By: Dr. Bob Sears – Pediatrician and TACA Physician Advisory Member
Welcome to part 2 in my series of blogs that will continue to be written until someone at the Centers for Disease Control and PREVENTION gets on the ball and says “Yes, we have an autism epidemic! We are now very concerned and will do something about it.”
The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics just released a study today entitled “Changes in Prevalence of Parent-Reported Autism Spectrum Disorder in School-aged U.S. Children: 2007 to 2011-2012.” (1) Their findings: 1 in 50 children ages 6-17 have autism.
I will ask again: Why is nobody alarmed? Why is nobody at the CDC issuing a press release saying, “Parents, we hear you, we are just as concerned as you are. We now realize there is an epidemic that continues to worsen year after year and we are dedicated to determining the cause.”
Here is why – you can read it in the conclusion of the study: “much of the prevalence increase from 2007 [which was 1 in 86 school-age children] to 2011-2012 [1 in 50 children] was the result of diagnoses of children with previously unrecognized ASD.”
Translation: “Don’t worry. Sure, autism is common, but it’s no more common now than it used to be, so there’s no need to panic.”
Well, I’ll tell you that as a pediatrician and a parent, I am in a panic. Partly because I continue to see patients in my own office develop autism at an alarming rate. Partly because I continue to see the children of friends and relatives develop autism spectrum disorders. On a very personal level, my own older children who are now 17 and 20, will probably start having kids of their own soon, and I can’t yet tell them what causes autism and how to completely prevent it. Back when my kids were young, I thought we would surely get to the bottom of this before they would be grown up and start having kids of their own. Well, now we are here, and we still aren’t getting any closer to an answer. Why? “Because there isn’t an epidemic.”
If I told you, “Hey – there’s a new infectious disease that will strike 2% of all children that will significantly impair them for their entire life,” wouldn’t you expect the CDC to jump all over this and get to the bottom of it quickly? If we have a sudden epidemic, the CDC jumps all over it to avoid a panic. The swine flu comes to mind. But if there’s a disease that is very slowly making its way through our population with only a very gradual, but questionable increase, then there’s no reason to panic. We’ll get to the bottom of it someday. That’s how I think the CDC is looking at this. They certainly want to help. They are good people who do good work. I know they’ll find the answer some day. But they are trying to portray autism as something that has always been around and is barely increasing. They don’t want parents to panic. They don’t want people to stop having children. They don’t want people to start making up reasons why autism is increasing. They don’t want parents to look for answers on their own.
The problem with this approach is that it leaves the million or more children with autism and their families out in the cold, feeling alone,like victims of an epidemic that no one will admit is happening. And it means that another million children will develop autism over the next ten years.
Back in medical school, I rarely heard the word autism. Now, not a day goes by without autism being discussed in my practice. We must have answers now. We need to have this epidemic acknowledged by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. We need to know why autism is happening, and how to more effectively treat it and help children recover. We are doing fairly well at this for some kids. We do bring some children to recovery, but not enough. For every child that does recover, several more are being diagnosed to take his or her place.
We need to be concerned. We need to act with a sense of urgency. We have to care more about autism and do something about it. Parents and the future generation of children are counting on us. And I will keep raising concern in hopes that someday this message will be heard and action will be taken.
Dr. Bob Sears
TACA Physician Advisory Member
References:
1) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr065.pdf
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Pediatrician and author of The Autism Book: What Every Parent Needs to Know about Early Detection, Treatment, Recovery and Prevention
For more information about Dr. Bob, please see www.askdrsears.com
Moving Autism Forward by Team TACA 
Hello, My name is Sylvia and I am a mother of a 22 year old son on the spectrum. I am also a hospital pharmacist. I think as prevalent as autism is, people turn a blind eye to it because it isn’t affecting them and there is no clear cut evidence of what is causing it. In my case after 18 years I found my son had a methylation defect (MTHFR, homozygous C667T allele)..Through an experimental lab test they also found he has antibodies against folic acid. There are many different types of mutations for MTHFR, all express themselves different. Articles I have read state that around 60% of the population have different variations of the mutation. If by pregnant mothers taking harmless vitamin supplements or avoiding certain vitamins or testing pregnant women at least do a one year pilot to see if less children are born on the spectrum, wouldn’t that be worth it?
Hi Sylvia,
I am not a doctor or researcher. I can share with you many TACA families have reported the same issue. We are hopeful that this will lead to treatment and prevention.
Thank you, Lisa
I found out about a year ago that I myself have the mthfr mutation, compound heterozygous. I read that this mutation can lead to many issues including having a child with autism, having pregnancy implantation problems and late miscarriage. I have experienced all 3 with my first 3 children. It wasn’t until I was newly expecting our 4th that I learned of the mutation and asked to be tested in case treatment was needed to help me carry to term baby #4. Thankfully we found out my diagnosis early in the pregnancy and we have a beautiful baby girl. Our oldest has autism. We have not tested any of our kids yet for the mutation but I hope to in the future.
I am very interested to know if there is anything I can do if I find out my son has the methylation defect. I found I have it several years ago. Does anything help?
Teresa – check out this link: https://www.tacanow.org/family-resources/detoxification-glutathione-autism/
There are many things that can help. Check with your doctor on details, testing and next steps!
Take care, Lisa
Given the woman folic acid during pregnancy, in most cases MTHFR is genetic. The mothers would likely need methylated folate.
I meant to type….Giving the woman folic acid during pregnancy, in most cases wouldn’t help. MTHFR is genetic. The mothers would likely need methylated folate. I am sick right now and shouldn’t be trying to type. 🙂
Dr. Sears, I thank everyone of the doctors, nurses, parents, & other people who spend their time, money, & effort to seek out the cause of Autism, but the truth be known, Autism affects people in so many different ways! Their is not just one cure, but many therapies and treatments to treat such a wide spread problem. What would happen if we got rid of GMO food, vaccines, medicines that cause toxic side effects? Maybe a healthier nation?
Hi Renee, I think all the things you mention do affect health and not in a good way either and many of GMO’s have not been tested for long term effects.
If you get rid of Vaccines people will begin to contract vaccine preventable diseases such as Polio, Measles, Mumps etc. I think children being paralyzed from polio is probably a less healthy nation in my opinion but you may have a different definition of health.
Many previous vaccinators would settle for cleaning up the vaccines.
However, what IS “cleaning them up?” Since they were originally cleaned up, and they removed most of the mercury (some still in large amts, some in small amts… how about zero amt?) but then they added aluminum. And there are formaldehydes and other preservatives in multi-dose vials (which most doctors use because it costs less) Then there is the finding that glass vials are leaching aluminum INTO the actual liquid. DNA from other animals and other humans…
I wonder if they could take a sample of newborn blood and make individualized vaccines for that person? Gosh, sounds expensive. Probably less expensive than caring for 1 in 35 disabled Americans? (assuming those Autism numbers are not going to get better)
By the way, keep in mind that these numbers are not accurate. There are many children running around with a medical diagnosis of ADHD, when they really have a spectrum disorder. Sometimes this is done on purpose. I can tell you my kids are in 1st and 2nd grade. They are “the” high-functioning ADHD-Spectrum kid in a class of 18 (each of them). There has been one other kid like them in each of their classes (mainstreamed class, ADHD dx but really ASD – I can tell because they are flappy/stimmy like my kids!), and then one other kid that was obviously ADHD (who knows how many others that are medicated ADHD and therefore not visibly identifiable by me when I am volunteering.) So, at least 3 out of 18 kids are *obviously* neurologically impaired. That’s 1 in 6.
If you are reading this and think I am alarmist or exaggerating, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s been our experience. I am sure that Central Florida is not the only place like this.
SO true. GMO’s need to go. Several countries have recently made GMO’s illegal; wish the USA would follow suit.
I apologize for getting wordy, part of the methylation defect affects his glutathione which is connected with the bodies ability to remove contaminants from the body. So many arguements have been put out there on vaccines. Vaccines have a numerous amount of chemicals so they can be kept for long periods of time, formaldehyde, aluminum and bulk vials still contain thiomerisol. If a person lacked the ability to metabolize these substances out, wouldn’t the toxic effects build up? And the more a person was exposed, the more toxins would build up? I am hypothesizing… not intending to ruffle any feathers or to argue for or against vaccines..
You are not getting too wordy! You are speaking our language. An article just on this topic can be found here:
https://www.tacanow.org/family-resources/detoxification-glutathione-autism/
Thank you, Lisa
Thank you, sometimes I talk to people and they look at me like I have three heads. Thank you for your understanding.:)
Sylvia,
Look up Dr. Richard Frye…. he deals with that anti-body issue. One of the things he uses is high doses of Methyl Folate. I know of this because of someone i know locally whose child has similar issues.
People will look at u like u have 3 heads…. Until they are affected by Autism…. Then, they will beg for answers like all of us are doing!!!
Autism is not an infectious disease. My son doesn’t need a “cure.” He needs support & better therapy options. We need more education on how to improve the lives of those with Autism. We need better early intervention systems. I don’t want anyone to “panic” when they find out their child has Autism. I panicked. Because Autism was seen as the type of thing that would be called an epidemic. It was something to be cured, if at all possible. But now I see my son’s Autism as part of his personality – it’s not all of him & yes, it does have negative effects on his happiness at times – but overall, it is not a disease to be eliminated in him.
so when the number is 1 in 25 and your child is on a huge “waiting list” for therapy bc more children have autism – Then will you panic? When we have more tax burdens than taxpayers – ( which is almost already the case in this country) – where do you pull the money for your support/therapies? Sorry, but I am going for the CURE! Autism was not my daughter’s personality – It STOLE her personality. She is 100% recovered in a mainstream class – NO MORE THERAPY. She Eats well, Sleeps well, has friends and Laughs, giggles, shrieks with joy bc she FEELS GOOD. And btw she can tell me every kid in her class who gets pulled out for therapy during the school day. And she says – “remember when I had to do that? I am so glad I don’t have to anymore”
EXACTLY! GREAT RESPONSE!
Hi, ould love to know what protocols you used to recover your little girl? Desperately trying to recover my son at the moment and would love o know what helped. Thanks, Marie
Amen Michelle!
Hi Jenny,
In my son, autism is definitely involves infectious disease. He suffers from vaccine-induced encephalopathy, immune and mitochondrial dysfunction. We have done many medical interventions commonly known as biomedical treatments, and he has been a huge responder. In fact he is, by all psych measures, recovered from autism (and even participated in a study at the NIH on recovered kids-yet to be published). As we treated his medical problems, the autism faded, and he is doing well in a typical classroom with no support, has a best friend and lives a full, nearly “typical” life. BUT he is still sick. Our new challenges are subclinical seizures and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PANDAS . Autism doesn’t panic me at all-I have and always will embrace my son for who he is, but these medical problems that are life-threatening are a different story.
Each kid is different, and I agree with you that we need more understanding, better services and support, but denying the complex medical issues in autism is not going to help any child. I do hope that you can find support in TACA for whatever your family needs. TACA is families with autism helping families with autism.
Jenny, I understand where you’re coming from and I do agree that we need more services for our children. However, I’m praying for a cure for my son. Every single time that I change my 11 1/2 year old’s diaper… I pray for a cure. Every single time he hurts and can’t tell me what’s wrong because he’s nonverbal… I pray for a cure. When he cries in the middle of the night and bangs his head… I also cry… and pray for a cure. He was a healthy, verbal child until autism kidnapped him. And autism has held him hostage for 10 years. It upsets me when people say that we shouldn’t look for a cure. Perhaps I would feel differently if he was high functioning and would live independently on his own one day. But unless a miracle happens, that won’t be my son’s future. And the thought of who will take care of him when I die? It brings me to my knees. So while I agree that we need more education and therapies and understanding, we also need a cure so that other children won’t have to go through this. My son is trapped in his body and it’s cruel. I don’t want this to happen to another child.
I just wanted to pray for you and others who have children who have a spectrum of Autism.
Heavenly Father I want to lift up all the parents and children being affected by this rampant disorder known as Autism. I pray that not only a cure be found but that the cause will be too as if we don’t find the cause and resolve to fix it, we will continue seeing this epidemic. Lord, I ask that you put your arms around those affected and be there in the ways that they need as I could only imagine it would be ever changing. All this I pray in your Son’s name, Jesus Christ. AMEN
leslie i live in england and i have a grandson who also will never live an independent life as autism is a spectrum i suspect that some of the children have attention defacit disorder some have aspergers syndrome my grandson developed normally until he was nearly 3 then the shutters went down he can speak but only by copying what has been said eg. i say say hello nanny and he replies say hello nanny ect. ect. cant take him to parties shops holidays as he screams i have given up praying for a cure he will never go to a mainstream school and one day he will have to live in a care home people shouldnt say that their children have been cured there is no cure for severely autistic children and no cure for their
heart broken families
Just wanted to say that you are all in my prayers.
Leslie- please watch some of these lectures by Dr. Buckley. We have been seeing her (not for autism but for something else with our son), but she is absolutely amazing. She talks about several things you mentioned in your post. Hopefully the cut/paste worked for the link below 🙂 If not, you can go to youtube and look up “Julie Buckley autism”
I agree. Many autistic individuals, including my own son, do not feel the need to be “cured”, but believe that their autism has made them capable of perceiving things in a way “neuro-typical” individuals cannot, and therefore contributes to their success in life!
Before discussing any “cure” for autism, or even whether there is a need for such a cure, let’s determine how many types of autism there are. Obviously, someone like your son and mine are not the same as someone who is completely unable to communicate and unreachable by even his own family. Many people exhibiting symptoms of autism may in fact actually have another, primary condition that is ignored once the autism label is applied.
Curing autism is like curing cancer. It is many different things, and one size does not fit all. The world needs to quit acting like everyone on the autism spectrum has the same condition and the same prognosis.
Hi Jenny,
For families all I want are two things: 1) Choices – when they find a cure, families will have a choice to determine if it is right for them. 2) Independent and happy adults that happen to have had or have a diagnosis of autism.
At TACA, most of the families we serve have children that live in pain, have many medical issues, trouble obtaining necessary support services and therapies and parents that are deeply concerned: what happens to my child when I die?
Someday there will be a better way to determine autism subtypes through science. At that time perhaps the diagnostics and way we treat will then be different. Maybe by then autism will have 30 different names and treatment paths. For one path it could be “I have autism and I ROCK!” and that’s great! For others their path will be different. Those paths we should not waste a moment to help that individual live without pain and have a wonderful life.
Its all about choices.
With respect, Lisa
Last spring, my local high school did a fundraiser for TACA. Because I knew there were some ASD kids at the event, I felt I had an obligation to explain what TACA means by ‘cure.’ I wanted the roomful of freshmen I was addressing to understand what TACA fights for, without stigmatizing anyone (let’s face it, not all ninth graders are good at accepting differences). Here is what I said:
What do we mean when we talk about curing autism? I’ll tell you what it doesn’t mean: It doesn’t mean taking away the unique gifts some people on the autism spectrum have. Kids with autism are some of the funniest, smartest people I know. Some have gifts in music or in art, or can do cool things that most of us can’t. I don’t want to take away who they are. But I would love to make it easier for them to sit in a classroom where people are crumpling papers or tapping pens — all the noises you probably hear in your classes every day — without wanting to come out of their skins.
But as you’ve already heard today, autism is a spectrum. I see some people wearing the light blue walk t-shirts. I’ve also see plenty or darker blue shirts out there. All of those shirts are blue, but they are a lot of different shades of blue. The autism spectrum is like that too. On one end, we have the people with unique talents. In another place on the spectrum are people who have trouble expressing themselves.
Imagine for a minute the last time you were sick. You’ve probably all had a day this year when you woke up in the morning and didn’t feel well. Maybe you had a sore throat, or the flu, or a stomach bug. You wake up in the morning and you know you can’t go to school. What’s the first thing you do? You come downstairs, tell your mom or dad, ‘my throat hurts,’ ‘my stomach hurts,’ ‘I have the flu,’ ‘I have the West Nile virus.’
But what if you can’t talk? What if you don’t have the skills to express how you’re feeling? How will you let people know you’re sick? If you have autism, and you can’t talk, the adults in your life probably use a lot of picture schedules and checklists to tell you what you need to do every day. Even while you’re feeling like you might throw up within the next two minutes, you have someone waving something in your face, telling you it’s time to brush your teeth or it’s time to do math, when all you want to do is curl up and wait to feel better. Imagine how you might react to that. You might throw that schedule right back at the person who’s giving it to you. I know kids who have banged their heads against the wall when they’re in pain, or who lie on the floor and cry or scream, because that’s what they can think of to do when something is wrong. My daughter can talk, but she’s not good at telling me how she’s feeling. Sometimes I can’t tell that she’s sick until she gets upset. That’s hard for me to deal with, but a million times harder for her.
As freshmen in high school, you’ve probably all had a lousy day at school before too. Maybe when you arrive home, you tell one of your parents about this kid who was messing with you, or that teacher who yelled at you. Your parents probably try to find the right words to comfort you, but as a parent, I can tell you that inside they’re sad. It hurts them too because they love you.
I can also tell you that if and when my daughter is able to do that with me, inside I’ll be cheering. I will try to say and do all the right things to comfort her, but if you hear the sounds of a party coming from Crofton, that will be me. Not because I like seeing my child unhappy (I don’t), but because I will know that we have found one of the biggest pieces of our autism puzzle. If she can tell me when something is wrong, my job to keep her safe, healthy, and happy just got a whole lot easier. Those are the things we need to cure.
Jenny–I’m sorry for your son. And yes, I am sorry. It may be fine for you but it’s a prison for him and I’m sorry that YOU have accepted it and YOU don’t find a need to cure it. Have you asked him? No, because he can’t tell you. I certainly hope that something, somewhere along the line alarms you because if 1 in 50 doesn’t, then I don’t know what would.
I think a differentiation needs to be made between those of us who have Aspie kids, or HFA kids and those of us who do not.
My son is an Aspie. I have absolutely no desire to “cure” him just like I have no desire to “cure” my own ADHD. I love it that my brain functions in a non-neurotypical way. Sure, sometimes its frustrating to be late and to forget things but if my mind weren’t racing at breakneck speed all the time, I couldn’t have so many ideas or do as much as I do.
I’m fairly certain my very high IQ is due, in large part, to the fact that I’m always processing multiple streams of information simultaneously. I like the way my brain is wired. Even if its not typical.
Aspie kids especially, as they get old enough, tend to say the same thing. They know they’re different and they LIKE it that way. My son is different; delightfully so. I do not wish him “cured” – I do however wish the waitlist for his OT wasn’t so stinkin’ long.
More services, more individualized education, more respect of individual differences, not cures.
Hi ImNotBarbie03
I will repost because I think it is really important:
For families all I want are two things: 1) Choices – when they find a cure, families will have a choice to determine if it is right for them. 2) Independent and happy adults that happen to have had or have a diagnosis of autism.
At TACA, most of the families we serve have children that live in pain, have many medical issues, trouble obtaining necessary support services and therapies and parents that are deeply concerned: what happens to my child when I die?
Someday there will be a better way to determine autism subtypes through science. At that time perhaps the diagnostics and way we treat will then be different. Maybe by then autism will have 30 different names and treatment paths. For one path it could be “I have autism and I ROCK!” and that’s great! For others their path will be different. Those paths we should not waste a moment to help that individual live without pain and have a wonderful life.
Its all about choices.
With respect, Lisa
Choices are important. If they don’t want a choice I don’t think we should force it.
If I was presented with the choice for my son I would jump on it.
Respectfully, Lisa
My kid can not speak for himself and until he can I will speak for him, I do think he wants to be cured, or at least better. He is tired of being trapped inside himself unable to express himself. At 11 he sometimes just weeps from frustration. It is nice that those who can speak for themselves do, but they should realize not all of our community can!
I am thankful for Doctor’s like Dr. Bob, who are out there and making a difference in the world of autism. They think out side of what is easy for them and instead put their patients first. That is rare these days.
I do not have a recovered kid, but thanks to doctor’s like Dr. Bob, TACA and other parents like me I have much better child. He rarely is self injurious any more. He is mostly potty trained, and over all in good health. NONE of things would have been possible, if someone before me had not sought out a “cure” and showed me the path. Had my child not had all the interventions that he has had, including diet, enzymes, medication, aba, RDI, etc he would be in a group home or institution at the age of 11. We could not have handled an 11 year old that did all the things he did at 3.
Remember when you speak for one person with autism, you only speak for one person with autism.
Respectfully,
Austin’s mom Shannon
Hmm, this reply was not supposed to be here obviously, it was a response to someone elses comment 🙂
With all due respect, children with quirky personalities are different to children who spread feces on wall until their teens, scream in pain all night long, have bright yellow mucous stools, hit their heads against brick walls until they bleed or form permanent hematomas, cannot utter a word & cannot absorb a single nutrient. If you can accept your child as they are & they are happy & fulfilled, well yay for you. But the majority of the children I work with are sick. Unbelievably, painfully sick. And the acceptance message is cruelly ignorant of their suffering.
You nailed it. Why people are ok with their child remaining ill is beyond me. Is it simply turning a blind eye to their medical problems? or to the possibility that they might have medical problems that the parent is unaware of? How about parents do some investigative searching and testing if financially possible to find out the scope of things before just “accepting” their child. Would you want to be left untreated if you had pressing medical concerns?
Sylvia, I agree with you.
How old is your son? How severe is his autism? I am not sure if you are aware but if his Autism is severe, he may get worse as he gets older. If he is able to survive the “elopement” period, the seizures will start around adolescence (if they have not started already). It has just recently been discovered that people that have a duel diagnosis of autism and seizures have a higher death rate. My son had his first grand mal seizures at 10 years of age. He was dismissed from an autism school when he was 12 because his behaviors were no longer manageable. This is a matter of life and death, not whether we should be accepting quirky kids. These kids have medical issues and this a medical disease.
I am very interested in this issue. We lived very close to a freeway when I was pregnant with my first son. This study came out when he was about six months old.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/16/health/la-he-autism-20101217
To me this just screams of the connection to environmental toxicity.
My son is still very young, and definitely a “highly sensitive” child, but not diagnosed as being on the spectrum. I had another son in 2011, who is now 18 months old. My younger son has mild but chronic issues with diaper rash, eczema, allergies, and sinusitis.
For both of my sons, I have noticed that a grain-free diet is working miracles with my older son’s ability to cope with frustration, change, and emotional upsets of all kinds. For my younger son, his physical ailments rapidly clear up when we avoid grains, especially wheat.
When you consider what Dr. Davis is saying about wheat, for example, and watch things like Robyn O’Brien’s TED talk on GMO foods and the rise in food allergies amongst children, it just seems so clear to me that the big picture here is toxic food, toxic environment, and lack of research on how these things are manifesting in children (and adults!)
I am not trying to suggest that a certain diet such as SCD or GAPS can “cure” autism or that it is caused by food or a specific toxin. But there are thousands of parents who swear by such diets as being foundational to helping their ASD, ADHD, and OCD children.
The problem is that we just don’t know. Dr. Bob is so right to be pushing for research on this matter! We need clarity. Not just us parents, but all human beings…
Methylation mutations(MTHFR), mitochondrial disease, from that which alters DNA- toxic environment (air, water and food-GMO’ S)… and vaccines (in parents, in utero, and in infancy)…icing on the cake. We know what causes it. And it will only increase.
I don’t have a child with autism. I have two, so far, completely healthy little girls. My heart does go out to parents who have children who are on the spectrum though, along with the children themselves. something does bed to be done and we need to know what is happening. But I don’t believe the CDC is a group of noble, good doing citizens. Most people have a price tag and I don’t believe they want us to know what’s causing this epidemic. Wether it’s vaccinations or the toxic chemicals all around us in our everyday environment or the artificial junk food we’ve become accustom to eating regularly like McDonalds. If the cause or causes are exposed someone worth a lot of money is going to be hurting. Not to mention the uproar the population would have if it was confirmed that vaccines or food or fluoride, things the FDA has deemed safe for us, have been poisoning us and our children all along. I encourage everyone affected by autism to speak up and tell everyone you can about your story. It seems to me that may be the only way awareness and acknowledgment will take place.
Well said, Ashely. Linda
Preach it!!! Good news is…. One by one we r finding the truth, and once u know…. Going back to believing the lies is impossible. Keep talkin
Even if it is due to better diagnosing, there are still symptoms, so basically better diagnosing or not, we still have 1 in 50 kids age 6-17, walking around with an autism spectrum disorder.
i was just diagnosed with aspergers last summer. i was 29. i dont necessarily think that autism is becoming MORE common, i think its just the knowledge of it is making it easier for us to diagnose children when their symptoms are more obvious. as an adult, no one, not even the professional doing my testing, fully believed i had aspergers. as an adult, i have learned to cope in the world by copying, mimicing, acting and other misc. im confident that this is common with many people – after 20-30 years of life, you learn how to act. and i have seen and met people who have NOT fully learned to act as well, but still no diagnosis. as an adult you have to search for it. doctors dont know you well enough to be able to make an assessment based on a few office visits. so as an adult with asd you have to ask for it.
anyway, it might be an epidemic. it might be from things like pesticides, GMOs, other environmental toxins/pollution. but it might just be that our knowledge of it is so much greater than it used to be, the resources to diagnose and “treat” asd are more widely available. however, when i was a child in the 90s, that wasnt the case. they didnt do anything. they didnt even recognize me as having asd, even when it is completely clear NOW that i did.
A difficult topic to comment on today. My heart is heavy with this new rate of autism. I can’t bring myself to tell my four children that autism is now 1 in 50. I remember the day when I broke the news to them that autism was 1 in 88. Their immediate reaction was happiness. They are old enough to know that “less is best” when it comes to autism so without giving thought to the meaning of a ratio, they were happy. The looks on their faces when I got to the point was complete devastation. We are constantly talking about our son, their brother and how his autism is getting less thanks to so many great people and therapies. We volunteer every day to help other families and fundraise for family events so we can have opportunities to be together and learn from each other. We have devoted so much to making our Autism Journey a better one with the best path possible. To hear these new numbers is defeating.
Thank you Dr. Sears. Your writing is appreciated. Your work, even more so. However, as wonderful as I think you are, I wish I never had a reason to meet you.
Lisa,
I am glad Dr. Sears joined our side. I am a Rh negative mom and received the Rhogam shot at 28 weeks gestation our unborn childrens microglials of the brain were primed at a very early gestational period, then they were born and comprised again for the 2nd prime at one day old, then at 6 weeks, 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months and then yes at 16 months my son little body couldn’t handle the viruses and metals and everything else they injected into his poor little body and struck 105 fever with an hours of his shots and lost all his words, began looking at the ground, lost skills he once had like pointing, cramped all night long, many sleepless nights hardly ever slept through the night without crying from cramping in his stomach, swollen Fontals above the nose, shadow playing, jerking movements while sleeping, involuntary arm movements, psychotic meltdowns…complex partial seizure disorder, thyroid meds. We have spent over 300k on alternative treatments, ABA therapy, speech etc..at 9 years old with the help of his school in Florida with one on one verbal ABA and Amasai which has healed his gut a lot, he started talking constantly mostly able to repeat clearly and use intelligent language. http://Www.danasorganics.com
Dana can I ask u a question? I am pregnant with my first baby, and Rh negative… My doc wanted to give me the shot at 28 weeks, I am completely anti-vaccine, and not ONE shot will ever be given to my child, not even vitamin k at birth. I asked the doc if I could wait till after the baby is born, she did say that I could, like my mom did.
After having researched, and having the experience, would you have gotten the shot at all? I read that the only way it can hurt the baby is if there is a cross contamination of blood… Like in a car accident or something. I know I will not get it during pregnancy, but I am deathly afraid to get a shot myself. It is against everything I believe. I am questioning if what we are told is even true concerning this. Any thoughts u have would b greatly appreciated.
In my opinion, Prenatal Testing 4 Autism susceptibility will lead, in most cases, to Eugenic Abortion. That is overwhelmingly what is *actually* done with Down Syndrome prenatal testing, the numbers don’t lie.
We have to REFRAME. It is not that some children are genetically *susceptible* to enviro insult, it is that some children are genetically *resistant* to inherently injurious substances.
As a mama, I am tired of being told that this or that HazMat is not really toxic to my child because of this or that. At this point, that tired argument has been applied to every HazMat under the sun!
Here is another blog for those reading this one: CONTROVERSY: I believe in people diagnosed with autism.
https://tacanowblog.com/2012/11/06/controversy-i-believe-in-people-diagnosed-with-autism/
Respectfully, Lisa
You have to also wonder about Vaccines, Alcohol consumption, GMO’s, etc.
It is hard to ignore several facts. In june, 2000, at the Simpson Wood meeting in Georgia, the then director of the the CDC, Tom Veerstraten, stated to an audience composed of medical doctors, pediatricians, directors of the AMA, insurance companies, etc. etc. that he had been doing some research “and it indicated there to be a causal link between vaccines and autism. So, how do we want to handle this?” The first question was “does the press know about this?” Second statement was from an M.D. who said he was a new grandfather and he was going to go call his kids to tell them not to vaccinate his new grandson.
So, five years passed with no changes to the current methodology. It was business as usual. It was then that a study released by big pharma indicated that Tom Veerstraten’s studies were actually flawed and there wasn’t a connection. If you say, against all better judgement, that that last statement had an ounce of truth to it then what about the previous 5 years where they were under the impression there was a causal link, as per the findings of the director of the CDC, but yet they chose to do absolutely nothing about it?
Don’t expect any miracles from the CDC. They are part of the coverup. The charts indicate a massive increase in vaccinations beginning in 1996. That roughly corresponds to the beginning of an autism spike that began about two years later, the time it would take to become noticeable. Read “The Age of Autism” mercury, medicine and a manmade disease by Olmsted and Blaxill.
It is not a coincidence that non vaccinating communities like the Amish have no autism or any other communicable diseases for that matter. And an inner city study conducted in Chicago came up with the same results.
The cause is vaccines and the solution is simple………….QUIT VACCINATING (poisoning) your children!
Tom Woolf,
I understand where you were going with this until the part about inner city kids in Chicago. Are u saying that those kids weren’t vaccinated?? Because when people are low income and can’t afford “regular” health benefits, and have to be on government aid health programs like medical (for California obviously), they are forced to get all of their vaccines and on-time at that! Trust me, I have had personal experience withy this. So I’m assuming that those inner city kids-at least most of them- had all of their vaccinations? Can you explain and/also leave the link to that study? Curious. Thanks!
Vaccines…. Then food and environment make it worse!
You had me after the first paragraph. Thank you!
I do NOT understand why most of you are hiding blindly behind the CDC and not looking at VACCINATION. Vaccination has increased year after year and guess what, so has autism. If you would all stop vaccinating at the rate the CDC tells you too, autism would fall. I do not understand why you all blindly fail to open your minds to this truth. Big Pharma does NOT care about you or your children, they just want to continue to make more vaccines and more money. And all at your children’s expense. This truth is out there, why are so many of you unable to hear? I also understand that other factors are involved which includes electro magnetic smog, toxins, terrible food, medications, water with fluoride, chem trails, toxic birthing, etc. But we all must look at the vaccination schedule. When my children grew up in the 80’s, children received l/2 or less vaccinations, and I had never heard of autism. Wake up before it’s too late. We all need to pressure the CDC to stop this crazy vaccination program.
Agreed Lynn….Big Pharma, CDC, mainstream medicine, Illuminati…it’s all a conspiracy, in my opinion. BUT I also feel it is important to point out that while I do believe that vaccines are most definitely triggering autism, it is also happening in children that are not vax’d. My daughter has never received a vaccine and is more severe than her older sister (also diagnosed) who was vax’d to 18 mos, 11 years ago. In their case, Littlest’s gut issues are MUCH more severe…hence, the severity in her autism. Celiac disease….Once we addressed that and are replacing missing nutrients, healing infection etc….she is a completely different child. Back to the thread further back…why would someone want to leave their child like this, just out of “respect for their personality?” That….would be torture for the child.
Lee Anne, Thank you so much for your response…. I am hearing more and more from people who have unvax’d children with autism or gut issues. I think as we live in a more toxic world with a compromised microbiome & immune system we will see more and more. can I ask – were you vaccinated? Do you have autoimmune problems? What sort of antibiotic use did your daughter have if any? it makes sense that a damaged microbiome sets us up to fail with Vaccines and also in general with today’s toxins and foods. However, I have a hunch recovery might be easier when not dealing with mercury and aluminum being shot directly into your system. Also, wonder if vaccines alter the microbiome…..
Did your daughter receive the vitamin k shot? And a baby receives their gut bacteria during birth, from te mother. If your gut bacteria was not optimal, hers would have started off weak.. Then add antibiotics and environment, I can surely see how it could happen =(
My son is 22 years old and he is a beautiful young man and wonderful person. Autism does not define who he is he would be these things with or without autism. However, I think struggling with the deficits of his disability puts a great stress on him as he struggles to make social connections, and make his way in the world. He still depends on our support that we will gladly give until our dying day and then he has his sister who said she would look out for him. My son wants the life everyone else has, he wants to be able to make a living, be able to support a family, have a special life partner in his life. In addition supports are few and far between, Whatever supports he has I had to struggle to make happen for him. His disability does not define him but it does create major challenges that impede him from reaching his maximum potential and in the end I am his mother and I want him to be happy particularly when I am gone and can’t be there to fight his battles anymore. God bless to all the warrior moms, dads and grandmas, to all the young people, children, adults trying to make there way. May we all work to make the world a better place for us all.
I have a son with severe autism. I don’t want my two typical daughters to be left responsible for him. That’s not fair.
I want a healthy son 1 want a cure
I pray for one everyday. Everyone suffers. Especially my dear beloved son. He deserves health, love and friends.
I had my child so they could thrive, be educated, pick elective classes, learn to drive, go on dates, possibly attend college, obtain a career and fall in love. And God willing have grand kids. Be healthy too.
I never wanted my son to struggle. Here’s the real list;
1) he cannot attend school because placement is not appropriate and his behaviors are out of control
2) he cannot play with toys. He has no hobbies or electives
3) he has no sense of safety and runs in front of cars.
4) he has no friends
5) he is so sick. He has seizures, doesn’t sleep, explosive poop and is self injurious.
This is no way to live. He deserves more. I’d take a cure anyway. I pray for him.
What will happen to him when I die?
At least Dr Sears cares. We need a cure. I pray for a cure.
I’m so sorry you and your son have to go through this. I don’t really have any comforting words but I do acknowledge your pain and it does matter. The one positive thing that comes to mind is he has you. A mother who loves him and takes care of him. I’ll be praying for a cure as well!
I think about this as well ,what will happen when my husband and i are not here to be a backup when all goes haywire.Even at her age 22 i can still relate to you so well! it is a life time event.From one mom to another i care! Hugsss
I want treatments and a cure. For those that don’t want it. I won’t judge you. You don’t judge me.
I want my child to have a future. Be healthy. Right now we struggle. He struggles. I’m scared.
I want a cure.
The only reason the government isn’t doing anything about this is simple. They are too busy covering their own butts preparing for the fallout that is coming. Same thing with the medical complex and of course (obviously) PHARMA. I trust NONE of them anymore. I do my own research now for EVERYTHING that concerns my family.
Bingo. I can confidently say that I know MUCH more about my child’s issues and what to do about them then ANY doctor, including DAN, that we have met. Sad, but true. Do not blindly trust mainstream medical to look out for, prevent or even treat your child. It’s a dead end. Yes, it’s exhausting taking on this medical side of things in addition to everything else we already deal with…but at least one discovers answers and biomedical treatments that work to relieve the pain, suffering, even non-verbal issues….
Older kids between around 12 to 17 are getting diagnosed more because they were on the fence and then SUDDENLY, Out of the blue they received more vaccines than kids that age less than 10 years ago which is the tipping point for many. Yearly flu shots, meningitis shots boosters of every color and size. Let’s open our eyes. Older kids then diagnosed with milder forms of HFA and Asperger’s often have full blown Autism because diagnosticians do not want feelings hurt or they want to be politically correct. So kids stemming, having meltdowns are not milder forms, just a milder name! Then too, kids who have true Asperger’s Do NOT get school services which much of the study relies on. Therefore Milder forms are NOT the reason that Autism is escalating as the CDC wants you to believe. Besides Asperger’s is removed from the new DSM which will result in officials declaring that autism is declining. It is their way of Stimming, um, I mean Spinning. Shell of”Recovering Autism, ADHD, & Special Needs,” on amazon.
Contact the CDC and tell them what you think! Or what you think they should know. Or needs to happen!
Here is a link to the CDC email (Blow IT UP!) https://tacanowblog.com/2013/03/20/so-autism-is-now-even-more-common-anybody-care-yet/
Now, here is the mail & phone info
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)
Here is a link to contact the NIH & DC about services(or the lack of) under Obamacare that is on its way!
http://www.capwiz.com/a-champ/issues/alert/?alertid=62466506#.UTVS6eUobpo.facebook
Awareness Phase Complete…
Take Action Phase Initiated!
ACTIONS “SPEAK” LOUDER THAN WORDS!
Great article! Are there any statistics showing how many children are unvaxed and still get autism?
I don’t know anyone that would point to ONE cause. It’s more that the immune system from these children are teetering and one step away from disaster, then they have a stressor that sends them over the edge. It can be vaccinations, a viral infection, high sugar diets, etc. BUT, there definitely are a lot of toxins in vaccines and should be considered on an individual basis and used on everyone.
My son was diagnosed 6 years ago with ASD after a severe regression of skills following a virus. At the time, I didn’t know what Autism was or how many kids were affected by it. What I can share now after 6 long years is this:
Autism needs to be subtyped. By subtyping this disorder, we will have home and room for everyone and their feelings. My son is diagnosed with and would be subtyped in the regressive category with a history of encephalopathy, persistent viral infections, hypogammaglobulinemia, MTHFR genetic mutation, seizures, severe reflux, and inflammatory disease. My son was a typically developing, happy, loving boy who regressed and lost all his skills. I firmly believe this wasn’t his path in life. I don’t believe that he was born with autism. I believe he developed it thru a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental insults.
Do I want a cure? Yes. I’ve watched a friend’s son fight cancer for the past three years. The mother’s rock in the process – knowing that there was a 90% cure rate and that her son would live a happy life in the future. I think those of us with regressive cases of autism identify with this process. Do I think there will be one single cure? I’m doubtful. Maybe if we subtype, we will develop best practice treatments for each type which will improve the outcome for each child. For example, many children respond well to ABA and it is life changing. I’m thrilled and happy for those families. I’m even happier for them that it is scientifically proven. I’m sad that many families don’t have access to this therapy due to insurance companies not covering it and for it being excluded from the ACA. I think it’s irresponsible to advocate a best practice that is not widely covered and supported. For our family, ABA is $150 an hour and 6 years later M is able to access it thanks to diet, medical, and biomedial support.
My wish for our entire community is to listen and respect one another. I respect every single parent in this process. I respect their choices. I respect and honor that they love their child and want the best for them. When I see a parent on a different path, I wish them well. I don’t bully or guilt them into believing what I believe and tell them if they don’t walk my path that they don’t love their child. Love your child. Educate yourself, make the best decisions you can, and stand behind them.
My name is Brittany and I am a 26 year old female with Aspergers that went undiagnosed/misdiagnosed until I was 24 years old. I have two children, my oldest has been diagnosed with Aspergers (this is how I came to be evaluated and diagnosed myself) and my youngest is showing traits at 2 1/2. I don’t think enough medical professionals are taking AS related disorders seriously enough and I for one, want answers. Even if you, your spouse or your children do not have ASD, with at least one in fifty being affected today, chances are that you have a relative, a friend, a colleague or a neighbor that IS on the spectrum. It’s time to figure out what is going on once and for all.
Hi,
I am a mother of 6 children. 3 of which have autism. along with anxiety, pdd, and adhd. My husband is military so we live as stable as we possibly can. He deploys often just so we can afford all the treatments and special foods/items they require. I am the administrator to the military support group for Autism in our area. AMFAS. It has gotten so bad , that when out in public my “typical/normal” kids can spot an autistic kid. My now 5 yr old daughter is my 3 autistic boys anchor, defender, body guard, when I am not around to see kids or adults picking on them. Yes adults! Because adults are even more rude in public when they see a child “stimming” or “flapping”. I have learned to have a lot of control with the public and their reactions. I feel I shouldn’t have to answer the question “what’s wrong with him?” or “I’m sorry, is he retarded?” Though going through this with my sons has made my family stronger. My daughter does answer those questions. Usually with a very smart remark. “nothing is more wrong with him than you” or my favorite one to the latter question “nope! but you are!” She’ll stim with them just so they don’t feel awkward. Not that they usually notice anyways.
I am glad to see that not only am I concerned about the alarming rate of the spread of autism. Will it be the new norm of hearing that a child has autism like the chicken pox or adhd?Is this just human nature evolving? I fear in my lifetime that the mystery of autism won’t be unlocked. That is a sad thought. Thank you for advocating for this cause, especially since you don’t have a child with autism.
Any ideas of what may be contributing to autism? The article says that his patients develop it? Could this be due to vaccinations or exposure to something else?
I have a book coming out in a few weeks that includes two chapters that discuss. We need to start looking at prenatal causes/triggers for autism. One may be over exposure or ill timed exposure to ultrasound. Two doctors — one at Yale and one who is the Gottfried and Gisela Kolb Endowed Chair in Outpatient Psychiatry and a Professor of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology at the University of Louisville, are looking into this very seriously. There is a growing body of evidence that ultrasound exposure in utero affects brain cell migration patterns. In 2006 Dr. Pasko Rakic (the M.D./Ph.D. research scientist at Yale) cautioned that medical professionals and parents needed to be as careful with ultrasound as we are with X-rays. No one listened.
It seems sometimes vaccines can cause it…babies get too many (compromises their virgin immune system with toxins) and people seem to do fine without. Big Pharmas are turning the health care industry into a sickcare business 😦 GMO foods seems to be another big factor and chemicals sprayed on or injected in our foods.
We have a stop gap measure right now a study did find FOLIC ACID taken 6-3 months before getting pregnant can help decrease the risk of Autism and even decrease the severity of it. Not perfect, not a why but better then what we knew a few years ago. http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/50788980#50788980
Thank you for posting this! I love Dr Sears. As the mother of a boy with PDD-NOS (Asperger’s Traits) who is in 3rd grade, and a kindergartener with SPD (Sensory Seeker) I see that we need to make HUGE over haul in the public school system. They are NOT equipped to deal with this in the least. In Michigan, if you are classic autism, you get put in an AI classroom. If you are HFA, you are left to the “wolves” and many parents homeschool since the public school system only recognizes bad behavior, and doesn’t look to see what that behavior is saying. In my son’s case, he was being bullied (as many HFA kids are) and was singled out by his teacher as a “problem”. Once the school finally accepted he has sensory defensiveness, he has been successful in a small class room with teachers who respect his abilities to use his “tools” (like his headphones for sound) appropriately.
Lets get our teachers trained to recognize HFA and give them the supports to teach to these kiddos. 🙂
My own son has made tremendous progress with biomedical intervention. For him, this includes a gluten free, casein free diet, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and a couple of supplements that help with his nutritional deficiencies. For anyone that feels this might help their child, I cannot recommend it enough. There is a great book by Dr Kenneth Bock that you can buy for about 10 bucks.
So happy to hear a member of the medical community publicly expressing a concern we parents have been crying out for.
Reblogged this on Kim Jorgensen Gane and commented:
So nice to hear someone from the medical community publicly voicing a concern parents have been having for years.
http://www.glutennazimom.org/1/post/2013/03/why-im-not-willing-to-play-vaccine-russian-roulette-with-my-child.html
Thank you for this brilliant commentary. I wrote about it on my blog.
So Autism is (now even more) Common . . . Anybody Care Yet? | Lisa Ackerman – Real Help Now
http://annedachel.com/2013/03/20/dr-bob-sears-on-new-autism-numbers-i-am-in-a-panic-thank-you-taca/
Anne Dachel
There are so many sick kids. So many kids with autism.
I used to teach elementary school. There was nothing like this. This is a tidal wave of kids.
What are we going to do? What a heartbreak.
Autism isn’t on the rise again; it’s still on the rise. The figure of 1 in 50 whittles down to about 1 in 20 in four- and five-year old boys – and at the current rate of increase will be 1 in 5 by 2022; 1 in 2 by 2027… I’m a grandfather in Austin, Texas, and each new incidence revelation fits horribly nicely in an autism projection graph I created almost three years ago. Obviously, the CDC is also well aware of the situation, despite the feigned surprise.
Every case of autism is individual, but in the infamous Lancet kids, they were all autistic with severe gastrointestinal disorders. What should have been trumpeted in headlines globally was the fact that when the team of doctors at the Royal Free treated the kids for their bowel inflammations, their symptoms of autism were alleviated – in some cases, almost miraculously. They slept soundly, after not being able to do so. Several of the children who had not been verbal for many months began to speak again – and in at least one instance, was using language with skill commensurate his age at the time, rather than his age when his language skills had disappeared, a poignant sign of continuing mental development despite the appearance of non-presence. Some began to recognize and bond with parents and siblings again.
In the clinical practice of Dr. Mayer Eisenstein, in Chicago, among the 25,000 or so of the home delivered, non-vaccinated, socially diverse kids in the practice, they are aware of only a handful of cases of autism, where in the general population you’d expect perhaps 200 or more. If the CDC wanted to pretend they were interested in the health of our children, they would have sent investigators to the clinic years ago, but apparently even the pretense doesn’t interest them.
Thank you Shawn Siegal for posting about GI disorders and Autism, ADD, etc. Please check out the SCD and GAPS diets, they may work for some. Sulfer and glutathione detox pathways are also important to check. There is research going on where people are supplementing with organic sulfer for autism and alzheimer’s patients. Vaccines ruin the gut flora and overload the body and brain with toxins: https://tacanowblog.com/2012/11/08/gut-brain-connection-leaky-guy-no-longer-crazy-talk-says-aap/
CEASE is a homeopathic treatment also having success.
I am worried! I have a 22 year old with ASP ! I have gone through so much with this.The schools even 5 years ago or more were not on board with this at all I had to stand my ground with them trying to keep above water and try teaching them all i knew about my daughters condition it was baby steps for everyone involved.It is still just as hard or harder because for one thing she is out of the age bracket for any help if help at all for kids with this.They are now thrown into the adults and that means with everything else as well! trouble yes, after 21 parents have no say as we know,unless one gets the right to make all choices for the child. Not so easy ,as the ASP adult is not stupid at all and can handle lots of aspects of her life except making good social choices which there lies the problem.Social is key, never having it only in thought i guess i would say ,leads my daughter into the worst relationships to be liked ,not alone ext… getting used on and on! Seeing how communication is so difficult at times i find my self having to explain to the boyfriend that make sure you say exactly what you mean,because she may process it a whole different way ,and that’s where trouble begins in a relationship.One can see that society has a hard time getting it even hospitals, police ext… much training needs to be done for sure just never ends! Parents need to be their child best advocate in all this they need to learn all they can l,learn the bi-laws in the school student rights and know it well. Lots to know ,Yes be worried,yes people pay attention please!
The GAPS diet has helped TONS of autistic children. Their bodies need healing.
All that Autism is probably from the drugs used in the delivery room. Ever wonder if Pitociin is to blame? Or multiple ultrasounds? You often wonder.
Hi I am a mother of two very different children one is an overachiever. high grades and a very active social life. The younger child is only now being assessed for ASD after us fighting for 9 years. We have always know but the doctors told me I was an over reactive parent. Now because of social issues at school (mainstream) and other educational implications they have decided to do the assessments. My son has suffered through mainstream school all his life and now they have decided to do something. I changed career very early in his life to learn all I could and that has helped us to manage his behaviors and help him through his struggles.
They go on about how we should help our children, well I feel they are abusing our children by not helping with assessments early and leaving them to struggle through a world that is hard for us to make sense of never mind that our children with ASD have a harder time. They say 1 in 50 children have this condition well you will find it is more, if people like myself were listens to and not tell us to relax and stop overreacting they would find there are a lot more children out there than they are ready to admit.
I just read the book: Our Stolen Future. This book was published in 1996 and documents how endocrine disrupting chemicals are impacting humans and animals. Studies show that endocrine disruptors can impair the immune, endocrine, and neurological systems. However, our society tends to think that a chemical is ok as long as it is not a carcinogen. All these endocrine effects have been overlooked. This evidence points to a link between autism and the endocrine disrupting chemicals we are exposed to. Until we reduce this exposure, the health of all children across the globe, and society itself will be threatened.
Two of my three children have ASD. Although i have yet to find any doctor that will agree with me, i know what happened to them. Both Older Children ran incredibly high fever after the MMR Vaccine. i am talking over 106…. I have decided my 3rd child will not get this vaccine… I thank god every day he is fine, and I pray for my two older children to keep improving their skills, and one day be able to live independently. I am not a professional, I am just a mom, but i think there are many causes, I am hoping someday we know all the causes, and we find a cure….
I am the grandmother of a treasured boy with autism. There is much discussion on the pros and cons of vaccines. All I can tell you is that my grandson was meeting all his milestones and ate just about anything he was given right up to the time he had his vaccine at 15 months of age. Then he began his regression. Think about what time you noticed your child was regressing. Could it have been shortly after a vaccine was injected into their little bodies? I read somewhere that when my generation and my children were vaccinated there were less toxins/chemicals in the vaccines. Why the change? My grandson is now in public school and his parents fear getting him the (required) vaccine for school because they don’t want to take the chance that his autism would display worse symptoms. It is a real fear that no one can really debunk with certainty and yet there is also a risk of getting ill from something you are not vaccinated against.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for writing this.
We do know what is causing autism, at least in the research, but the answer is so disruptive that we’re not yet ready to deal with it effectively. I’ve been researching what made my symptoms better or worse since ’76, digging into the medical research about those symptoms since ’82, and delving into the autism research since ’89.
I’ve got a bit of an unfair advantage, being able to study autism from both the inside, and the outside. This meant that from the first time I realized it was autism I was dealing with, I could tell that most of the actual autism research was barking up the wrong tree, something confirmed by the experiences of other autistic adults, and increasingly, by recovering kids. There were lots of useful things in other health research, though. Essentially, we have a struggle between two models of autism going on, while the rates have continued to climb faster and faster since the first world war.
The outdated model says that, “Autism is an INCURABLE neurological disorder with associated chronic health problems; behavioural improvements are possible only with intensive rote training”.
The emerging model of autism, the one I’ve lived, shows that, “Autism is caused by its associated chronic health complaints, which themselves are caused by humanity living too far outside its optimal tolerance ranges; behavioural improvements are possible to the extent that these TREATABLE underlying health complaints can be healed.”
There are five root causes of autism; biomedical research only discusses three of these, but treatments and interventions are available for all five. There is also significant evidence that autistic brain differences are a result of stress; without the associated pathologies, this is an adaptive advantage.
The very parts of the brain which are enlarged are those which enable highly evolved pattern analysis and problem-solving. The very parts of the brain which are impaired are those which would take time away from these pursuits. Autistic brains are very needed at this time of high stress and of so many dire problems threatening the survival of our species (most of them caused by us).
I sure hope that seeing our children at risk will help to turn the decision-making around, and quickly.
Sincerely, Jackie McMillan
What is with all you people and your “prayers?” Get up off your fricking knees and actually DO something! We parents with children, teens and adults who have autism do not need your prayers. We need lobbying to the government. We need dollars poured out of your pockets and into autism research. We need compassion and understanding in the community. We need volunteers who will take our children and young adults on outings. We need places where our youth with autism can work and thrive. We need places where our grown children can live and thrive when we are no longer able to support them. We need concrete help. If you are really serious about helping people with autism, then actually get up off your knees and do something to make the life of a person with autism better.
My daughter reacted to the hep-B vaccine at birth, given at the hospital at midnight the day she was born without asking permission. She screamed constantly and inconsolably for four days and nights, vaccine-induced encephalitis. She got the DTaP at 2, 4, and 6 months (I didn’t know about the Manitoba study at that time, which proved that starting the series at 2 months rather than 6 more than doubles the child’s risk of asthma at 7), she caught pertussis anyway at a La Leche League meeting when she was 8 months old, and gave it to me. But fortunately, pertussis is very rarely dangerous when the child is over four months old or so, and it wasn’t dangerous for her, though she coughed alarmingly for over a month. She started saying two words by 18 months, delayed because of the encephalitic brain damage, but progressing. Until she got the DTaP booster at 18 months, and it erased her two words forever, and she didn’t say another word until 34 months, but in the meantime had been diagnosed with autism at 20 months. She’s in a self-contained autism class in a public school now, at nearly thirteen years old.
There is an autism epidemic running parallel to the vaccine epidemic. We can all agree on that, and those who have studied the issue, unless they have vested pharma interests, agree that autism is usually caused by vaccines. Having neurological or autoimmune disease in the family increases the child’s susceptibility to vaccine damage, but with the huge onslaught of vaccines children are subjected to now, increasing numbers of children are falling over the edge into autism, seizure disorders, or autoimmune disease who did not seem to have any previous risk factors. So the question is: Which vaccines are so necessary that they are worth the risk of invoking lifelong serious disability? More than one in fifty children now has autism, so this is a question that all parents should pay close attention to. The former universal childhood illnesses? Meaning measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, and whooping cough? I don’t think they meet the criteria. I had measles, rubella, and chickenpox as a child, as did all my classmates and cousins. They are very rarely dangerous, even less dangerous if no Tylenol is given to reduce fever, Vitamin A and C work to prevent complications. Pertussis (whooping cough) can be fatal in newborns, at a rate of maybe one in two hundred who contract the disease, and parents should do what they can to keep the infant in quarantine at home until he is past the age of four or five months old. Dr. Suzanne Humphries has an online protocol of treatment for young infants with pertussis, centered on high-dose vitamin C therapy. Polio? Even at its height severe cases of polio were rare. Both polio vaccines have caused many deaths, and the live vaccine sometimes causes crippling polio. But if it came back in the US, it would be a vaccine parents would have to read about and do a risk/benefit analysis. The polio vaccine doesn’t appear to cause autism at any rate. Meningitis is rare, most people achieve immunity through subclinical exposure by the time they are adults. Hib was rare until antibiotics came into use, pneumococcal meningitis was rare until HIb meningitis pathogens were taken out by the vaccine leaving a niche into which pneumococcal bacteria moved in. Meningococcal pathogens then moved into the vacated niches created by the Prevnar vaccine. Another serious risk/benefit analysis is warranted for these vaccines, but the vaccines are dangerous and have caused a lot of deaths and disability in themselves. See Dr. Mayer Eisenstein’s Make an Informed Vaccine Decision. Tetanus? Maybe after the child is two, in a simple Td vaccine, bearing in mind that the tetanus shot is dangerous too. I reacted to a tetanus booster when I was nineteen with both arms being paralyzed starting the same day, brachial plexus neuropathy, and I went on to develop MS. Flu? Flu is very rarely dangerous in previously healthy children (or adults), while the vaccine is extremely dangerous. I can say categorically that it is not worth the risk of paralysis, Alzheimer’s, or death when given at any age. See Randall Neustaedter’s The Flu Guide for advice on flu prevention and treatment. Hep B? Criminal vaccine. It caused autism in my daughter and many thousands of others. See Judy Converse’s When Your Doctor is Wrong: Hepatitis B Vaccine and Autism. See Michael Belkin, whose infant daughter was killed by it, and Patti White’s congressioanl testimony for an association of school nurses convinced that the hep-B at birth starting in 1991 had caused the tsunami of autism hitting Missouri kindergartens starting in 1996. Dr. Sears has an excellent section on the dishonesty bringing to market this vaccine: only 360 cases a year being diagnosed among children, but the researchers said the number was 30,000, with no basis in fact, in order to get the lucrative vaccine program going. The disease is usually transmitted like AIDS, unsafe sex and illegal drug use. Children born to infected mothers are the only ones who should probably get it, but that has historically been a tiny number, and pregnant women are routinely tested for it. Thousands of French citizens sued the government, which had made hep B vaccine mandatory for certain groups, such as schoolchildren, but thousands of them got MS within a short time of getting the vaccine. Vaccine protection lasts only four years, according to the manufacturer, and so it wears off years before the person will engage in risky behaviors. And, hep-B is very rarely fatal, only in a fraction of one percent of those who get it, usually only alcoholics and drug addicts, who have damaged their liver with their addictions, develop fatal liver disease as a result of having hep B. It is a nasty disease, but most of those who get it never experience symptoms. Those who do feel very ill for months or even years, but most of them get well eventually and revert to seronegative status. Not a vaccine anyone who doesn’t have the disease should permit to be given to their baby or child. Hospitals have routinely given it without asking permission, they got bonuses for large numbers of vaccinated newborns, so parents must take appropriate steps, maybe stationing an armed guard in front of the newborn’s bed.
Green vaccines are not possible. Of course heavy metals such as mercury or aluminum are dangerous in vaccines and should be avoided. Mercury is still in most injected flu vaccines, and aluminum is in most killed virus vaccines. The aluminum cannot be taken out, it works as an adjuvant to make the immune system pay attention to the disease antigens and produce antibodies against them. Pet owners are advised now to refuse all adjuvant-containing pet vaccines, as they fairly often cause vaccine sarcomas, aggressive and usually fatal cancers. Live virus vaccines can sometimes cause the disease itself. But beyond that, just the injection of vaccines, with their large number of foreign proteins, pathogens, and chemicals straight into the body, where they are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, bypassing the natural filtering mechanisms which take out most pathogens before they reach the closed system of the circulatory organs. An early alert system is triggered to warn the immune system of the approach of the danger. When the danger appears so suddenly in the immune system’s territory, last-ditch defenses are often triggered, meaning disproportionately aggressive inflammatory responses are called into action. All vaccines trigger inflammation: if they didn’t, no antibodies would be produced. But when the inflammation is in the brain, as it often is (encephalitis), the damage can cause permanent disability such as autism, ADHD, learning or behavioral disorders, epilepsy, or other seizure disorders. Vaccines skew the immune system from developing toward an appropriate Th-1 kill-the-invader response to an inappropriately-predominant Th-2 autoimmune reaction, leading to chronic autoimmune diseases such as asthma, allergies, bowel disease, diabetes, or arthritis.
Everyone should be aware that the danger of vaccines does not end with the heavy metals and chemicals such as formaldehyde and propylene glycol (related to antifreeze). The heavy metals are extremely dangerous, and both I (MS from tetanus booster) and my daughter (autism from hep-B vaccine and DTaP vaccine) have mercury poisoning from the thimerosal in vaccines we got many years ago. But even if all of them were somehow removed, which is not possible with the current state of technology, the insurmountable problem would remain of its being the immune system’s reaction to the vaccine which causes damage from inflammation or the skewing to the Th-2 response, not any specific component of the vaccines.