Autism Day!
Good for Rep. Mike Doyle...
The United Nations has designated April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day. To mark this historic occasion, the Autism Society of America, the World Autism Organization and the Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Coalition for Autism Research and Education (C.A.R.E.), Rep. Chris Smith and Rep. Mike Doyle, will hold a press conference on the Cannon Terrace to build support for critical legislation that would provide needed autism services in the U.S. and around the world.
In February 2008, a bi-partisan group of legislators joined Congressmen Smith and Doyle in introducing the Global Autism Assistance Act, (HR 5446). This landmark legislation will establish a global health and education grant program related to autism spectrum disorders and provide support to families, educational institutions, clinics and medical centers in developing nations...read on
Related: Above shows L.A. Skyline by Stephen Wiltshire, who is diagnosed with autism. Click image for larger and read more about him and his work here. The PRI program Studio 360 had an excellent show this past weekend on Art and Autism which can be streamed and/or downloaded for free.
What day is George Bush appreciation day? April 1st?
Haha, Jesus that title seems a bit celebratory.
Well I guess I can celebrate by learning a bit more.
But on a more serious note, autism is terrible. I hope they figure out if it is gentic or the vaccine and which vaccine causes it.
And those with Aspergers would like to ask that you not assume that this is "their" day.
My older sister was labeled 'retarded' in 1973. Back in those days, there were no support groups or basically any help of ant kind. My parents were forced to put her in a institution, or a 'special school'. The effect on my family was devestating. But what shocks me is the amount of children with Autism. Me sister's situation was not the norm. Very rarely did we come in contact with a Autistic child. These childrem need and deserve all the support they can get. If only my sister did, she may have had a chance in life.
Michael M. @ 3:
I watched a show on this not long ago. It seems the Amish have a very ,very,very low count of people who are autistic. food for thought.
they shun vaccines
We just found out our younger son has Asperger's. It is not as bad as full blown autism, but it has negatively affected his life. He's getting counseling and coaching right now, and it's helping tremendously. He has a cousin who has really bad autism and OCD, so at least in our family, there is a genetic component.
This is a good first, small step. Children can recover from autism, but few insurance companies cover the one proven therapy for autism (Applied Behavioral Analysis), falsely labeling it as "experimental," even though it's recognized by the Surgeon General [see the SG's web site]. Although ABA is expensive (anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000 per year), it's far less expensive than a) institutionalizing an autistic adult for life and b) missing out on the tax revenue and contributions to society made by those who've recovered from autism. For too long, our society has pushed autistic children onto the public school system, which is wrong-headed because autism is a medical (neurological) condition--would we assign our school systems to take care of other medical conditions? Of course not. We need to learn what causes autism, but we also need to do what it takes to give those with autism a chance to recover and lead a full life, as we would do with children with any other medical condition.
miss skeptic @ 8:
I'm sorry miss skeptic. I wish you and yours nothing but the best life has to offer. I know about genetic components, My wife has Huntingtons.
it could be worse.
Well, as far as sounding "celebretory", there is an autism pride movement. Don't have the links at my fingertips, but can track some down. (My 14 year old son has asperger'sy syndrome)
Autism Movement Seeks Acceptance, Not Cures
Don't know why my comment didn't take, but I'll try a new one. Regarding being "celebratory" about autism, there are some higher functioning individuals that express "autistic pride" and object to talk of "cures". I've got a couple links, but will hold off until I see if I can actually post.
My 14 year old son, by the way, has Asperger's Syndrome.
miss skeptic @ 8:
I could predict his future but with any luck his life will be better than mine.
Use this not as a fact filled guide but a source of links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociological_and_cultural_aspects_of_autism...
Apart from the genetic triggers and vaccines, one should never dismiss the contributions of multiple chemicals in the womb.
Many of these absolutely affect hormonal development in the womb. The brain sits atop the nervous system and so many of these chemicals (pesticides in particular---another plus for the Amish lifestyle?) impact that system as well as the others by sending or blocking normal genetically-signalled development.
Problem is, how do you study the nurmerous chemicals when they're all intermixed in the body? And how does this research proceed when the chemical industry and Bush's administration choke the life out of research funding?
Autism is skyrocketing in corporate farming regions.
Of course, I do recognize that more severe forms of autism can take a devastating toll, and families need better access to treatment, funding, etc. We also need better education of the public. Even the intro psych book I teach from doesn't acknowledge the continuum/spectrum of autism, and too many people buy into the idea that "if the kid is at all social, it can't be autism". And some people think that we should avoid "labeling" kids who are higher functioning. The problem is, the kids will be labeled anyway--it just won't be a medical label. But classmates and teachers will apply perjorative labels, blaming the child and/or the parents, unless they are educated otherwise.
Anyway, here's an interesting perspective from someone on the autistic spectrum: Institute for the Study of the Neurologically Typical.
Autism and Asperger's links
Bit NOLA @ 14:
Can you link that, at all? I'm very interested in what you are saying.
Renee,
I agree with you that we shouldn't avoid labeling children who are higher functioning. I have several friends with children on the spectrum (some with other defined genetic problems) that have pushed for their children to be "labeled" because that was the only way to get the services their children need and deserve. Like you say being "social" doesn't mean your child doesn't need services. Too often in the past these children were just different, or weird, and so slipped through the cracks. I hope you are able to get your child everything he needs to thrive, not just survive.
mudshark @ 6:
There is also no scientific evidence to support the claim there is any association between vaccines and autism. Food for thought.
In my own experience,I had to practically threaten the doctor to get a diagnosis of my son.
He told us it was "Delayed Developmental Disorder."
That happened when my son was 3.
When he was 5, we had him diagnosed by a group of doctors specializing in developmental disorders, and they said "Asperger's."
Getting a proper diagnosis seemed to be the hardest part.
Chris H. @ 17:
true,there is no sci facts to say Autism is caused by vaccines. But, it's kinda funny how the Amish don't have hardly any(if at all) children or adults with autism.
chew on that.
[Deleted-Sitemonitor]
It's the medical insurance that's the real killer, but I think maybe Michael Moore's 'Sicko' summed it up for me.
Cheers
mudshark @ 19:
Yes, they also don't use modern electronics, but I wouldn't say this is the reason for low Autism rates. If Autism is genetic it would make sense that a closed community would have low rates since they do not marry outside their communities. You can't ignore the scientific consensus from the CDC, Institute of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences among other institutions, especially when people are at risk. Don’t imply there is an association when there isn’t.
Chris H. @ 22:
ok,you yourself have said that they don't marry outside of their community,right? well it stands to reason if autism was a genetic disorder,it would show more so in that community,wouldn't it? You can bury your head in the sand if you want too, but don't expect others to do the same.
either that or they "take care of the infirmed at birth" which is ludicrous.
vaccines did it to my son
support the bipartisan Comprehensive Comparative Study of Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Populations H.R. 2832 (C. Maloney-D and Dr Weldon -R )would order the National Institutes of Health to study "health outcomes, including autism," in those two groups. Such a straightforward and potentially decisive study has never been done and could answer the question once and for all.
All the studies done by the CDC to exonerate vaccines have serious conflict of interests, data manipulations and design flaws.
SUPPORT An OPEN STUDY OF VACCINATED VS UNVACCINATED POPULATIONS
Chris H. @ 17:
Actually there is a lot of scientific evidence to support how additives in the vaccines can cause serious damage and the mechanisms by which they do including the genes triggered by such environmental exposures.
Deth, Burbacher, Hornig are but a few researchers from top universities who have presented studies showing the biological plausability.
But most of all the wave of parents who watched and observed it happen keeps growing and will continue as the status quo is maintained.
Autism, coming to a family member near you.
Michael M. @ 3:
The answer is likely to be many factors as it is a spectrum disorder.
What triggered it in one person may be different than what exposures and/or genetics triggered it in another.
Am I the first to say this?....
That L.A. Skyline drawing is awesome! Click on it and look and the detail of it!
A great drawing by Mr. Wiltshire there, though I'm not sure I've ever seen LA traffic so light. Maybe a positive result of autism? Sorry...
This (autism) is one of the great tragedies of our time, in addition to the presence of the BushCo Blight. I'm no scientific expert, but I would speculate that, like the increased pace of global warming, causes are human-influenced.
Sure would be nice if the US could spend more into researching and solving this, but we've got brokerage houses to bail out and the money pit that is Iraq to fill...
Fanon,
Sorry, I left the site, and hope you check back.
Endocrine disruption and endocrine disrupting contaminants (EDCs) are the general search terms for the research I based my comments on. But the overwhelming majority of this research is upon wildlife. And it typically focuses upon abnormal development in their sex organs and blood hormone levels (but only because that's the first and most obvious signs that researchers noticed).
Sorry, also, but it's been a few years since my own research interests brought me into that area, so I don't have specific links that address autism in relation to EDCs. But there are bound to be links available by using "autism and pesticides" as search terms. In my own research, I noticed that state statistics on abnormal developments in human infants typically laundered skyrocketing defects under known causes, and dispersed them into categories which implied that nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
Typically everything was cast as being genetically determined. Don't know if this helps, but be warned if you do find this and check out EDCs: there's tons of research to wade through and it's overwhelmingly about wildlife.
in regards to the "explosion" of diagnosis in autism, please be aware that the diagnostic criteria has improved over the years, and has led to the wide range of the spectrum
please watch, autism the musical, being shown on hbo to see that spectrum
my nephew has aspergers....and he is the greatest kid...hes the only 10 year old that i can truly converse with
Thanks for bringing this to the people. I have three dollheads on the spectrum of Autism. It's comforting to me personally to see action of any kind on this! Thanks again!
thank you for blogging on this....it matters, and barely got mentioned today by the Media....As a nurse of over 20 years I am glad that "screening is better", BUT I also am saddened that we have a crisis in this country that is being mostly downplayed and ignored.....it is heartbreaking....Most of these families suffer alone....and without enough support, research or even acknowlegement by the Govt.
In 1990= the risk was 1:1500....not it is 1:150 .....we need to acknowledge that is a HUGE number of children....that need our care, concern and love....MORE Children left behind..thank you Bush.
NOW it is 1:150 - Sorry- needed to correct that....
( And Aspergers is mentioned above- this too needs more attention, research...and acknowledgement....it is part of the spectrum....ADD, ADHD and Learning Disabilities need more of our attention as a nation...Many of these children need our focus- they are bright and gifted- just need better healthcare and better education....)
uncle joe hussein mccarthy @ 32:
Chris H. @ 17:
The problem with vaccines is not the vaccine itself. The problem lies with "bulk" vaccines meant to innoculate many people--these contain mercury, which has been shown to cause defects in the brains of children. The more you know!
mudshark @ 6:
OR MAYBE THEY CAN'T TELL...
wouldn't it be great if they sold a JET to support the many autistic kids who have poor facilities..... i live in los angeles where the facilities are "great" and they are still not enough
I love that my birthday was chosen (for whatever reason) to be World Autism Day. The Pope also died on my birthday a few years back.
Do any of you ever get the feeling sometimes that somebody or something really BIG is trying to tell you something??
Thanks for the kind comments, folks. I would like to add a comment concerning the Amish. I think most Amish probably vaccinate their kids, just like everyone else. If the Amish kids attend public schools, they would have to be vaccinated. I know they accept modern healthcare for stuff like heart attacks, surgeries, they go to emergency rooms if necessary. Although they rarely marry outside their religion, they do interact with the public at their jobs.
mudshark @ 7:
And shiny buttons.
I just thought I'd post because I come here and to Dailykos every day for political knowledge and I just wanted to say not in anger but as a general statement to whomever will hear me that I am an autistic. Specifically Aspergers, I have above normal intelligence always have. In elementary school they though I was a problem child (as if such a thing could exist w/o a cause) but I was only bored from having finished all my work and wanted to play, I've had a college reading ever since I was in sixth grade and that allows me to do well in mostly everything in life because I can learn.
I have trouble only in understanding people not in my intelligence or in any other fashion really, I just want people to know when you meet that one strange guy with the 130+ IQ and he is so weird that you don't like him you may be meeting an Aspergers person. I work, I'm in college now on a library computer, I'm going into Animal Science as a major. I'm a person, a Human, I'm Intelligent, Funny, Loving, Caring, Capable, Strong, and everyday I wonder if people understand that when I say I'm autistic I'm not saying I'm a Rainman, I'm just different and have trouble in the world sometimes. If left alone and w/o any knowledge of my condition I would probably be a criminal b/c I got kicked out of school a lot from misunderstandings as a result of Aspergers, I've found my way as have many others like me and just wanted to say that.
Also theres a really good website that I frequent and if anyone is interested should maybe look at it, it has many people both non-autistic and autistic and I find it helped me understand myself in many new ways thank you for reading my rant.
Wrongplanet.net
Sorry if the link is against the rules don't have time to check them right now.
golden joe @ 26:
Already done, they don't show any connection between autism and vaccines. Last time i checked, the proponents of the idea that vaccines are involved with autism denounced these results saying that other chemicals took the place of the mercury that was used before and got paraded around as the big evil.
Sometimes reality just doesn't conform to the silly ideas that people make up to help them deal with life.
golden joe @ 27:
As a student nurse, we are told that patients can refuse medications, but school children are not allowed to attend school without the vaccinations required by their perspective states. So my son and daughter did not receive their vaccines until I got a letter from the school telling me they couldn't attend without them.
My nephew has FINALLY been diagnosed with asperger's, and it only took them 25 years! He received no treatments, they experimented with different psychotropic drugs to "snap him out of it", so he could "be like everyone else."
I just learned that the great state of Illinois (one of the highest autism rates in the nation), has mandated that doctor's visits for well child care includes screening for autism at 2 1/2 years of age. Now if only our beloved governor would stop spending so much money in Chicago and remember the rest of us, we can get funding to treat the ones who need it. If you don't have insurance that covers the treatment, all you get is a diagnosis.
My nursing instructors have an interesting take on the vaccines and autism. She believes it is everything coming into our country that does just a little bit of damage, and finally overwhelms the body with toxins - she was almost giddy when they started recalling all the lead drenched toys made in China. Most of our drugs in this country are made and packaged in China, even though the research is done here.
This country wants everything at garage sale prices, and our children are paying the price.
When my son was an infant in 1987, 8 vaccines before the age of two thru 5.
In 2007, 23 vaccines are routinely given to INFANTS before the age of two thru 5.
Twenty FOUR if you count the Texas LEGISLATING mandatory cervical cancer vaccines to little girls.
Not vaccinating your kids is just downright unpatriotic. Autism is a small price to pay and your ability to pay for a lifetime of debilitation, is your sacrifice to the upkeep of those DIRT POOR DRUG COMPANIES.
(bush's latest legislation is that the gov't can stick whatever needle they want and squeeze in whatever concocted poison they want, even if it kills you or your children. God help you if you're in the armed services which is a testing ground).
A friend of mine in Washington, DC started this organization a few years ago: www.art-stream.org. A worthy cause worth supporting! They work with whose who are challenged by disabilities or life circumstances.
Comments are closed on this entry