BigBlog

The next time anyone talks Autism down - tell them who sang "Star Spangled Banner" before Game 5 of the NBA finals in Orlando just a few minutes ago.

Gina Marie Incandela.

Seven years old, Autistic - and belted out a version of it that would have impressed Reba McIntyre.

It's not the first time she's done this for the Orlando Magic apparently, but if anyone wants to paint Autism as all world bad - just take a look at this little one. If you don't think differently after that, there is something seriously wrong with your attitude.

Cyber hugs for you, Gina! You are awesome!

In the online edition of Skeptic Magazine, the following article has been published - and it is a beauty!

http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-06-03

Visitors to my website will know about the ASD Awards, and Harriet Hall will be added to the candidates for a GMP award as a result of this wonderful review - detailed and yet easy to read for someone like myself.

In this article, Harriet reveals even more detail about the fraud committed by Andrew Wakefield HMP. The material may have already been previously revealed by Brian Deer in his investigation but I certainly wasn't aware of some of this clearly criminal behaviour.

She also makes mention of thiomersal (thimerosal to her of course) and of the reason why the FDA ruled that the preservative should be removed from vaccines. They did the same thing anti vaxxers do - treat ethyl mercury as full blown mercury, and put safety first, in spite of the fact that the incident which triggered the decision involved the more toxic methyl mercury. The idea that mercury poisoning and Autism are the same thing is also thoroughly and simply debunked.

But here's the big one. In 1929 - two years BEFORE thiomersal went into full production - it was TESTED in a meningitis outbreak in Indiana on adults, and there were NO problems. This debunks the theory that thiomersal has never been tested for safety at all.

And the Geiers are also given the criminal treatment with a few facts that again I was not aware of the detail. This is fantastic stuff!

And it gets even better! Jenny McCarthy also gets a metaphorical spray and rightly so. I was amused to read about Evan's grandmother apparently looking to write a book of her own that may well destroy whatever credibility McCarthy may have (which isn't much as it is). The presence of formaldehyde and aluminium is mentioned and debunked - and I can go further on aluminium and say that it's presence is not pure and therefore even safer than what Harriet states. To say that it's not is like saying water isn't safe simply because there's hydrogen in it. The same applies to the presence of chlorine in salt.

I've written to Harriet to congratulate her and also added another name to the mix - Rebecca Carley HMP. The witch who pushes the ingredient line. I hope Meryl Dorey reads this and realises what an idiot she is as well. And Dorey has the temerity to state she is not anti vaccine. Yeah right! The sooner the Australian Vaccination Network is shut down the better!

I have just found out that one of our greatest friends, Alyric, passed away last weekend after a battle with cancer that she preferred to keep quiet.

Alyric has been a fighter in more ways than one. As a cancer survivor myself I have empathy with her bravery to fight it out. I won, and unfortunately she lost.

I didn't know the person that well, but I knew she was very much on the right side of the battle for the truth regarding Autism. He had the right allies - and if there is such a thing the right enemies (I'm not going to name names because that would not be appropriate).

With this in mind, I'm going to nominate Alyric for the Phil's World Brain of the Month on my website. The membership will decide if she is worthy, and one look at her blog will say that she is without a doubt. Many messages of condolence have been left (myself included) and I think Clay Adams summed it up when he said "Our community has lost a great advocate and friend."

This is what I said;

"I think we should all take a moment to remember her and to dedicate ourselves in her memory to advocating to the best of our ability for the kids and the adults on the Spectrum, and to continue to fight the good fight."

If the ASD enquiry gets off the ground on May 13, her blog is going to get an airing. I make that personal guarantee.

I don't often drop in to Age of Autism directly, but I did today just for the heck of it and oh boy they can be so STUPID!!

There's a article there accusing doctors 20 plus years ago of being dumb because they missed Autism - which statistics say did exist then. Well known for his stupidity, Brad Handley claims it didn't and the recent increase has nothing to do with better diagnosis.

It has PLENTY to do with it. And he should go back and look at the figures for the number of children diagnosed prior to 1994 with Mental Retardation. There are your Autistics who you claim weren't there, Handley!

It should also be remembered that the 1 in 150 statistic in the US includes all Autistic Spectrum Disorders - not just Autism. Back in the 1970's (when the stat was 1 in 10,000), LFA was being diagnosed as MR and Aspergers was being missed completely (as I personally can attest to because I was checked for Kanners in 1967 and of course I was not diagnosed - as I shouldn't have been at the time under the diagnostic criteria of the time). Those who have Aspergers generally were simply seen as eccentric and so forth. And there were plenty of them. Chances are those who lived in the 1950's and 1960's knew someone like that. You knew an Aspie and didn't realise it.

About the only thing AoA got right (as a rarity) was the mention of the lack of help for parents. On this they are right and it's why panic develops and it leads to claims like "vaccines cause Autism" just to try and find a simple resolution to the situation. And they are contributing to the problem by not pushing for more help to cope - instead pushing simplistic and unproven lines.

Doctors are only as good as the information they are given. The work of Hans Asperger didn't get the attention it deserved until the mid to late 1980's. It wasn't added to the DSM until 1994. His work also forced a rethink on a number of issues.

And if anyone wants to know where the 1 in 150 was in the 1960's and why no one saw them - check the medical records of an institution for MR diagnosed patients. Part of the answer is there. The other part lies in the number of nerds and unusual kids - the undiagnosed Aspies.

Brad Handley doesn't know what he's talking about. Neither does Age of Autism. Max Wiznitzer does and 25 years experience in dealing with the condition speaks volumes. He should be listened to. Any expert whose experience goes back to before 1994 would have seen the change first hand, and they know why it happened. These Johnny-come-lately so called experts need to shut up if they aren't going to pay attention to people who know.

I was going to put this up last night, but that's how I found out that my Notepad page for this blog was occupied by the Jenny McCarthy article.

I was on Alyric's blog and I read about the IACC's Strategic Plan for ASD Research that has been published. It's a broad document that ommits goals deliberately to stimulate more wide ranging debate. That can only be a good thing because it gives people like us the chance to shut up those who would divert research away from useful areas and towards wasteful nonsense (ie vaccines and so forth). That delays proper research into genetics (without the eugenic line of Autism Speaks) and it also delays research into the benefits of proper support structures and the pushing of said structures that would without a doubt prevent any more repeats of what happened to Katie McCarron as an example.

But I was disgusted by the contributions of Laura Bono from the National Autism Association. She was used by the morons that also represented Safe Minds and Generation Rescue as an advocate. Advocate my foot! I can safely say right now she does not speak for me! I mean get a load of this twaddle that Alyric quoted;

1. Declare autism a national health emergency under the Public Health Act and treat it with urgency.
2. Autism is both economically and emotionally devastating to the children and their families. Many families are on the brink of bankruptcy as they struggle to get insurance and the medical attention their children need. Murder/suicides of parents and their autistic children are on the rise.
3. Autism is an environmentally triggered problem. If it is environmental, then it is treatable and preventable. It is not hopeless and lifelong. It is hopeful, with a possible cure.
4. Recent clinical investigations have identified numerous comorbid disease states in children with autism. These include immune system abnormalities; inflammatory bowel disease; oxidative stress; disordered urine and serum chemistries, including elevated porphyrins; methylation disturbances; increased body burdens of metals, including mercury and lead; chronic viral, fungal, and bacterial infections; and microglial activation in the brain.
5. There is a growing body of evidence implicating vaccine overload, mercury and aluminum from vaccines. Thousands of parents agree with this research. They watch their children regress after being vaccinated.
6. Regardless of controversy surrounding any theory, we must research and produce successful antioxidant, methylation, and blood-brain barrier chelation treatments, as well as immune system, detoxification, and inflammation interventions.
7. The guiding principles should be to pursue research and treatments that will impact the most lives as quickly as possible and follow clues provided by treatments currently working in children. Such an agenda would best be served by a translational research protocol where clinicians who care for children with autism advise research into the most promising areas of intervention.
8. It is imperative that the working group proceed with urgency and follow the truth wherever it leads.

Laura Bono also took a swipe at Julie Geberding for her "problems in failing to declare an epidemic" claiming denial just because Julie said "Our estimates are becoming better and more consistent, though we can’t tell yet if there is a true increase in ASDs [autism spectrum disorders] or if the changes are the result of our better studies."

I'll address this first. Julie made it clear that there was no proof that increase in ASD DX was the result of anything other that the DSM-IV (read: "better studies"). That's not denial, Laura! That's being practical because Julie knew that as long as the other side didn't prove their point - the contribution to the increase by the DSM-IV stood firm. For an advocate to deny that is medically misleading and therefore dangerous.

Now with regards to the rest;

1. This is a panic stricken reaction for which the system in the US is incapable of coping with under what would be treated as an emergency handled by GP's. I've always said that it's the specialists that should be handling this at medical level. Therefore such a declaration would have no effect.
2. This is an overstatement of reality. Any devastation is brought on by parental lack of understanding as are the rest of the points made. This would be resolved very simply with more information - and the destruction of the picture being painted that Autism is absolutel 100 percent negative.
3. This assumes that the environment is primarily responsible for Autism when it's not. This should be promoted as regression potential. The root condition is there from birth, and therefore there is no cure. What should be prevented is the regression and that will be very difficult such is the wide ranging possible triggers through sensory overload.
4. All these things develop because of poor treatment of Autism. They are not in effect co-morbid as such. They are more like symptoms resulting from a lack of adjustment. If that's co-morbid as well by definition then okay, but let's not blame these things on Autism alone. That's bad medicine.
5. I've always said that any regressions from vaccines are the result of doctor neglect, not the vaccines themselves.
6. This is only needed if there are other problems seperate to Autism. Such as the mitochondrial dysfunction. Mind you, such a situation could lead to a sensory overload and a regression so it is important. But it's a general issue that really the IACC shouldn't be dealing with.
7. This would be okay except that because of all the previosu commentary this would lean away from the research that is needed.
8. See 7.

Laura Bono will be added to the list of candidates for an ASD Award from Phil's World. An HAP award - one that a person would NOT want. A "Horrid Autistic Parent". She's no advocate. An advocate doesn't panic. This woman has panicked. For no good reason.

I completely forgot to upload this! Well, better late than never!

Now we know where Jenny McCarthy stands. On the fence!

She ramps up a storm about green vaccines while sidling up to Generation Rescue on mercury poisoning - as demonstrated in 2008 when she spread her message through WWE (which as a WWE fan infuriated me).

And yet she does this;
_______________________________

Jenny McCarthy should do a little more research before she starts shilling for cheap beauty products in Times Square as part of Suave's "Sauvenomics" campaign. Because for someone who is so against chemical agents that she vehemently promotes anti-vaccination rhetoric, she's taking a nice paycheck from a company with a dirty past.

Suave's parent company, Unilever, was involved in one of the biggest toxic dump cases in history when Indian residents found the Anglo-Dutch company dumping Mercury from a thermometer factory in Kodaikanal in 2001. Since the case wasn't in the U.S., Unilever did some quick P.R., "cleaned up" the spill, and paid off consultants to say it wasn't that big of a deal.

Oh, and there are a whole lot of other health issues that Unilever has swept under the rug regarding everything from polyvinyl chloride to illegal fishing.

For a woman who takes her "medicines are poison" fights all the way to Larry King, you would think McCarthy would have searched a little harder before promoting products from a company that has such disregard for its workers' and consumers' health.

http://www.jossip.com/jenny-mccarthy-anti-vaccines-pro-mercury-poisoning-20090114/
_______________________________

There was a picture noted as well (thanks to Winnie on the Autism Web forum for publishing this) which depicted Jenny holding a sign reading "We believe beauty should be recession proof". And this coming from someone who's had plastic surgery!

So who's side are you on, Jenny? Buttering both sides of the bread to keep your hip pocket supple?

Even though the membership of Phil's World disagreed with me, I still think Jenny McCarthy was the Idiot of the Year for 2008. This justifies my thought line. Some blondes truly are dumb.

Okay this is starting to get out of hand again.

I have noted a list of 25 so-called facts about thiomersal in vaccines provided by this person who published a book that I refuse to name a year before David Kirby's diatribe called Evidence of Harm. And I will happily debunk each of them as appropriate;

1. Mercury is one of the most poisonous substances known to medical science.

Actually this is quite true - if we are talking about pure mercury AKA quicksilver

2. Thimerosal (sic), is a chemical that was used as a preservative in children's vaccines that was intentionally added to the vaccines to increase profits by way of multi dose bottles that were given to millions of our children.

Intentionally to increase profits? What - aren't companies allowed to extend the life of vaccines so they can be distributed world wide? That's why there is still thiomersal in vaccines today. The ones that are exported that is to countries that don't have their own facilities.

3. Thimerosal is 49.6% MERCURY, a proven and deadly neuro-toxin that causes permanent brain damage. The Material Safety Data Sheet (M.S.D.S.) confirms toxicity fears.

ETHYL mercury is NOT a deadly neuro toxin. That is the variety of mercury that is contained in thiomersal.

4. Hundreds of Thousands of children received as much as 40 times the safe level for mercury exposure as established by the Environmental Protection Agency ( E.P.A.) from the thimerosal that was used in the vaccines.

This is a furphy. People complain about 30 vaccines. That totals 37.5 MICROgrams of ethyl mercury. Would someone please point to me where it says that 1 microgram is the EPA safety limit? Sheesh!

5. The pharmaceutical industry stocks exploded in value from 1986 to 1999. This was the direct result of federal mandates requiring vaccines for all school children.

That's another furphy. Those stocks exploded because those hit by the crash of October 1987 were looking for somewhere to go with their money and pharmaceuticals would have been ideal. And there are no federal mandates in the US! By the constitution they have to leave that to the states!

6. There has been over 700 waivers of the conflict of interest rule by the F.D.A., C.D.C., and the N.I.H regarding paid consultancy from the drug industry. Congressman Dan Burton of Indiana has called this a "VIOLATION OF THE PUBLICS TRUST".

No, it's common sense because if they weren't waived we'd have no one left to run the FDA, the CDC and the NIH. Why? Because holding stocks in such things by the individual choice is NOT prohibited! There's your problem!

7. Former President Bush (41) was appointed to the Eli Lilly board of directors and lobbied for additional tax breaks until the Supreme Court itself told him to stop.

Irrelevant and a blatant case of clutched at straws.

8. Former Vice President Quayle's family controlled Eli Lilly during that time frame. As a result of Bush's appointment to the Eli Lilly Board of Directors, it is suspected that Dan Quayle was selected as the Vice Presidential Candidate.

Prove it! Or shut up about that one.

9. Present and former Eli Lilly executives are now employed with the current Bush Administration.

So? What does that prove? Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill!

10. The Current Administration has tried to insert an eleventh hour Eli Lilly Rider provision in the Homeland Security Bill, that illegally protected the drug industry at the expense of thousands of mercury poisoned children.

What does that prove? Another case of trying to stop the companies from distributing life saving vaccines world wide? (Note, this was from the book in 2004 and refers to the Bush admin)

11. The current administration tried to "SEAL" CDC documents that proved the danger to children from the thimerosal additive used in the vaccines.

And failed. So where are they? Nowhere, because they don't exist.

12. The CDC tried to bury documented reports on thimerosal. They deliberately marked public documents with the phrase "DO NOT COPY OR RELEASE" This violated most consumer protection laws.

Prove it!

13. The drug industry has paid consultants that tried to disprove the relationship between autism and mercury poisoning from the multi doses of thimerosal that was given to our children.

So what? Shouldn't a company protect itself from harmful scuttlebut like "vaccines aren't safe"?

14. The symptoms of mercury poisoning and that of autism are IDENTICAL.

No they are not. That's a lot of nonsense and shows that this fool doesn't know what he's talking about.

15. The onset of "Autism" has exploded in the last 15 years to epidemic levels.

There is no epidemic. The increase in numbers has been primarily caused by a combination of the changes in the DSM and increased abuse of the sixth sense in those who have the genetic predisposition for the Autistic Spectrum - causing a sensory overload.

16. This onset occurred when the multi dose vaccines containing the thimerosal was given to our children on multiple occasions during the first two years of a childs life.

Coincidence and nothing more. There is no proof to this connection other that panic based speculation.

17. The U.S. Government and state governments require ALL children to have 21 mandated vaccines before being admitted to schools. Most of these vaccines contained the Thimerosal / Mercury up to the year 2001. The current flu vaccine still contains thimerosal.

It is now 2008 and despite the removal numbers remain where they are. It has had no effect. What does that tell you?

18. The pet vaccine industry took thimerosal out of pet vaccines over ten years ago because of known risks to animals.

Animals - not human beings, idiot!

19. Eli Lilly Company distorted information on the dangers of thimerosal as early as 1930. This has been proven by internal Eli Lilly documents and Congressional investigations by Congressman Burton's committee on Government Reform.

And Autism pre dates 1930 so this is irrelevant. Emil Kraepolin described youth dementia in 1893. That - unlike mercury poisoning - DID replicate the symptoms of Autism. Variations until 1943 were recorded as MR (mental retardation).

20. The U.S. Government has a three year statute of limitation vaccine court of law, that has illegally protected the drug industry by way of violating the U.S. Constitution. This court has and will dismiss law suits because of this illegal three year statute.....This in essence is obstruction of justice and violates the Constitutional rights of these vaccine injured children.

No, it's there because if there has been a vaccine accident (and they do happen - I'd be a fool to claim otherwise) it must be reported quickly. If it's not then there has to be a penalty for it, and that three year statute is it. The people who fail the constitutional rights of the child concerned are the parents for not acting promptly - or the doctor trying to protect himself (which the Vaccine Court does and that has to be stopped).

21. Eli Lilly and other drug giants have contributed large sums of money to the Republican political process.

So what? The US hasn't always had a Republican in the Whitehouse! Heck when this thing first blew up CLINTON was in charge!

22. The drug industry never disclosed that their baby vaccine products contained this dangerous mercury additive. Parents were never warned or notified.

Why should they when thiomersal is safe? It has only been removed because of panic.

23. Congressman Burton of Indiana has proposed bringing criminal charges against those who are responsible for this national tragedy.

And it will be fought as it should be. The criminals in this case are those who are promoting this conspiracy, fuelling panic and distrust that will cause a break out of disease as parents refuse to vaccinate. We have already had a preview of this in England with measles making a comeback after the panic over the MMR vaccine.

24. There have been over 120,000 documented cases of "AUTISM" - Mercury poisoning to our children. Another 250,000 cases are suspected. These children will require care and support for the rest of their lives. The costs to the parents will exceed $ 2 million dollars per injured child. These are crimes against humanity. Children's lives have been destroyed.

Whilst the numbers may be right, the idea is to support them and their parents - not promote it as a disease and destroy that support base. It would be a crime against humanity NOT to provide that support, and yet that's what this nonsense promotes. No support because it's not needed. It is and always will be be because Autism is GENETIC IN ORIGIN!

25. Majority leader Bill Frist has proposed a new law that again illegally protects The pharmaceutical industry by way of violating the Constitutional Rights of over 120,000 vaccine injured children. Title ll of this proposed law is an atrocity. The rights of these children and that of their parents MUST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS.

And calling thiomersal the problem will not do that. At all. Throwing up conspiracies like this will HURT the children this fool claims to be protecting.

This man disgusts me. Utterly disgusts me. I hope that Autism Hub readers feel the same way and will do their own thing to protest against this old yet new enemy to your children on the Spectrum, and to yourselves if you are like me and on the Spectrum yourself.

The silence surrounding the proceedings has been disconcerting, given that I expected to hear a result of the Cedillo case at least by now - so I went back to the website (noting that the docket had shifted as part of a website updgrade) to see what has been happening.

It would appear that the briefs of the three cases (Cedillo, Hazelhurst and Snyder) was delayed by an attempt to obtain documents from the UK. Probably related to the Wakefield investigation but I'm not sure about that. It's the submission of briefs being completed that held up a decision in these three cases. These are about the theory that a combination of MMR and thiomersal in vaccines causes Autism. Eventually the prosecution gave up the chase. There was also an issue with a lack of co-operation of the owners of the evidence they were seeking. Who these people were I don't know, but at a guess they didn't want to be associated with the prosecution side of the case - which I don't blame them for to be honest.

Meanwhile, the hearing for one of the other two theories has taken place. The one about thiomersal alone took place in May. There were three test cases (Mead, King and Dwyer). The second theory hearings were abandoned (the one about MMR alone) because it would simply rehash evidence already presented. This was actually a practical result that should have expedited the process.

But since the last report on September 29, 2008 - there has been nothing.

On November 18 there was an interim order regarding personal costs (which was never disputed and so does not affect the decision making process) in the Cedillo case. Mostly transport - and given the special wheelchair that was apparently needed for Michelle that was fair enough. That's the only decision that has been listed since the last report that was in any way related to this case.

I don't know if the briefs have been finalised on the second theory yet, and given that the third theory draws on the first two there may be briefs for that as well despite the lack of hearing. I'm guessing, but that may be why the delay. The Special Masters must be thinking that they must issue the decisions simultaneously instead of giving an impression with the first decision (which would have been the Cedillo case).

I remain confident that all the cases will be resolved in favour of the respondent.

Poor Mike Stanton has copped something of an internal blast from Michelle Dawson over a poster he put on his blog that was presented by him at the International Autism Conference in London last week. It was promoting the Autism Hub, and it appears that the main problem Michelle has with it is the reference to a 2008 paper by Clarke and Ameron as a source.

Now given that a few hub bloggers have slammed this paper (not just Michelle) I am a little mystified as to where the reference to such trash fits into the main body because I can't fault it to be honest. It speaks volumes on a number of issues that go to the core of the battle for proper information and support and keeping down the nonsense a la the mercury militia etc. I'm taking everyone's word for it that it is trash given the respect I have for certainly Michelle, who Mike refers to as a shining example of Spectrum intelligence.

Aside from the obvious issue with the paper "predating" the Hub (when the Hub was around certainly in 2006) there is a definite problem between today's parents of kids on the Spectrum and adults on the Spectrum themselves. Especially parents who identify as NT (like Jenny McCarthy for example) so they are desperate for their child to be NT as well. This certainly can't be denied. Likewise, there are those who "take a cue from Hans Asperger" regarding intelligence. I'm certainly one of those who preaches that line. So I assume the issue with the paper is in the remainder of the content.

So I guess my position at present is a little bit of both. I certainly respect Michelle's view, and I don't doubt that it was never Mike's core intention to use a "trash" study as a reference et al. He just picked up relevant bits, which as I said were on the money (except for the predating error).

The Hub represents a wide variety of issues and opinions. Hub members don't always agree with what I say here. I'm fine with that as long as the criticism is constructive and I can learn from it. Ever since I joined the Hub I have never once got a destructive thumbs down from within. I've got plenty from outside the Hub, but then that comes from the usual suspects who should not and should never be taken seriously in the grand scheme of activism (with one exception and I won't name him). On the Internet, information is incredibly important and it has to be the right information. I think we are all well aware of the amount of junk there is around, and I took that particular armament to the seminars in the process of the Autism State Plan here in Victoria, Australia, and got unanimous support for that viewpoint. This is an issue that Mike covered very well. It's lucky that the panic stricken parental problem isn't the issue in Australia that it is in the United States. I put that down to the basic difference in support between our respective health systems. Whilst ours still has a way to go, we are still light years ahead of the US, which is why such nonsense gets a foothold. I would in fact desctibe the US mental health system as akin to third world. It's that bad. No wonder scaremongerers have a field day.

The smartest thing we could have done here in more recent times is bring psychologists under the Medicare umbrella. Because they aren't qualified general practitioners they were missed by the safety net and it was therefore expensive to use their services. Psychiatrists were, but good ones are hard to find - especially ones who are familiar with the Spectrum. I got off to a bad start with them myself in the early 1990's but more recently things have been better resulting in not only my formal Aspergers diagnosis but also the four subsequent confirmations.

The Hub is a part of the wider battle for understanding, which consequently leads to respect. I've been somewhat inactive lately because of my new website, but once that's up that is going to change. The Wiki will be history when that happens.

The latest tactic by a member of the opposition to Neurodiversity seems to be unqualified know it alls trying to spread nonsense that an existing Aspergers diagnosis is wrong - and should in fact be Schizoid Disorder.

This is a typical act of desperation by the proponents of the Autistic Spectrum as a 100 percent bad thing.

There is a problem though, and that is that some symptoms of Schizoid Disorder do have some similarities to the Spectrum. However those similarities are very generalised. According to the DSM-IV Schizoid Disorder includes no less than four of the following;

* Lack of desire for, or enjoyment of close relationships.
* Almost exclusive preference for solitude.
* Little interest in sex with others.
* Few if any pleasures.
* Lack of friends.
* Indifference to praise or criticism from others.
* Flat affect, emotional detatchment.

Let's look at how these compare to Aspergers - and I want to point out that this is NOT a medical opinion because I don't have the qualifications. This is based on experience - both personal and observed.

1. Lack of desire for, or enjoyment of close relationships: Whilst this may be possible for an Aspie it is not inherent. If it does develop, it's because of external factors. Bad experience with close relationships, whether it be with family or peers or in other ways. This is not a pre-requisite for Schizoid Disorder. Speaking for myself, I enjoy a close relationship with both my family and my wife.

2. Almost exclusive preference for solitude: Everything I said for point 1 applies here as well. There is an occasional desire by Aspies to be alone, but this is not a regular preference. In fact it is not much more often than NT's.

3. Little interest in sex with others: Yet another example of external factors as said above. Aspies have plenty of interest in it. Whether or not they get it is a seperate issue that has nothing to do with the diagnosis either way.

4. Few if any pleasures: Aspies have special interests. That provides plenty of pleasures.

5. Lack of friends: I actually doubt this is in the DSM-IV, but for the sake of debate this again applies equally to point 1 above.

6. Indifference to praise or criticism from others: Aspies are the total opposite to this. We are sensitive to criticism (this varies from person to person DXed with Aspergers) and destructive criticism in particular. Because criticism garners a negative reaction, it follows that praise would attract a very positive reaction. Particularly if the amount of criticism is very large.

7. Flat affect, emotional detachment: This is another interpretation of inherent (Schizoid) versus applied (Aspergers).

It's disgusting that the opposition to Neurodiversity would go down this path. A posting that was deleted from Wrong Planet was reprinted elsewhere (I'm not naming the location here) and reading it angered me. It's what prompted this posting, and I don't blame Alex Plank for removing it. I'm not going to reflect on it's content out of respect for him.

This entry is in response to an article published on everyone's favourite ASD Dirt Sheet (said with heavy sarcasm) Age of Autism. It was written by a fellow in college with Aspergers, and yet again we have the exploitation of a person who was brought up to hate himself. Whether it was his peers at school or his parents (I don't know which and I'm not asking because it's none of my business) - that's why he came up with;

I can't think of anything positive it has done other than my sense of accomplishment after overcoming some of its challenges.

Obviously Jake hasn't scratched beneath the surface of what it is that he has. He is still a long way from understanding himself it would appear.

Whenever asked about how Autism has benefited them, they make irrelevant connections to their redeeming qualities such as photographic memories, musical talent or computer skills. Oddly enough, none of these qualities can be found in the DSM-IV on Autism.

Oh yes they are! Just not in those words. Rote memory is there (that's photographic memory), sensory sensitivity in hearing contributes to musical talent (sensory sensitivity is there) and computer skills are an extension of maths skills - which is also there in the DSM!

But what "evolutionary step" could lead to a whole population of people needing disability benefits from the government or a disability classification in schools?

This is a narrow minded comment, because it assumes that the evolutionary step won't change society. You bet it would - resulting in no need for disability benefits for certainly Aspies because we'd be able to access work easier! Schools would make a similar adjustment - and that's already happening, Jake!

Yet, most of these people by the time they were 2 months old had received 62.5 micrograms of ethylmercury - 99 times the EPA limit on methylmercury, a less toxic substance.

Wrong! Ethyl mercury is the less toxic of the two! And since when was there an EPA limit on methyl mercury when it's found naturally in fish? Give me a break!

This is in sharp contrast to parents who would simply accept the explanation that their children are "wired differently." So I never I felt that I needed to "like" having AS, although I do accept it.

This article smacks of a lack of acceptance, therefore I consider those last four words to be a lie.

I have yet to actually meet these people who do (like being Autistic).

Come meet me, Jake. And plenty of other people as well - people who accept the truth about the Autistic Spectrum. All we need is acceptance and support for our gifts so we can get jobs. The only group on the Spectrum that are truly disabled are the LFA's - and they can be helped out of the haze as long as the source of what put them on that end of the Spectrum is found. And the possibilities there are endless and based in sensory overload.

There are two things that I'm not a fan of. Political correctness - and the "R" word.

The movie Tropic Thunder has provided a very big grey area for me as it touches on both issues, and in a big way. It is for this reason that I am forced to do something I rarely do - sit on the fence on this issue.

I'm all for the protests against the use of the "R" word. It's wrong, and just as bad as the words that are used for skin colour, culture and religion in derogatory terms. I think we know the words I'm talking about.

On the other hand, there is such a thing as "poetic license". And in the movie there is also a case for parody and satire - as Ben Stiller pointed out. In other words, he's saying that the issue is being taken out of context because the movie is a fantasy and a comedy lampooning Hollywood. This is where the vexed issue of political correctness comes in.

I'm not about to defend the general idea of parody and satire because I'd be defending the likes of Encyclopedia Dramatica and Uncyclopedia - which I won't do. But there is a difference between doing it right and doing it wrong. I'm all for lampooning Hollywood. It is loaded with hypocrites and fakes, and the best satire comes from within.

The one part I do have a problem with is the generic "Rain Man" comment. This is the line that is attracting the most angst, and here I do agree. Because it paints everyone on the Spectrum as a Rain Man type. But it only demonstrates how far we have to go to educate. It's more a symptom of the problem rather than a problem in itself per se. In a way, the comment shows agreement with the media's general portrayl of the Spectrum - a portrayl that has been going on for years and is hardly new.

This is pretty much all I'm going to say on the subject. If one wants to protest, no matter which side you're on - go right ahead. Both sides have a legit case. And I'm staying out of this one.

I just got a message from the Quackbusters mailing list, informing list members that Clifford Shoemaker has been slapped by the court for his pathetic supoena against Kathleen Seidel as I previously noted on this blog.

Basically what has happened is that the court quashed the supoena, and demanded that Shoemaker show why he shouldn't be penalised under a rule of the system regarding lawyer ethics.

Shoemaker tried to claim that Kathy wasn't "just a mother of an autistic child and a housewife" but a "co-conspirator". But he failed to provide any evidence to prove this, and the judge rightly noted Kathy's library experience plus her right to freedom of speech as the reason for her knowledge. She was simply a good researcher (like most librarians are). I think the judge knew that Shoemaker was simply peeved at the detail Kathy had gone into exposing Shoemaker's history and went completely overboard over something that was on the public record and he couldn't do a thing about it!

To cut a long story short - Shoemaker has been ordered within three months to participate in a legal education program on ethics and on discovery rules, and show a certificate of completion of the program. Not only that, the court has also referred the conduct to his own Bar in Virginia (the court that handled this was in New Hampshire I think) for action.

It's probably wishful thinking, but maybe the Bar will kick him out and he can't practice any more - at least in Virginia!

On top of the withdrawal of the original case (Sykes v Bayer) this is another victory for the Autistic Rights Movement!

When I wrote to Time Magazine to protest about their inclusion of Bob and Suzanne Wright as "heroes and pioneers" not that long ago, I completely forgot about the controversy over the parody site "NT Speaks". I was reminded of it seeing that Amanda Baggs had noted yet another controversy - and this one is just as stupid.

Another ASD person by the name of Zach created a line of T-Shirts that read "‘Autism Speaks’ can go away. I have autism. I can speak for myself". It was hosted by a website called Zazzle, who suddenly took the line down without explanation. When Zach enquired, Zazzle told him that Autism Speaks told them to take it down - apparently threatening legal action.

For what?

I don't mind legal action for a purpose, but the purpose here was clearly to shut up anyone who even remotely claims that we can speak for ourselves. The key to Autism Speaks and their promotion of Autism is that we can't communicate in any way! They are keen to keep things negative so they can proceed with their eugenic research. That can not be permitted to continue.

Larry Arnold has already grabbed the domain for 'autismspeaks.eu', but he uses it for advocacy instead of to bag Autism Speaks. I'd grab 'autismspeaks.com.au' but that's not cheap and I don't have the spare time to take anything else on at present anyway what with the massive upgrade to my current website coming. I am also tempted to start a line of T-Shirts or something similar, but that presents the same problem - along with the fact that making money out of such a thing is something I have serious moral issues with. Such money should be donated, and there isn't any Autistic specific charity in Australia (which should change IMO).

But someone has to do something. If I could get something going, and if I got a message from Autism Speaks threatening legal action - I would tell them to bring it on. And I would prove to the court and to them that they are barking up the wrong tree on ASD's and they are harming kids on the Spectrum with their tactics and not helping them. In fact I would counter sue them for defamation of character and vilification on the basis of a "disability" (legal interpretation).

I wish I had the time to do so. I've been going very well lately with legal activity in other areas of my life, and this could have been another notch in my belt.

UPDATE: It would seem that there has been a misunderstanding. Autism Speaks never contacted Zazzle and apparently Zazzle was acting in part from previous issues seperate to the organisation. The reaction by Zach was understandable, but this was nevertheless incorrect.

I was looking on the Autism Hub and came across this campaign, and Alex Plank over at Wrong Planet giving it a bake for depicting Autism badly.

Whilst I respect Alex's translation, this is one of those 50/50 things. And here's why.

Alex has translated this as an attack on Autism similar to the Random Notes thing a little while ago. In that the idea of a person in a jail cell insinuates that all Auties are in a jail cell and the only way to get them out is to cure them. And also depict Autism as a bad thing.

Now here's the other translation - and this is a better one and I would have thought this is what the people running the campaign would have told Alex. We aren't in the jail cell simply because we are on the Spectrum. The jail cell actually doesn't represent Autism. It represents the intolerance of the Spectrum. In other words - we have been thrown in there by NTE's (Neuro Typical Enemies) who are trying to penalise us for being who we are. The money being sought is for support groups to break that attitude and help Auties cope better, and also to educate those who are committing this heinous act.

Unlike Ranson Notes, this campaign is better aimed. Whilst the translation issue (that Alex has unwittingly identified) may present a problem, this is a grey area - whereas Ransom Notes was blatant in it's depiction of Autism as being the metaphorical jailer. The aim here is far more ambiguous - and the fact that the second translation (mine) exists, means that the campaign should be given at least just a little bit of respect.

Let's see where the money goes.

I've been thinking about the mercury militia's poster girl, Jenny McCarthy and her crusade against the vaccine schedule. Now I'll be honest - there is a problem. However having said that the problem is not the schedule as such. The problem is the way it is being translated. It is based on the assumption that a child will not get sick, or if they do they won't be sick for very long. Some doctors - in their determination to keep to the schedule - ignore common sense and insist on vaccinating anyway when the immune system is at it's most vulnerable. Catch ups can also be fraught with risk, depending on the vaccines and how many.

I've always said that vaccines are not the problem. Like all tools, it depends on how they are used. And like all tools that are misused, accidents happen. That's partly why the US has a Vaccine Court, although I would prefer people target the doctors rather than the vaccines.

This is the problem with Jenny McCarthy. She's trying to blame the vaccines and she is demanding that the schedule be slowed down. I don't know what she is aiming at, but if she is saying that 30 in two years is too fast - she's wrong. Unless of course the child gets ill too often, but that's something that no one (not even the CDC) can predict. To expect anyone to predict such a thing is to expect a crystal ball to work!

But one remark that Jim Carrey made during the protest really demonstrated the desperation of these protestors. He spoke of fire engines attending a fire - and people getting knocked down by the engine on the way to the fire. His solution? Slow the fire engine down!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, CARREY????

The solution to that is NOT to slow the engine down. The solution is to get the people out of the bloody way!! That reminds me a lot of the problems we have in Australia at the moment with people playing chicken with trains at level crossings - and complaining when they get hit (if they survive that is). People haven't said slow the train down though, because the train (just like the fire engine) always has the right of way.

Vaccines equally have the right of way. But like fire engines and trains there is still a speed limit. It is just a lot faster than these fools want it to be. Just like getting to a fire later, lives will be lost. And no matter what anyone says - that is a price not worth paying. McCarthy is a believer in Autism being worse than some killer childhood diseases. That is just as unrealistic - because with Autism a child lives on. Real diseases that vaccines prevent kill children outright. Autism has never ever killed one child - and the sooner McCarthy and her allies realise this the better.

I've been thinking about this for some time. The constant stream of abuse I get whenever the dreaded "employment" subject comes up.

Those who know me well enough know what I have been through. I won't elaborate on that here because that isn't what this entry is all about. I have my own personal reasons for not working and aside from the issues that affect me directly, there is another one that affects everyone on the Spectrum who have fallen through the cracks in the system.

Exploitation.

It has been suggested to me that I go and get a simple job like as a cleaner for example. Simple work, easy to do and so on. I have two issues with that suggestion (notwithstanding the other reasons I spoke of which clinch it anyway). Cleaning is an insult for someone who has skills that should be used instead of ignored. Leave that sort of job who genuinely is not capable of learning the skills needed - and I don't mean that in a nasty way. There are people who genuinely have problems learning - and that includes outside the Autistic Spectrum.

The second issue is that as a rule, being a cleaner is seen by society at large as a job for dumb people. The same is true of employers - and this automatically leads to exploitation. Extra hours work for minimal pay - appalling work conditions etc etc. This is the sort of work that the former Howard government's industrual relations legislation (the pathetic Work Choices) allowed the maximum exploitation for. AWA's for cleaners would have included extended hours, and the sort of people it employed were generally contractors or individuals who were either unable to work anywhere else and as a result were prepared to do anything to work - the perfect combination for exploitation - or just basically weren't prepared to fight for a better deal in employment in general when it came to their skills, and allowed themselves to be dictated to by society. This is another version of a perfect combination for exploitation.

Cleaning jobs are for temps who do it part time or casually to either help with studies. They are the only ones who would actually get something out of jobs like this. It's the western world's version of slavery. Not as bad as genuine slavery of course, but the conditions are such that health problems for those who sub consciously know they are better than this but don't have the backbone to pursue the better employment are rife. The sub concious distress can lead to things like heart attacks. It's not right, and it's a human rights abuse. The worst part about it is those on the Spectrum who end up actually choosing this line of work don't even realise it. Or worse, they ignore the alarm bells - putting their hip pocket ahead of their mental health. I'll never respect that attitude.

99 times out of 100, cleaners are people who have been exploited. It's not a full time job and it should never be. It's also not a long term job. Anyone who takes up such a job full time long term is being exploited, especially if the exploitation is happening at the expense of a person on the Autistic Spectrum.

It's about time it stopped. Those certainly on the higher end of the Spectrum are better than that, and deserve better. We have a skills shortage in Australia. Let's concentrate on the skills us Aspies in particular do have, instead of defaulting to the old "if he's not 'normal' he's dumb" attitude. That's exploitation just waiting to happen. And those on the Spectrum are the most vulnerable victims.

I read with alarm and disgust that well known mercury militia member Lisa Sykes has decided to get her lawyer, Clifford Shoemaker, to supoena Kathy Seidel for a deposition. This appears to be over Kathy's commentary on the issues of Autism, and likely her comments that may or may not have been made against Sykes.

Kathy is fighting it, and I say good for her. This supoena is definitely harrassment and an attempt to shut Kathy up, and her response to the court order (to apply via court motion to quash it) is magnificent to say the least.

I mean heck, in the supoena the contact details of EVERYONE who has commented on the matter on her blog is demanded. I'm not mentioned, but a lot of people I am aware of are. Believe me, if I had been mentioned I would have been very quick to make my own application and probably file a suit for harrassment on the grounds of the frivilous content.

I have enough experience in the legal system to know that Kathy's response should be successful, On this blog I formally condemn the actions of Clifford Shoemaker and Lisa Sykes and request that they concentrate on their own case against the Bayer Corporation (presumably Sykes is acting directly instead of through the Vaccine Courts on behalf of her Autistic child) and leave people like Kathy and co alone. If she wants to go down that path she'll have a mighty war on her hands with everyone on the supoena likely (I hope) to get involved in a class action against this foolish woman and her stupid lawyer!

In fact - I would call the content of this supoena tantamount to defamation because it insinuates that Kathy is making a profit out of her website, neurodiversity.com. She addresses that in her quash motion. I know the feeling of being accused of that, thanks to some twit who reported my website to Centrelink. I easily countered the complaint with no fuss.

Sykes, you are an idiot! Shoemaker, you should have your right to practice law revoked!

I encourage Kathy to claim costs and restitution when this supoena is quashed as it should be.

http://neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/150/

This is a reprint of a comment I placed onto a poorly informed article by Cornelia Read;

Just in case it hasn't been said already - Cornelia, you said "Don't believe anything you read". And yet here you are - BELIEVING IT!!

Hannah Poling is NOT Autistic. She has traits, yes, but not enough for a diagnosis. Oh you didn't know that? You didn't know that you can only be on the Spectrum if you have a certain number of traits?

You - like the mercury militia - are over simplifying the Autistic Spectrum, especially when you bring smoking (which IS simple) into the equation as a straw man argument. The Spectrum is much more complicated than that, and if you would look beyond your own child you'll realise the folly of the thrust of your article.

This sort of thinking is what delayed the initial writing on Autism - a side track. And the culprit was Eugene Bleuler and schizophrenia. Now we're at it again - and Kanner and Asperger will be wondering whether or not they wasted their time trying to correct the first side track. We made progress in 1994 when the two men's work was finally combined into one and seperated from Bleuler (the DSM-IV) leading to an increase in ASD diagnoses, and a decrease in wrong DX's. Now we're being sent up another medical cul-de-sac and we're nowhere nearer achieving what should be achieved - proper support and CORRECT treatment (if needed) for ASD's. As long as it's treated like a disease - the human race is doomed. Remember, if you want to talk about 1939, we were treating blacks like a disease as well. They've progressed further than we have, but it's the same story slowed down. Fear.

Fear of what? Fear of nothing. It's not a death sentence - unless you make it one by treating it like one. This is evolution, and the secret is tolerance.

This posting is laced with a complete lack of it, and for that you should be ashamed - especially as you are a mother of a person who is inherently part of that evolutionary process. Don't try and pull your child into your world. You have to enter theirs and adjust - like going into another country, another culture. Then you teach them about your culture. It's a long hard job, but if you go in there with an completely open mind you'll do it - and then the trick is to combine the two as best as possible. I've been working towards that as an Aspie (and proud of it) and the only setbacks I've had have been due to intolerance.

You should indeed learn from those who know, rather than from what is written. And the best source for you is your own child. Go into their world - and learn first hand. If you need help doing so, get it. And if it's not available in your area THEN you'll see why so many parents are panicking and falling for the very thing you said to avoid - believing what they read. LACK OF SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING.

Funny, you probably won't believe me for the same reason. The trouble is it's hard when I'm not exactly in a position to show you and words are the only way I can convey the message otherwise. "A paradox - a most ingenius paradox".

Today (April 2) is Autism Awareness Day, and Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) came down to Melbourne from it's home in Sydney to announce it's expansion into Victoria. I made the trip from Ballarat to see what they had to offer and to see if they could help me with my issues.

Judy Brewer (the wife of Tim Fischer) spoke - and mentioned that no two experiences of Autism in the family is the same. Every single experience is different. So no one can speak on the experience of Autism with any authority without seeing for themselves the experience of others. There is no maximum number for such experience, but there is a minimum - lots. She also mentioned the vast difference in services between Victoria and New South Wales (She has lived in both states), and specified Albury and Wodonga as a great example with people moving from one to the other to get access to the better services.

We heard about the basic mission of Aspect, which is admirable to say the least. About the only thing that was said that I didn't like was the mention of the part Autism Speaks played in arranging World Autism Day. A great demonstration of Autism Speaks and it's two faces.

Not surprisingly, there was a heavy emphasis on childhood support and early intervention. Understandable, and certainly something I'm all for. But they do have a person on board geared towards adult ASD needs. That shows the recognition needed for those who were diagnosed late as I was - or even too late in terms of being DXed in the pre teen years (which is also too late for intervention as such). The gentleman concerned did limit his spiel to young adults, so I took the opportunity from the floor to ask a question about those who were beyond employment and socialisation. I was generalising, but I was in effect talking about myself. He identified it as a big question, and admitted that there was a hole in the system that people were falling through - at which point I gave my usual stim of agreement (hand gestures like pointing at him and saying "Spot on", and leaning back in my chair nodding my head vigorously) and pointed out that I was one of those people.

Delightfully, when the presentation finished he sought me out straight away and we talked about my situation - and he agreed with everything I said about employment, particularly the closure issue with Australia Post and the Defence Department - and the CMO issue which played it's part. I also mentioned that because of this my life was now reliant on my special interests and I couldn't fit a job in without making massive changes to my routine - which could be done, but it would take a long long time. Of course as long as the CMO report was there it would be a wasted effort anyway.

He also mentioned some TAFE colleges trying to help those on the upper end of Spectrum to catch up with an education to get the qualifications to compete. I'd heard about that, but he admitted that it wasn't working for all of the participants - they were dropping off because of the atmosphere. The very concern I have with it - if the atmosphere isn't right, how the heck can you get the things you need to get done done? You can't - pure and simple.

I'll be emailing him when I get a chance to link him to my website and the Wiki. There is also a good chance that this gentleman could be a very big key in advocacy to getting the committe enquiry I've been chasing off the ground. That's the best part to come out of this - and it's the reason I went to this meeting in the first place. In the hope that I could get this sort of support.

It was worth the trip!

I caught the coverage of the press conference this morning on the Sky News showing of CBS News, and from what I could tell - the admission of vaccine damage to Hannah Poling has nothing to do with Autism. According to what I heard, the problem was a rare disorder that was unknown until this case was brought on.

Key words - rare disorder.

Now what has that got to do with Autism? Easy - nothing. I am in no doubt that once the genetic roots of ASD's are finally found that Hannah will lose her Autism DX.

I also noted on the CBS News that they spoke to their resident expert about giving five vaccines in rapid succession. That is risky to say the least - but is that the fault of the vaccines? Of course not! The fault lies in the application of the vaccines, and as the CBS expert stated "You should consult your doctor". Combine that with the fact that it is equally foolish to apply a vaccine to a sick child, and the vaccines themselves are much safer.

Katie Couric observed in a brief editorial comment before going onto the next story as to whether or not this decision was a precedent, or was it an exception?

Easy, Katie. It's an exception. The rare disorder is the key to that, and if this case was a part of the Omnibus (which I don't think it was because it wasn't mentioned when I last looked at the docket) I doubt that any of the just 5000 cases would be the same. Even 1 in 5000 would not be described as "rare".

After I typed this I watched the CNN video - and Hannah's mother gave a description PRE vaccination that gave all the indications that she already had Aspie traits. The intelligence level was exceptional and her logical knowledge seemed from the description to have been Aspie like. So if the vaccines had any effect - it changed the position on the Spectrum that she was already on. And judging by the video (they did show Hannah while her mother was speaking on CNN - CBS had a different video which confirmed my thoughts) she wasn't low functioning. Mind you, there was no guide either way as to whether or not speech was a problem.

I suspect that the government saw that the vaccines did something negative - hence their acceptance. But it wasn't causing Autism. It was a shift on the Spectrum.

I was just having a look at the Generation Rescue website to check on something, and I fell across Dan Olmsted's current contribution to the web - Age of Autism. And my attention was forcibly drawn to the posting "Why we'll win". I wasted no time posting a reply to this garbage, especially when I noticed that Theresa Cedillo had posted. It gave me a great opportunity to give her what for in relation to her neglect of her daughter Michelle (touched on earlier in this blog). I waited to see if it was let through before posting this message, given that I expected the comment to be modded out. And it was. So........

Nope - you'll all lose, because you're barking up the wrong tree. Autism is genetic and can not be cured. You're treating the symptoms and getting some limited improvement but that's all you'll get. The root condition is there for life.

Theresa, take responsibility for your actions. The fact that you failed to take your daughter straight to hospital when her tempreture hit 105 all those years ago is the reason your daughter is the way she is today. That is your fault - not the vaccine's. And that's why your case in the Vaccine Court will fail. As it should. As will all the others.

Autism is in the genes at it's root. It goes back to at least 1893 under the name of youth dementia - which has an anecdotal history dating back to ancient Greece. Thimerosal has NOTHING to do with Autism. Neither does the MMR jab. Established medical fact - and Andrew Wakefield will lose his license to practice medicine as a result of his actions.

If the author truly believes in freedom of speech, this comment will not be modded out.

I've picked up the news that the American Academy of Paediatrics are looking for people to help them. This has apparently scared the living daylights out of Generation Rescue who would be keen to nullify any positive coverage of ASD's and any attacks on their cult like belief. I call this a great move by the Academy and they have my full support on the effort.

The email I am reprinting below is for all parents who fit the bill requested. I for one would love to see this lead to something big to counter the coverage that Jenny McCarthy got, and to provide a focus to the objections to the "Eli Stone" episode. I don't allow comments here, but if you want to get involved, you can contact Susan Stevens Martin at the Academy at ssmartin@aap.org.

------------------------

Hello,

As part of our ongoing response to media stories regarding autism and vaccines, the AAP communications department is compiling a list of parents who support the AAP and are available for interviews. We are looking for two types of parents who could serve as spokespersons:

1. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders who support immunization and who do not believe there is any link between their child's vaccines and his or her autism.

2. Parents of children who suffered a vaccine-preventable illness. This could be a parent who declined immunization, whose child became ill before a vaccine was available, or whose child was ineligible for immunization.

We are asking for your help identifying parents who would be good spokespersons. They do not need to be expert public speakers. They just need to be open with their story and interested in speaking out on the issue. We will contact candidates in advance to conduct pre-interviews, to offer guidance on talking to reporters and to obtain a signed waiver giving us permission to release their name.

If a parent were placed on our list, we would offer their name and contact information to select media. We hope to build a list of parents from a wide range of geographical areas.

As the Jenny McCarthy and "Eli Stone" stories illustrate, this issue is likely to recur in the national and local media. The AAP is committed to doing all we can to counter such erroneous reports with factual information supported by scientific evidence and AAP recommendations.

The anti-vaccine groups often have emotional family stories on their side. The ability to offer a reporter an interview with a similarly compelling parent who is sympathetic to the AAP's goals is a powerful tool for our media relations program.

Please contact me if you have any questions or to suggest a parent to interview.

Thank you,

Susan Stevens Martin
Director, Division of Media Relations
American Academy of Pediatrics

Well, this is old news to me - but the infamous Dan Olmsted, the man with the "Amish don't have Autism" obsession, has finally been well and truly blown out of the water.

The evidence is easy to find apparently - in a place called Strasburg in Pennsylvania, right amongst one of the largest Amish population groups in the world, and where Olmstead based his 2005 nonsense. In a centre called the CSC (Clinic for Special Children) Dr. Kevin Strauss advises that he has seen his fair share of Autism amongst Amish children - effectively debunking Olmsted's baseless theory that there is no Autism amongst the Amish because they don't vaccinate.

The reality is that while vaccination rates are lower than the general population, it does appear to be increasing. And it's also true (and I figured this anyway when I first heard about Olmsted's BS) that the Amish are more protective of their children and won't go out into the mainstream for help. That is changing though as a more inclusive style of Amish living is slowly being adopted in order to not fall too far behind the rest of the world as technology takes over our lives.

Autism News Beat did what any good investigative website would and should do. Get into the details. That's what they did (it was there that I picked up this story) and it just goes to show that if you speak to the right people you'll get the facts. Something that Olmsted needs to learn. He's long been a proponent of the thiomersal cause Autism nonsense, and his silence as a result of not only this story so far (ANB have claimed to be in email contact with Olmsted and are waiting for a response) but also to the counter report done by Strauss and fellow MD, Dr. Holmes Morton that was published in the respected New England Journal of Medicine in 2006. According the ANB and Strauss, Olmsted never visited the CSC.

So where did he get his info from? Or was he guessing?

As a journalist, Olmsted fails big time - and any commentary he makes about the origins of Autism should be treated with a grain of salt until he learns the correct definition of "investigative journalism"!

A few corrections from my last comment on this issue.

1. The Hazlehurst and Synder cases WERE about the combination of MMR and thiomersal, like the Cedillo case. Both those cases have now been heard. I haven't seen anything reported about them in any detail as of yet.

2. The date I gave for the closing of briefs was January 15, 2008. That is now February 11.

The hearing in the Hazelhurst case took four days in mid October, and the hearing in the Synder case took five days.

With the two other scenarios (thiomersal causes Autism by itself and the MMR cause Autism by itself) the three test cases are due to be heard fairly quickly. The thiomersal only initial hearing is to be held in May 2008. Hopefully this will give time for a decision to be issued in all three of the initial test cases. The MMR only initial hearing is set for September 2008.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the Cedillo case to be ruled on. As the three special masters are handling each case individually, the ruling made on the Cedillo case as an individual case will have no influence on the other two cases. That's a good thing because it avoids any bias. So if all three go one way - that's a major precedent. A decision on the general causation theory won't be made until after all three of the individual cases are ruled upon, but if all three go the one way that decision is a given and it will only take as long as it takes to write the decision up to deliver it.