May 1st, 2008
On April 11th, a new document in the case of Hannah Poling was filed. The document—Order Deferring Ruling on Petitioners’ Motion for Complete Transparency of Proceedings—-can be read here. The petitioners are Terry Poling and Jon Poling, the parents of “Hannah Poling, a minor.” The respondent is the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 19 comments
April 28th, 2008
So what do you do if your state passes autism legislation (as my state, New Jersey, did in September of 2007) and then it gets stalled by budget cuts—-when the bill gets passed but there’s no funding as it’s an austere buget year” ? In Florida, the Window of Opportunity Act was passed by the […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 6 comments
April 28th, 2008
Below is the press release about the new autism legislation that New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez unveiled this morning in Weehawken, in Hudson County in northern New Jersey. The legislation has three parts: The creation of “autism navigators” to help families “navigate” their way through services, treatment options, and much more; the development and […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 2 comments
April 27th, 2008
Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey will be announcing a new initiative for families dealing with autism spectrum disorders on Monday, April 28th, at 11am in Louisa Park in Weehawken, New Jersey. The legislation will combine guidance for families seeking autism spectrum disorder services and care, greater public awareness of autism spectrum disorders and support […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 5 comments
April 23rd, 2008
According to an April 22nd Scientific American piece about the case of Hannah Poling—the 9-year-old Georgia girl whose “pre-existing mitochondrial disorder…. was ‘aggravated’ by her shots” according to a concession by the federal government and who was awarded a settlement:
“….. scientifically, from the documents presented in the vaccine court, the Polings did not make a […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 42 comments
April 19th, 2008
Is there an autism epidemic and why does it matter if there is, or isn’t?
Do you show you’re “aware” with a car magnet, a wristband, a ribbon?
More from last week:
New Findings on Genetic Link Between Autism and Mitochondrial Disease
Researchers at Medical Neurogenetics have found that there may be a genetic link between autism and mitochondrial […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 6 comments
April 17th, 2008
The state of New Jersey’s Department of Human Services is being sued by a legal advocacy group, New Jersey Protection and Advocacy Inc., for violating the rights of over 8000 developmental disabled people who have been waiting (over a decade, in some cases) to move into government-supported community housing. The department has a waiting list […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 20 comments
April 13th, 2008
Researchers at Medical Neurogenetics have found that there may be a genetic link between autism and mitochondrial disease, “a muscle-weakening disorder,” today’s Reuters reports. Dr. John Shoffner, a neurologist and geneticist and one of the owners of the Atlanta-based company, reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago that 37 autistic children were […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 17 comments
April 11th, 2008
From an op-ed in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution by neurologist Jon S. Poling, the father of Hannah Poling, with a proposal for more research in the “mitochondrial autism”:
Emerging evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction may not be rare at all among children with autism. In the only population-based study of its kind, Portuguese researchers confirmed that at […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 23 comments
April 4th, 2008
I grew up in California and almost all of my family still lives there, and Jim and I have talked very seriously about possibly moving out west when Charlie is an adult. My dad has lived in Oakland for all but a few years of his life and has long said exasperated things about the […]
By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 6 comments
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