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Defeat Autism Now (DAN) Conferences The 12th DAN Conference was held October 3-5, 2003, in Portland, Oregon, at the downtown Marriott. The conference featured presentations by the nation's leading experts on research and treatment of autism, as well as by parents of autistic children. A central theme of the conference was practical advice for parents on the treatment and management of autistic children. The 13th Conference was held in Los Angeles on October 1-3, 2004. A highlight of the conference was the introduction of a group of recovered autistic children. In reporting on the conference, Dr. Bernard Rimland said "The evidence is overwhelming, and continues to grow, that thimerosal-containing vaccines are a major cause of the world-wide autism epidemic." His statement is a direct contradiction to a story in the January, 2005 Discover magazine entitled "Childhood vaccines' link to autism is debunked." The story cites several studies in which no significant link between the vaccines and autism were found. It doesn't appear that an end to this controversy is in sight. However, according to the Discover article, as a precaution thimerosal has been replaced in most vaccines, except for a flu vaccine manufactured by Aventis. Autism Advice From The American Academy Of
Pediatrics The
May, 2002, issue of the American Academy of Pediatrics' journal contains
guidelines for recognizing and managing autism. The guidelines
contain a clear position on the controversial link between the
measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and autism: namely, that
there is no scientific evidence for the alleged link. Thus
physicians should, according to the guidelines, continue to
encourage the vaccination for all children. Beyond
that, the guidelines emphasize early detection of autism through
careful observation and concentrated attention to the concerns of
parents about their children's development. Such early detection,
combined with "early, appropriate, and consistent
intervention," is said to produce better long-term outcomes for
children with autistic spectrum disorders. Autism: more common, but more clues for earlier
treatment A
British study reported out of Cambridge University by Dr. Fiona
Scott of the Autism Research Centre there indicated that 58 of
10,000 children were diagnosable with autism. Previous estimates
were about 5 in 10,000, less than 1/11 the new estimate. Either
there is an epidemic of autism, at least in Cambridgeshire where the
study was done, or the criteria for what constitutes autism have
undergone radical revision. In the Cambridge study, only children
who had a definite clinical diagnosis were counted, so the rates
were not inflated by a lax application of existing criteria. The
root cause of autism remains a mystery, but two chemically
identifiable differences between normal and autistic children have
been reported. The first, reported at the May meeting of the
American Psychiatric Association in New Orleans, is that the ratio
of copper to zinc is higher in autistic than in normal children. Dr.
William Walsh of the Pfeiffer Center in Chicago believes that the
reason for the discrepancy is that a protein, metallothionein, that
plays a role in the metabolism of metals, does not function properly
in autistic people. The hypothesis that zinc is deficient in some
autistics is not new; some autistics are already given zinc therapy,
but Dr. Walsh thinks that the metallothionein problem could be a
root cause of autism. Another
study recently reported in Annals of Neurology with Dr. Karin
Nelson of the United States' National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke as lead author showed that neonatal blood
samples of children who later became autistic contained abnormally
high concentrations of neural growth factors. The high concentration
was also observed in children who later were mentally retarded. The
exact significance of the elevated levels is unknown, but detection
of the abnormal level of neural growth factor makes early
intervention and planning possible. Autism not Related to Inoculations? In the February, 2001 issue of the
journal, Pediatrics, Dr. Eric Fombonne published a letter arguing
that the sharp rise in cases of autism is largely illusory. He points out
that increasing population and changes in diagnostic accuracy may
contribute to the apparent rise in the number of cases. Other researchers
also question the association between MMR vaccine and autism. However,
there does not seem to be any alternative explanation yet for the great
relative increase in the number of cases of late-onset autism compared to
early-onset autism; the late-onset cases appear to occur at about the time
the vaccine is typically administered.
Controversy About Autism-Vaccine Link Continues
In
the latest issue of Autism Research Review (Volume 15, No. 2) Dr.
Bernard Rimland says "Has the autism/MMR link been disproved?
Absolutely not." Dr. Rimland is arguably the world's leading
expert on autism, the father of an autistic adult, the author of a
prize-winning book on autism, and a student of the disorder for
about 40 years. He believes that the media have misled the public about
the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) allegedly negative conclusion
about the link. He quotes from the IOM report, ". . . the
committee recommends that this issue receive continued attention. .
. its conclusion does not exclude the possibility that MMR vaccine
could contribute to ASD in a small number of children." Dr.
Rimland says "Thousands of U.S. and U.K. families say--and can
demonstrate with videotapes and photos--that their children were
normal prior to being vaccinated, reacted badly to the vaccination,
and became autistic shortly after." We
cannot, of course, be certain that some other factor did not cause
the autism; thus, as the saying goes, "the beat goes on,"
and parents must wait a little longer for a stronger consensus on
this matter to develop. Meanwhile, those who want advice on
vaccinations from the Autism Research Institute can get it by
sending a self-addressed, stamped business size (#10) envelope
marked "vaccine advice" to ARI, 4182 Adams Avenue, San
Diego, CA (USA), 92116. Autism Debate Goes
on, and on, and on . . . In the latest issue of Autism Research Review International Dr. Bernard Rimland once again suggests that autism is linked to unsafe levels of mercury by unsafe immunizations. Specifically, the mercury-laden preservative thimerosal, used to make it possible to store multiple doses of vaccine in a single container, is identified as the culprit. Dr. Rimland cites an admission by Neal Halsey, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University, that he and others had failed to recognize that children were receiving potentially toxic amounts of mercury in vaccinations. A subsequent meeting of the Institute of Medicine resulted in a recommendation that physicians should not administer vaccines containing thimerosal unless no thimerosal-free vaccine is available. Given this recommendation, parents might be wise to ask physicians whether any vaccine they propose to administer contains thimerosal, and decide what to do after hearing the answer. Autistic Boy Analyzes His Own Condition On the front page of the San Diego Union-Tribune of November 19, 2002, Sandra Blakeslee of the New York Times News Service reports on the unique talent of an autistic boy. Tito Mukhopadhyay, a 14-year-old from India, reads well and writes fluently, although he has the typical hand-flapping and twirling symptoms associated with autism. With respect to these symptoms, he says "I am calming myself. My senses are so disconnected, I lose my body. So I flap. If I don't do this, I feel scattered and anxious." Tito's feeling of losing his body is probably characteristic of autistic people, who seem to have little sense of their bodies. Tito's articulation is poor; autistic people often have difficulty with motor behavior and appear clumsy, but Tito is able to write clearly. Laboratory tests reveal that Tito cannot detect lights that go on within fewer than 3 seconds after a sound is presented; this is a dramatic demonstration of the autistic tendency to focus on only one sense at a time. Tito also says that vision is painful, and that he chooses to focus on audition as his primary sensory modality. Tito's mother taught him at home, day and night, and refused to let him withdraw from the world. She used food rewards to encourage him to learn the alphabet and to read; food seems to be an unusually effective reward for autistic children. He reads widely, remembers what he reads, and reports accurately on what he remembers. Secretin No Cure for Autism A careful new double-blind study published in the November, 2002 edition of the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry revealed no greater effect of a single injection of secretin than of a single placebo injection. Both natural and synthetic forms of secretin were tested at centers in Colorado and Washington. Although placebos may themselves produce a significant effect, this study indicates that the money spent on secretin is probably wasted. Multiple injections might produce an effect, but that has not been demonstrated. What is needed, according to Geraldine Dawson, who co-directed the study, is more research to determine the causes of autism. Meanwhile, parents would be well advised to use techniques that are proven to be effective, like behavioral interventions or medications that are shown to be effective against some of the symptoms of autism
Last updated 12/17/04 |
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