McCain and Obama

During an interview with Sean Hannity last night, John McCain brought up autism again, specifically. Move the video slider to 03:56.

While I am glad that he has mentioned autism yet again, I have to wonder what he means by "find what's causing autism, find a cure". As we all know that statement can mean many things. It could mean more vaccine related research, or it could mean they want to go the Autism Speaks route, which is chasing the genetics rainbow, which we all know has nothing to do with the catalyst.

It is important to note that we have sent, as a community, hundreds of emails through TellMeWhereYouStand.com. I sent an email too, and unless I've been excluded for some reason, I have not received a reply from either the John McCain or Barack Obama campaigns. That worries me. It worries me because it leads me to believe that neither candidate is interested in investigating vaccines as a cause for autism.

This would mean to me that Sarah Palin would be more of a hindrance than a help. The last thing we need is another group, namely our government, chasing the genetic component. Obviously genetics play a part. Genetics play a part in susceptibility to many conditions. That doesn't make it the root cause.

I would rather not speculate on this, but neither candidate has made any statements regarding how they plan to go after autism. We all know that's the important piece of the puzzle. I do however appreciate what Obama said at this town hall. While he did not specifically address autism, he addressed one of our major concerns, and seemingly has an understanding of the numbers involved.

One thing I do know is this. Both of these candidates have "special needs" themselves. They need votes. So no matter who wins, we're going to have to take them to task on their statements and promises. Considering our economy is in the worst shape it has been since the great depression, we're still in Iraq, we still have a general health care crisis, and we still have not even begun to solve the energy problem, getting special needs, and more important for our purposes, autism, on the political radar is going to be no easy task.

Now more than ever before we are going to have to be vigilant. Simply waiting for things to happen will not fly in our current situation. We need to be calling, writing, rallying, marching, whatever it takes within reason to make sure our community remains in focus. No matter what either candidate tells you, that is the reality we will have to live with for many years to come.

Bubble-Blowing Robots

While real medical breakthroughs in autism treatment are taking place in private practices around the country, what are some of the big name universities giving us? Bubble- blowing robots. Yes folks, the geniuses at USC have decided that we should tear our children away from their video games so they can interact with robots.

They report: “ASD children in many cases interact more easily with mechanical devices than with humans.” Do we need to pay people in white coats to tell us these things? They claim this experiment is “confirming what has been widely reported anecdotally.” So they built a robot to confirm suspicions that our kids play more easily with a Gameboy than with a real boy.

If USC is looking to confirm something that has been widely reported anecdotally, I have a clue for them. Check into the anecdotal reports that thousands upon thousands of parents have reported convulsions, seizures, autism and even death following childhood immunizations. While they’re checking into this, they should look for any patterns among these children related to administration of multiple shots in a single day as well as maternal flu and Rhogam shots.

Count the amalgam fillings in the moms’ mouths while you’re at it, and include breast feeding exposure. Since the FDA just informed us a few months ago, “Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses," perhaps a researcher somewhere cares what happened to those developing fetuses who were exposed before the FDA saw fit to issue a warning.

And here’s another idea – listen up Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stamford, Duke, Columbia, Cornell, not to mention the illustrious CDC. Do a study comparing unvaccinated populations with vaccinated populations. I’d love to take credit for this novel idea, but parents and health care professionals have been crying for it for years. Even the former director of the NIH, Dr. Bernadine Healy, has joined the chorus of voices pleading for retrospective studies on populations of people with autism.

Problem is, such research might turn up some really bad news. Three months ago, Dr. Healy said on CBS News, "There is a completely expressed concern that they don't want to pursue a hypothesis because that hypothesis could be damaging to the public health community at large by scaring people.”

News flash. The community at large is already scared. Parents are walking into pediatricians offices armed with all manner of revised vaccine schedules, and physicians are complying. (Got any studies on how many parents are doing this? Those numbers are probably scary too.)

And every day that ticks by that the retrospective studies are not implemented and the information is not gathered, more children are exposed to vaccinations and other environmental triggers that will forever alter their lives. We know this because of the reams of studies showing the link, and scores of heartbreaking anecdotal reports that tell us over and over and over that our one-size-fits-all vaccine policy is tragically flawed.

If the aforementioned universities run out of things to study that have actual, meaningful impact on the lives of people with autism, they can start looking at non-mainstream medical treatments that are causing children to improve remarkably and even recover. Of course, this line of research can be “scary” too, because it may reveal that chelation therapy works. And then someone has to answer the question: “How did the mercury get inside the kids’ brains to begin with?”

Hey, let’s ask the bubble-blowing robots.

Kids Will Be Kids

I must admit I know that I'm lucky. My child has not adopted any destructive behaviors, or violent tendencies. To those that have to deal with that, you have my deepest compassion. However, many children on the spectrum are not like that. In fact, most are not like that, including my son. So I am addressing that group here, because this is the experience I have.

Last week we visited a playground in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. There were a few kids there, maybe 20, ranging in ages from 2 to 14. Since it was a gated park, we let the kids run around on their own, but kept watch over the two exits.

I watched my child on the spectrum run from activity to activity, undaunted by the other kids there. He even went up to a 14 year old girl who was sitting on a swing, and smiled at her. Somehow she knew what he wanted right away, and stood up saying "do you want to swing?". She was with a group of friends, and they watched her get up and give the swing to my son.
I guess I still expect that snicker, or giggle, but nope, not this time. In fact, I've had a few situations like this arise over the summer and not once has it happened. Each time my child has confronted a group of children, they were oddly understanding about it. It's as if he had a sign on his back saying "I can't talk to you, so please help me by paying attention, and by treating me with dignity and respect." Each child that has met with my child has treated him with more kindness than some of the adults we have encountered.

After my son and daughter played for about an hour, they of course got a little tired. So they both ended up on this tire swing contraption hanging in the park. Just like two neurotypical kids, they stood there pushing the tire back and forth with their butts, staring at their feet. The day was like something out of a dream. No tantrums, no punishments, nothing. After the park we walked through Chestnut Hill, stopping in shop after shop, looking at the various wares. We tried to find something to eat, but there wasn't really anything we all could have.

So we finished our day by getting back in the truck, and heading down to Outback Steakhouse, which by the way has a gluten-free menu for those that didn't know. We had a nice, quiet and uneventful dinner, and drove home.

What is the point of this blog?

The point is, so many of us want to achieve "normalcy" with our children. We want them to be just like other kids, so they can take advantage of what the world offers to "typical" kids. I think that sometimes we forget that in order for our kids to be "normal", we have to treat them like normal kids. No constant shadowing or little blue leashes. No constant hand-holding unless they request it.

I'm not saying that you should let your child loose in a city like Philadelphia. What I'm saying is find a place where there is security. A place like the park we were at, that has the gates, and has the security. That way you can let your child "run free" under your watchful eye. This is what gives them the opportunity to just "be a kid".

If you take nothing else away from this article, remember this. If you want your child to behave as if they do not have autism, then you have to know when to stop treating them like they do.

BPA (Bisphenol A)

I was laying on the couch after dinner tonight, and turned the channel to Lou Dobbs on CNN. He was talking about BPA. This is a chemical used in plastic production, and is found in many plastic baby bottles. Fine, right? I mean what doesn't have some sort of chemical in it these days?

What got my attention was when they put the phrase "Been known to cause neurological and developmental issues" on the screen. It was like getting hit with a bucket of cold water on a hot summer day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A

After watching some more, I see that our beloved FDA has declared that the chemical is harmless. That's funny, because Canada has declared it a hazardous material, especially to infants.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/minist/speeches-discours/2008_04_18-eng.php

Now lets take a look at what the NIH has to say about BPA.

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/media/questions/sya-bpa.cfm#2

Finally, lets look at the FDA.
http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/bpa.html

Tonight is the first I've learned of BPA. Up to now, I never knew anything about it. What I've read may shock you. Unlike most vaccines, authorities have actually declared this chemical to be hazardous, or possibly hazardous. (which is good enough for me to avoid it). Why don't we know about it? Why can I go down to WalMart, right now, and buy 100 plastic baby bottles if I so choose? (probably made in China) Here we have a chemical that we are feeding to infants, that may be causing neurological and developmental issues (i.e. autism), and hardly anybody is saying a word about it.

I'm going to write about this some more once I can get some more facts. All I know is from what I've read tonight, I will tell everyone I know to avoid these types of plastics like the plague.

Makes you wonder, huh? Maybe the toxic cocktail that so many think causes autism goes well beyond the syringe? Is this the environmental toxin we need to be worried about?

I'll have more to come on this another day. For now, do the research with me. If you come up with more and wish to blog it here, just drop me a line and I'll make it so.

The Forum Is Up

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http://forum.autisticliving.com

We hope you enjoy the forum!