Time Magazine's Article on Autism, Vaccines and Public Health Could Have a Significant Impact on Pediatric Medicine
Time reporter Claudia Wallis was careful, in her article, to address the complexity of the Hannah Poling Vaccine Court decision. She made it clear that the case was unusual; that experts in mitochondrial disorders found the decision surprising, and quotes a statement from the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation saying, "There are no scientific studies documenting that childhood vaccinations cause mitochondrial diseases or worsen mitochondrial disease symptoms." She also quotes Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC, as saying "the government has made absolutely no statement about indicating that vaccines are the cause of autism, as this would be a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today."
But when Wallis sums up her research, and points out what she feels are the takeaway messages of the Hannah Poling case, is not altogether neutral. She, like many parents of children with autism (and unlike the vast majority of pediatricians), questions the safety of the present vaccination schedule. She suggests that parents take a more active role in designing their children's immunization schedule. In fact, she could be said to be taking an activist stance:
It's difficult to draw any clear lessons from the case of Hannah Poling, other than the dire need for more research. One plausible conclusion is that pediatricians should avoid giving small children a large number of vaccines at once, even if they are thimerosal-free. Young children have an immature immune system that's ill-equipped to handle an overload, says Dr. Judy Van de Water, an immunologist who works with Pessah at U.C. Davis. "Some vaccines, such as those aimed at viral infections, are designed to ramp up the immune system at warp speed," she says. "They are designed to mimic the infection. So you can imagine getting nine at one time, how sick you could be." In addition, she says, there's some evidence, that children who develop autism may have immune systems that are particularly slow to mature.Time is more than just another publication. It has a huge readership, and a reputation for legitimacy. Like certain other news outlets, it has a real impact on Americans' choices and beliefs. Through her summing up, Claudia Wallis has done more than report the facts: she has presented a point of view -- a perspective that could have a real impact on pediatric medicine.Van de Water worries that current vaccine schedules may be overly aggressive for some children. She suggests that parents who are concerned about vaccine safety ask their pediatricians to give fewer at a time. And, she adds, don't vaccinate a child when he or she is ill....
"My daughter's case raises more questions than it answers," concedes her father, Dr. Jon Poling, a neurologist who also has a Ph.D. in biophysics. Poling believes in the importance of vaccinating children: "Vaccines are one of the most important advances in the history of medicine," he says, "but people need to know there is a risk to every medicine. There may be a small percentage of people who are susceptible to injury." He and his wife would like to see thimerosal eliminated from flu vaccines, which continue to be given to children and pregnant women, a fact that, he thinks, could be one reason autism rates haven't declined. And he urges pediatricians to take a hard look at the schedule on which vaccines are given. "I think we need a grassroots movement among pediatricians to be more conservative, and not give so many shots at once."
What's your feeling about this article? Do you agree that it has a point of view -- and that that point of view may have a real impact on parents' relationships with their pediatricians? Share your thoughts!
Comments
I don’t think it’s up to the parents. It’s up to the doctors to make a change. They have to go back and re-evaluate the vaccination schedule, even if it’s not proven it has a direct effect on autism rates. If it is indeed truth that some babies immune systems are not mature enough to handle the accelerated schedule, so let’s scale down a little. I’m against parents that decide not to vaccinate a child at all, it’s irresponsible.
The thing is, an infants immune system cant handle being exposed to the viruses either and much of these diseases affected the very young. Exposure can be the actual germ, or a vaccine with a smaller amount of the virus.
Questioning the present vaccination schedule in this case isn’t the true question. 9 vaccines is unheard of which as the father says, raises more questions than it answers. In nature you would be hard pressed to be exposed to 9 diseases at one time, and makes no sense to inject any child with 9. No matter what the child’s immune system is, that many in a day is bound to cause an over load on the immune system. Also, there is only a certain amount a muscle area can hold liquid-wise. I just cant imagine holding down and watching a baby being over injected like that. That child must had been miserable.
I myself as a parent would take an active role in all my child’s medical needs, not just with vaccines and I’m not sure why more have not done this. My own 70 year old mother did when I was a child when it came to vaccines.
I myself do not suggest yet I know the causes of autism, however this case does not prove anything but a horrible case of over- vaccination and that should never happen to any child.
I agree with your headline and would welcome serious study whether pediatric medicine ought to be significantly impacted by this article (and issue). I think the article does have a point of view: let’s finally get an answer to the question whether the current child immunization schedule is the safest one possible for all children.
From my decade plus of interacting with many families like mine who have kids on the autism spectrum, I think most support immunizations as an important tool for public health. Many of the diseases that vaccines can prevent are very serious and can be fatal.
But I think I also express the concern of many in the autism community that the aggressive acceleration in the child immunization schedule in the early 1990’s (more shots, earlier, in stronger, preserved combination doses), MAY be in some way connected to the sharp increase in autism diagnoses that occurred over the same period. I was told 1 in 10,000 by the top people in the country in 1996. Now they say 1 in 150. Was the change in the schedule coincidental or causitive with this explosion in diagnoses? I don’t think it is clear one way or the other but what does seem clear is that too little study was done to determine the safety of the change in vaccination protocol before it was recommended.
Perhaps reverting to the earlier, more conservative schedule as Dr.’s Poling and Van de Water effectively advocate is the most prudent course while more study takes place. It strikes me as pretty sound advice from respected medical professionals to take a more conservative course in light of what is now known.
The toothpaste is already out of the tube, as this Time article demonstrates. To increase confidence and maintain uptake rates, the government should create a body that has vaccine safety as their only mandate. Not safety and vaccine promotion like they do now. Safety only. My confidence in public health vaccine recommendations and mandates is unlikely to return until I see system with checks and balances in place.
I was turned off immediately by the opening of the article. It is not the case with so many cases in the world of autism that the child is perfectly normal and then looses all sorts of abilities. My child, like so many I know who are truly have autism, never developed those things. Through blood, sweat and tears, my child began to develop some eye contact, speech and social skills. I feel for families that have children damaged by vaccines. Autism is something that someone is born with, it is not “caught” like a cold. Please accept that and start to accept the differences of our children.
My first thought when I read this story was “Why bother to quote Dr. Julie Gerberding?” Everyone knows she is just a spokesperson for Big Pharma and the moment she leaves the FDA she’ll be working as a lobbyist for them.
My second thought was that although I personally think there is some connection between vaccines and autism I think we have to balance that out with the diseases that are actually prevented. Personally, I think vaccines are like everything else: They are good in moderation. Unfortunately, Big Pharma and the future lobbyist running the FDA only care about profits. The number of vaccines and schedules are way overboard though.
I also bet that Big Pharma is also setting up fake “Grassroots Groups” to get all the legislators in the country to make it mandatory that kids have to be put on even more vaccines. They’ve done this with TeenScreen and Eli Lillys profits for Cymbalta went through the roof so I’m sure they’ll do this with vaccines if they haven’t already started. They co-opt “good causes” and turn them into profit centers.
My final thought is that I still think the SIDS Back to Sleep campaign which was started in 1992 and changed the sleep position of American Infants from stomach to back has had a very negative impact on some of our children (especially those with sleep apnea). Unfortunately the man who is in charge of the campaign for the U.S. (Dr. John Kattwinkel) had a daughter die at 3 days of age, which is a complete tragedy, and is very biased against reporting any of the negative effects of the Back to Sleep campaign.
“There are indications of a rapidly growing population of infants who show developmental abnormalities as a result of prolonged exposure to the supine position.”
Dr. Ralph Pelligra regarding the impact of the Back to Sleep Campaign
http://cgi.thescientificworld.co.uk/cgi-bin/processHtml.pl?Id=2005.03.71.html&format=Dreamweaver
“Since the implementation of the “Back to Sleep” campaign, therapists are seeing increasing numbers of kindergarten-aged children who are unable to hold a pencil.”
Susan Syron, Pediatric Physical Therapist
“I do not think it is a medical problem - it is more of a cosmetic one. Mothers may feel it is a syndrome and a problem when it really is nonsense.”
Dr. Peter Fleming, back sleep advocate, on his view of deformational plagiocephaly
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2003/jul/08/lifeandhealth.sciencenews
“Why should she be a beautiful, healthy-looking girl and be dead two days later?”
Dr. John Kattwinkel on the death of his 3 day old baby daughter in 1966
“The Academy was looking for someone who didn’t have an agenda. So they chose me.”
Dr. John Kattwinkel on being chosen to head the 1992 American Academy on Pediatrics Task Force on SIDS Prevention
The negative effects of this vaccine are the following on babies between the ages of 0 and 6
months:
- statistically significant social skills delays at 6 months
- statistically significant motor skills delays at 6 months
- decreased sleep duration by 6%-8% during the first 6 months of life
- increased rates of sleep apnea (lack of oxygent to the brain)
- 500% to 2500% increase in deformational plagiocephaly
- increased rates of torticollis and shoulder retraction
- 43% increase in sleep awakenings (this causes sleep stage
fragmentation of the four NREM and 1 REM stages of sleep)
- 40% increase in the duration of sleep awakenings
I think the vaccine schedules children are put on these days are extreme. I think that and any residual mercury may be part of the cause of the autism epidemic. I also think the SIDS Back to Sleep Campaign started in 1992 has been part of the cause too. But Big Pharma only cares about profits and like they did with TeenScreen they are trying to do with vaccines. That is, they are co-opting an ostensible “good cause” simply to make money.
Many parents don’t think shots caused our children’s autism
they never interview us because they want to create a fake controversy of science against parents.
Thanks Val. I couldn’t agree more. Our stories don’t make news. I’m forever for the scientists and behaviorists that don’t have anyone in their family with autism, yet devote their lives to helping make my child’s life better.
Lisa Jo:
I enjoy your column, although I can’t help when reading it to feel that you are biased away from the vaccine-autism hypothesis. Is that true? If so, would you please say so?
Generation Rescue has three alternative vaccines schedule on our website at www.generationrescue.org Just click on the “On Vaccines” link and check them out for yourself: http://www.generationrescue.org/vaccines.html
With a vaccine schedule that is out of control,growing by 260% in the last 20 yrs, parents do need to take the schedule into their own hands.
It is my strong personal opinion that the only reasonable solution to the autism epidemic is a complete overhaul of the CDC recommended vaccine schedule that will reduce the total number of vaccines for kids, begin administering them later in life, never bunch the shots at a single appointment, decouple vaccines like the MMR, and reduce the number of toxins in our vaccines.
I’m please to see that this point of view, considered radical only a few weeks ago, is now being considered reasonable by a publication like Time Magazine.
That’s progress, and the Polings deserve all the credit for us. It has driven many of us parents crazy to hear “experts” claim that the timing of our children’s vaccines and their autism are coincidence. We were with them at the pediatrician! Like the polings, we saw what happened to them!
Finally, America is listening? Are you listening Lisa Jo?
JB Handley
Generation Rescue
How do autism rates in countries with less agressive vaccination schedules compare? And how does increased screening and classifying as autism affect the rate, like ADD did a while ago? What’s the correlation between the changing the official criteria for autism and the increased recorded rate? It is a true epidemic and increase, or did the criteria change which lead to the increase?
Generation Rescue is not an unbiased source, either. Your list of vaccines is inaccurate and the 36 include optional vaccines, and one even given at prenatal. Your 36 vaccine list is a scare tactic to the public. My child has never gotten 36 vaccines and he is fully up to date on his and always has been. I’d also like to see the study about high doses of vitamin A and C prior to vaccines. There’s evidence that vitamin C megadoses may cause cancer, vitamin A overdosing include accumulation of water in the brain (hydrocephalus). And finally, your site is not unbiased since it includes “Vaccines are big business”. Well, so are the diseases, if one was to contract it.
I do not believe SIDS Back to Sleep campaign has anything to do with autism. In China babies are sleeping on their back from long long ago. But the Autism had just recently showed up and the rate had just recently increased.
To vax9000. Here is what the experts say about the Back to Sleep Campaign. I’m just making my own opinion that some of these children mentioned might be diagnosed with autism:
Since the implementation of the Back to Sleep campaign, therapists are seeing increasing numbers of kindergarten-aged children who are unable to hold a pencil.
- Susan Syron, Pediatric Physical Therapist
There are indications of a rapidly growing population of infants who show developmental abnormalities as a result of prolonged exposure to the supine position.
- Dr. Ralph Pelligra regarding the impact of the Back to Sleep Campaign
BTW, peer reviewed journals report that it causes Social Skills Delays, Motor Skills Delays, Deformational Plagiocephaly, Shoulder Retraction, Less REM and less NREM sleep, and TMJ. But, Dr. John Kattwinkel insists all these negative effects are “transient”. I simply don’t believe based on the science.
For JB Handley: I’m sure people like us are listening, but not to TIME magazine. TIME is hardly an expert on the subject of scientific research in the autism-vaccine link. It seems to me that people who believe that their child’s autism was caused by a vaccine are louder and more aggressive, therefore changing public opinion. Public opinion is by no means right. I hear people re-writing the definition of autism on a daily basis. It is not a regression of speech or social skills or loss of eye contact. A child with true autism never has these skills to begin with. Please, I feel for you people, I do, but autism is not something to be cured. Being damaged by a vaccine is something that needs to stop and something that can possibly be cured. Please, use your energy to help get a different diagnosis so you can leave our kids alone. I beg you.
AutismMomandProud- I’m afraid that you are making an error like many in our community that creates a lot of needless and counterproductive conflict. Autism is really “autisms”. No two people with autism are alike but it’s recognized that there are discreet subgroups who share many of the same issues and needs. There are also groups that share few of the issues and needs that others have. There is likely overlap for some.
When you say “true autism” you veer way off track and some may find it offensive. I know it turns me off. My child did develop typically then regress. Before you or anyone else casually throws out “definitive” blanket statements about the disorder, take a minute to remember that there are many “autisms” and not a “true” or “false” one. Advocating a single approach (whether it’s for a cure, more therapies, a more conservative vaccination schedule, accomodation and acceptance, or whatever) based on the needs of your loved one exclusive of the needs of others doesn’t make sense and won’t make you many friends, given the complexities and variation of individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
Dadvocate: I don’t want a conflict. Over the next 5 years you will see a split in the diagnosis. There are kids with autism and they are on a spectrum…then there are kids that are damaged by vaccines. That is something totally different. There is a lot of scientific evidence on this. I’m amazed that so many parents are blind to that. They have allowed the media to create a ridicuous hype around the Hannah Polling case and say that the government has finally admitted that there is a link between autism and vaccines. There is a link between mitochondrial disorder/vaccines and having “autistic like” behaviors. The media is making heroes out of DAN doctors and Jenny McCarthy. It sickens me. There is a reason why these treatments are not covered by public funding and are so expensive–they are not proven at all. They have no basis scientifically. All I’m asking for is more research so that people who have children who are damaged by vaccines get the help they need and children like my son, can be accepted as part of society, not something to fear, feel pity for or try to cure.
I’m sorry to tell you this, but if you child does have autism, he was not developing normally and then lost it, you must have missed something in his development. Or in fact, he doesn’t have autism, he has something that is like autism and there are similar behaviors….please no that they very well do not stem from the same cause.
Acceptance and accomodation is important and I advocate it. It’s in short supply. However, I think you miss the point. Entirely. There are likely very diffent subgroups who all get tagged with the term “autism”. I agree that more distiction will likely take place over time but your continued desire to promote a “true autism” exclusive and insensitive to the needs of others in the community as well as offering an unsupportable, factually innacurate, and frankly, offensive comment leads me to believe that further dialogue is not worth it.
In essence, what autismMomandProud posted is correct. If a child has mercury poisoning due to vaccines, then it is mercury poisoning and there is a treatment for that. Mercury poisoning is very similar to autism, and with treatment can be reversed, kind of. You do see recovery sometimes with a DAN! approach, but that approach wouldn’t work for my child either. Any time there is heavy metal poisoning, there are residual affects of that even after chelation. My question is however if there is true heavy metal poisoning, that shows on tests, why so few medical doctors will chelate when they would otherwise. But that’s another topic. True autism was long before the 36 vaccine ads. True autism cant be reversed, it can only be helped.
However since the removal of Thimerosal, the autism rates climbing hasn’t been effected. They keep going up. It could be the vaccines given at a time of a growth period, and that chemical change going on conflicts with the vaccines at the time.
Asking for a change in a vaccine schedule is blind faith that it will change anything. using shock ads is false advertisement and why one has to go to those extremes to prove their beliefs which tells me if one has to suggest an outrageous amount, let’s say 36, they don’t have enough evidence to prove cause so they exaggerate it, greatly. Advocating for vaccine change doesn’t even have to happen and is a waste of time when a parent most times have control over this, not the doctor. Based on the needs of your loved one exclusively is what we all and you all should be doing when it comes to vaccines, it has always been your own choice when to vaccinate. Waivers have ben around for a long time and it’s totally unfair to hold the total blame on the government.
And finally, no one yet knows the cause(s) of autism/ autis-like sysptom’s.
My boy’s autism was not caused by vaccination. I do think one is born with autism, but that children who regress after vaccination have intrinsic, chronic illness (like “leaky gut syndrome”) that manifests after being exposed to these viruses, and these illnesses create autistic-like symptoms. I agree with the mom that says our children who are truly autistic are not studied, and people need to accept our children. That being said, I’m increasingly finding that in our geographic area (Central New York), our kids are being more and more accepted. I have lots of support here and I love it!
Facts of our family:
We have no history in the family of illness except for diabetes (grandparents) I never smoked, drank or did anything babies should not be exposed to. I ate well and did all the excited mommy things like play Bach & Mozart to my pregnant belly.
Our son was born. Gorgeous! Adorable! Developed normally meeting his milestones. His 14 month old well-baby visit came and he was given MMR, HTP, Polio & BANG!!!!!!!!!!!! Life changed. He cried for the following 24 hours (over) high fever, I called the docs, “just let him rest”. Hmm, 2 days later he seemed in less pain, less crying and oh, less language. Yes, he stopped talking, stopped building his blocks, stopped singing. Stopped looking at me and saying “Mommy”.
Coincidence? No way.
It gets even better… At my daughter’s well-baby visit, approx. the same age, I allowed her to get the same mega vaccine schedule and bang! hmmm, she didn’t cry as much (THANK YOU JESUS!), she kept talking but these strange brown spots (not even Children’s Hospital can explain) popped out all along her shoulder and down her left arm. Cafe’ au lait type marks. She still has them 9 years later. She did not develop autism but I worry what those shots did to her immune system.
I go along and do my best for my babies (now 13 & 11). I just wish I knew then to separate shots, not “TRUST” the doctors & CDC.
WHile you all enjoy your children’s soccer games, graduations, weddings and new homes, I will enjoy our “different” life but always worry “What will happen if anything happens to me.” Thank you Drug companies, thank you greedy CDC.
DON’T try to tell me it’s a coincidence. I was there. I will never forget.
*hugs* to the families who now have to worry, “What happens when I’m gone?”
Wendy, So sorry for your problems with your children. Please remember that no one here is saying that vaccines can be dangerous. Our discussion is if they cause autism. Very different. Sounds like you had a horrible experience with vaccines and I don’t have a clue as to what it is like to be in your situation. Best of luck to you and your children with your battle.
Thank you AutismMom. I think the shots exasperated my childrens’ weakened immune systems. Too many shots, too fast, mixed with a different immune system (not sure why). My son did not have autistic like behaviors before 14 months, before that series of shots. He did after the shots. He has autism. I failed to mention that part in my earlier post. I think the shots had something to do with it. They hurt my children.
BUT… I don’t think the shots are the only cause for autism. I do believe we need to stop hiding the facts of what happened to my children though and so many others.
Regardless of all of the opinions, it is wonderful that so much attention has come to autism. Autism needs more funding, attention, scientific studies, OPEN minds for origins and treatments.
Our children, young adults and future adults need extra help. We need to HELP. Thank you all for being interested especially if you DO SOMETHING instead of just yapping about it.
Can’t we all get on the same page? I have been talking for years about what I think is the problem and slowly the inteligent people of the world are starting to understand. Let me say before, that vaccinations are extremly important and I do not say to eliminate them. keeping this in mind { I don’t want to hear how many millions of children die in third world countries because they’re not vaccinated! I’m posing questions only for the grey matter.
1. Are All children different? And can Autistic childen have a different generic? print? then others?
2. In years past wasn’t it customery to vaccinate children before entering 1st grade?
3. Do the Amish Children get vaccinated and how many cases of Autism are found in their community?
4. In our society what is the percentage of college grad couples who get their children vaccinated [The Big Brew}at an early age? [ months old]
5. In our society what percentage of pediatricians get their children vaccinated [ The Big Brew] at an early age? [months old] My Grandson was the happiest baby one day and LOST the next! God love us all.
to MaryJo:Your question; “Is it a true epidemic and increase or did the criteria change which lead to the increase?” If the rise in autism rates was only due to a change in criteria or better recording of cases, there would already be older children and adults with Autism (and “autism-like” symptoms and disorders) who are out in society (or hidden in institutions somewhere). They would have existed without being counted or they would be diagnosed with something different but similar. As far as I can tell, that is not the case. 20 or 15 or 10 years ago, people just weren’t aware of autism as much and it wasn’t heard of as much because those numbers of children with autism just weren’t there. Now they are really there but no one knows how or why.
I don’t know if my children have “real” autism or something else. I do agree with what Sandy said about mercury poisoning. The fact that the symptoms of mercury poisoning are so similar to autism symptoms leaves me wondering why the powers that be are so quick to dismiss thimerosal as a cause worth doing more research about.
I’ve been told my 10 yr old daughter is on the high end of the autism spectrum. She never went through a “regression”. She had about 6 years of speech and occupational therapy and has since “graduated” from those. She tested as having the reading comprehension level of a 21yr old. Her IEP still includes special considerations for sensory and social issues.
My 8 yr old son was a happy, babbling baby who did go through a regression. I believe it had something to do with his vaccinations and antibiotic use. He has OT, PT and S/LT. He is on a GF/CF diet and he’s on many doctor recommended supplements(he has a DAN! doc.) because he is incredibly sensitive to putting anything new in his mouth. We are also trying chelation therapy. We are not even done with the process yet and he already seems to be improving.
No matter what the name or label, it is attached to a person. The growing group of people with these similar “labels” are all really out there and they all deserve equal chances to be helped.
Of course they all deserve equal chance to be helped, no one said they didn’t. But they need help specific to their problem. There is not a blanket cure-all. We need to separate the problems and solve them individually.
Dear Dadvocate — (I wish I had thought of that name before you - nice!) I’m with you on everything. Son regressed rapidly at 18mos after MMR shot; stopped all eye contact, stopped talking (was saying “Hi Dadee”/”Mama”/etc., now just makes random noises). He hasn’t had a shot since then and has reestablished eye contact (slowly), his laugh has returned (slowly), and he is signing about 20 signs. I think it was the shots, either cumulative effects or synergistic effects; but I am open to independent research that shows otherwise. …till waiting for that independent research…
Dear AutismMomandProud; I could feel Dadvocate’s frustration with your comments. I get your point — your child was born symptomatic. The last figures I recall seeing were that about 50% of autism cases appeared to be symptomatic at birth; the other 50% were regressive (at 6mos - 3yrs).
Assuming the 50%/50% is right, that still means half of the 1:150 (or 1:300) that are born symptomatic, which is a huge increase from 1:10,000. Maybe you received a flu shot during a “critical window” in your fetus’ development. Maybe your epigenome was damaged by your own childhood vaccinations (or the father’s). In other words, it could still be vaccines that caused your child’s autism. Not *his* vaccines, but yours.
The point is, we don’t yet know what Autism *is*, so how can you say what *real* autism is?
The various types and etiologies of Autism (or as someone wisely put it “Autisms”) probably have the same neurological structural changes, but perhaps different triggers.
We need to figure out what the neurological and physiological changes are that express themselves as “Autism”.
We also need to figure out if there are one or more triggers that are preventable, treatable, or even reversible.
The vaccine issue will probably turn out to be a multi-generational thing; so it may be that *your* childhood vaccines (or your husband’s) affected your epigenome.
[If you don’t know what epigenetics is, Google it; it’s too long to explain here. The essence of epigenetic is that, in the absence of actual genetic mutations, environmental factors can affect the *expression* of certain genes - not only in the person exposed, but also carried on into their offspring and to subsequent generations. This might explain why there appear to be some weak genetic markers that suggest increased susceptibility to developing Autism, but there is not any single gene or a handfull of genes that “cause” autism. An environmental exposure (such as an immunization) which affects one’s immune system might be carried to their gametes and, therefore, into their children, etc.
Why was there a spike in allergies and asthma (quasi-immune disorders) when my generation was born in the 60s? Could it have been my parents’ childhood vaccines? Maybe Autism is simply the second wave effect - and even the third-wave as generation after generation gets vaccinated.
If it’s epigenetic, then it is theoretically reversible in future generations.
AutismMomandProud; I wish you all the best. I only ask that you keep an open mind that your child’s autism may not be so different from those of us whose children regressed. Maybe a different etiology or maybe not. But until we know what autism *is* we have no way of saying that one child’s apparent-autism is *real* and another is just pseudo-Autism.
The good news is, if congenital autism and regressive autism are just different sides of the same coin, then they both may both be preventable once we understand what’s going on. Also, each type might give important clues to the underlying causes.
Thanks for reading. Sorry for such a long post.
-Bob
Hey Bob,
Thanks for your post. I do feel that I have an open mind and I do what epigenetics is. My view is coming from speaking and reading a lot of information from people who have an asd diagnosis their whole lives. I, and I repeat, I do not feel that people like my son need to be cured. Children damaged by vaccines do need to be cured. My son has no food allergies, no physical problems, his brain is different–I’m sure he got it from my husband who also thinks very differently. In my case, much more positive work can be done by understanding how his brain works instead of trying to cure him. Many autistic adults that I’ve met and studied are completely offended by a need to be treated/cured. They want to be treated with respect only. I hear a lot of people ask where all the autistic adults are. They are living and working among us, they are in institutions and prisons, they run huge corporations, they sit at home socialize on the internet, they love their children, they blog.
I think being a little sensible about giving one vaccine at a time and perhaps delaying the vaccines a little for the children that are not thriving would make sense to everybody.
Rani, You know that you can do that. Every parent has the right to give their child vaccines on a different schedule.
Autismmomandproud, You are absolutely right that the individual problems should be examined and solved. I think the main reason why “the powers that be” are moving so slowly is because there is no single “blanket cure-all” that can be invented, patented and marketed….so, there is no profit in it for Big Pharma…therefore we all lose.
I guess I have one child who doesn’t need to be “cured” and one child who can be treated but, I know a cure is not possible.
Autismmom and proud; Not True Not True! I live in N.Y.C. My Grandson is Autistic, my Granddaughter entered pre K [ 2 1/2 years old ]By law she had to get vaccinated to attend.
You didn’t read my post properly. You will have to get them vaccinated, you don’t have to do it all at once. You can plan ahead and schedule them apart and wait to see if you they react.
My comment is , is it true that vacines have never been tested with the traditional double blind placebo test that all other drugs ect are required , and why?
Good for you, Time, for having such an alert and inquiring reporter!
As an infant, my son, born in 1964,had constant respiratory infections which often progressed to pneumonia. After his first DPT immunization (against only 3 diseases) he had a terrible reaction- feverish and miserable, but not registering fever. My pediatrician (I didn’t know how prescient he was at the time) thereafter gave the remaining DPT shots at 7 separate intervals.) After doing some research, I had already begun to suspect my infant son had an immature immune system (possibly from heredity coupled with being bottle-fed)and might benefit from gamma globulin. It took 16 months for me to convince my pediatrician to give him the gg. As my doctor (who previously had dismissed most of his problems as allergic) said with disbelief after the first gg test,”If his gg is as low as this test says it is, he should be dead.” So my dr. gave him another test at another hospital - which resulted in even more dire numbers.
After his first monthly gg shot, my son never had another case of pneumonia, and, happily, he grown up to become a strong, active, gregarious and intelligent young man. However, his autistic son,(now 12) who mirrored some of my son’s early health characteristics - was given (even after his pediatrician was told of his father’s history)full immunizations at an even younger age than his father. I have drawn the conclusion obvious to me. Both father and son had comprimised immune systems, but my precious, autistic grandson had at least 10 additional diseases included in his immunization.
I think this case proves that there is more research that must be done. As a mother of an autistic son, I too feel that immunizations played a role in his autism. I find it hard to believe that with as many choldren that are being diagnosed and with as many parents that feel that the immunizations caused it, that there is not merit to those feelings. I am not saying that immunizations should not be given, however-there must be something done about testing children to see if their bodies can handle them. I woul also like to see the research that scientists have done to prove that there is absolutley no link. I don’t buy it, and I will keep fighting for my son to become a part of this world.
It ia a great shame that van de Water wasn’t pulled up and quite sharply for the ’some’ children and immature immune systems. What exactly does she mean by that and to which particular set of children is she referring? No doubt if queried, she’ll take refuge in being misquoted. People with clout should not be allowed to take refuge in motherhood statements, which could mean anything or nothing. It’s irresponsible.