Take a look at the beautiful face of Ms. Desiree Penrod.

Yesterday, her family buried her.

She is from Connecticut, attended college in Vermont.  According to an interview she conducted with her college, she worked in a school for students with autism. (All roads lead to...)  She was an athlete in college. (See the interview at the end of this post.)

On March 10, she reported on her Facebook page that the "vaccine" was "killing her." Read the screen shots in this post. They will break your heart. Take a good look at this beautiful, young woman.

"Yesterday, I was fine...."  

The Killingly, CT School District had a Special Early Release Day on March, 9.
They had a half day so that they could vaxsassinate their staff. My own Connecticut town vaccinated teachers on a Saturday, to buffer the side effect call outs. They got the same Johnson & Johnson vaccine that Ms. Penrod got. 

Nurses from the Day Kimball Healthcare group out of Putnam introduced syringes full of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of teachers sitting on folding chairs next to long tables. Which nurse met Desiree's eyes as she injected her?


On March 17, 8 days after her vaccination,  Ms. Penrod died "unexpectedly." Just like Marvin Hagler. Just like Hank Aaron.  Just like many others whose names we will never know, unable to connect the dots. But Desiree wasn't old.  Her Facebook page indicated that she had a seizure disorder, and she posts about very rough seizures. Including one the day before her vaccine. How could a nurse vaccinate her in that fragile state?

We can't know for sure, but she was likely vaccinated to protect the students around her.  That's likely what her heart told her to do. Protect her kids. Kids like ours. She died at age 25. Unexpectedly. 

My God. Rest in peace, lovely young woman.

Posted: Sep 01, 2020

JOHNSON, Vt.- Up next on our Alumni Spotlight is 2018 graduate and member of the women's track and field program Desiree Penrod. It is our pleasure to feature Desiree!

Name: Desiree Penrod

Class Year: 2018

Concentration/Major: Pre-Professional Counseling/Psychology

Thanks, Krispy Kreme. I got mine. Homer

Obesity, diabetes and heart disease are killers in the USA, and people of color are impacted at a higher rate. Obesity WORSENS Covid health outcomes!

Obesity is a common, serious, and costly chronic disease. Having obesity puts people at risk for many other serious chronic diseases and increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Everyone has a role to play in turning the tide against obesity and its dispr oportionate impact on racial and ethnic minority groups. Source: CDC Obesity, Race/Ethnicity, and COVID-19

But Krispy Kreme is being hailed a hero for offering free donuts with proof of a Covid vaccine. Is THAT what public health has come to? Bribes with sweets as if Americans are silly children will who walk like wee Zombies, or donut aficionado Homer Simpson, and do anything for.... a DONUT?  This program flies in the face of the most rudimentary health advice, and even the bottom 5% MD who had 15 minutes of nutrition class in med school knows that this is a flat out disgrace.  Dr. Fauci condones this charade? We are being told that all we need to do is take a vaccine, and voila! Health! Safety! Life!!! Nonsense. Diet, nutrition, Vitamin status, exercise, weight, BMI, stress levels all contribute to dis-ease.  There is more to life on Earth than vaccinating for Covid. And this campaign harms some more than others.  Where's the outcry?

FYI - Krispy Kreme is also offering a free donut to those who don't want to be vaccinated, because contests, unlike much of life, have rules about discrimination. See the KK promotion here - Be Sweet to Your Community COVID-19 Vaccine Offer.

Ingredients:Doughnut(Enriched Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Palm Oil, Soybean Oil, Sugar. Contains 2% or Less of Each of the Following: Yeast, Soy Lecithin, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Wheat Gluten, Calcium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate, BHT, Dried Milk Powder, Egg Yolks, Cellulose Gum, Calcium Propionate (To Maintain Freshness), Ammonium Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid, Dicalcium Phosphate, Sorbitan Monostearate, Tocopherols, Tricalcium Phosphate, Diammonium Phosphate); Glaze(Sugar, Water, Corn Starch, Palm Oil, Calcium Sulfate And/Or Calcium Carbonate, Agar, Dextrose, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Salt, Disodium Phosphate, Locust Bean Gum And/Or Mono and Diglycerides)

Come to think of it, this ingredient list would make Pharma proud.....

###

From CDC:  Obesity is a common, serious, and costly disease

The prevalence of obesity was 42.4% in 2017~2018.

From 1999–2000 through 2017–2018, the prevalence of obesity increased from 30.5% to 42.4%, and the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%.

Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer that are some of the leading causes of preventable, premature death.

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008 US dollars; the medical cost for people who have obesity was $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

Obesity affects some groups more than others

[Read CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data brief]

Non-Hispanic Black adults (49.6%) had the highest age-adjusted prevalence of obesity, followed by Hispanic adults (44.8%), non-Hispanic White adults (42.2%) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (17.4%).
The prevalence of obesity was 40.0% among adults aged 20 to 39 years, 44.8% among adults aged 40 to 59 years, and 42.8% among adults aged 60 and older.

Obesity and socioeconomic status

[Read the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)]

The association between obesity and income or educational level is complex and differs by sex and race/ethnicity.

Overall, men and women with college degrees had lower obesity prevalence compared with those with less education.

By race/ethnicity, the same obesity and education pattern was seen among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic women, and also among non-Hispanic White men, although the differences were not all statistically significant.

Although the difference was not statistically significant among non-Hispanic Black men, obesity prevalence increased with educational attainment. Among non-Hispanic Asian women and men and Hispanic men, there were no differences in obesity prevalence by education level.

Among men, obesity prevalence was lower in the lowest and highest income groups compared with the middle-income group. This pattern was seen among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic men. Obesity prevalence was higher in the highest income group than in the lowest income group among non-Hispanic Black men.

Among women, obesity prevalence was lower in the highest income group than in the middle and lowest income groups. This pattern was observed among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic women. Among non-Hispanic Black women, there was no difference in obesity prevalence by income.

` From SafeMinds:

Home and Community Based Services Receives Billions From New Relief Package 

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was signed into law earlier this month by President Joe Biden.  The plan provides additional economic relief to weary American citizens hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Since the disability community was largely ignored by last spring’s CARES Act and last December’s $900 billion stimulus relief package, a recent advocacy campaign was sparked which urged lawmakers to include more financial assistance to this fragile population. The advocacy campaign proved successful. The new relief package will dispense billions of dollars to special education and home- and community-based services (HCBS). The plan will also deliver stimulus payments for many with disabilities who were previously overlooked. Specifically, the American Rescue Plan will provide the disability community with $12.6 billion for Medicaid HCBS, $3 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs, and $1400 stimulus checks for dependents over the age of 16. Previously, only dependents under the age of 17 were eligible for stimulus payments. For more information on the American Rescue Plan’s effect on the disability community,  check out the Center for Public Representation’s comprehensive list of what the legislation does and does not include.   Read more here at SafeMinds.

Public health is an evidence-based profession dedicated to improving health and preventing disease. The political process is how public policy decisions—laws, regulations, tax policies, and the allocation of scarce public resources—are made by elected officials.  (Evidence based, we ask?)

By Anne Dachel

On Mar. 16, 2021 ‘Tucker Carlson’ over at Fox News devoted almost 20 minutes of his show to exposing the duplicity and control practices of Dr. Anthony Fauci.  

I’ve watched lots of news coverage at MSNBC and CNN where Fauci is always given the last word unchallenged, so it was refreshing to see Carlson examine the restrictions on American life that we’ve been forced to endure because Fauci said so.

What is the science out there that supports Fauci’s demands that we social distance at six feet and get a COVID19 vaccine? Carlson looked into it.

About 12 minutes into the show Carlson brought up the push for the COVID19 vaccine.

He asked two questions about the vaccines that everyone should be asking and noted that no one has answered them.

How effective is this corona virus vaccine?

How necessary is it to take the vaccine?

Carlson raised concerns about blood clots associated with three of the COVID vaccines.

I especially liked his comment:

It turns out there are things we don’t know about the effects of this vaccine and all vaccines by the way. It’s always a tradeoff.

It’s time someone asked why Fauci has so much power over our lives at the same time he doesn’t have to respond to the issues Carlson brings up here.

Tucker Carlson Tonight' host examines differing COVID guidance from leaders and health experts over the past year

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6240808916001#sp=show-clips

Here Carlson asks questions about the orders for a social distance of six feet to stop the spread of COVID19.

1:00

Carlson: But where did that law come from? Who did the scientific research that determined that six feet was the safest distance apart from other people you could be?

Somebody should have asked that question last spring, but as far as we know, nobody did ask.

It turns out that the research that formed the basis of that law came from a German hygienist, Carl Flugge.

It was Flugg who determined that six foot separations were necessary to slow the spread of pathogen.

The CDC went with Flugg’s judgment.

What the CDC didn’t tell us was that Karl Flugg had been dead for a hundred years. His research on social distancing was published in the 19^th century, before most Americans had electricity or indoor plumbing.

So why is that research still guiding public health policy in this country in 2021?

It’s a good question. Experts don’t seem to have a good answer.

Last year, one of the top aerosol scientists in Australia, a woman called Lidia Morawska, likened social distancing regulations to a cult ritual.

“The dogma was born. Like any dogma, it’s extremely difficult to change people’s minds and change the dogmas.”

So dogma posing as science. 

Below is s an extremely important article from Children's Health Defense.  How many friends and family have told you they "had" to get the Covid jab to "keep their job."  The jabs are experimental, and recipients are clinical trial participants. Their use is for emergency purposes during a pandemic, they are not FDA approved. They were made faster and more "successfully" than any previous vaccines, even during the H1N1 flu pandemic, for which the vaccines were a catastrophe. No means no. We should not have to submit to a medical procedure to make another person feel "safer or better. Haste makes waste. Measure twice cut once. Vaccinate in haste, repent in leisure.

###

Employees of the second-largest school district in the U.S. filed suit last week to prevent the district from mandating COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of employment.

California Educators for Medical Freedom, with assistance from the Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF), filed a federal lawsuit March 17 against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

In a press release, HFDF said LAUSD’s vaccine mandate violates federal law and basic human rights by requiring employees to take an experimental vaccine in order to remain employed.

All COVID vaccines available in the U.S. — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — are approved under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). By the FDA’s own definition, that makes the vaccines “experimental” until or unless the FDA licenses them.

School employees alleged in their complaint that the statute granting the FDA power to authorize a medical product for emergency use, 21 U.S.C. § Section 360bbb-3, requires that the person being administered the unapproved product be advised of the benefits and risks, and of his or her right to refuse the product.

The FDA issued a Fact Sheet for Health Care Providers and a Fact Sheet for Recipients and Caregivers for each of the three vaccines approved for emergency use. The fact sheets state, among other things, that a provider must communicate information to the recipient prior to administering the vaccine — including that the recipient has the option to accept or refuse the vaccine. Read more at The Defender.

Tonight! Monday, March 22, 2021 8:00pm Eastern Daylight time If you join the Facebook group of Dr. Teri and and Stu Warner, you can tune into a live interview with our favorite Batman of the autism warrior world, that would be Mr. JB Handley.   JB will share the story of his son Jamison, who has found his "voice" through Spelling2Communicate. 

Drs. Teri & Stu Warner and The Wellness Parenting Revolution

JB Handley and his son Jamison have written a book recounting how a method called Spelling2Com (not to be confused with facilitated communication) has given 18 year old Jamison a way to share his heart, his mind, his soul. Think of all of our kids who are preverbal - how smart they are. We know. We can see it in their receptive speech. We see it in their eyes. We also see the pleading look that says, "Help me."  Many of us have spent tens of thousands of dollars, maybe more, and devoted countless hours to our kids lives. Never satisfied with the grim prognoses of ignorant doctors and inside the box therapists, we've been ridiculed, written off and reviled for wanting MORE for our kids. What kind of more? How about the ability to ask for a chicken sandwich instead of a burger. A glass of orange juice instead of grape juice.  Communication. For Jamison and many others, Spelling2Communicate has worked. For others? Perhaps S2C or HALO from Soma have not been the best route to success. Watch the interview. We are approaching the April Fool's Month. It's time to turn our eyes from the pandemic BACK to autism and our ever growing needs. For Jamison? We say AMEN, young man. We are happy for you.  Amazon: Underestimated An Autism Miracle

This old game board from 2016 was autism specific, but it can be used with adjustments for the shenanigans going on today.

By Cathy Jameson

It's over an hour drive to get to some of Ronan's specialty appointments, so I have plenty of time to think about the questions I have for the providers we're scheduled to see.  I really like one of the doctors we're working with, so I stay very hopeful as I plan for visits with him.  With my mind more at ease for these particular appointments, on Thursday, as we made our way to the clinic, I drove with the radio on.  Other visits have me driving in silence as I go over important questions and treatment options I'd like to discuss with my son's doctors.  This time, I turned the radio on as soon as we left our driveway. 

After getting a good dose of some 80s music and some alt rock, I changed the station and started to listen to the BBC News Channel.  One of the top stories was about efforts to restart administering the Oxford vaccine. Halted because of reported blood clots post vaccination, several countries in the European Union stopped the roll out.  As expected, the vaccine representatives and those who’ll benefit from the products skirted around or denied that the products caused major problems, "The company says there is no evidence of an increased risk of clotting due to the vaccine."  

I wish I'd thought to count how many times the announcer and the vaccine representatives interviewed for the story said that the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe. I wish I'd continued to count how many times they fell over themselves in their reporting.  Continuously reassuring radio listeners that the vaccine program, despite the significant negative responses people already had, was ready to be resumed as early as the next day.  It was literally too many times to count. 

After a successful doctor’s appointment, I got us down the road a little bit before turning the radio on again.  The BBC had the AstraZeneca story on a continuous loop.  All the way home, I flipped from the 80s music station to the news stations.  I wasn’t surprised at how much airtime the COVID19 vaccines were still getting.  Several times over the last two week I’d also heard DJs on other stations boasting that they’d gotten it themselves.  I wish I’d had a BINGO card with me, tweaked a bit to highlight the absurdities of the current, intensely global COVID19 vaccine push.  I couldn’t escape the games vaccine pushers were playing, no matter how hard I tried.  Giving it one more go on the news station, I put the BBC back on.  It was the same exact story with the same exact reassurances all over again.  Vaccines are safe and effective. 

Even though they’re not.  

Cathy Jameson is a Contributing Editor and our favorite Sunday school teacher. XOX

By Anne Dachel

On February 4, 2021, Martha MacCallum interviewed journalist and author Alex Berenson on Fox News Radio in a 17 minute segment entitled, Alex Berenson Says COVID-19 Vaccine Was “A Real Failure Of Regulation”

Berenson had some really eye-opening information that made me wish he was interviewing Dr. Anthony Fauci on these same points.

Several things were happening here. MacCallum brought up the possibility that Berenson is an “anti-vaxxer” right at the start, and he had to defend himself against that charge.

Berenson asserted that he’s not anti-vaccine. He’s vaccinated and his children are vaccinated according to the CDC schedule.

When Berenson got into his reasons for being unconvinced that the COVID19 vaccines are worthwhile, it was clear people should be worried about both safety and efficacy.

This is what they’re not telling us in the mainstream media:

First of all, the mRNA COVID vaccines are a new, insufficiently tested technology.  Berenson told listeners something that I’ve never heard anyone in the news, namely that these vaccines “cause pretty severe events in a lot of people who take them” in the trial phase.

Berenson said that there have been “thousands and thousands” of adverse events reported to the government after this vaccine

Secondly, they haven’t been tested in the people most at risk from COVID19: those people who are older with preexisting conditions.

He furthermore claimed that along with the risks, there is no proof these vaccines provide immunity or prevent spread.

After raising serious concerns about side effects and what these vaccines actually do to prevent COVID, he did tell us that he’s not sure about getting it himself, although his children definitely are not going to get it.

He did however advise his elderly mother to take the vaccine because at her age, she’s more vulnerable to COVID.

This was after pointing out that it hasn’t been tested in her age group and that if it were up to him, “these vaccines would not be available right now.”

 Despite this mixed message, his points are valid. Berenson’s arguments should be a part of every discussion where people talk about mandating this vaccine for employment or school attendance.

Martha MacCallum:  Welcome everybody to this edition of the Untold Story. We’re joined today by a frequent guest and friend of ours, Alex Berenson, who has covered in a really in-depth way the reality of COVID19 and the vaccine structure and the data behind all of it.

We want to talk to him about that, but we want to start today by asking him about his new book because I always knew Alex as a former New York Times reporter. He’s also a prolific novelist, who’s written a new book called the Power Couple.

Hi Alex. How are you doing today?

Alex Berenson: Martha, great to talk to you. …

4:46

MacCallum:  I’m going to totally switch gears on you. … Before I let you go, I want to spend the second bit of this talking about your approach to vaccines because I’ve followed your coverage, and we’ve talked a lot on this show over the course of COVID. You’ve busted a lot of myths in your writing about COVID.

You’re coming across these days sounding sort of like an anti—vaxxer.

Are you?

Spring is the season for miracles and hope. No community has been DENIED hope and progress more than the pre-verbal with autism. Never stop seeking answers.  I saw my own daughters spell to communicate with Soma from HALO many years ago. I too was blown away. We were unable to maintain the work - but we will be starting again soon. We must. XOX  Kim

By JB Handley

I Was So Wrong About Autism. (Thank God!) 

PORTLAND, Oregon—Jamie is sitting at the desk in our home office, directly in front of a computer screen where Dana Johnson, an occupational therapist based in Florida, is guiding Jamie through a process she calls “self commands.” I’m sitting to Jamie’s right, laminated letterboard in hand, serving as Jamie’s “CRP,” an acronym familiar to the brave few undertaking a new communication method for nonspeakers with autism like Jamie known as Spelling 2 Communicate (“S2C”), which happens to be the subject of a new book co-written by me and Jamie that will be released next week by Skyhorse Publishing on March 23rd. (By the way, CRP stands for “Communication and Regulation Partner.”)

On the desk in front of Jamie sit three objects: a roll of scotch tape, a watch, and a pair of sunglasses. They are evenly spaced out and the directive for Jamie is really simple: using the letterboard, tell your dad which object you will be picking up, and then do so. My job is also very clear: beyond repeating what Jamie spelled—and he spelled “I will pick up the watch”—say and do absolutely nothing. Just sit there. And, so I do. Jamie sits there. Dana sits there (on the screen). Minutes go by. Jamie appears no closer to completing his declared task. He tries to get me to tickle him. Finally, Dana adds the first verbal command of this exercise: “Jamie, eyes on it.” Jamie looks down, reaches out his hand, and picks up the watch. We all celebrate!

It’s fair by now if you’re feeling confused as hell, especially if you’re the parent of a nonspeaking child with autism. A year ago, I certainly would have been confused. The last year has been, beyond an insane whirlwind, the most joyous and unexpectedly miraculous time of my life, my wife’s life, and, more than anyone else’s life, Jamie’s.

In December 2019, I got an unexpected text from an autism mom based in Philadelphia—Honey Rinicella—with a remarkable story to tell about her son Vince, another non speaker with autism, slightly older than Jamie. It turn out that Vince, over the course of the few months, has emerged from his silent prison through the letterboard to reveal a highly intelligent, warm, caring, thoughtful soul. As Honey explained to me at the time, “We thought the height of his cognition was ‘I want juice’ and now this!” What is “this” exactly, I ask? Honey delivers the goods. A recent lesson Vince had with his S2C practitioner included the following back and forth, the all caps is Vince’s answer to the question posed by his S2C teacher, meticulously spelled out on a letterboard:

If you’re struggling to understand what’s going on, I get it. Reading Vince’s complex language for the first time 15 months ago triggered a serious case of cognitive dissonance in me, and I did my best to try and explain away what I was reading as some wonderful quirk about Vince that everyone had somehow missed, but this couldn’t possibly extrapolate to my son Jamie, could it?  Read more at JB's blog HERE.

By Anne Dachel

Below I transcribed a brilliant recent interview of Dr. Anthony Fauci by actor, director, producer, Eugenio Derbez.

I have to think that Fauci agreed to this 30 minute talk in order to give himself an opportunity to promote the COVID 19 vaccine to Hispanic Americans.

 The big surprise was that Derbez knew what to bring up about the development and safety of the COVID19 vaccines. He actually asked questions you will never hear from anyone in the mainstream media.

Derbez wanted to know why we should trust vaccines with only months of trials, not years and only Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA.

What about the lack of liability on the part of vaccine makers and side effects that don’t show up 5 to 10 years down the road?  Derbez  pressed these points repeatedly.

What about the new mRNA vaccines? Derbez wanted to know if this “technology [has] ever been injected into humans before.”

Fauci had to admit it hadn’t, but he wasn’t worried because “the results are really, really good.”

 Fauci was equally untroubled when Derbez questioned the controversial use of aborted fetal cell lines in vaccine manufacture. Derbez said it was of concern to many Hispanic Catholics. 

Fauci noted that only “some” bishops advised against the Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine because of fetal cell use.

Derbez brought up asymptomatic spread of the virus, along with the effectiveness of the COVID19 vaccines.

Fauci danced around the possibility that these vaccines stop transmission, provide immunity or merely reduce symptoms. If you listen to the end, he seems to say they do all three. If everyone in the family is vaccinated, or if only grandma is, you can gather “in the home” without masks, hugging and kissing everyone.

I was left with the overwhelming feeling that the COVID 19 vaccines pose lots of questions with few answers.

Mar 13, 2021,  EUGENIO DERBEZ INTERVIEWS DR. FAUCI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiB3eK3btOE

1:59

Derbez: Let’s get straight to the point. I was telling people I was a little bit concerned, so I had a lot of doubts about this vaccine, and then I got the invitation to talk to you.

It would be very helpful for all of us to learn and to understand about the vaccine.

So, first question: which of the COVID 19 vaccines have been officially approved by the FDA?

Fauci: Three of them. One from Moderna, which is the mRNA vaccine.

One from Pfizer, which is another mRNA vaccine.

And the other one is from J and J, Johnson and Johnson, which is a little bit different.  It gives the same kind of response, but it’s a little bit different.

So there are three vaccines that have gotten emergency use authorization from the FDA so far.

There are a couple of others that are still being tested to determine if they’re safe and effective, but the three that I just mentioned, have been shown in very large clinical trials involving anywhere from 30,000 to 44,000 people per trial, were shown to be not only very efficacious, but  quite safe.

3:35

Derbez:  …What is the difference between emergency use authorization and an official approval by the FDA?

Source https://medalerts.org/

Much of Europe is halting the use of the Oxford Astra Zeneca Covid jab as a precaution about blood clots. We are not employing the OAZ jab here in the USA,  but there are reports of similar events happening on our VAERS system (see graphic above) with the vaccines being administered to citizens here in the USA. Maybe your loved one.  Maybe you. You'll likely never hear about it on the news where you are being spoon fed unicorns and rainbows to ensure vaccination compliance. But we are not compliant. Nor will be complicit. We know the horror of vaccine injury and death. So many of us kiss our kids goodnight while they sing Sesame Street or Barney songs because of their early vaccine injury.  Americans and citizens around the world are learning like we did, the painful way. We're gonna need a bigger.... blog.

Doctors baffled as countries suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears

Sweden and Latvia on Tuesday joined a fast-growing list of European countries suspending the use of the vaccine as a precautionary measure following reports of blood clots.

Germany, France, Italy and Spain on Monday said they would all stop administering the shot.

The World Health Organization, Europe’s drug regulator and the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis have all recommended that countries continue to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

“Halting a vaccine roll out during a pandemic has consequences,” said Dr. Michael Head, senior research fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton, U.K.

Age of Autism Contributor Dan Burns wrote the following comment on our post Pi Day 2021 a Far Cry from when Autism Was In the Media in the 20-Teens: 

"The adult issues are housing, friends, and jobs. It takes an autism parent to fully appreciate the dilemmas of aging with ASD. But some non-autism parents get it too, when they see the videos. So here we are, readers, media sheen gone, and we are largely on on own.  Speaking of the grim picture as autism parents grow older, take a peek at the 3-minute "Prologue" I made after my son Ben aged out of school. https://vimeo.com/303927660 I used the prologue to raise autism awareness in live presentations to about a dozen Rotary clubs, pre-Covid. One parent was so moved he came up to me after the show, shook my hand, and left a $100 dollar bill in my palm. I used the money plus grants from Rotary clubs to help make a follow up video, "Hide Your Love Away," https://vimeo.com/497137370 "

He's 100% correct. Once adults, the bottom drops out of most supports, education, therapy and Mom and Dad are placed squarely back in the role of full time personal assistant. And our clients are sometimes pretty challenging. Even though we adore them.   This brief video from Dan provides a glimpse into life for so many of us. The stress. The relief of a few moments of quiet. Here in my home? I have exactly 11 hours of "quiet" each week between Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, when all three of my daughters are at school or their day program. That's it. And it's more than some of our readers have, so I'm not complaining.

00 Prologue (New) from daneburns45 on Vimeo.

Update 3/18: President Magufuli has died at age 61. Reports indicate a heart condition as cause of death.

Sometimes we share news from far away.  This is an interesting story from Africa. ABC News and other outlets have reported on Tanzanian President John Magufuli having been out of the spotlight since late February.  Tanzania cops arrest man for reporting that president is ill Tanzanian police have arrested a man for circulating posts suggesting that President John Magufuli is in ill health

Magufuli is one of Africa’s most prominent COVID-19 skeptics. Last year he said the disease had been eradicated from Tanzania by three days of national prayer. He cast doubt on tests to determine COVID-19 discouraged Tanzanians from wearing masks, keeping a distance from others, and the use of vaccines to combat the disease. Magufuli’s absence is unusual as he is known for frequent public speeches and appearances on state television several times a week.

Below is another POV on the missing leader:

KIT KNIGHTLY, Tap News blog

John Magufuli, President of Tanzania, has disappeared. He’s not been seen in public for several weeks, and speculation is building as to where he might be.

The opposition has, at various times, accused the President of being hospitalised with “Covid19”, either in Kenya or India, although there remains no evidence this is the case.

To add some context, John Magufuli is one of the “Covid denier” heads of state from Africa.

He famously had his office submit five unlabelled samples for testing – goat, motor oil, papaya, quail and jackfruit – and when four came back positive and one “inconclusive”, he banned the testing kits and called for an investigation into their origin and manufacture.

After  more than a decade and half of treatments that failed to bring about the kind of progress Jamison Handley needed, one therapy cracked the code and imparted communication.  Think about how it must feel to be smart as a whip and yet thought of as intellectually disabled, with no way to output what's going on inside your brain. I recently heard the term "walking coma," referring to how people say that when they were in a coma, they could hear and understand everything around them, but were unable to respond. Is it any wonder at all so many of our kids are frustrated into action? Action that experts call "behavior."

Below is a review of JB and his son Jamison Handley's new book: Underestimated.

How a little-known therapy freed one teenager from autism’s prison of silence

March 15, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Every once in a while a story comes along that turns everything we know about something on its head. It throws a heap of understandable (but dead-wrong) assumptions and a vast library of science — thousands of psychology and medical papers — on a burn pile, and it reveals to us something utterly astonishing.

Underestimated, the book by J.B. Handley and his son Jamison, to be released by Skyhorse Publishing on March 23, is one such watershed. It is a true story that will eventually change the world of autism; the research, the medicine, the therapies, the day-to-day lives of many families — but especially, hopefully, the lives of millions of autistic children and adults. In doing so, it is not an overstatement to say that this book may just change the world. 

The hero of the story is Jamison (Jamie) — a 17-year-old nonverbal autist who is so severely affected by his disability that he’s been relegated to a “life skills” class where the focus is on teaching him to do his laundry and use a debit card and keeping him from injuring himself. His life is a tragedy to all the world, except for a few.

Jamie’s father, J.B., is one of those few. Jamie is his tragedy, and he is bent on finding his boy inside the head-banging, “stimming” teen who seems absent most of the time, vacantly tearing leaves into small bits in peaceful moments and wildly biting his arm and wailing at times for reasons that no one understands.  Read more at LifeSiteNews.

By John Stone

This document is couched in up-side down language which some might term Orwellian:

1) It is actually about the deregulation of genetic technologies

2) It represents this as a “green” policy when it is patently an opportunistic attack by an industrial lobby on our natural environment, and upon bio-diversity. It could not be more anti-green in any way that could normally or traditionally be understood

3) Previous moves of this kind globally have left small and medium landholders at the mercy of grasping, unscrupulous manufacturers

4) If part of the argument is that the putative advances could also be achieved without GM technology, why do we need GM at all? This is not a credible explanation for changing the law

5) If GM is deregulated the only people the manufacturers will be answerable to is their shareholders, so how is the public interest represented?

6) I tried taking the survey but found it full of leading questions

It is shocking that this matter is not being raised in an openly democratic manner. While the British public have always rejected GM produce to the extent that it is presently unsaleable in our country, deregulating it was never conspicuously brought up as a reason for leaving the European Union at the time of Referendum in 2016 or at the December 2019 General Election: the only time I recall this project being mentioned was the Prime Minister’s speech on entering Downing Street in July 2019. This is a radical departure for the UK but the public are being cynically kept out of the picture - although there is the present consultation you will not read or hear about it in the mainstream media. One can deduce that the reason for this is that if it was adequately reported it would be overwhelmingly unpopular.

The slogan ‘Building back greener’ used in the document derives from the World Economic Forum who are also putting it out that in ten years-time no one but a tiny global elite will own anything but “will be happy”. If the government is dancing to the tune of the Great Reset perhaps it should tell the public who elected it where it is heading because no one could have imagined little more than a year ago what they were voting for. So much for Margaret Thatcher's “property-owning democracy” recently reiterated by the Prime Minister while apparently hooked into an alternative, techno-feudalist, ideology. What now are we to believe either about the environment, safe food, property or democracy?

John Stone, UK Editor, Age of Autism

Boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler died over the weekend causing a rash of speculation. Former opponent Thomas Hearns asked for prayers and said that Hagler was in the ICU following an adverse reaction to his Covid jab. His family later said he died at home "unexpectedly."

"Madness ensued" online.

Hagler was 66 years old. I believe our own Dan Olmsted would have been 66 this year  himself.

Earlier this winter, baseball and civil rights hero Hammerin' Hank Aaron died just two weeks after his very public, on camera vaccination. He was older than Hagler, but said to have been in good health and also died unexpectedly. Two African American males, sports legends. In a normal world, experts would be rushing to discover if there was any correlation to the vaccination. We do not live in a normal world. Those of us in the autism vaccine injury community have known what millions of formerly naive Americans are now discovering. Vaccines, unlike the doctors who administer them, can DO NO HARM. Not by design. By edict.

Rest in peace Marvelous Marvin.

Yesterday was March 14, 2021. Also known as Pi day, for the mathematical 3.14159265359..., the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle. Daniel Tammet, he of the book Born on a Blue Day and a man on the spectrum, holds the record for memorizing the first 22,514 digits. Tammet was in the spotlight in the 20-teens, the heyday of autism books, memoirs and society's fascination, interest and attention to autism.  Age of Autism began publishing in the blog format  in 2007. Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill were writing their deep dive into the origins of the epidemic together: The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-Made Epidemic.

Autism has lost its media sheen. More the shame, because as cute kids become adults, the needs increase. School stops at 18 or 22 and the drop off is steep for services. The severely affected languish. Those who can do brilliant work and enjoy employment struggle to find and hold onto meaningful work. All while tired parents are growing older, worrying about their own retirement, many trapped in the sandwich generation, also caring for ageing parents. It's grim picture. I read on a CT special needs Facebook page a request. A woman had just become guardian for her 54 year old cousin with autism. Both of his parents had died, rather suddenly. And she was asking how she could make his weekend visits to her home enjoyable for him. Wow. Do your kids have a cousin who would take on such responsibility?

We found trillions for Covid vaccines in less than a year. Not autism. Washington DC added payments to unemployment due

Source: Minny's pie, The Help

to Covid that equal almost two times what SSI pays our adult children to survive. Washington DC offered PPP loans to businesses shut down by Covid.  How many families had to close a business or quit a job to take care of a loved one with autism? SafeMinds featured this story in 2020.  Pi day was yesterday. But autism will not get a piece of any pie we want.

Next Decade Will Add More Trillions to Looming Public Financial Burden

The lifetime cost of autism for U.S. cases identified in the 30 years between 1990 and 2019 is estimated to be $7 trillion. If costs for the next decade 2020-2029 are included, the lifetime cost will reach up to $15 trillion. The findings were reported in a new study in the journal Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

https://irp.nih.gov/blog/post/2020/05/a-long-tradition-of-vaccine-breakthroughs

By Cathy Jameson

I laughed when I heard someone talking on the radio last week.  I stopped laughing when I realized it wasn’t a parody story I was hearing.  I couldn't believe my ears when the announcer shared that an item, an empty vaccine vial and other “first” COVID19 vaccination paraphernalia, would be on display at the Smithsonian next year.  I don’t see how.  Typical protocol would have that used vial securely deposited in a sharps disposal container immediately after use. 

But none of what we’ve encountered in the last year has followed typical protocol. 

The timing couldn't be more appropriate, I guess.  It was just one year ago that life came to an abrupt stop for many.  Fearing that a novel virus would wipe out entire populations, many people scurried to their homes in March of 2020 promising to “do their part” to “flatten the curve” and “to keep hospitalizations down”.  Schools immediately closed.  Restaurants shuttered their doors.  Businesses transformed their brick and mortar existence to an online-only presence.  Within days of the massive shut down, restrictions across the nation and the world were in place. 

A year later, restrictions continue to hamper life as we knew it. 

Now, instead of focusing on flattening the curve, schools, businesses, and others are grappling with loss of progress, decreased customer base, and unforeseen changes in revenue and income.  Juggling too much for too long has taken a toll on both the young and the old.  In order to return to what was considered normal, promises from the top down were made to the public as the lockdown continued.  Even though less costly and less risky treatments for the recoverable illness were starting to be reported, top officials invested most of their efforts on a COVID19 vaccine instead. 

It, we were told then (and again last week) could end all of this.

Doctor! I got the vaccine and now bubbles are coming out of my butt!

Relax! It’s Johnson & Johnson!

From KJZZ.com Utah. COVID-19 vaccine side effects & deaths: The lack of information on how, where to report With so many people getting the same vaccines all at once, most people are hearing post vaccine experiences varying from mild, to terrifying. For a growing number here in Utah and across the country, the COVID-19 vaccine taken to save a life put them dangerously close to losing their own.

By Heidi Hatch, KUTV Thursday, March 4th 2021

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Like many others, Eunjin Kim felt like she’d been hit with an instant case of influenza after getting her second shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

I was laying there with a down comforter and with the electric blanket and still shivering," Kim said.

Carissa Spencer didn’t have to wait for her second shot of the Pfizer vaccine to feel like something wasn’t right. She had swelling that moved down the right side of her body.

"I was extremely nervous, it wasn’t very attractive at all," Spencer said.

Cari Banks also received the Pfizer vaccine. Hours after getting the first shot, she was rushing to the nearest hospital. Four days and two emergency rooms later, Banks was released from University of Utah Hospital.

I got up there and coded again and they brought me back down. All the breathing and wheezing had ruptured my vocal cord.”  

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Here's a car! But I don't know that brand, nor drive a steering wheel on left, stick shift car. You have to.
Here's dinner! But I don't eat pork sausage, it's against my religion. You have to.
Here's a house! But I have mobility issues and can not manage staircases. You have to.

Here's a vaccine! But I don't know anything about any of the three. I might want to choose.  You have to take what we give you. And we won't teach you how to report a problem when you leave our brief observation period.

Americans are lining up with glee for the C jab with nary a care as to which product they get, let alone any understanding of the differences. Science is so important! "We" are anti-science because we want choice, right to decline and information. They refuse to read any science other than what the media feeds them.

Reader Judy sent us this important article that may disappear. As little as Americans know about the jabs, they know less about the system to report adverse effects. COVID-19 vaccine side effects & deaths: The lack of information on how, where to report

Which headline is the one that might grab your attention:

"Denmark, Austria halt AstraZenica vaccine rollout after reports of blood clots; Moderna begins testing modified boosters"

or

"Pfizer/BioNTech release real-world evidence of vaccine efficacy; EMA gives J&J shot thumbs up"

Pharma news outlet "Endpoints" apparently thought that their first headline announcing blood clots was a bit to eye catching, the wrong kind of eye catching, and changed the title of their Covid 19 Roundup article from the former to the latter.  They went from the vaccine unfriendly heading, to the puff piece title.  This of course had the effect of making many Twitter and facebook posts calling attention to the blood clot problem look a bit confusing.

They then bury the blood clot disclosure third in the on the subjects in the article:

"Norway joins growing chorus of EU nations halting AstraZeneca rollout in wake of blood clot reports

On the heels of some European Union members refusing to allow the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine to leave their shores last week, others are now halting distribution of the shot due to reports of blood clots.

Denmark and Austria temporarily suspended rollout of the vaccine on Wednesday after an individual was diagnosed with blood clots and died 10 days after receiving the shot, while another is recovering in the hospital from a pulmonary embolism. And early Thursday, Norway joined the growing list of countries pausing their AstraZeneca vaccine rollout programs, Reuters reported.

The EMA is currently reviewing the cases, and said in a statement that there’s currently no indication that the vaccines caused the events.

“The information available so far indicates that the number of thromboembolic events in vaccinated people is no higher than that seen in the general population,” the EMA’s safety committee PRAC said in a statement Wednesday.

Blood clots are not listed as a side effect for the vaccine, PRAC added.

Below is an embedded video from the March 9 Fox & Friends show on Fox News, and a link in case your browser does not show it. https://video.foxnews.com/v/6238233617001https://video.foxnews.com/v/6238233617001  Take a listen starting at 4:15 seconds or so. Dr. Marc Siegel tells morning viewers of Fox & Friends that there have been zero hospitalizations or deaths following any of the C vax programs to date. ZERO. And the pushback from the interviewer? Also ZERO. People want to hear that there is no bogeyman. Tra la la! Walk toward the lake, maybe venture into the abandoned barn, there's no machete wielding maniac at Camp VaxALot! Siegel also says in no uncertain terms that he is looking forward to CDC compliance cards compliance as people want to be "ABLE" to go shopping, out to dinner, travel. Invisible shackles.

The National Vaccine Information Center has been compiling data on vaccine safety for close to forty years. They came up with a very different, sobering analysis. From the 2/26/2021 release of VAERS data: Found 594 cases where Onset Interval is 0 or 1 or 2 and Vaccine is COVID19 and Patient Died  Remember the power of language. "No hospitalizations." What could that mean? The definition of a hospitalization is being ADMITTED to the hospital by a doctor's orders. So an emergency room visit for a severe reaction that did not result in admission, even if the patient was under observation overnight, would not be counted. Here are just three reports of adverse reaction and/or death from the NVIC link to VAERS data:

Administered by: Senior Living Purchased by: ?
Symptoms: Foaming at mouth, Pain in extremity, Pallor, Pulse absent, Respiratory arrest, Somnolence, Unresponsive to stimuli

Administered by: Senior Living Purchased by: ?
Symptoms: Death

Administered by: Senior Living Purchased by: ?
Symptoms: Anxiety, Death, Pyrexia, Respiratory distress, SARS-CoV-2 test negative

Check out a new website from Dr. Paul Thomas called DoctorsAndScience.com featuring his new show Against The Wind.  Or in today's climate, the hurricane.  Dr. Thomas is a pediatrician who has been penalized for using his medical expertise on behalf of his young patients' health.  His crime? Writing books and discussing vaccination from ALL angles, including the risks.

Action Alert: Share the trailer for Medical Racism The New Apartheid across platforms. https://medicalracism.childrenshealthdefense.org/

Share your support for medical choice with LeBron twitter.com/KingJames and send him a Tweet. If his account gets enough Tweets, perhaps someone in his camp will take a look. Perhaps he will. Here's a sample you can use:

Hi, @KingJames. I support your right to medical privacy & choice. Check Out  https://medicalracism.childrenshealthdefense.org/ MEDICAL RACISM on targeting minorities for unethical experiments, aided by regulatory agencies & silent physicians who allow these atrocities to continue today.

Nothing but net as the USA’s NBA says the C vax will not be mandated for its players. No Covid vaccine mandate for NBA players: commissionerThe Wall Street Journal reports that all pro sports athletes are showing reservations and the leagues are "Trying to persuade them."

Perhaps they saw what happened to Hank Aaron, after his sadly ill fated public vaccination publicity opp this past winter.   He died of "natural causes" two weeks later. Perhaps someone much closer, like a child, suffered a vaccine injury. Many athletes are in "club", most not public because to express concern is also a career danger.

LeBron James, one of the the most respected names in sports and a man who has not been afraid to make political statements from his heart in the past, played coy when asked whether he would get the Covid vaccine.  He knows what will happen to him if he flat out says "NO." He should not have to tell the world his medical decisions. It is his right to take, or say "no thanks" to a shot, celebrity or not.  But the Twitter world is turning on him. After all, celebs are only useful when they parrot back the official lines. But if they dare buck the flow of public health and social thinking, then they are benched, so to speak.

Just do... it - it's what your medical history and conscience tells you is right. 

By Cathy Jameson

I have had lots on my mind but have little time to write.  So this week, I’m putting some screenshots of what others have shared into a post.  Enjoy the pictures, and share on your own platforms if you feel moved to.  These people have said things loads better than I could have ever expressed.  Where I could, I captured the name of the person making the statement.  For those images without a name, I credit the amazing Internet.  

While deleting some photos from my phone’s photo stream, I came across some images I’d saved.  Some go back to the very beginning of Life with Covid, like this one.

That was back when we knew very little about the novel virus, a virus that would change every aspect of home, school, and work life.  In the beginning, I was nervous about how things would play out.  Knowing that the situation could go from bad to worse, I never lost sight of the big picture.

Of all the charts we’ve seen about the coronavirus, that simple chart is the most relevant one in my opinion.  Guard your rights before you lose them completely!  Covid is scary for some people.  I am not disputing that.  Seeing just how quickly our personal rights were taken away because of Covid is scarier.

"Two great groups...." Who's old enough to remember?

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and Health Choice (HC) signed a strategic alliance between the two organizations to collaborate more closely and share resources. The alliance reflects recent efforts to create more unity in the health freedom movement. This alliance is a concrete example of how health freedom groups can unite to be more effective. (See https://mamm.org/unity-video/).

“We are excited to formalize our alliance with our friends at Health Choice. We’ve known the leaders of these groups for many years and have worked together on many issues and initiatives,” said Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., founder and Chairman of Children’s Health Defense. “We are stronger together,” added Kennedy.

“I’ve been involved with Health Choice since its inception as Chair of its Advisory Committee,” notes CHD President Mary Holland. “They’ve built one of the nation’s most effective networks of health freedom groups, a network that is expanding and improving daily under the threat of hostile legislation and mandates. There is so much more good work we can do together to empower and enrich the network.”

“We’ve been working arm-in-arm with the Children’s Health Defense leadership team for nearly 20 years. It’s an honor to deepen our collaboration as we take on the medical-industrial complex while it works to remove health sovereignty and parental choice all over America,” said Health Choice co-founder and Chairman Mark Blaxill. “We are especially appreciative of the chance this alliance affords state groups to work alongside RFK, Jr. and his team, advancing their standing in local communities and strengthening local advocacy efforts,” added Jennifer Larson, co-founder and President of Health Choice.  “Why not reduce the redundancy in our common interest?”

Yesterday, my Connecticut town vaccinated 800 school staff members with the brand spanking new Johnson & Johnson vaccine.  Oh frabjous day!  That was a favorite phrase of our dear founder Dan Olmsted, from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. Which is
exactly where we are today. 

Town social media is giddy with delight. Town with DARE drug awareness programs. Town with anguished conversations about addiction. Town riddled with cancers. 

It's as if Santa has slid down the chimney, and Jesus has returned and Elijah has sat down for the Seder meal all at once. I expect a virtual parade. No hint of worry. No mention of side effects. And it's "only one shot!" Women of all ages,  including young wives and mothers, flooded the high school for their jab. Our precious babies, our injured children taught them....nothing.

I think those who are not interested in the vaccine at this time are simply keeping their mouths shut to avoid being slapped into stockades on our New England town green.  Ever watchful. And worried.

As they waited to check out, a party-like atmosphere reigned in the waiting area, with relieved laughter and occasional high-fives among the newly vaccinated.

'This is a great day:' 800 Trumbull school staff gets vaccinated at special clinic

Here's a new poster with reminders you can share with loved ones to promote health at this time. Each family is different. Some of our children with autism may not tolerate a mask.  Chemical sensitivities may have worsened over the last year. Good nutrition is always important. And for many of us in colder climates, the sun is about to return as Spring approaches. Vitamin D! Common sense in a bolus dose. We have read precious little about proactive steps that aren't fear-based.  How are you keeping your family healthy during Covid?

We were disheartened to read yesterday that Facebook has removed the NVIC page. Barb Loe Fisher has been a champion for the right to informed consent, safety and choice for vaccination for more than 40 years, as result of her own son's injury. 

Kim and Bella with Barb, 2009

NVIC has always been a resource for factual information about vaccination safety, informed consent and State by State updates on religious, philosophical and medical exemptions. It is a goldmine for thinkers. And a threat to the pharmaceutical warmongers who are the new ruling class, protected by Big Tech. Facebook removed their page yesterday.

Visit NVIC.org here.

I saw this video on Facebook yesterday, and could not help but draw a bead from ancient Rome and modern Western medicine. Medicine has always fought new science when it challenged their dearly held beliefs.  Few groups know this better than the biomedical and vaccine injury autism community.  Vesalius had to combat some 1300 years of Galen of Pergamon's work, which was considered the gold standard of scientific belief. But the video is just 5 minutes long.

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From TedEd: Learn about the Greek physician and philosopher Galen of Pergamon, whose experiments and discoveries changed medicine. -- In the 16th century, an anatomist named Andreas Vesalius made a shocking discovery: the most famous human anatomy texts in the world were wrong. While Vesalius knew he was right, announcing the errors would mean challenging Galen of Pergamon. Who was this towering figure? And why was he still revered and feared 1,300 years later? Ramon Glazov profiles the most renowned physician in medical history. Lesson by Ramon Glazov, directed by Anton Bogaty.

The following excerpt is from John Stone at The Defender:

UK Data Show 402 Reports of Deaths Following COVID Vaccines

Government data show that, compared with the Pfizer vaccine, there have been 43% more reports of injuries related to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK, including 77% more adverse events and 25% more deaths — but no red flags from UK regulators.

Between Dec. 9, 2020 (when the first COVID vaccine was administered in the UK) and Feb. 14, 2021, 402 deaths following COVID vaccines have been reported to YellowCard, the UK government’s system for reporting side effects to COVID-related medicines, vaccines, devices, and defective or falsified products.

Britain’s regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), runs YellowCard, which is the nearest British equivalent to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System or VAERS in the U.S.

So far, only the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have been administered in the UK. The Pfizer vaccine was deployed during the second week of December 2020, and Oxford-AstraZeneca at the beginning of January. (Moderna’s COVID vaccine is approved for emergency use in the UK, but the country has not as of yet obtained any vaccines from the company).

The MHRA has expressed no concern about the number of reports of adverse events connected with these new products, even failing to note how much worse the Oxford product has performed in comparison to the Pfizer vaccine.

Similarly, the accumulation of hundreds of deaths has failed to register a flicker of concern from them.

In January, the deaths of 23 frail elderly in Norway made international news — and raised questions about whether we should even be vaccinating people who are already near death. While it’s true that thousands of frail elderly people inevitably die every week, the lack of evidence of an active attempt to find out what is going on in individual cases is troubling.

The MHRA responded to the Norwegian report by saying “it did not currently anticipate any specific concerns,” a highly prejudicial statement. At the time The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) permitted a short on-line response from me under the title “Is the MHRA up to it?”:  Read more at The Defender.

Many years ago, I wrote a post called Paul Offit Pope of the Church of the Immaculate Vaccination. Huffington Post deleted it when they were sold out many years ago, along with most of my years of free work. Today? Paul Offit is hardly an altar server in Bill Gates' Global Church of the Covior.  The Covid vaccine is the deity. Imagine the worry among Muslims worldwide who value vaccination choice, having been told they can not take their pilgrimage to their holy Mecca. It's astounding what one year has done. I just spoke with a man who told me he did not want to be vaccinated for Covid, but did so because his son is moving to Europe and he wants to be ABLE to visit. ABLE? Permitted? Allowed?  It hurts to type this language, let alone live it. The Global Church of the Covior - you'll tithe whatever "they" say, and it will be far more than 10%. 

No jab, no Hajj: Saudi says all Muslims will need to have Covid vaccine before they can perform annual pilgrimage to Mecca

There's a lot to unpack here. Yesterday, a spate of the articles appeared from foreign press. This article below is from The Hindu Businessline. A small study in Italy suggests obese Pfizer jab recipients might need a DIFFERENT "dose" or booster to develop the same antibodies as "healthy" peers.  Healthy is the term the paper used. Not us. I've been to Italy several times, I never saw lot of obese people there, it's interesting that they are found in healthcare. What personal health choice demands have been made on us since the start of the 14 day lockdown now 355 days ago? Nothing, except taking temps, asking questions, wearing masks and social distancing. Think about how much weight Americans could have lost in 52 weeks with careful planning, maybe even health apps to track food consumption? Too intrusive? Maybe Vitamin D sent to every household with an exercise program families could have used together? Why not Zoom on camera weigh ins to make sure BMI was trending down as much as positivity rates?  We could have used this year to TRANSFORM health in every area - heart, diabetes, joint , and yes, Covid.

What confidence will a population have in the result of vaccination as a method of returning to "normal" (not normal) if we learn that one of the very first tiers of recipients isn't showing the result needed to "protect" others?

For decades, we have been asking why premature infants, babies and toddlers receive the same vaccine doses as adults. This small study seems to say that body mass could make a difference in vaccination dosages.

There are a 100 questions that will beget a hundred more as this worldwide Covid vaccine clinical trial (crap shoot) unfolds.

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Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine less effective on obese people, finds study

A new study has revealed that the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine might be less effective on obese people, media reports said.The study carried out by a group of Italian researchers, suggested that obese healthcare workers who received the COVID-19 vaccine were not able to produce as many antibodies as their healthy peers.The obese healthcare workers had only half the amount of antibodies produced by healthy workers after the administration of the second dose.According to the study conducted by Aldo Venuti, from the Istituti Fisioterapici Ospitalieri in Rome, 99.5 per cent of these healthcare workers had developed an antibody response against the virus seven days after the second dose administration. But this response was dissimilar to what obese people witnessed after the administration of both doses of the vaccine."Since obesity is a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality for patients with Covid-19, it is mandatory to plan an efficient vaccination programme in this subgroup," Venuti said, as cited in the media reports.He added: "Although further studies are needed, this data may have important implications to the development of vaccination strategies for Covid-19, particularly in obese people. If our data was to be confirmed by larger studies, giving obese people an extra dose of the vaccine or a higher dose could be options to be evaluated in this population."

Here in the USA, source: Healthcare Workers Are at Significant Risk of Obesity, Yet Employers Must Not Discriminate

Healthcare workers are at a much higher risk of obesity than the majority of occupations, according to a 2014 study by the American Journal of Medicine. In the survey, the healthcare category, overall, ranked 5^th out of 20 industries with an obesity rate of 32 percent. However, analysts suggested that figure was skewed due to the inclusion of health providers, such as doctors, who have very low obesity rates.

DO YOU AGREE TO COMMIT TO THE SAFEST BEHAVIORS POSSIBLE AND IN DOING SO KEEPING THE SCHOOLS SAFER? So asks the LA Unified School District Covid QR code admission ticket app. Do you promise to love, honor and obey Bill Gates?

Admit it, you've sent your kids to school once or twice when they were maybe not feeling so great. Call it under the weather. Maybe had a touch of a fever. A bit of a cough. Parents have shoved a handful of tissues in the lunch box and dosed their kids with Tylenol or Motrin to take down a low fever so that they could go to work for a very long time.  When kids are sick, parents face tough choices. The Covid lock down has brought this into sharp focus for EVERYONE all at once.

Los Angeles is introducing a daily QR code "ticket" made by Bill Gates' Microsoft in which the teachers, parents, visitors and children would have to lie if they had a sniffle from anything to go to school. How about truancy? Kids are smarter than your average bear, if they say they haven't felt well, will their daily pass will be a hall pass out of school for the day? The honor system is long gone. We must report in and obey.

After far too many school shootings, American schools went into an earlier, literal version of lock down mode. The physical kind. Locked doors with intercom systems. A number over every doorway for emergency response teams. Name tags for everyone in the building. Limited visitors. Windows no one can open on a warm Spring day. We got "used" to it, didn't we? And now?  The bullet has now been replaced by the virus. Daily health passes with a QR code for entrance. Wow. It's here. Starting of course, in California, with COVID. What and where will be next?

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Read all about the Daily Pass here.

Los Angeles Unified has launched a one-stop shop web app built specifically for the District to ensure that we get students, faculty and administrators back to schools and district offices as safely as possible. In addition to completing a daily health check through the app, users will be able to book COVID-19 tests and receive test results and messages.

This innovative tool was developed in partnership with Microsoft to bring our students back into the classrooms with the following easy steps:

• Students, parents and visitors will access the Daily Pass on any computer, tablet or mobile device at dailypass.lausd.net.
  • Answer the daily health check questions (not more than a two-minute process!)
  • If the individual has recently tested negative for COVID-19 and completes the online health check, a QR code will be generated for that day and specific site location
  • School staff members dedicated to be “Welcomers” will be at every site to scan the QR code and take your temperature at the entrance.

NOTE: More information on the frequency of testing will be available in the coming weeks.

Los Angeles Unified is committed to ensuring the safest way to provide our greater school community the assurance of a protected return to school when health conditions permit.

Discrete Trial Training is a teaching method used in Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy, aka ABA. ABA is considered the scientific "gold standard" of early intervention and school age therapy for autism.  Today, it seems worldwide Federal governments, media, social media are borrowing DTT to encourage or enforce not only vaccination, but masks, social distancing, which businesses can open, how or when children receive school and more. DTT includes:

1. Antecedent - Get vaccinated
2. Prompt - media tells individuals through constant fear messaging
3. Response - 100% of the population will be vaccinated
4. Consequence for a correct response - You get to participate in life and are praised as a "good" citizen
5. Consequence for an incorrect response - Unable to participate in society, shunning, ostracizing
6. Inter-trial interval - bombard with message

Think about it, instead of a "Red Skittle" you get to attend a concert.  You too can "earn" activities based on your vaccination status, whether the vaccine works for you, harms you, prevents transmission, lowers symptoms, impairs your fertility - or not. The goal is shots in the arm. Data. Click. Click. Data. Data. Data. Who will win the "race" to vaccinate?

In Israel, protests are mounting against Passports.  I checked in with a friend and fellow autism parent in Israel, who confirmed the veracity of the JPost article.  How long before this hits the United States? I can't help but wonder if the millions of Americans who ignored us as we raised alarms about the removal of vaccination exemptions for school aged children from coast to coast are finally starting to wake up, now that they too are included in the target?

Protesters demonstrate against vaccine coercion, green passports in Tel Aviv

Speakers and protestors called for more "government transparency," and to "stop tyranny."

Demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to protest against forced vaccination and the green passport program which allows vaccinated individuals and recovered COVID-19 patients to take part in certain activities, including attending mass gatherings. 

Among the speakers at the rally, which drew a crowd in the hundreds, were lawyer Oren Pasternak, the main organizer of the event, and Tamir Hefatz, a founder of Higayon Habari (Common Sense Model). Arieh Avni, founder of the Rapeh (Only Health) Party was also present, as were some of the party's candidates.

Speakers and protestors alike called for more "government transparency," and to "stop tyranny." The protesters demanded that the government remove a 30-year embargo on the details of the Constitution Committee's meetings on coronavirus restrictions and cancel the green passport initiative, which they say leads to a two-tier system within Israeli society: a privileged "vaccinated class" and an lower class of those who can't get the vaccine, or don't want to. 

One large sign held by members of the crowd read "apartheid" in English and Hebrew in bold next to a green passport. Another large sign equated green passports with the tattooed arms of former Auschwitz-Birkenau prisoners.

One speaker invoked the memory of his great aunt, saying she was killed by the "exact same kind of people" who are today placing restrictions on movement, saying that "the people are tired of medical oppression."  Read more at JPost.com

2013 Flu Shot Sales Goal

By Cathy Jameson

Years ago, you couldn’t miss flu shot propaganda.  On signage at the grocery store, in multiple magazine ads, on radio and television ads, too - It. Was. Everywhere.  For some time, reminders came to our house weekly on the backs of envelopes.  The flu, and the flu shot, took a backseat last year though.  Hardly anyone seems to be talking about both of them this year also. 

From the CDC’s website regarding the 2019-2020 flu data:  April 4, 2020 was the last in-season preliminary burden estimates were provided. 

In all the years I’ve spent reading about vaccines, I found that note from the CDC to be one of the oddest statements ever posted.  It didn’t matter if it was in-season or off-season.  Flu stats were jammed down our throats incessantly and forever!  It was so unexpected, for me at least, to learn that those incredible numbers would not be crunched or broadcasted.  Now knee-deep in COVID19, those who liked to blow up our newsfeeds with flu news just gave the flu a free pass. 

That incessant yearly vaccine-pushing opportunity popped into my head as fall turned into winter in late 2020.  Would the flu shot be put back in the spotlight, I wondered?  Like clockwork it did get some airtime, but not nearly to the extent that it usually does.  Good, I thought.  With the COVID19 countermeasures coming out, mixing a frequently failing flu shot with an experimental vaccine may not be wise. 

I’d forgotten about the flu, and the flu shot, this winter until I opened up one of my son’s e-medical records last week.  This alert, which is usually visible only from October to April, greeted me when I logged in. 

Ronan’s been to that clinic several times since last October, when flu shot season really kicks in.  Not one of his providers has asked us if he needs one during any of his visits.  Too busy with managing and dodging COVID19, I’m grateful for the lack of flu shot attention.  I certainly don’t want to poke the bear, but it’s still just so strange to think that the almighty flu shot has finally been knocked off its pedestal.

Last night, my daughter was feeling out of sorts. I could tell, even though she couldn't "tell" me, even with her AAC Touchchat. My daughters and I live in a small, rented, 3 bedroom ranch, built in 1952. We call it,"The Little Blue House," and it is a lovely retro home for us. We're happy here. Safe. The lower level is "finished" and has a makeshift bathroom with an old jetted bathtub that we rarely use.  The drain stopper is broken, there's a rubber plug on a chain to replace it. When the tub is running, it sounds like a Dodge Hemi engine, without the coolness.  I moved us here after my divorce, and had lofty thoughts of creating a "gals pad" downstairs, so my girls could work on independence. The area has a hideous mauve sectional sofa that I bought in a tag sale, a cheap not-so-smart TV, a therapy area, a spare bed, the laundry and what I'd hoped would become their own bathroom. That didn't happen. No matter where we live, they are always in the kitchen near Mom in all their noisy glory.

I decided to run a bath for my daughter.  I gave a small spider a respectful funeral, cleaned the jets and washed out the dust. She was surprised to see a full tub. Happy, I hope. She's always loved the bath and the pool.  I helped her sit down.  Then I sat on the closed toilet, keeping near her while she luxuriated in lavender Epsom salts. I had a rare moment of maudlin sadness. When I was a girl, I always read the local newspaper. Not just for the news, but for a small, one panel cartoon known as "Love is... by Kim." Maybe you remember it? My Mom used to send me clippings in the mail when I moved out of our house at age 21 to start my adult life. My daughter is 20. I thought of  the Love Is series as I sat next to the tub.  A quick Duck Duck Go search brought me right to the cartoon. My beautiful daughter is unlikely to have a boyfriend, lover, or husband to run a bath for her.  She has me. Her tired, old Mom. I tucked her into bed early. She tilted her forehead to me, her version of a kiss.

Love is... running a bath for her.

What was your first thought when you saw The Ghost Shield “strapless” mask?

Women on FB were asking if it comes in push up. LOL. My mind went straight to Navin R Johnson. But wait! There's more! It's coated in MicroGold^tm antimicrobial disinfectant. Do you breathe that in? "Experience facial freedom." I thought that was when the Botox wore off.  I suppose this is an example of American ingenuity.  So was the Opti-grab.

We live in a nation where we have to tell consumers to not eat the pizza straight from the freezer. That the coffee they ordered is hot. That the cheap plastic bag they just paid $.10 for at the grocery store is NOT A TOY, although at some point soon, it might be a form of mask....  So, imagine the complications of adding boosters and new product variants to future Co vid V a cc ines?

I see many autism families on social media who are getting vaccinated and making sure their kids do too.  In the USA, recipients get the Pfizer or Moderna, with J&J perhaps coming on line. There's no choice. You get what's being dosed at your site. Cheeseburger, cheeseburger, no Pfizer, MODERNA. We wish all recipients well.  The NPR article below makes the science sound like a recipe Grandma might make as drugmakers "tweak" their original vaccines. Note that the NPR article calls the vaccines "FDA approved". However, these products were given emergency usage approval under the PREP act, which is not the same. We are in a mass clinical trial.

###

COVID-19 Vaccine Makers' Booster Shots Aim At A Moving Target: Coronavirus Variants

Putting the boosters front-and-center: As drugmakers tweak their original vaccines to respond more acutely to variants, they will also consider whether new versions of their vaccines might effectively replace the initial recipes. Moderna says it will explore whether its variant-specific booster and its multivalent booster should become the primary vaccination series of shots for people who haven't been exposed to the coronavirus. 

In the future, different circumstances will likely determine which vaccine or booster a person receives.

Someone who has antibodies from a previous infection or immunization would probably only get a booster shot, for instance, while someone whose system hasn't been exposed to the coronavirus would receive "an updated vaccine that aims to provide immunity to both the ancestral strains and variants of concern," Moderna said on Thursday, during a call with investors.

It's also possible people could receive a vaccine that's tailored to variants that have been detected in their country.
Read more at NPR.

Zafir Elcik contacted us to see if we'd be interested in spreading the word about the AAC app series he co-created called OTSIMO. Yes please! Many of us use iPads and other devices to help our children learn, communicate and socialize. Video modeling is  a great way for our visual learners to process info. How many of you remember the "Watch Me Learn" DVD series from many years ago.  (Did you just sing the jingle? LOL.) DVDs and CD-ROMS have given way to apps.  Thanks to Zafir, a brother with a big heart and brain. Siblings will help make the world a better place for our children throughout the lifespan.  Visit Ostimo.com to learn more.

By Zafir Elcik, Founder Otsimo

How brotherly love inspired to democratize autism therapy solutions

My brother was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of 2 when I was 10 years old. Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that affects one in 54 children in the US according to CDC. It causes learning difficulties that can vary depending on where the individual is on the spectrum.Considering the average attention span of a child with autism is no more than 5 minutes, I was shocked when I realized my brother kept his interest in my first smart device for around 45 minutes. The first thought I had was to install an app for him that was designed for special needs children. But there weren’t any.

With my background in software engineering and the invaluable support of my co-founder, we started to build Otsimo, a special education app specifically designed for children with special needs . Despite the increased rate of prevalence, there weren't any unified efforts or an affordable solution. At Otsimo, we democratize access to special education through our leading game-based learning app by teaching children core skills vital to cognitive and behavioral development. Otsimo develops affordable, accessible, and easy-to-use mobile apps for kids with special needs.

What makes us unique is the state-of-the-art technology we employ in our apps, designed to empower and engage children with developmental disorders. Otsimo turns mobile devices into a platform for learning for those with special needs. First and only in its market, Otsimo utilizes novel technologies such as speech and face recognition with machine learning to give the most unique and tailor-made education experience possible.

With our apps you can practice anytime, anywhere, so it’s a great fit for homeschooling, too. Kids love playing on smart devices, right? Kids with special needs also love it. What better way is there to spend quality screen time on an educational app that helps with developmental milestones? The wide range of content in our apps allows children with special needs to develop core cognitive, social, and speech skills through gamification. Otsimo apps target specific concerns, while also being highly customizable to the needs of each individual.

We offer daily progress reports for parents and caregivers to track the educational experience their child will have and choose which games to be played. Many to choose from, the apps have over 200 games, packed full of materials meticulously selected and developed to help overcome difficulties and boost strengths.

Through the services we provide, families of all economic backgrounds can access forms of social and behavioral therapy methods without the need for a classroom or therapist present. Through democratization of access to early intervention methods, it is possible to help the child reach their full potential. 

With our latest Speech Therapy app in the market, we also focus on developing speech milestones as well. Our app was created to teach children sounds and words in the most engaging way possible. With over 500 exercises, your kid can practice anything from basic sounds to complex words and phrases, depending on the level families and kids feel most comfortable with. Kids learn the fastest from their peers and when under no pressure at all. That’s why Otsimo Speech combines the scientifically proven methods of video modeling and peer mimicking.

To this day, we have managed to reach and touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of children across 217 countries and territories, and we aim higher. At Otsimo, we strive to provide high quality and affordable special education to every household that needs it.

Building upon a strong foundation, we have designed apps in collaboration with professionals in their respective fields as well as parents who know the ins and outs of daily life struggle and their child’s needs. Through this know-how, we are working on expanding our platforms even further to reach every single child across the globe.

Zafer Elcik

CEO & Co-Founder of Otsimo

https://otsimo.com/en

A Global Compensation Program?

By Wayne Rohde Feb 23, 2021

On Monday, Feb 22, 2021, The World Health Organization (WHO) announced a no-fault injury compensation program for COVID-19 vaccines. WHO has designated 92 low- and middle-income countries and economies eligible for support via the GAVI COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) of the COVAX Facility.^[1]

The COVAX Facility is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations and alongside key delivery partner UNICEF. Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.^[2]

Gavi, created in 2000 with start-up funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is an international organization -- a global Vaccine Alliance, bringing together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world's poorest countries.^[3]

With this announcement, WHO is promoting this compensation program as the world’s first global program to provide for those who have suffered allegedly rare, serious adverse events associated with COVID-19 vaccines. In the COVAX announcement, it appears that the cutoff date, or statute of limitations to file a petition, is June 30, 2022.

Creating a compensation program is not a new process for the WHO or United Nations. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the United Nations created the UN Compensation Commission in 1991, evaluating nearly 2.7 million claims and issuing 1.5 million awards, totaling over $50 billion dollars.^[4]

As early as 2006, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, the global pharmaceutical-industry lobbying group, publicly demanded that manufacturers be granted liability protection from vaccine-related adverse events if they were going to participate in pandemic response initiatives.^[5]

The world has attempted to control other epidemics through the use of vaccines to mitigate the spread of the disease. During the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, one specific vaccine used in the UK and Northern Europe caused an increase in narcolepsy, which resulted in substantial compensation claims.

During the Ebola outbreaks in Western Africa, some nations refused to accept liability for vaccine injuries. The dilemma for these nations and others that are considered low income involves whether to continue to refuse to offer manufacturers liability protection or to go without vaccines. In the current situation, that means going without COVID-19 vaccines. Is the end game for this collaboration, to allow pharmaceutical industry to remove itself from any liability and member nations to cede away their citizens and the nation’s right to sue for damages?

The COVAX compensation program will start on March 31, 2021 through its web portal (www.covaxclaims.com). Individuals who have been injured may apply for compensation for a COVAX vaccine administered before March 31, 2021.^[6]  The funding will come from a levy on all distributed COVAX-19 vaccines.

View A Crash Course on the COVID Vaccine at Millions Against Medical Mandates

View A Crash Course on the COVID Vaccine on Rumble.

Does the COVID vaccine protect us against getting COVID? No.
Will we be able to stop wearing masks after getting the vaccine? No.
Can we end social distancing after getting the vaccine? No.

REFERENCES COVID VACCINE FOR VIDEO ANIMATION

1.Mayo Clinic Insights: Spreading Infection Following Vaccination

Andrew Badley M.D. - Jan 14, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3krKEKCyRs&feature=youtu.be

2. Moderna boss says COVID-19 vaccine not proven to stop spread of virus

IACC is defunct for all intents and purposes. Autism was no where to be found on either Presidential candidate's radar during the 2020 race.   Do President Biden and Vice President Harris have any plan? do we even want them to notice us?  Katie Wright has followed and written about IACC for us over the years.  Most reviews by her were half a star. The upside to being ignored is that is appears that the intense bias toward neurodiversity of the worst version is lessened. But families are still being crushed. COVID has worsened life for so many, from tots who can not get Early Intervention services in person (imagine Zoom speech therapy for a 2 year old?) to adults without job coaching or jobs, and day programming.

###

From Disability Scoop:

Federal Autism Committee Remains Defunct
A federal committee charged with guiding the nation’s priorities on autism remains in disarray nearly a year and a half after Congress reauthorized it.

The panel known as the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee — comprised of federal officials and members of the autism community — is tasked with advising the secretary of health and human services and coordinating federal activities related to the developmental disability.

The IACC last met in July 2019 and every member of the panel saw their term expire at the end of that September. Congress renewed the committee in a version of the Autism CARES Act, which took effect in October 2019, and nominations for new members were accepted between Nov. 19, 2019 and Feb. 21, 2020.  Read more at Disability Scoop.

Note: The swamp is happily filling back up after limited draining during the last administration. Some would say very limited. After all, we locked down and the Trump administration jammed a warp speed vaccine program years after shutting down their own idea of a vaccine safety commission. In the USA, most large relief packages contain "boondoggles" and items fully unrelated to the catastrophe at hand. Politicians embed the relief package with cherry picked goodies so that if the package fails, they can blame the other side (they look a lot alike though) for denying help.

##
From Resist the Mainstream - Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill Includes Health Surveillance, Languages, Animal COVID Studies

House Democrats unveiled Friday the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package they hope to pass by late next week. Included in the bill are $1,400 stimulus checks and numerous other pandemic-related relief measures, like additional funding for state and local governments and more federal unemployment benefits.

The bill — which was “stitched together” by the Democratic-controlled House Budget Committee, according to Reuters — was also filled with dozens of items completely unrelated to direct pandemic relief.

Note: Many families with a child or adult with autism have felt left behind during the last 11+ months of lockdown. From stimulus checks to availability of school and state funded prorgams, SafeMinds asks if we can expect anything more in the current iteration of "relief."

Additional Funding Critical to Keep Individuals with Disabilities Safe at Home as Pandemic Continues

A new COVID relief bill is currently making its way through the halls of Congress. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the disability community has requested dedicated funding towards home and community-based services (HCBS) to be included in COVID relief legislation or packages. Neither the CARES Act passed last March or the $900 billion COVID relief package passed in December included this much needed funding, which is critical for helping people with disabilities continue to live safely in their homes, rather than ending up in congregate settings where COVID-19 has been widespread. In an effort to encourage Congress to include HCBS in the current proposed legislation, advocacy organizations like Center for Public Representation (CPR) are encouraging the disability community to contact their Senators and Representatives directly here. To make things easy, CPR has included information on contacting members of Congress, including email and call scripts. They have also provided sample tweets on their advocacy page. SafeMinds encourages our audience to take part in this advocacy effort. Read more here.

SEYMOUR CT— Police say an investigation has revealed a Monroe woman “intentionally drove” her vehicle into the Housatonic River in July, leading to her death and killing her son who was a passenger.

The Detective Division has deemed the crash a murder-suicide, Deputy Police Chief Roberto Rinaldi announced in a statement Wednesday that stated the investigation has been completed. Read more CT Post Police: Monroe mom 'intentionally' drove car into Housatonic in murder-suicide involving her son

Hello, readers. I live in Connecticut in the next town over from Monroe. The Housatonic river that runs up 149 miles up into Massachusetts, dotted with shuttered factories in the Housatonic Valley . Factories that used to manufacture the products that made America run back to Colonial times.  On a warm Summer day, powerboats and sailboats dot the water that flows into Long Island Sound in Bridgeport. We are not strangers to catastrophic death here. Sandy Hook School is just 14 miles up the road. The perpetrator of that horror was a boy with Asperger's. He killed his own mother in the spree. Here, Mom, as determined by an investigation, a woman known to so many as a strong advocate for her son with special needs, loved by so many, purposefully drove her vehicle off the road and into the Housatonic. And she turned down assistance.  “The boater made numerous attempts to rescue the occupants of the vehicle,” Rinaldi said. “However, Connie Crowell refused to acknowledge or accept the boater’s assistance and rescue efforts.”

I'm on a large Facebook group for CT Special Needs Families. We have members from all walks of life, whose loved ones have the full array of disabilities, autism included.  There was a tribute thread in which member after member expressed shock, dismay and a deep sympathy for Connie Crowell and her son John.  She was beloved. A great Mom. Strong. Moved heaven and earth for her son. Don't we all? Day in and day out. And then she drowned him. Will we never know what motivated her? Having covered stories other Mothers who murdered their special needs children including Gigi Jordan, Karen McCarron and Dorothy Spourdalakis, and not knowing Connie personally, I assumed my usual role of adding another perspective to the thread. Not sure it was welcome, but I have said this every time a parent has murdered his or her child with special needs.  WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO KILL OUR CHILDREN.  And then asked if MEDICATIONS played a role.

My comment on Facebook: I’m going to poop in the punch bowl. This is a horror. I understand the depths of despair and the incredible stress we all face. We all do. Still, we don’t get to murder our children. If she had been a distressed Dad and shot himself and his son, would the thoughts be as kind and understanding? My first question is - was she on medications for which the side effect is suicidal ideation? I think that’s really important. Was this a medication driven decision?? She drowned her son. Years ago, Wealthy Gigi Jordan shoved pills into her son w autism until he seized and choked on his vomit at the ritzy Peninsula Hotel. Dr Karen McCarron put a bag over her autistic 3 year old daughter’s head. Dorothy Spourdalakis stabbed her son Alex to death after he had languished in a Chicago hospital for weeks bc of his violent behavior. This beautiful boy drowned at his Mother’s choice. We don’t get to murder our kids. I’m going to cry now.

By late July, Covid lockdown had taken a toll on all of us. We were four and a half months into the worry, the lack of services.  At age 22, John, called Jack,  would have just aged out of any school based services, and no one was taking in new adults into programs. My daughters' day program still has not enrolled adults who aged out last year. We are all exhausted, sometimes, maybe often, to the breaking point.  Now we have had a weather catastrophe that's impacts thousands of families with kids for whom routine and sameness is mother's milk. (Sorry, "people's chest expressed beverage.")

No one will know what darkness overtook Connie Crowell. Or how to prevent the darkness from devouring any of us. May God bless their souls, especially John, who died knowing that his mother killed him. It tears me up inside.

by Cathy Jameson

I’ve scaled back on posting on my personal social media accounts for about a year now.  Being online on those platforms isn’t as fun as it used to be.  When I joined them, they were a place to share things with close friends and family.  Over the years, the platforms became more than that.  A place to connect with other advocates, to share resources, and to keep updated with legislation and politics, those websites were a lifeline for me.  Available 24 hours every day, I loved being connected to so many people across the world. 

Lots has changed since I joined Facebook back in the mid-2000s.  The games and apps, like the Flair Board, were simple yet creative ways to pass the time.  Over time, I saw the platform turn into an interactive and useful message board.  People became more involved and invested in their online voice.  Groups, communities and followings shaped what I did both on and offline.  Connecting people from so many places, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were truly a great concept.  But the more people spoke up about their passions, the more silenced their voices were. 

I don’t recall exactly when, but the powers that be didn’t like what they were seeing.  That’s when the Fact Checkers showed up. 

Fact checkers took the fun out of social media, including on FB.  When they came out in full force, I’d still want to share funny things my kids say on my page and post silly memes hoping to make people laugh.  But long gone is the desire to use my account as a means to share personal stories or to use it as a virtual soapbox like I had been doing for years. 

Not that I shared anything inaccurate, but I got a warning just a few weeks ago from Facebook that a link I’d posted wasn’t completely true (according to their standards).  I supposedly had taken some news out of context.  In reality, what I’d shared didn’t fit their agenda.  That wasn’t the first time I’d been told to watch what I posted.  As the creator of our Age of Autism Pinterest page, I was permanently banned from using that platform in 2019. I was never a big fan of their setup, but their message was very clear–posting vaccine truths will get you deleted.  

In the beginning on other sites, people would just get a slap on the wrist like the one I had received on FB.  An opaque overlay would cover the information a user shared.  Some Fact Checkers went a step further and added several links at the bottom of the opaque overlay that countered the poster’s original message. 

Rarely would I ever click on the links when I saw them on my friends’ posts.  It’s a fact that for every study or article a friend might share, another study or article could say the exact opposite.  Those policing social media platforms still wished we’d stop thinking for ourselves entirely and stepped up their game.  Besides making it harder to read what others shared, people would lose the ability to log in for a certain amount of time.  I’ve yet to be put in it, but friends have done 1-, 3-, 7- and even 30-day stints in FB jail.  Others get the boot completely like what happened to us on Pinterest.  Without warning, accounts and pages are deleted altogether.  Some people are calling it quits themselves.  No longer willing to play the cat-and-mouse game, they want nothing to do with the censorship the social media giants are encouraging. 

We’ve not encountered that anywhere else yet, but other platforms, like Twitter, also like to contain the narrative.  They told AofA to hush up temporarily for a post written by Ginger Taylor.