"The Autism Explosion" - Rimland
Lenny Schafer
http://www.feat.org M.I.N.D.: http://neuroscience.ucdavis.edu/mind
Letters Editor: FE...@feat.org Archive: http://www.feat.org/listarchive/
"Healing Autism: No Finer a Cause on the Planet"
____________________________________________________________
"The Autism Explosion" - Rimland
Monday, July 05, 1999
[Editorial by Bernard Rimland, Ph.D. on the Autism Research Institute
website. Dr. Rimland is a renowned and long-time parent advocate.]
"Rubbish!" That is what Bennett Leventhal was quoted in the Chicago
Sun-Times as saying in reply to a reporter's question regarding my position.
I had said that the increase in autism is real, and that vaccinations are a
prime suspect as a cause of the increase (ARRI, 9/3, 1995, 12/1, 1998).
Leventhal, who is a professor of child psychiatry and pediatrics at the
University of Chicago, says the autism/vaccine link is just a coincidence
and "there is increasingly powerful evidence that this is a genetic
disorder."
How ironic! "rubbish" is what Leventhal's predecessor at the University
of Chicago, Bruno Bettelheim, said in response to my insistence in the
mid-1960s that genetics played an important role in causing autism! No doubt
genetics do play an important role in some cases of autism. Neither is there
any doubt, despite the strange skepticism of Leventhal and many others, that
the prevalence of autism is increasing at an alarming rate in the U.S., the
U.K. and elsewhere in the world (see graph). The only open question is the
role vaccines may play as a potential causal agent in the autism epidemic.
There is no plausible alternative to vaccines as the most likely cause. I
have never heard of a genetic epidemic disease.
That said, let us look more closely at the vaccine issue, which has
been presented to the public in a grossly distorted fashion. First note that
the billion-dollar medical establishment, including the huge drug companies,
powerful governmental agencies and medical schools, and most physicians,
want us to believe that the vaccines are both perfectly safe and highly
effective. Those, like me, who question vaccine safety are said to be
wild-eyed radicals who want to abolish vaccinations. Not true! What I
believe is that:
1. Vaccines are by and large effective, although not nearly as
effective as their proponents would have us believe. (ARRI, 12/1).
2. Because vaccines probably do more good than harm, vaccinations
should not be abandoned.
3. Vaccines, as they are presently manufactured and used, do cause
a great deal of underreported harm, including many cases of autism and other
disabilities. Therefore, the production and use of vaccines should be
conducted much more cautiously and rationally.
4. The link between vaccines and autism is far stronger than the
medical establishment is willing to admit, and very careful and
well-reasoned research is an urgent priority.
At this point you may be thinking, "Even though billions of dollars are
at stake, I surely can trust the officials in charge of vaccine programs to
look out for my child's welfare!"
Don't count on it. The conduct of officials on both sides of the
Atlantic has been far from admirable. According to recent news reports, the
British government ignored warning from key scientific advisors for four
years; and continued to use vaccines likely to have come from cattle with
deadly "mad cow disease" (BSW). Under pressure from Parliament, the
Department of Health reluctantly said it would issue a report--next March!
The situation in the U.S. is at least as bad. Congress requires records
to be kept of the lot numbers of vaccines for which unusually large number
of "adverse events" (side effects) are reported. But the information is then
simply ignored. The "hot lots," as they are called, are not destroyed, but
continue to be injected into infants and children. (no use throwing out
expensive vaccines--dollars are worth more than lives, just as in the U.K.)
Both the U.S. and U.K. governments have laws requiring physicians to
report "adverse events" when parents complain of a bad vaccine reaction. But
in both the U.S. and the U.K., the vast majority of such adverse events are
not reported. A telephone survey by the National Vaccine Information Center
(a parent advocacy group) reported that 94% of New York State doctors said
they would not turn in official reports when parents notified them of
significant vaccine side effects. Why? Perhaps because doctors are so
convinced that vaccines are safe that they consider any child's bad reaction
to be mere coincidence. Or perhaps the doctors are concerned about
malpractice suits. Whatever the reason, the effect is to give vaccines a far
better bill of health than they deserve.
Here in the U.S., the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
is charged with both promoting vaccine use and evaluating vaccine safety and
efficacy--a real conflict of interest.
The CDC is deeply committed to increasing the number of vaccines that
young children receive--about 35 doses of vaccines are already given before
the child enters school. The MMR vaccine is in particular highly suspect, in
both the U.S. and the U.K. In the U.K. there is a large class action suit
underway by parents of vaccine-injured children. Asking the CDC to look into
vaccine safety is like asking the fox to guard the chicken coop.
The CDC has been adamantly opposed to considering the possibility that
vaccines may play a role in the causation of autism. Recently, at meetings
in Brick, New Jersey, Dr. Jacqueline Bertrant, representing the CDC, stated
that vaccines have nothing to do with the cluster of autistic children that
had been widely reported in Brick. When she was asked from the floor whether
any of the children had had blood samples drawn to determine their immune
status and to find whether there was evidence of vaccine damage, she said
"No." How could she possibly conclude that the vaccines were not implicated?
Closed minds do not conduct meaningful research.
Legislation currently before Congress would allocate millions of
dollars to the CDC for research on the causes of autism. But the CDC cannot
be trusted to use the money allocated to it for the purposes Congress has in
mind. A May 17, 1999 PR Newswire article reported that the Inspector
General's office charged that CDC had used as directed only $9.8 million of
$22.7 million allocated by Congress to study chronic fatigue syndrome. The
rest of the money was used for other purposes. CDC official William Reeves,
M.D., asking for whistle-blower protection, reported that $1.2 million
dollars the CDC spent on vaccination programs was illegally charged to the
chronic fatigue syndrome project on the last day of the fiscal year! Lying
to Congress is a felony. Let the CDC study autism? No, thank you!
There is a good deal of evidence--none of it yet
conclusive--implicating the MMR as causing the autism epidemic. The evidence
includes both clinical research studies and thousands of parent reports
linking autism to a vaccine--especially the MMR. The medical authorities in
the U.K. have responded by conducting several ill-conceived and poorly
executed studies intended to mask rather than reveal the facts. These
quasi-studies remind me of the fearful hunter who takes a few steps into the
forest, hastily emerges, and proclaims, "There are no bears in the forest--I
just checked."
Parents advocacy groups are not misled by the media blitz asserting
that vaccines are so safe they do not need to be studied. They insist upon
honest, effective research conducted by independent researchers and not by
the likes of the CDC. Our children deserve better.
Dr. Neustaedter's excellent Vaccine Guide (260 pages) is available from
ARI at $17.00 (includes postage--CA residents $18.22). Our ARI vaccine
information package will be included at no cost.
Autism Research Institute
4182 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116
* * *
ALSO IN TODAY's NEWSLETTER:
A Look at Gluten/Casein, Dietary Theories
Dr. Paul Shattock, of Sunderland, England is doing work on the
casein free/gluten free diet connections to autism and is studying the
development of caso-morphine and gluteo-morphine in autistic children. In
some individuals who cannot metabolize gluten, a-gliadin is produced. . .
____________________________________________________________
editor: Lenny Schafer east coast editor: Catherine Johnson, Ph.D.
sch...@sprynet.com CIJ...@aol.com
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Tom Maier
> Dr. Neustaedter's excellent Vaccine Guide (260 pages) is available from
>ARI at $17.00 (includes postage--CA residents $18.22). Our ARI vaccine
>information package will be included at no cost.
>
Since this topic is so important, wouldn't it be a good idea to
publish this information to the network rather than to
only use printed material? CDC publishes their finding
to the net and you could do likewise, if you feel that it
is really information that is for the good of the public.
I look forward to the public release of this information.
Thank you in advance for your concern.
Tom
]
ecki...@aol.com
Bologna
Bull Hockey
This is what I think about all the new publish reports on the causes of
autism. Why do I feel this way? I feel this way because instead of sitting
around arguing about causes why not find a cure. Find a treatment that is a
gurantee with all people.
Stop wasting my time with all the possible things that could cause the
disorder and find one thing that can help my family out now!!
Michele
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Search and Read Usenet Discussions in your Browser - FREE -
GOVSKI
let our children or grandchildren get the mmr,are we going to bear the guilt of
having it done,or the guilt of possible disaster from the disease. If there is
a chance of lowering the growing numbers of victims,we should certainly go the
route of prevention. Are we replacing measles with autism? I have three
children,one has minimal brain damage(the diagnosis of his era),one was held in
the hospital for a week for observation after a close call sids episode(he
stopped breathing and turned blue) another had thrompocytopenia after her
shot. I have one autistic nephew that developed a socalled toxic encephalopathy
,yet never was reported by the pediatrician as shot related. My unvaccinated
grandchild can't go to preschool with the other kids because he is lacking this
one shot,and the pressure is on to do it. At least there should be better stats
to base decisions,so therefore more studies are needed.
dais...@my-deja.com
of
> autism. Why do I feel this way? I feel this way because instead of
sitting
> around arguing about causes why not find a cure. Find a treatment
that is a
> gurantee with all people.
>
> Stop wasting my time with all the possible things that could cause the
> disorder and find one thing that can help my family out now!!
>
> Michele
>
lawyers out there who are ready to sue anybody for anything. If they
want, they can make the courts believe autism is caused by a number of
factors, one of which I'm sure would 'apply' to my and your children.
If the lawyer wins, he gets money, you get money, and qualified
professionals get even more scared and cautious about research to find
a cure. I think if we dwell on 'was it caused by this', or 'was it
caused by that' arguments, it will only put off focus on research to
find effective treatments and maybe even a cure. I have heard the same
garbage about vaccines. If autism was caused by a vaccine, many more
people would have the effect. Alot of people chose not to give their
children vaccines, thinking that polio and other lethal diseases no
longer exist. If anyone wants to take this chance, it's her decision.
I had been in another autism/pdd forum where a lawyer had actually
posted that he was ready to represent the parents in a lawsuit
regarding the autism-vaccine dilemna.
You can find him at 1-800-sue-the-b*stard (LOL!!)
Let us make these sacrifices of what may have happened in the past to
fight for what we can achieve in the future!!
Caroline
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
~~~ Tricia
even post this. SOMETHING much bigger is involved in this. I think there's
a genetic component, and somewhere along the way, something ELSE triggers
it---a maternal virus, a virus or other illness in infancy or early
childhood, a vaccine, SOMETHING. Yes, if it were ONLY the vaccine, more
kids would be autistic. And NO ONE therapy is going to work miracles for
every child. Penicillin is a great antibiotic, but so are Sulfa drugs and
Erythromycin, etc. etc. What works for one may not work for another. The
ONLY way a sure-fire treatment will be discovered will be to find what
causes autism in the first place.
And you'd better believe I want them to find what causes it. It's the only
way they WOULD find a cure, if that were even possible. You HAVE to know
what causes it. And I'm not trying to start the "cure" debate. I just want
to help John live as full a life as possible. Cure him of his sweetness?
Cure him of the cute things he says? Nope, that's his personality. I want
him to talk with me, to be able to get dressed on his own, to be out of
diapers. That's not a cure. That's just what time and therapy will
hopefully bring.
This is a child who, while in the midst of potty training this morning,
cried and screamed and wiggled so much, seemed SO unhappy and frustrated
that I started crying-----and this child, my sweet child, got a handful of
toilet paper, gentled dabbed at my face, and said, "It's ok, Mommy. Don't
cry."
Sorry if this is a bad post. I do my best to be upbeat here. I love you
all. I'm just very tired. I have so many things on my mind besides John,
and I'm at a breaking point. Please don't be upset with me.
~~~ T ~~~
dais...@my-deja.com wrote in message <7lvrn0$fjp$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>In article <7mwg3.21880$me.11469715@WReNphoon4>,
> ecki...@aol.com wrote:
>> Rubbish
>>
>> Bologna
>>
>> Bull Hockey
>>
>> This is what I think about all the new publish reports on the causes
>of
dais...@my-deja.com
with. For everyone here, I give you a big ((((hug)))). We're all in
this together, Girl. Love and Light, Caroline :o)
Cattwuman
autism...I would think genetics has something to do with that one. My son had
early onset autism...apparent from day one. I did nothing differently during
that pregnancy than any of the other three. I'm not discrediting outer
influences...like you say, maybe something else just triggers it to make it
worse who knows...
I just don't think they will ever find a cure...at least not in my childrens'
lifetime. There are too many differing factors in all autistics to pinpoint a
cause...one has too much seratonin, one has not enough, one has normal brain
scans, one has abnormal ones...it's too broad...but I will never give up hope.
BTW, we're all in the same boat...the heat is getting to me and making me tired
too I'm just trying to be as pleasant as possible...for the sake of the kids
<g> :-D
Even if you WERE venting (and it doesn't seem like you are) you're entitled!!!
Am I making sense? Boy, the heat got me more than I thought!!!
Kat B.
fartacrowbar
In our case, we have always suspected immunisation as our two previously
normal boys turned into severely autistic toddlers not long after their
last shots (one was reacting all the way through but it was poo-pooed by
the Infant Welfare Sister)...in the second son, it was almost overnight.
Knowing that, meant that we did gender selection for a girl, and delayed
and staggered her vaccinations. Result: one perfectly normal child.
Therefore, having prior knowledge and applying it IS RELEVENT! If we could
screen the susceptible children before making a decision to immunise them,
then maybe we could reduce a lot of the incidence of autism.
ecki...@aol.com wrote in article <7mwg3.21880$me.11469715@WReNphoon4>...
> Rubbish
>
> Bologna
>
> Bull Hockey
>
> This is what I think about all the new publish reports on the causes of
> autism. Why do I feel this way? I feel this way because instead of
sitting
> around arguing about causes why not find a cure. Find a treatment that
is a
> gurantee with all people.
>
> Stop wasting my time with all the possible things that could cause the
> disorder and find one thing that can help my family out now!!
>
> Michele
>
>
>
Viv
ecki...@aol.com wrote in message <7mwg3.21880$me.11469715@WReNphoon4>...
>Rubbish
>
>Bologna
>
>Bull Hockey
>
>This is what I think about all the new publish reports on the causes of
>autism. Why do I feel this way? I feel this way because instead of
sitting
>around arguing about causes why not find a cure.
Ever heard of the expression "prevention is better than cure"?
Gail
-------------------------
The ADD / ADHD Gazette
http://www.gailmiller.clara.net
GOVSKI
brings about change(the pocketbook is where it hurts) and has often brought the
drug companies to their knees and made them accept liability.You are right
about another issue,genetic predisposition,of course it is. A thousand kids can
get strep throat,but few get rheumatic fever,genetics play a part in most every
syndrome.Given the Gulf War damaged vets,why are there many,but not all
injured? Genetics of course.Now science is telling us some people have a low
level of Qparaoxinase,an enzyme which determines our body's reaction to toxins.
The vets were loaded up with vaccines and had exposures to airborn
chemicals,some are very ill,most aren't.Something as simple as this may prove
to be the "pku" type test of the future,and determine which kids would be at
risk. Also,if it were found that some childrens bodies didn't eliminate but
accumulated high levels of toxins,chelation,dialysis,and maybe other options
could prove to make them well. Of course the cause is at least as important as
the cure. There is rarely a cure without identifying a cause,it just doesn't
work that way.Many of the illnesses that are kept in check or said to be under
control are just that...never cured because unless you find the offending agent
you can do little.
Vicky Fraser
Whenever one is talking about causal agents, the subject gets very very
tricky, there is new information almost monthly, but we get it in bits and
pieces. All of the most current research, from Chedoke-McMaster Centre for
Children at Risk, seems to indicate that there are a number of different
causal things happening. Particularly with the advents in diagnosing the
more specific different ranges of PDD, Aspergers, etc, it looks for all
intents and purposes like we may be looking at a number of different causal
agents, or at least different triggers.
It has been known for sometime that there is a link between autism and
adverse vaccination reactions, however this link would appear to be more of
a trigger than a cause, that would explain the low rates.
As for the 22% increase. This might just as well be that we have far better
diagnostic criteria than ever before, and far better informed diagnosticians
no?
On a personal IMHO note, I have a great deal of respect for Bernard Rimland
as a statistician <sp>, he has the largest known data base on autism known,
and we owe a great debt to him for that, and his fight with Bruno
Bettleheim, however historically he's not been the greatest clinician, and
is prone to vast sweeping overstatements, I'm note sure he's as reliable for
drawing conclusions from the data he has collected but bless him for that
data.
BTW I do have a number of excellent books on the subject of vaccinations in
general. If anyone wishes I'll pull them tomorrow and post the names,
authors and ISBN numbers.\
Vicky