Autism Vox

29 opinions for Race, Immigrants, and Autism Rates

• Autismville
  Jan 11, 2008 at 6:07 pm

  Speaking of grasping at straws, according to the WEEK-TV report, Karen McCarron testified she blamed herself for her daughter’s autism because of … you guessed it … vaccines.

  In this case, I think the word heartbreaking is more than appropriate. :(

• Regan
  Jan 11, 2008 at 6:26 pm

  “She said the California data are flawed because the continued rise in autism could be explained by immigrants there who were vaccinated in other countries where thimerosal is still used.”

  “Could”, being the operative word here, roughly translating to the speculative “we hope”.

• Margaret
  Jan 11, 2008 at 7:22 pm

  Dear Dr. Chew,
  Thank you for one of the best blogs on autism and autism related issues. I used to lay awake at night wondering what I did wrong to give birth to a child with autism. I no longer do so, since I find it more productive to accept the fact that my son’s autism may never fully be explained. All I think of now is that with ABA and the support of my school district, my son may one day be mainstreamed. Thank you agian.

• Kelly
  Jan 11, 2008 at 9:25 pm

  Vaccines dont cause Autism . It is a play on words. Vaccines cause mercury poisoning which has identical symptoms. Wake up people we are poisoning our own children.

• Amanda
  Jan 12, 2008 at 4:34 am

  Mercury poisoning does not have identical symptoms to autism. It in fact causes a number of things that are quite distinctive and have nothing at all to do with autism.

• Kelly
  Jan 12, 2008 at 4:49 pm

  Ok Amanda name 5 things that are different.

• Amanda
  Jan 12, 2008 at 5:47 pm

  Kidney failure, blindness (or constriction of the visual field), numbness, tremors, and hearing loss.

  Whereas, autistic people generally have normal kidneys, normal hearing and vision (although we might get those tested due to differences in visual and auditory perception, only to have people really puzzled because our hearing and vision is above average), no tremors (unless we have a rare condition that sometimes goes along with autism, but does not start until puberty or adulthood generally, and is not only rare, but tremor as a part of it is even rarer), and no numbness (we may have differences in tactile perception, but like blindness and deafness, there’s a difference between that and numbness, and I have experienced both tactile perceptual differences and numbness so I can tell you directly, there’s a major difference).

• Kassiane
  Jan 12, 2008 at 9:01 pm

  There’s also, of course, the reddened hands and feet, frank photophobia which is different in quality and quantity than sensitive eyes (since that’s limited to EYES)…

  I think a more fair question is what is shared between the 2? I can’t think of anything.

• Kelly
  Jan 12, 2008 at 11:39 pm

  ~~~~Symptoms~~~~
  The Autism Research Institute
  Mercury toxicity is often and routinely initially diagnosed as a psychiatric disorder with symptoms that include but are not limited to: a) Repetitive patterns of behavior; b) Inability to communicate and/or diminished ability to communicate; c) Speech and language disorders; d) Inability to interact socially; e) Impaired intellectual performance; f) Bizarre behavior; g) Violent behavior; h) Lack of attachment; i) Inability to form reciprocal relationships; j) Extreme shyness, indifference to others, active avoidance of others or desire to be alone; k) Depression, lack of interest and mental confusion; l) Irritability, aggression and tantrums; and m) Emotional instability. These symptoms overlap with the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and other neurological disorders that exposure to mercury can, and does, cause.
  Nearly all incidents of ASD and mercury toxicity involve disorders of physical movement, clumsiness or lack of coordination behaviors such as toe walking, rocking, abnormal postures, choreiform movements, spinning and hand flapping and head banging.
  Mercury disrupts purine and pyrimidine metabolism. Altered purine and pyrimidine metabolism induces autistic features.
  Thimerosal is known to cross the blood-brain barrier, where it is converted to ethyl mercury and finally to mercuric mercury.

• Kelly
  Jan 12, 2008 at 11:43 pm

  My Son was poisoned by the Mercury in vaccines but everyone calls it Autism.

• Kassiane
  Jan 12, 2008 at 11:48 pm

  So what’s the half life of thimerosol? Oh right, too short to accurately measure. Thanks for the citation.

  Mercury poisoning, from emedicine:

  Organic: Organic mercury poisoning usually results from ingestion of contaminated food. The long chain and aryl forms of organic mercury have similar characteristics of inorganic mercury toxicity.
  The onset of symptoms usually is delayed (days to weeks) after exposure.
  Organic mercury targets enzymes, and the depletion of these enzymes must occur before the onset of symptoms.
  Symptoms related to toxicity are typically neurological, such as visual disturbance (eg, scotomata, visual field constriction), ataxia, paresthesias (early signs), hearing loss, dysarthria, mental deterioration, muscle tremor, movement disorders, and, with severe exposure, paralysis, and death.
  Organic mercury targets specific sites in the brain, including the cerebral cortex (especially visual cortex), motor and sensory centers (precentral and postcentral cortex), auditory center (temporal cortex), and cerebellum.

  Inorganic: Inorganic mercury or mercuric salt exposure mainly occurs through the oral and GI tract. Its corrosive properties account for most of the acute signs and symptoms of inorganic mercury or mercuric salt toxicity. The acute presentation can include ashen-gray mucous membranes secondary to precipitation of mercuric salts, hematochezia, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, and hypovolemic shock. Systemic effects usually begin several hours postingestion and may last several days. These effects include metallic taste, stomatitis, gingival irritation, foul breath, loosening of teeth, and renal tubular necrosis leading to oliguria or anuria.

  Note as well that emedicine doesn’t get money from people having one position or another on the issue like ARI does.

  DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS:

  Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
  Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
  Dermatitis, Exfoliative
  Disk Battery Ingestion
  Gastroenteritis
  Myasthenia Gravis
  Pediatrics, Bronchiolitis
  Pediatrics, Fifth Disease or Erythema Infectiosum
  Renal Failure, Acute
  Toxicity, Arsenic
  Toxicity, Carbon Monoxide
  Toxicity, Iron
  Toxicity, Phenytoin
  Toxicity, Theophylline
  Other Problems to be Considered

  Elemental mercury toxicity

  Adverse effects of therapeutic medication (eg, lithium, theophylline, phenytoin)
  Alzheimer disease
  Cerebellar degenerative disease or tumor
  Delayed neuropsychiatric sequela of carbon monoxide poisoning
  Ethanol or sedative hypnotic drug withdrawal
  Lacunar infarction
  Metabolic encephalopathy
  Parkinson disease
  Senile dementia

  Inorganic mercury toxicity (mercury salts)

  Acid ingestion
  Alkali ingestion
  Arsenic toxicity
  Iron toxicity
  Phosphorus toxicity
  Similar to the causes of acute gastroenteritis

  Organic mercury toxicity

  Cerebral palsy
  Intrauterine hypoxia
  Teratogenic effects in the embryo

  Autism isn’t on that list.

• Kristina Chew, PhD
  Jan 12, 2008 at 11:54 pm

  @Kelly, thank you for commenting here but mentioning mercury on this particular post overlooks the significant issues about possible underdiagnosis of children from various racial and/or ethnic groups.

• stopautismquackery
  Jan 13, 2008 at 12:12 am

  http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2007/07/malibu-and-compton-compare-and-contrast.html

• Kelly
  Jan 13, 2008 at 3:39 am

  Mentioning mercury on any post is putting the blame for this Epidemic where it needs to be. The old vaccines are still being used ,especially in poor areas.

• Kelly
  Jan 13, 2008 at 3:45 am

  ~~~Thimerasol Information~~~~

  State of the controversy
  Some of the arguments raised against including thiomersal in vaccines include:

  Appeal for caution: injecting an organic mercury compound into small children’s tissues and bloodstream has the potential to cause harm.[33][34]
  In vitro tests show adverse effects of ethylmercury on living cells[35][36][37][38][39]
  In vivo test on lab animals show wide range of adverse effects[40][41][42]
  Mass data analysis of actual populations to discern patterns, ideally with a control group. This includes study of the incidence of autism in populations with varying use of thimerosal.[43][44][45][46][47]
  Clinical studies comparing autistic and neurotypical children’s reactions to mercury excretion[48][49][50]
  Trend analysis following introduction of more vaccines with thimerosal and the gradual abolishment of thimerosal in vaccines, starting a few years ago.[43][51][52]
  Thiomersal is unnecessary for the immunological purpose of vaccination.
  Thimerosal is used in multi-dose vaccine vials in effort to reduce the likelihood of microbial contamination. The need for bacteriostatic agents like thimerosal can be avoided by using a single dose vial. Packaging as single-dose vials increases the cost of manufacturing, shipping, storing, and delivering vaccines and is blamed, at least in part, for intermittent shortages of vaccines in recent years.[53]

  It has been assumed thimerosal has been removed from childhood vaccines since 1999. However, some pharmaceutical companies did not receive regulatory approval for their thimerosal-free infant vaccines until 2003. Infant vaccines produced before 2003 may contain up to 25μg of thimerosal. These vaccines have not been recalled and it is possible they are still in use. They will not expire until 2006 at the earliest, 2008 at the latest.[54][55]

  In 2005 Dr Joachim Mutter et al published an article in Neuroendocrinology Letters No.5, Vol 26: MERCURY AND AUTISM: ACCELERATING EVIDENCE? [2] The authors review relevant literature and come to the conclusion that “… data from experimemtal, clinical and partly from epidemiological studies appear to show that repetitive mercury exposure during pregnancy (through thimerosal and dental amalgam, and after birth, through thimerosal containing vaccinations in genetically susceptible individuals is one potenial pathogenic factor in autism. Other metals and toxicants, partly present in vaccines, and the hormonal situaltion might have synergistic effects with mercury. This has not been officially been acknowledged. Therefore it is mandatory to perform further studies that address this issue with sound methodology and through research uninfluenced by commercial, professional or political interests. […] … for preventative purposes, it is mandatory to avoid further use of mercury in medical products in industrial and undeveloped countries.”

  David Ayoub M.D. summarizes the issue in his lecture at the Radio Liberty Conference November 19, 2005, available as an online video.[56]

  The conservative Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (vol 11, no 1, Spring 2006) published As of October 2006, many adolescent and adult vaccines still contain thiomersal. This includes all tetanus toxoid vaccines, many influenza vaccines, and certain diptheria and meningococcal vaccines, among others.[57]

  [edit] Legal aspect to the controversy in the United States
  In 1986, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act established a no-fault system for litigating claims against vaccine manufacturers. Under this law, all claims against vaccine manufacturers could not be heard in state or federal court, but had to be heard rather in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (USCFC). This court, often referred to as the “vaccine court,” hears cases without juries and awards damages that typically are far below damage awards rendered in other courts. The damage amounts are often insufficient to compensate severely injured children.

  In 2001, Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, presented preliminary research for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in which he reported that calculations suggested that thiomersal may be linked to increased rates of autism. However, he made clear that the link was tenuous and required confirmation. Since that announcement, over 4,000 law suits have been filed by the parents and guardians of children whom they allege were affected by thimerosal. These have been grouped in what is called the Autism Omnibus Action before the vaccine court. A hearing is expected in June 2007.

  In March of 2006, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiffs suing three manufacturers of thimerosal could bypass the USCFC and litigate in either state or federal court using the ordinary channels for recovery in tort. Holder v. Abbott Laboratories Inc., 444 F.3d 383. The ruling is significant since this is the first time a federal appeals court has held that a suit of this nature may bypass the USCFC. The 5th circuit court reached its conclusion by first looking to the statutory intent of the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and determining that the intent of the statute was to protect the manufacturers of vaccines. In this case, Plaintiffs argued that thimerosal is not a vaccine, but a preservative and, therefore, the manufacturers cannot share in the protection afforded by the no-fault regime of the National Childhood

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  by jenniferm on Nov. 5, 2007 at 11:03 AM

  According to the most recent CDC estimates, one in 166 children in the US suffers from an autistic disorder. Twenty years ago, autism only affected one in 10,000 children.

  For years now, studies have shown that exposure to mercury in childhood vaccines, not only causes autism but can also result in immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions similar to traits associated with autism.

  On May 21, 2003, after a three year investigation, “The Mercury in Medicine Report” was released by the House Committee on Government Reform, and stated in part:

  “Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is likely related to the autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding a lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal and the sharper eyes of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. The public health agencies’ failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry.”

  The Congressional report also said that the CDC, due to its “biases against theories regarding vaccine-induced autism,” had chosen to fund researchers “who also worked for vaccine manufacturers to conduct population-based immunologic studies. . .” and stated:

  “The CDC in general and the National Immunization Program are particularly conflicted in their duty to monitor the safety of vaccines, while also charged with the responsibility of purchasing vaccines for resale as well as promoting increased immunization rates.”

  The autism epidemic cannot be denied. On February 15, 2005, the GAO, released a Report titled, “Special Education Children With Autism,” that revealed the number of children ages 6 through 21 diagnosed with autism receiving special education services has increased more than 500% over the past 10 years.

  In a transcript, obtained under the FOIA, of a secret meeting attended by officials from the FDA and CDC in 2000, Pediatrician Bill Weil, acknowledged the epidemic and stated, “There are just a host of neurodevelopmental data that would suggest that we’ve got a serious problem…. The number of kids getting help in special education is growing nationally and state by state at a rate we have not seen before.”

  Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative that was developed in the 1930s by Eli Lilly, and has been used regularly in vaccines ever since basically to boost vaccine maker profits by allowing drug companies to package vaccines in large containers instead of a single dose.

  However, years ago children only received a small number of vaccines that were injected with a period of time in between and one dose at a time. Since 1988, the number of vaccines given to children before the age of two has tripled.

  Lisa Blakemore-Brown, a psychologist in the UK, has been investigating the vaccine-autism link for years and says the reason the epidemic in autism did not occur sooner is because before the 1990s children “were given single vaccines with single amounts of mercury.”

  “But with the introduction of triple vaccines,” she explains, “the amount of mercury contained within the preservative was multiplied and the cumulative effects are only just now being discovered by the public.”

  Once the cumulative amount of thimerosal that children were receiving through injections of 30-some odd vaccines was finally measured in 1999, the FDA discovered that infants were receiving more than 100 times the EPA’s safe limit for mercury by 18 months.

  Internal documents from the FDA and CDC show public health officials knew about the increased mercury they were receiving at least since 1999. A June 29, 1999, email from FDA scientist, Peter Patriarca, to the head of the CDC office on vaccine safety, warned that the FDA was going to be criticized for being “‘asleep at the switch’ for decades by allowing a potentially hazardous compound to remain in many childhood vaccines and not forcing manufacturers to exclude it from new products.”

  Mr Patriarca also pointed out that calculating the cumulative amount of mercury in vaccines was not “rocket science” and involved only ninth-grade math. He also noted the questions that agency officials would likely be asked as:

  “What took the FDA so long to do the calculations? Why didn’t CDC and the advisory bodies do these calculations when they rapidly expanded the childhood immunization schedule?”

  An internal company memo that surfaced in a lawsuit against vaccine maker, Merck, proves the company knew infants were being injected with unsafe amounts of thimerosal back in 1991.

  The memo says a 6-month-old baby receiving shots on schedule would receive mercury 87 times higher than established safety guidelines:

  “If eight doses of Thimerosal-containing vaccine was given in the first six months of life (3 DTP, 2 HIB, and 3 Hepatitis B) the 200 micrograms of mercury given, say to an average size of 12 pounds, would be about 87 times the Swedish daily allowance of 2.3 micrograms for a baby of that size.”

  On September 8, 2004, Dr William Egan, then acting Director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review, told the House Government Reform Committee that prior to the mercury reduction initiative in vaccines, children may have received 187.5 micrograms of mercury by 6 month’s of age through routine childhood vaccinations.

  People often ask why some children become autistic when so many do not. As a neurotoxin, thimerosal, has been linked to the depletion of the protective anti-oxidant, glutathione, which helps rid the body of mercury. People with autism seem to be more susceptible to this effect and most have low levels of glutathione. Therefore, their bodies have difficulty excreting mercury.

  A December 2004 report by the independent Environmental Working Group determined that autistic children have less glutathione than normal children. The study, led by Dr Jill James, a professor of biochemistry and pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said a glutathione deficit “may contribute to the development and clinical manifestation of autism.”

  In 1999, many drug companies claimed they were reducing the amount of thimerosal in vaccines. Some even provided product inserts that claimed that only a trace amount of mercury still existed in the final product. Others even claimed to be producing vaccines that were completely mercury-free.

  For instance, a September 1999, press release by vaccine maker Merck declared: “Now, Merck’s infant vaccine line is free of all preservatives.”

  However, On March 8, 2005, the LA Times reported that “Merck & Co continued to supply infant vaccine containing a mercury preservative for two years after declaring that it had eliminated the chemical.”

  In fact, Merck continued to distribute vaccines containing thimerosal until October 2001, according to a June, 2003 letter from the FDA to Congressman Dave Weldon (R-FL), a doctor by calling, in response to an inquiry. Dr Weldon called what Merck did “misleading.”

  “You had people literally into 2002,” he told the Times, “getting shots with mercury, having been told it was all taken out in 1999.”

  To see if vaccines were indeed thimerosal free, last year the group, Health Advocacy in the Public Interest (HAPI), sent four vials of different vaccines to be tested for mercury content to Doctor’s Data, an independent lab, which specializes in heavy metal testing.

  The tests found that all four contained mercury, despite the claim by 2 companies that their vaccines were completely mercury-free. According to HAPI, all four vaccines also contained aluminum which greatly increases the toxicity of mercury for causing neuronal death in the brain.

  In fact, during further investigation, HAPI discovered that thimerosal was still being used during the production process for most vaccines. The drug makers claim that after production, they filter the preservative out of the final vaccines.

  However, heavy metal expert, Dr Boyd Haley, PhD, the Chemistry Department Chair at the University of Kentucky, told HAPI that its not possible to remove all of the thimerosal because mercury binds to the antigenic protein in the vaccine and cannot be filtered out completely.

  Experts says, a drastic decline in autism has not been seen due to the fact that the drug makers misled the public about when thimerosal was actually eliminated from vaccines. Because the FDA has never ordered a recall of the vaccines previously manufactured and shipped all over the country, many mercury-laced vaccines remained in the inventories of health care facilities and some had an expiration date as late as September, 2005.

  In addition, pregnant women and their unborn infants, are still being injected with a full dose of thimerosal in flu vaccines. The CDC has ignored the tremendous amount of scientific evidence documenting the injuries from mercury-laced vaccines and has continued to recommend flu vaccines for all pregnant women and children over 6 months old.

  Back in 2002, the research team of David and Mark Geier, released a study based on an analysis of tens of millions of vaccines given to during the 1990s, and presented epidemiologic evidence that demonstrated the association of the increase in thimerosal in vaccines with neurodevelopmental disorders.

  The Geier’s analysis of the government’s “Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System” database showed statistical increases in the incidence rate of autism, mental retardation, and speech disorders in children receiving thimerosal-containing diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines, when compared with those who received thimerosal-free vaccines.

  According to the Geiers, the usual course of DTaP vaccine consists of primary immunizations administered at two, four, and six months, followed up by booster shots at 18 months and five years.

  By analyzing the database, the Geiers determined that there were a total of 6575 adverse reaction reports with the DTaP thimerosal-vaccines, compared to only 1516 adverse reaction reports with thimerosal-free vaccines.

  In one of their more recent studies in 2005, the Geiers assessed thimerosal exposure in about 110,000 children and found a statistically significant association between exposure to thimerosal and a host of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism, tics, attention deficit disorders, and speech and language delays.

  The public remains largely unaware of the autism epidemic because people hardly ever see autistic children out in the community. Aside from taking the children to school, parents seldom take them anywhere because of the difficulty of trying to control them outside of a routine environment.

  The increasingly number of children with this disorder is forcing public school systems to provide more special education classrooms to meet their needs. Autistics are the fastest-growing segment of special ed students and schools lack the trained professionals with knowledge of how to work with autistic children. Schools were caught completely unprepared for this epidemic.

  Unlike normal children, children with autism do not learn by watching other people and must be taught even the simplest skills such as making eye contact, waiting in line, following directions or how to hold a conversation which often requires one-to-one mentoring.

  Skills, behaviors and abilities vary with each child and about half of autistic kids have few or no language skills. Some kids also suffer from other problems that impair learning such as hearing loss or epilepsy and many are not toilet trained.

  In a program that serves Minneapolis students, each classroom usually has 6 students and requires one licensed special ed teacher and two special ed assistants. Toddler classrooms are smaller with 4 students and require one licensed special ed teacher and one special ed assistant.

  Services by speech and language clinicians, occupational therapists, social workers and adapted physical education teachers are also available at each site based on student needs. And the educational services reflect only part of the expense. Other costs include tuition for summer school to help kids retain skills, transportation costs, and psychological and behavioral evaluations.

  In 2003, the California National School Board Association reported that the number of autistic students in California had doubled over four years and represented 13% of the state’s student population of 20,377, at a cost of up to $60,000 per student.

  In July 2005, a San Mateo County California civil grand jury released a report warning that increasing numbers of autistic children and the high cost of their education was causing a significant drain of resources for school districts.

  The report said the number of autistics in the San Mateo county had doubled since 2000, to more than 5,000, and the county needed to find cheaper special ed alternatives since federal and state funding had not kept up with spending.

  The grand jury pointed to a pilot project at a school in San Bruno, that paired four aides and one teacher with a small class and said it was cheaper than one-on-one mentoring, which could cost $50,000 per student.

  In one year, the number of children treated for autism at centers operated by the California Department of Developmental Services increased 13% between 2003 and 2004. Autism now accounts for more than half of the new cases handled at the centers, which treats various developmental disorders, with the vast majority of cases being kids 13 and younger. The number of autistics treated at the centers rose from 5,000 in 1993, to more than 26,000 in 2005.

  And the numbers are the same all across the nation. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services estimates that in 2006, about 25,000 Kentuckians have autism spectrum disorders, an increase from about 1,500 in 1990.

  The US Department of Education all total spends about $53 billion a year on grades K-12 education. If the government provides $60,000 per year to educate the currently identified school-age autistics, the tab will run about $7 billion a year, or 13% of its entire budget. And each year the costs will rise as the number of autistics entering the system increases.

  On December 10, 2002, Dr David Baskin, a neurosurgeon and Professor of Neurosurgery and Anesthesiology at the Baylor College of Medicine, testified at a Congressional Hearing and told the panel that most autistic children will grow up and require lifelong care because they cannot live independently. He described what he referred to as a “horrible” fact and said:

  “Over one-half will never speak. Many of them will never be able to look at their parents and tell them they love them. It’s worse than Alzheimer’s Disease. There’s been a tremendous focus on Alzheimer’s Disease, but these children never had a chance to enjoy life before they lost it.”

  According to Dr David Ayoub, author of the report, “Pregnancy and the Myth of Influenza Vaccination-Is it safe, is it effective, is it necessary?” government officials and vaccine makers are working hard to keep the truth about vaccines and autism hidden because if they admit guilt, it would mean they “have taken part in the largest iatrogenic epidemic known to man.”

  “The fallout over admission of causality would be unprecedented,” Dr Ayoub said.

  Dr Mark Geier is probably the most credentialed expert on vaccines in the US. When he was 23, he corrected a genetic disorder in a tissue culture, gaining distinction as one of the founders of genetic engineering, and earning him front-page articles in the New York Times and London Times, and a call from President Richard Nixon.

  He holds an MD and a PhD in genetics from George Washington University and spent ten years at the National Institutes of Health. After several more years as a professor at Johns Hopkins University, he opened the genetic laboratory and clinical practice that he co-owns today. He is also a court-certified expert on vaccines. Based on his years of research on autism he makes a statement similar to Dr Ayoub’s.

  “The current epidemic of autism may well be the greatest iatrogenic epidemic in history. The damage already done to our society is already in the trillions of dollars. The damage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and that of the AIDS epidemic pale when compared to the current epidemic of autism.”

  Eighty percent of autistics are under the age of 17. Soon states will be forced to provide support for an enormous number of disabled adults. Many autistics can not be left alone and must be looked after non-stop. If the vaccine makers are not forced to pay for the damage they caused, tax payers will be left to cover the entire expense of daily care and housing as well as life-long medical treatment for this generation of injured children.

  As for the other reasons why officials within the FDA and CDC keep denying the link between vaccines and autism, according to Congressman Dave Weldon, “If it is eventually determined that an entire generation of kids was essentially poisoned, a class-action suit against the federal government could be on the order of hundreds of billions of dollars, and so there’s very good reason for them to try to cover this up.”

  “And then when they appear as though they are covering it up,” he says, “it makes you suspicious that it’s all true.”

  In the book, Evidence of Harm, award-winning author, David Kirby, explains that “the stakes could not be higher. Perhaps billions of dollars in litigation is pending against drug companies involved in vaccine production. The deep pocketed pharmaceutical industry has extended its financial largesse to politicians and scientists around the country, in open pursuit of indemnity against lawsuits and, some charge, in a darker effort to suppress evidence of thimerosal’s toxicity.”

  “The jury is still out on thimerosal, but deliberations are well under way,” Mr Kirby writes. “One side will emerge vindicated, and the other will earn eternal scorn in the medical history books.”

  Article originally appeared on http://www.opednews.com

  Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for OpEd News and investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government and corporate America. evelyn.pringle@sbcglobal.net

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• Samantha Pierce
  Jan 13, 2008 at 9:07 am

  Actually mentioning mercury is ignoring a real problem in favour of promoting a fake one. It completely ignores the fact that poor and minority individuals routinely go undiagnosed. One can not make the claim that poor immigrants from other countries are responsible for increasing numbers of autism diagnosis because there aren’t enough poor immigrant children diagnosed to account for that rise.

  Also what evidence do you or anyone else have that “old vaccines” are still being used.

  Over the years I’ve been to a lot of seminars, training sessions, support groups, and what not about autism. I can count the number of times I have seen another non-white face in the crowd on one hand. The people in charge of these groups are also almost universally white women. I imagine a quick survey of just the people who comment here would turn up similar experiences.

  Ignoring the clear under-diagnosis of autism in poor and minority communities is callous at best.

• Norah
  Jan 13, 2008 at 1:49 pm

  It’s just a forum troll, or in this case a blog comments troll. Any reaction is the desire, but negative ones that will result in a big ol’ forum or comments fight is preferred. No attention at all is the best remedy.

• Kristina Chew, PhD
  Jan 13, 2008 at 2:27 pm

  Another commenter has been leaving such comments on one of the posts about thimerasol not being a primary cause of autism.

• Tiggerr
  Jan 13, 2008 at 3:32 pm

  I don’t know what caused my children and me to be “on the Spectrum” But I do know this. It saddens me to see vasts amounts of money being spent on research to find a cure, prenatal testing and to argue over whether this is an epidemic or just the fact that we are recognizing it more.

  Sure If we know that if something can cause a child to be so severely effected, lets be safe and get rid of it. Surely if there is a chance it is thimerosol, find another preservative.

  But prenatal testing brings to mind abortion, and if the same gene responsible for a severely affective case is also responsible for Aspergers, I would hate to see a world without my son or those like, say Bill Gates, who are suspected of possibly having it.

  I’d rather see an effort made to make educators and social workers admit that it exists and is actually an obstacle for some kids that can be helped. The accommodations my children needed costs nothing, yet I was told that they wouldn’t be fair to the other kids. When I pointed out that the student with CP wasn’t made to run Track, I was looked at like a nut. It was easier to ignore this invisible condition, than address the stress my son was under. Our public school system would only help children who were flunking. Children with Aspergers typically have average or above average IQ’s.

  Add the extreme frustrations of trying to understand the Neural Typical world, plus the co-morbid conditions of depression/bipolar disorder that frequently accompany it and it’s a wonder that suicide is something my son and I thought of until a transfer to a much kinder school changed all that.

  I don’t care what caused it. I would just like some understanding from the NT’s out there.

  OK off my soap box.

• Regan
  Jan 13, 2008 at 4:00 pm

  Maybe it’s me, but some of the more controversial aspects of genetic research are not the first that jump out at me. I see potential treatments, as in treatments, not terminations. I see predictions of which person may have a probability of seizures or other comorbid conditions. I see means of pinpointing instruction and medicine.
  I am in absolute agreement that the practical areas of today are only being shallowly addressed, but knowing something about funding streams, the one thing I wonder is if all the genetic research shut down tommorrow, would it be a safe assumption that the money would automatically transfer to those more practical areas in education and adult supports? I don’t think so. I think that to change education, that the focus needs to be on education and whatever bills, budgets and departments that immediately address those things. Perhaps directly appealing to those private funding agencies to prioritize in their annual targets more pilot programs and grants in those areas would be a start.

• Kelly
  Jan 13, 2008 at 8:57 pm

  Thanks for being nasty and calling me a troll. What are you 5? I know that they are still using thimerasol in vaccines because I have my Son’s shot records to prove it. Please grow up people and stop ignoring what is really going on…kelly

• Kelly
  Jan 14, 2008 at 12:11 am

  aMANDA AND cASSIANE, HERE ARE THE IDENTICAL SYMPTOMS…Table A:
  Summary Comparison of Characteristics
  of Autism & Mercury Poisoning

  Mercury Poisoning
  Autism

  Psychiatric Disturbances

  Social deficits, shyness, social withdrawal
  Social deficits, social withdrawal, shyness

  Depression, mood swings; mask face
  Depressive traits, mood swings; flat affect

  Anxiety
  Anxiety

  Schizoid tendencies, OCD traits
  Schizophrenic & OCD traits; repetitiveness

  Lacks eye contact, hesitant to engage others
  Lack of eye contact, avoids conversation

  Irrational fears
  Irrational fears

  Irritability, aggression, temper tantrums
  Irritability, aggression, temper tantrums

  Impaired face recognition
  Impaired face recognition

  Speech, Language & Hearing Deficits

  Loss of speech, failure to develop speech
  Delayed language, failure to develop speech

  Dysarthria; articulation problems
  Dysarthria; articulation problems

  Speech comprehension deficits
  Speech comprehension deficits

  Verbalizing & word retrieval problems
  Echolalia; word use & pragmatic errors

  Sound sensitivity
  Sound sensitivity

  Hearing loss; deafness in very high doses
  Mild to profound hearing loss

  Poor performance on language IQ tests
  Poor performance on verbal IQ tests

  Sensory Abnormalities

  Abnormal sensation in mouth & extremities
  Abnormal sensation in mouth & extremities

  Sound sensitivity
  Sound sensitivity

  Abnormal touch sensations; touch aversion
  Abnormal touch sensations; touch aversion

  Vestibular abnormalities
  Vestibular abnormalities

  Motor Disorders

  Involuntary jerking movements - arm flapping, ankle jerks, myoclonal jerks, choreiform movements, circling, rocking
  Stereotyped movements - arm flapping, jumping, circling, spinning, rocking; myoclonal jerks; choreiform movements

  Deficits in eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; intention tremors
  Poor eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; problems with intentional movements

  Gait impairment; ataxia - from incoordination & clumsiness to inability to walk, stand, or sit; loss of motor control
  Abnormal gait and posture, clumsiness and incoordination; difficulties sitting, lying, crawling, and walking

  Difficulty in chewing or swallowing
  Difficulty chewing or swallowing

  Unusual postures; toe walking
  Unusual postures; toe walking

  Cognitive Impairments

  Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - some cases reversible
  Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - sometimes “recovered”

  Poor concentration, attention, response inhibition
  Poor concentration, attention, shifting attention

  Uneven performance on IQ subtests
  Uneven performance on IQ subtests

  Verbal IQ higher than performance IQ
  Verbal IQ higher than performance IQ

  Poor short term, verbal, & auditory memory
  Poor short term, auditory & verbal memory

  Poor visual and perceptual motor skills, impairment in simple reaction time
  Poor visual and perceptual motor skills, lower performance on timed tests

  Difficulty carrying out complex commands
  Difficulty carrying out multiple commands

  Word-comprehension difficulties
  Word-comprehension difficulties

  Deficits in understanding abstract ideas & symbolism; degeneration of higher mental powers
  Deficits in abstract thinking & symbolism, understanding other’s mental states, sequencing, planning & organizing

  Unusual Behaviors

  Stereotyped sniffing (rats)
  Stereotyped, repetitive behaviors

  ADHD traits
  ADHD traits

  Agitation, unprovoked crying, grimacing, staring spells
  Agitation, unprovoked crying, grimacing, staring spells

  Sleep difficulties
  Sleep difficulties

  Eating disorders, feeding problems
  Eating disorders, feeding problems

  Self injurious behavior, e.g. head banging
  Self injurious behavior, e.g. head banging

  Visual Impairments

  Poor eye contact, impaired visual fixation
  Poor eye contact, problems in joint attention

  “Visual impairments,” blindness, near-sightedness, decreased visual acuity
  “Visual impairments”; inaccurate/slow saccades; decreased rod functioning

  Light sensitivity, photophobia
  Over-sensitivity to light

  Blurred or hazy vision
  Blurred vision

  Constricted visual fields
  Not described

  Physical Disturbances

  Increase in cerebral palsy; hyper- or hypo-tonia; abnormal reflexes; decreased muscle strength, especially upper body; incontinence; problems chewing, swallowing, salivating
  Increase in cerebral palsy; hyper- or hypotonia; decreased muscle strength, especially upper body; incontinence; problems chewing and swallowing

  Rashes, dermatitis/dry skin, itching; burning
  Rashes, dermatitis, eczema, itching

  Autonomic disturbance: excessive sweating, poor circulation, elevated heart rate
  Autonomic disturbance: unusual sweating, poor circulation, elevated heart rate

  Gastro-intestinal Disturbances

  Gastroenteritis, diarrhea; abdominal pain, constipation, “colitis”
  Diarrhea, constipation, gaseousness, abdominal discomfort, colitis

  Anorexia, weight loss, nausea, poor appetite
  Anorexia; feeding problems/vomiting

  Lesions of ileum & colon; increased gut permeability
  Leaky gut syndrome

  Inhibits dipeptidyl peptidase IV, which cleaves casomorphin
  Inadequate endopeptidase enzymes needed for breakdown of casein & gluten

  Abnormal Biochemistry

  Binds -SH groups; blocks sulfate transporter in intestines, kidneys
  Low sulfate levels

  Has special affinity for purines & pyrimidines
  Purine & pyrimidine metabolism errors lead to autistic features

  Reduces availability of glutathione, needed in neurons, cells & liver to detoxify heavy metals
  Low levels of glutathione; decreased ability of liver to detoxify heavy metals

  Causes significant reduction in glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase
  Abnormal glutathione peroxidase activities in erythrocytes

  Disrupts mitochondrial activities, especially in brain
  Mitochondrial dysfunction, especially in brain

  Immune Dysfunction

  Sensitivity due to allergic or autoimmune reactions; sensitive individuals more likely to have allergies, asthma, autoimmune-like symptoms, especially rheumatoid-like ones
  More likely to have allergies and asthma; familial presence of autoimmune diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis; IgA deficiencies

  Can produce an immune response in CNS
  On-going immune response in CNS

  Causes brain/MBP autoantibodies
  Brain/MBP autoantibodies present

  Causes overproduction of Th2 subset; kills/inhibits lymphocytes, T-cells, and monocytes; decreases NK T-cell activity; induces or suppresses IFNg & IL-2
  Skewed immune-cell subset in the Th2 direction; decreased responses to T-cell mitogens; reduced NK T-cell function; increased IFNg & IL-12

  CNS Structural Pathology

  Selectively targets brain areas unable to detoxify or reduce Hg-induced oxidative stress
  Specific areas of brain pathology; many functions spared

  Damage to Purkinje and granular cells
  Damage to Purkinje and granular cells

  Accummulates in amygdala and hippocampus
  Pathology in amygdala and hippocampus

  Causes abnormal neuronal cytoarchitecture; disrupts neuronal migration & cell division; reduces NCAMs
  Neuronal disorganization; increased neuronal cell replication, increased glial cells; depressed expression of NCAMs

  Progressive microcephaly
  Progressive microcephaly and macrocephaly

  Brain stem defects in some cases
  Brain stem defects in some cases

  Abnormalities in Neuro-chemistry

  Prevents presynaptic serotonin release & inhibits serotonin transport; causes calcium disruptions
  Decreased serotonin synthesis in children; abnormal calcium metabolism

  Alters dopamine systems; peroxidine deficiency in rats resembles mercurialism in humans
  Possibly high or low dopamine levels; positive response to peroxidine (lowers dopamine levels)

  Elevates epinephrine & norepinephrine levels by blocking enzyme that degrades epinephrine
  Elevated norepinephrine and epinephrine

  Elevates glutamate
  Elevated glutamate and aspartate

  Leads to cortical acetylcholine deficiency; increases muscarinic receptor density in hippocampus & cerebellum
  Cortical acetylcholine deficiency; reduced muscarinic receptor binding in hippocampus

  Causes demyelinating neuropathy
  Demyelination in brain

  EEG Abnormalities / Epilepsy

  Causes abnormal EEGs, epileptiform activity
  Abnormal EEGs, epileptiform activity

  Causes seizures, convulsions
  Seizures; epilepsy

  Causes subtle, low amplitude seizure activity
  Subtle, low amplitude seizure activities

  Population Characteristics

  Effects more males than females
  Male:female ratio estimated at 4:1

  At low doses, only affects those geneticially susceptible
  High heritability - concordance for MZ twins is 90%

  First added to childhood vaccines in 1930s
  First “discovered” among children born in 1930s

  Exposure levels steadily increased since 1930s with rate of vaccination, number of vaccines
  Prevalence of autism has steadily increased from 1 in 2000 (pre1970) to 1 in 500 (early 1990s), higher in 2000.

  Exposure occurs at 0 - 15 months; clinical silent stage means symptom emergence delayed; symptoms

• Tiggerr
  Jan 15, 2008 at 9:57 pm

  Regan I hope you are right. Because what it boils down to is money and Funding. Since the topic of this thread is about race and immigrants, you can equate that to mean poor. (well I should qualify that, I don’t mean to say any one race is poor etc… ) I think you all know what I mean.

  My kids are doing Ok because we can afford the small church run school that is helping them so much and because a string of freak coincidences led us to affordable and experienced Doctors. It helped that I have aspergers myself and am a sponge when it comes to learning things. (that’s my perseveration).

  A mom at our school isn’t so lucky and was told that an evaluation would cost her $600.00. The public school put her son who “might” have Aspergers, in a class for the severely affected kids. He might just have some behavior issues that need correcting, but that school made it much worse. If he doesn’t get his act together, he might not do so well here and this isn’t a special school, just a regular school, that has the structure and discipline laced with love that he needs.

  I say all this because we are talking about a reasonably affordable private school. The specialized school here for kids with Aspergers Bipolar autism, adhd etc, is 19,000 a year. And as I mentioned somewhere. Our public school system won’t even evaluate a kid unless he is flunking.

  No wonder immigrants, and the less fortunate can’t get resources or even evaluated for a diagnosis. It’s easier to hide them away than help them. It sounds like the dark ages.

  I went to nursing school in 1975. We toured a special facility and went past a wing where I am sure they had kids with autism. this was an “institution” The behavior modification technique used was to spray the kids in the face with water. I quit school and came home to get married and have my first of three Aspie kids.

  I think that’s why it bothers me so much to see money going anywhere but to help those all ready in need. But they tell me that’s one of my “quirks” I have an extreme sense of right and wrong. Or at least my version of it :-)

• Patrick McGean
  Jan 18, 2008 at 7:57 pm

  As director of an independent study of Organic
  Sulfur what if the number of children who already have all of the symptoms of Autism (no matter what the cause either aluminum or mercury toxicity )
  could detoxify these heavy metals out of their
  system with a simple organic mineral?
  Sulfur forms compounds with both aluminum and
  mercury which may be more easily detoxed. This
  is an hypothesis based on some rather remarkable
  responses from the few Autistic children who are
  currently in our Study and have responded well
  to adding Organic Sulfur to their diets.

• Kristina Chew, PhD
  Jan 18, 2008 at 8:29 pm

  Thank you for your comment; I am not sure how a study of Organic sulfur relates to the topic of this post (race, immigrants, and autism rates).

• Bonnie Sayers
  Jan 18, 2008 at 9:51 pm

  Great Post. I am catching up on some reading. We are in Los Angeles. My kids have been the minorities at their schools and the other kids in the autism classes over the years have been latino, chinese and korean. However, when we go to the summer autism daycamp the majority of kids attending are white. A handful are latino and asian. At the meetings and conventions I am able to attend again the majority are white. There is a need for spanish information here and a convention is held yearly in Spanish. IN two weeks Emily Iland will be presenting at an LAUSD community meeting I will be attending.

  Anyway, this is the first I heard of the immigrant theory and do know from trying to talk to parents that those from other countries with limited English skills have the hardest time with IEPs. I encourage them all to learn the language as LAUSD offers free classes to parents. It is for their own benefit. I could not imagine needing to get information from a third party.

• Kristina Chew, PhD
  Jan 18, 2008 at 11:23 pm

  It’s a coincidence but Charlie is one of three Asian boys in his classroom (which has five students)—-this is not at all characteristic of my town in general…… I teach at a college in Jersey City, which is described as one of the most diverse cities on the east cost. Many of my students are first-generation college students and first-generation Americans and some have told me about a cousin or a nephew who doesn’t talk—-unusual play—and there is hesitation to contact any authorities. Elsewhere, a friend who is an advocate in New England tells me about her efforts to help families who are from China and Russia and how the school districts use the families’ lack of English to their (the districts’) own advantage. (Sad to hear, but unfortunately true.)

• Kristina Chew, PhD
  Jan 19, 2008 at 2:10 am

  This is a January 17th story on Language, income barriers limit Hispanic access to mental health care.

• Joe
  Mar 1, 2008 at 9:44 pm

  ‘Science’ is the Whore that can be bought and sold by the highest bidder. I would trust the instincts of any parent over an ‘expert’ any second of the day. To limit an argument to just mercury is a Red Herring that ignores that foreign viral material can cause Gene Jumping, which has been proven outside the context of vaccination debates. Poison is in the dose (as is taught) however, just one atom of mercury is poisonous. If it initiates a free radical cascade (let’s say in normally healthy mitochondria) it will continue to rip through cells until it is chelated, removed and the radical damage quenched. Given the abysmal diets of most modern humans there may be a total lack of the proper amino acids, antioxidants, and vitamins to accomplish this.

  Why is it so hard to learn Medicine from The Three Stooges?
  “Doctor! Doctor! It hurts when I do this!”
  “Then don’t do that!”

  Communicable diseases were declining with improved sanitation, hygiene and nutrition BEFORE vaccines were introduced. The complications of diseases naturally acquired that confer immunity for life are treatable within the limited ministrations of what passes for Medicine these days.

  There has NEVER been a demonstrable NEED for vaccines and NO double blind studies with CONTROLS have been done to prove their ‘value’. THEREFORE, the only rational conclusion that can be made is that it is a specific plan to injure the world’s population.

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