Autism, Vaccines, Brains, Epidemics, Genes, Wakefield – What does it all mean?

Over the last week, I’ve been tweeting and sharing story after story which only further disproves the whole undying vaccine issue. I’m not sharing them to change anyone’s minds but rather just to share the latest news. But then today, a news story was released that forced me to question whether or not I should be trying to change minds after all.

Measles Invades The U.S.

vaccinesYes, just like last years Whooping Cough story, we have a disease returning to the U.S. that was previously all but wiped out. In this story about the measles, a family decided not to vaccinate their child, took a trip to Poland to pick up another child and brought the measles back with them. Now there are over 1000 people exposed in Utah.

Great, so they decided not to vaccinate their child… is that fair to the 999 other children that are now at risk? The article doesn’t specify but it’s safe to say that some of those children are unvaccinated as well, some may be vaccinated yet still might contract it and very likely, some children are yet too young to be vaccinated… in which case, that is a very scary scenario indeed because children that are too young are at a much higher risk of severe reactions… maybe even death.

Should I be letting that family make their own decisions or should I, in good conscience, be trying to convince that family that really should have been vaccinating their child all along? Perhaps if I (rhetorically of course) had convinced them, this could have been avoided?

I’m going to share the news stories again with you right now and this time, I want to try to show you why these stories are important. Hopefully this will help someone to make the right decision and avoid another outbreak.

Early Brain Overgrowth Linked to Autism

In this study, read more here, it is discovered that children with Autism had a brain size around 10% larger than that of children without Autism. Bigger! Why is this important? Well, first, it is an identifier… anything that helps us identify Autism in children is a plus.

Secondly, if some anti-vaccine people are correct and mercury is a big part of the blame, they’d have some very big explaining to do since one of the symptoms of mercury poisoning is Microcephaly (small head). Also, it should be noted that these are symptoms of methyl-mercury… the stuff that was used in vaccines was ethyl-mercury… which has such a short half life that it’s considered nontoxic.

Children with Autism have larger brains, not smaller heads.

‘Autism Epidemic’ Challenged by UK Study

The biggest fear pill that we’re forced to swallow in every single media/news broadcast is how much the number of Autism cases has risen in the last 20 years. This study, read more here, in the UK, decided to find out if the numbers really have been rising.

Researchers picked 618 random adults (over 16) and performed an assessment on them and what they found was that around 1% of adults did in fact fall on the spectrum.

What has happened is that many people did not know they had Autism, there was no way for them to be diagnosed as children since so very little was known about it back then. And adults today, even if they still feel as though they don’t fit in, find no reason what so ever to question it nor do they see any reason in getting a diagnosis as it would serve no purpose. They’d have the piece of paper but that’s it.

If 1 in 100 people had Autism 16 years ago (remember, the people tested were over 16), and the number is still 1 in 100 right now, then that proves the lack of an ‘epidemic’.

The reason I put that in quotes is important. When I posted the story to Facebook this week, someone asked: “Doesn’t that just mean it has been an epidemic for more years and now we can actually begin to deal with it?”

The answer is no.

The definition of an epidemic: An outbreak of a disease or illness that spreads rapidly among individuals in an area or population at the same time.

Ignoring for a moment that Autism is not a disease (it’s a disorder), we can now prove that Autism does not spread nor is it increasing in numbers. Therefore Autism is most certainly not an epidemic.

What does this have to do with vaccines?

Well, 20 years ago, vaccines had thimerosal, you know, that ethyl-mercury stuff… which should mean that there would be MORE Autism 20 years ago than today since almost all of our vaccines no longer have thimerosal today. Right? We took it out 10 years ago, the number of Autism cases should have gone down.

If we rule that out, then perhaps it’s the number of vaccines given in such a short time. Which, if the epidemic theory was correct, would make sense. But now that we can show that the rate of Autism was around 1 in 100 back then, when children had less vaccines than they do now…. we must conclude that the number of vaccines is not a factor either.

The amount of vaccines have changed, the amount of Autism cases has not.

Researchers identify 18 novel and highly significant genetic markers for ASD

In this article, read more here, researchers have broken down Autism into 4 sub types, and have found 18 genetic markers (10 of which are common to 2 or more sub types) that are common in Autistics.

This is big news because it means that they’re narrowing it down. It also means that they’ve specifically determined that Autism is genetic.

Does it mean that there is no “sub type” that is not more likely to have a reaction to environmental toxins that could resemble or cause Autism? No it does not. However, it does prove that genetically, they’ve already got it… it’s just a matter of having something trigger it and when.

Let me put it another way, if a sub type is one that is classified as having Autism lie dormant until triggered by something in the environment… well then, it’s only a matter of time. If vaccines do trigger it… what’s to say that food chemicals don’t too? or acid rain? Or artificial sweetners? or car exhaust? or cigarette smoke?

You get where I’m going with this? If you’re still worried about mercury after all I’ve told you and you now see that Autism is genetic… then chances are, all those vaccines you skipped will be for nothing once your child takes their first bite of a tuna fish sandwich. There’s far more mercury in there than all the old thimerosal vaccines combined.

It’s genetic… That’s why 1 in 100 adults have it, that’s why 1 in 100 children have it. That’s why their brains are 10% larger rather than having smaller heads. This is all beginning to add up.

But Wakefield told me to be Anti-Vaccine

It may surprise you, but I am linking to Age of Autism this one time because this transcript is actually important to point out. Wakefield, the guy often blamed for the anti-vaccine movement, actually never told anyone not to vaccinate their children.

In that interview, he states:

Ralph Nader was for safer cars .. he wasn’t anti-cars.  I am not anti-vaccine .. the vaccine strategy .. the vaccine policy in this country is not safe .. the safety has never been proven.

….

The safety studies of that vaccine are largely inadequate .. not my words .. the words of an international expert .. “largely inadequate”.   The safety studies have not been done .. I’ve not said “Don’t get vaccinated”.  I strongly advocate for the use of single vaccines.

Bold was added for emphasis.

 

He’s certainly not helped in making that message clear, but it needs to be clear. Whether you believe he is an honest man or he’s a thief that lied so that he could have his own vaccine patent in place to make himself rich… it doesn’t matter. What matters is that even he thinks that you need to vaccinate your children.

Actually, let me say that again… he had a patent for his own vaccine! He simply wanted to have the MMR vaccine split up into 3 separate vaccines, one of which he had a patent for.

Why would he develop a vaccine if he wanted you to not vaccinate?

Conclusion

Whether you feel that the vaccine schedule needs changing (it doesn’t actually, but that’s another matter) or you feel that vaccines need more research or you feel that vaccines need to be ‘greener’…..  do NOT STOP vaccinating your children!!!

Seriously people, there is no way in the world that it’s “healthier” or “safer” to not vaccinate… not in a million years.

Now, I do understand that some people simply can not vaccinate… allergies, adverse reactions or what have you… medical reasons do arise that make it unsafe to do so.

But personal paranoia is not a valid excuse! You can’t risk your child’s health and safety, not to mention other children’s health and safety, based on your own unproven fears.

Get all the information in the world, take what ever safety precautions you feel you need to take but vaccines work. You were vaccinated as a child. They may have saved your life and you didn’t even know it. That’s how they work.

If you’re pro-safety or concerned or what have you, that’s fine. However, if you’re anti-vaccine, to the point of not vaccinating your children at all, I no longer accept your opinion. I no longer accept your freedom to choose. Instead, I’ll do my best to change your mind.

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Confidence for you. Acceptance from everyone else

I do my utmost best to post and tweet and share about Understanding and Acceptance with people around the world. I feel that it’s my way of doing my part to ensure that in the future, life will be a little more fair and just for my child as well as all people with Autism.

Lesson for those without Autism

To the people around the world that do not have Autism or even know anything about Autism, I try to encourage them to gain some understanding such that they can accept those with Autism for who they are and how they are. To give them an equal opportunity to be every bit as much of part of society as I am even if they feel uncomfortable about it.

Perhaps those with Autism will feel more comfortable if everyone would have a bit more understanding and acceptance.. in time, it would balance out. The anxiety would go away and other people’s judgments would go away too.

At least, that’s what I would like to happen. It’s no easy task though.

Lesson for my son and those with Autism

self confidence

Self Confidence

Everyone teaches their child the same lesson: “You can be anything you want to be, if you just believe in yourself.”

These days, when prozac is sold more than any other drug in the world, self confidence is hard to come by. It’s even harder for those with Autism that may feel like they’re living in a world where they don’t fit in, constantly being judged or worse…. where they simply can not exist.

No, I don’t know how I’m going to do it… I don’t even know how I would do it without Autism being in the picture. But I do know that it’s what I have to strive for. It’s what I have to help him strive for.

I know it’s possible though because I believe it. I honestly believe that even if no one ever does gain any understanding or acceptance that my son can and will do just fine. In fact, he’ll be awesome.

The test will be if I can make him believe it…

And when he believes it, he will be awesome, no matter what stands in his way.

In a perfect world

It’s a bit of a contradiction when you think about it… telling everyone to accept those with Autism for who they are and telling those with Autism to not care if anyone else accepts them.

But that is the reality of how it needs to be. My son can do anything, he can be anyone… if he believes it, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

That’s not to say that I want my son or anyone else to be egotistical, but rather that I want them to realize that even a person with Autism that can not speak can go on to be very brilliant, skilled, successful… if they believe it enough. Believing it will allow them to find a way to make it happen.

Before that can happen, we need everyone else to help encourage that, and nurture it. Which means teaching them understanding and acceptance.

It’s a contradiction, it’s a cycle.. we need acceptance to help those with Autism achieve their potential but those with Autism don’t need anyone or anything to reach their potential if they believe in themselves but they need acceptance in order to believe in themselves.

In the end, that’s what it boils down to. Understanding and acceptance from you will give others the strength they need to believe in themselves where they may have lacked it before.

When we all accept it, we all believe it and when we all believe it, they believe it. That’s when the real magic happens.

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Conversations with the boys today

I thought I’d share a couple of examples of what conversations are like with my boys… both of these examples happened just this morning.

Conversation #1 – I want to be the grown up

While watching cartoons, Cameron saw an episode where the kids wanted to be the parents and the parents had to be the kids. As you can expect, it didn’t go so well. However, this idea intrigued Cameron enough for him to want to try it… his top priority, video game time!

Cameron: “Dad, we’re going to be the grown ups and you and mom will be the kids, ok?”

Me: “Ok, so you’re going to work all day long then?”

Cameron: “Yup, and you go to school… but then I get to play video games.”

Me: “No you don’t. After work, you have to make supper for everyone.”

Cameron: “but then I play video games?”

Me: “No, after supper the kids get to play video games… that’s me.”

Cameron: “but then I get games?”

Me: “No, after that, you have to give the kids a bath and then bed time.”

Cameron: “And then I get games right?”

Me: “No, then you have to do dishes, clean up and do more work and then go to bed.”

Cameron: “oh… ”

Me: “You might want to reconsider being the grown ups Cameron. Trust me, you get way more video game time than I do.”

Cameron: “ok ok ok… we’ll keep being the kids.”

Conversation #2 – Which colour is your favourite?

Tyler wanted to play trains with me after Cameron got on the bus, so he got a train he wanted and then wanted to be the big helper by getting me a train as well. Holding the blue train in his hand, he looks over at me….

Tyler: “uh.. Dad? What’s your favourite colour? Blue or…. red?”

Me: “Red.”

Tyler looks through the trains, can’t find a red one. Comes back to me…

Tyler: “uh… Dad? What’s your favourite colour? Blue or… orange?”

Me: “Orange.”

Tyler looks through the trains, can’t find an orange one. Comes back to me…

Tyler: “Dad? What’s your favourite colour? Blue or… purple?”

Me: “Purple.”

Tyler turns to the trains, gives it a quick glance and then comes back to me.

Tyler: “Uhmm… what’s your favourite colour? Blue or… pink?”

Me: “Blue”

Tyler: “No, sorry… you can’t have blue, this is my train!”

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Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic – This is why you must watch this documentary

If you’ve seen the HBO movie Temple Grandin, based on the woman of the same name, you probably came away quite enlightened. Even “experts” could watch that film and come away feeling like they have a new, or at least enriched, way of looking at Autism.

Any new insight you could gain from that film will seem pale in comparison to what you’ll get from the latest documentary on Autism called Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic.

Overview

Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic

Of all the controversies or issues dividing the Autism community, they all boil down to two larger groups. Those that feel that Autism needs to be cured and those that feel that Autism, while a cause for struggle sometimes, is a part of who Autistics are.

Loving Lampposts opens and closes with Sam, an adorable little boy that visits his favourite lampposts in his favourite park every single day. The story in between is a journey taken by Sam’s father, Todd Drezner, in an effort to talk to parents, experts and people with Autism themselves and find out what Autism really is and should it be cured or embraced?

I don’t want to spoil it too much for you but chances are you will enjoy this movie no matter which group you may find yourself in. For the most part, half of the film is talking about curing Autism while the other half is about embracing it but at no point do you ever feel like there’s a break in the flow nor is there anyone trying to convince you to change your opinion.

Curing the Autism Epidemic

In the film, you’ll be introduced to several doctors from Defeat Autism Now (name has recently been changed to the Autism Research Institute) as well as many parents, including Jenny McCarthy, who believe that vaccines and other toxins are responsible for Autism in our children.

Also, along the way, you’ll be introduced to a lot of treatments that they use in treating their children.

Also discussed is the word epidemic and how it’s used in relation to Autism. In this portion of the movie, there’s a really great reference to the FedEx logo, that I feel, is a wonderful eye opener. I’m sure you’ll agree when you see it.

Neurodiversity – Just a Different Way of Being

You’ll also be introduced to several doctors and parents that feel that Autism may or may not be medical, may or may not be psychological… they don’t know.

What they do know is that, and I quote from the movie “I’ve never met one Autistic person I didn’t think was a beautiful person.. just has such a beautiful soul.”

Furthermore, you’ll be introduced to several people with Autism themselves, some are verbal and some are not, they are all different but you will hear from them all. Whether speaking to you or using a device that speaks for them, they share their frustrations and their thoughts on Autism, cures, neurodiversity and more.

Summary

If the Temple Grandin movie enlightened you, then Loving Lampposts: Living Autistic will give you far more insight into Autism and the Autism community than you had previously, no matter who you are.

Even the most seasoned Autism advocates may list off all of the things they have already heard before but will still come away from this movie with a broader sense of understanding.

In the end, as the film closes with Sam visiting his favourite lampposts, you get a very real sense of just how much his father has learned from this journey, not just about Autism, but his own son as well.

And with this film, he brings you on that journey so that you too, can learn the same thing for yourself. And you will.

Buy it

Want to buy the movie? Want to get a discount?

From now until May 28, 2011, you can get $3 OFF the Loving Lampposts DVD by entering coupon code: lamppost

Go here to buy the movie now!

Quotes from the Film

Autism is a gift, disguised as a dilemma. – Sharisa Kochmeister (a nonverbal adult with Autism)

They tell me that Sam’s love of lampposts is Autistics behavior and that I should try to get rid of it. I can only say that love is not what makes us sick. It is, we’ve always been told, what makes us human. – Todd Drezner (film maker)

You haven’t got a big enough imagination for what your child could become – Johnny Seitz (adult with Autism)

There is an tremendous amount of emotional power connected with the idea of doing something, of acting. – Roy Richard Grinker (Author of Unstrange Minds)

We’re primed to see Autism more than ever before and despite all the negative hype, this may actually be good news. – Todd Drezner

I think some of the key aspects, what we would today term, as an intensive home based, early intervention program emphasizing music, movement, sensory integration, narration and imitation. They started to imitate me and once they did that, I became aware of them in my environment. – Stephen Shore

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Here is how a small donation may get you an Ipad

iPads have become the go to device, not just in every day life, but also in treating Autism. So much so that there was actually a segment on Autism in Apple’s iPad 2 launch video.

If you know all of this already, then you probably have heard of Shannon Rosa and her son Leo. If you haven’t you should start here: iHelp for Autism.

Shortly following that, Apple was in their house filming that launch video that I mentioned just a moment ago. Yes, it’s Shannon and Leo in that video.

Now they’re giving you the chance to win an iPad in a raffle just as they have… not only that but it will come preloaded with a bunch of their favourite Autism apps.

Visit Leo’s ipad Raffle at http://www.crowdrise.com/leosipadraffle and make a small donation to the Autism Science Foundation, $10 will do… or more if you’re so inclined.

Each $10 will get you a raffle ticket that goes towards your chance of winning the iPad.

Imagine, an iPad, lots of great apps and all it costs is your donation of $10 towards an Autism charity. It’s kind of a win/win/win situation.

Hurry though, the raffle ends on April 29th at 12pm PST. The draw will be at 1pm PST that same day using random.org.

For more information, visit her blog post about it: Leo’s iPad Raffle

And for more about Shannon Rosa, visit her sites Squidalicious and The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism

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