireland, and also holds the roll of Head of Community Support at AsIAm.

Her fundraising was a natural part of advocating for her own child's best interests due to a lack of governmentally provided services, with an annual parachute jump, 5km family run and the Sparkle Ball all raising funds for the deserving charity AsIAm each year.

 “I knew straight away after reading about AsIAm that they were going to be the charity we were going to support. They are phenomenal, and have grown themselves at a vast rate," she said.

"Founder and CEO Adam Harris started off with a vision, that people would better understand and accept, and create a more inclusive society in which autistic people can live their best lives. He now has 30 people working in AsIAm, with 50% of them being neurodivergent which is incredible. "

In truth, As I Am is nothing more than the Irish version of Autism Speaks here in the U.S. They have a lot of fund raisers but they actually have no impact on what the autism epidemic is doing to children in that country.

If you go to their website they make it clear that autism is just part of the neurodiversity all around us. We just need to accept and accommodate those affected.

AS I AM

Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability or difference which relates to how a person communicates and interacts with others, and how they experience the world around them. Autism is a part of the broader neurodiversity family of differences or disabilities which encompasses people with conditions or differences such as ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, Epilepsy, Tourette’s Syndrome and Dyscalculia. …

While autistic people are born autistic, it is not something that parents learn when their child is born. As a child grows up, they may begin to communicate differently to other people, find day-to-day situations stressful or overwhelming and rely on structure and routine in order to manage. This in turn may lead to a person receiving an autism diagnosis. …

It is also important to remember that autism is genetic, which means that there are a great many undiagnosed autistic parents of autistic children. Sometimes these parents don’t see signs of their child’s autism because it is how they themselves interact, communicate and understand the world. 

As I Am totally rejects the idea that vaccines cause autism.

No – it’s been widely disproven that vaccines cause autism in young children’s brains. The Royal College of Physicians in Ireland have conducted an in-depth study on the possible risks of vaccination and found this to be a myth with no medical basis.

Accredited international medical professionals have carried out similar reviews investigating whether there is a connection between autism and vaccines and their results have repeatedly found no link.

As I Am seems content with exploding numbers of children with autism on waitlists for school places and services. As I Am must assume that no rate is ever too much. One in every 21 children, one in every 13 boys has autism in Ireland. That’s going to take a lot of awareness and accommodations.

Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.

The Wuhan Cover-Up: And the Terrifying Bioweapons Arms Race (Children’s Health Defense) 

“Gain-of-function” experiments are often conducted to deliberately develop highly virulent, easily transmissible pathogens for the stated purpose of developing preemptive vaccines for animal viruses before they jump to humans. More insidious is the “dual use” nature of this research, specifically directed toward bioweapons development. The Wuhan Cover-Up pulls back the curtain on how the US government's increase in biosecurity spending after the 2001 terror attacks set in motion a plan to transform the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci, into a de facto Defense Department agency.

Join us in congratulating Dr. Brian Hooker and Robert Kennedy, Jr. and the Children's Health Defense imprint on the huge news that Vax Unvax Let The Science Speak was #11 on the New York Times non-fiction best sellers list this week.  This is important because it tells those who feel they shouldn't question science, "Hey, it's OK to read, and learn and make your own decisions."  It's currently 124 on ALL of Amazon books.  Buy a copy HERE