15 June, 2008 | Make a difference and be more by pledging your support for parents and caretakers raising children afflicted with autism.
Alan Mason interviews Mark Leland in a documentary about the song "Missing Pieces" and his thoughts and views on autism and what can be done to help bring about more awareness and help for families.

15 June, 2008 | Mark Leland's "Missing Pieces" music video on Dish Network & Starfish TV
View selected dates and times on Starfish Website.

14 June, 2008 | Putting Your Kids First

16 April, 2008 | Green Our Vaccines Rally
Please join Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey for the most historical event of 2008, the Green Our Vaccines Rally. Jenny and Jim are working hard to eliminate all toxins from our children's vaccines and have our national health agencies reassess the mandatory vaccine schedule, as our children are receiving TOO MANY, TOO SOON. While Jenny and Jim support the vaccine program, like many, they feel vaccines are too toxic. This country has the ability to provide a safer vaccine supply and schedule to our children and they ask you to join them to demand this for our country's greatest asset, our children.

15 April, 2008 | AUTISM: Hope after Diagnosis
A documentary video about autism.

28 March, 2008 | Getting Help for a Child with Autism!
1. Trouble getting a diagnosis? Bring in video, letters.

If you're concerned your child has autism, and you're getting the same response Kinninger got from her pediatrician, remember doctor's visits are often short, and your child may not be displaying the worrisome behavior you've seen so often at home. Alison Singer, executive vice president of Autism Speaks, an awareness and advocacy organization, suggests videotaping your child's behavior and showing it to the doctor. "You could play it on your laptop, or even just bring in the video camera," she says.

Getting a letter of support from your child's day-care provider or preschool teacher might also help.

Don't Miss
In Depth: Empowered Patient
"Teachers are seen as other professionals, and a letter saying, 'In 20 years of teaching, this behavior is really unusual,' can go far," says Singer, who has a 10-year-old daughter with autism. If your child isn't in day care or school, even a letter from a neighbor who knows your child could help, she says.

Singer emphasizes that parents shouldn't push their pediatrician for a diagnosis. "We're saying, refer the child to a developmental pediatrician for additional screening and testing. Because when a parent thinks something is wrong with their child, they're usually right," she says.

Educating yourself about autism will also help you have a discussion with your pediatrician. Autism Speaks, First Signs, and the American Academy of Pediatrics all give excellent overviews. Autism Speaks' Video Glossary has more than 100 video clips comparing the behavior of children with autism spectrum disorders with the behavior of a typical child.

2. Sign up for early intervention

Any child younger than age 3 with a developmental delay is eligible to receive services through Early Intervention, a government-mandated program that provides services to eligible children. Services are free of charge, and vary from state to state, but may include speech and language instruction and occupational and physical therapy.

To learn how to apply for Early Intervention, click on this state-by-state directory from the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities and scroll down.

Early Intervention is invaluable because it links parents to services in the community, but Lisa Goring, mother of a child with autism and director of family services at Autism Speaks, warns that parents may also have to search on their own, since it can be hard to find services without a long waiting list. "There just aren't enough service providers for the kids who need them," Goring says. To find services on your own, wrightslaw.com, which offers information about special education law and advocacy, has a Yellow Pages for Kids that lists providers.

Long waits are so prevalent that Nancy Wiseman, founder and president of the advocacy group First Signs, whose 12-year-old daughter has autism, has a few suggestions for how to get in quicker. First, parents should stress the age of their child (many clinics will give priority to children under 3), and should ask the pediatrician to make a call to the specialist. More suggestions are in her book "Could it be Autism? A Parent's Guide to the First Signs and Next Steps."

3. Know your child's rights in school

When your child enters public school, he or she has rights under federal and state laws. The U.S. Department of Education has information about federal laws and state laws. The National Association of Parents with Children in Special Education has information about children's legal rights as well.

Wiseman says that even with these protections, you'll still have to work to get what's best for your child.

For example, Wiseman moved to get into a different school district, and then a few years later, when that district no longer worked well for her daughter, she twice fought to place her child out of the district.

"It's very frustrating to battle a school, and you really have to do your homework," she says.

You and the district will come up with an Individual Education Plan. Wiseman recommends "The Complete IEP Guide: How to Advocate for Your Special Ed Child" by attorney Lawrence Siegel.

Also, school districts often have a Special Education Parent Teacher Association. Parents there can often give good advice on how to work with the school district.

4. Sign up for a research study

If you live near a major research university, Wiseman suggests finding out whether anyone is looking for children with autism for research studies. Sometimes, these universities will provide care for your child as part of the study. Wiseman's group, First Signs, has a list, as does Autism Speaks.

5. Get support from other parents

Health Library
MayoClinic.com: Autism
Judith Steuber, who raised two grandsons with autism, said that if she had to do it all over again, she would do one thing very differently. "From the beginning, I wish I'd had more support from other parents," says Steuber, who now acts as a mentor for special-needs parents in her school district. "I think that makes a big difference."


Autism Speaks has a state-by-state list of support groups. You can find a chapter of The Autism Society of America here.

There are electronic support groups on Yahoo, the Berkeley Parents Network, and Autism Web. The Arc has support groups for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; Wiseman says many have a large number of parents of children with autism. E-mail to a friend

Elizabeth Cohen is a correspondent with CNN Medical News. Senior producer Jennifer Pifer and intern Jennifer Kabak contributed to this report.

16 January, 2008 | Help Raise $1 Million for Autism Research
How You Can Help - Selling Puzzle Pieces
Imagine if everyone who knows an adult or child with autism bought a puzzle piece for $1. A million dollars would be easy and require very little effort. You can participate in this fund raiser, across the entire United States by simply ordering and selling your puzzle pieces.

19 December, 2007 | Autism is Treatable
AUTISM CAN BE TREATED

Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD, ND and
Elissa Meininger
November 13, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
“All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; and Third, it is accepted as self-evident.” --Arthur Schopenhauer
We are in the midst of a catastrophe. As of February 2007, the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) has admitted that there are at least 1.5 million children with autism in the U.S. affecting one in every 150 children and one out of 90 boys. Even these figures are probably too low and may not take into account the other categories being created to describe our increasingly challenged children. Pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger’s disorder are two other autism spectrum disorders that describe children with variants of autism. The incidence of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is one in ten children. As the saying goes, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something is seriously wrong.
Government health experts claim autism is an incurable disease offering anticonvulsant and psychotropic drugs to control behavior and a behavior modification therapy called “applied behavior analysis (ABA).” They dismiss all other means of helping these children as “unproven.” Meanwhile thousands of children are back to full functionality by treating the damage caused by mercury toxicity using natural health therapies.
Our government’s slow and even deceptive response to this catastrophe is a major part of the problem parents of autistic children face. The CDC does not publicize the fact that in the 1970s only one in 10,000 children were diagnosed with autism, however, in the 1980s, this figure rose to one in every 2,500. Nor does it mention that the massive escalation of cases started in the 1990s coincided with the addition of several new vaccines to the compulsory childhood vaccination lists. Currently, every American child is expected to have 36 shots by the time they are six years old.
The sudden 11-fold increase in neurobehavioral disorders of all kinds pointed to vaccines and most importantly, the mercury component (thimerosal) as the main culprit. The drug industry lobbied for laws that now protect them from liability should these government-mandated vaccines damage or kill any of the children required to take them. To aid victims of vaccination a special government-run fund was set up in but a Vaccine Court decided to disallow autism claims as there was no “scientific proof” that vaccines caused autism.
With increasing demands of parents of autistic children, in the summer of 2007, the court was forced to conduct special hearings to determine, not by science, but by reasonable legal probability whether or not there is a plausible link between vaccines and autism. If a link is established, the trust fund initiated in 1986 to pay claims could provide financial relief for families with autistic children. However, the annual cost of treating an autistic child ranges from $50,000 to $200,000. If the Vaccine Court decides there is no link, the parents of 1.5 million kids must fend for themselves. Even if claims are allowed, there are not enough funds to cover all damaged children.
There are several good articles about the CDC’s attempts to suppress information it has about the dangers of vaccines. The most comprehensive one is Deadly Immunity by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,
Kenneth Stoller, MD, FAAP and Anne McElroy Dachel in their reports speculate that because mercury products (mercury amalgams and vaccines) are connected with the fossel-fuel industry they are protected by government.
The ferocity of the battle is seen in press reports from both sides of the debate including the government itself. In September 26, 2007, a CDC study entitled, “CDC Study Finds Kids’ Mental Acuity Not Hurt by Mercury,” was quickly followed on October 1, 2007, by a press release titled “Mercury (Thimerosal) in Vaccines: FDA and CDC 'Guilty' of Misconduct, Says Senate Report.” issued by Senator Enzi, Ranking Member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Thanks to massive pressure from hundreds of thousands of parents and Congressional leaders like Dan Burton, whose own grandchild has autism, Congress in 2007 finally passed legislation to fund autism research. However, this has not satisfied all parents. Their fear is that most of this money will be poured into genetic research and behavioral research and not address “the environmental causes of autism” i.e., mercury and vaccines. Sidestepping the environmental aspects of autism would serve to protect the vaccine manufacturing industry as well as the validity of the national policy on compulsory vaccinations.
It is important to note that autism first appeared in the 1930s, around the same time thimerosal, a mercury component, started to be put into vaccines. Not many cases were reported back then and the dozens of vaccines children now receive, had not been developed. In the 1956, Dr. Bernard Rimland, a Ph.D. in experimental psychology and research design welcomed his son, Mark, into the world of autism. In that era, the medical community, under the leadership of psychiatrist, Bruno Bettleheim, believed autism was a psychological disorder caused by unloving mothers. The treatment was psychotherapy for both mother and child. Dr. Rimland did not agree. By 1964, Dr. Rimland, wrote Infantile Autism describing eight years or research and personal observation of his son with scientific evidence that autism is biochemical in nature and not caused by unloving mothers.
Finding no support from the medical scientific community, Dr. Rimland founded the Autism Society of America. Its members were and still are parents of children with autism, many of whom are health professionals. He encouraged them to become the primary experts formalizing their work by creating the Autism Research Institute, which has now has the largest database in the world on the issues of autism. The Institute collects data from parents on what works to help their children providing comprehensive surveys on results of dozens of therapies. DAN! (Defeat Autism Now) conferences occur annually where researchers and parents present information on successful therapies.
The DAN! approach also includes applied behavior analysis aka ABA (a behavior modification program which Rimland pushed for 20 years before it was accepted by the medical establishment), dietary supplements (which are still not accepted by the medical establishment including the psychiatric community), special diets to eliminate casein (found in dairy products) and gluten (found in wheat products) and a mercury detox.
Evidence of success with DAN! protocols has recently been featured on both Oprah and Larry King Live by two Hollywood authors and actresses who are mothers of recovered children. These wonderful and committed mothers effectively use their experience and notoriety to bring hope to hundreds of thousands of parents who have not heard that autism is treatable. One of the duo is Holly Robinson Peete, who, along with her husband, Roland Peete of NFL football fame, founded Hollyrod Foundation to help raise money and spread the word about autism. The other mom is Jenny McCarthy, who has just released a book about her experiences with bringing her son Evan back from autism . The book, entitled, Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism, was featured on the cover of People in the October 1, 2007, issue. She is spokeswoman for an organization called Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), which provides detailed information on what parents can do to help their children recover.
During their interview on Larry King Live, Jenny pointed out that while vaccines might not be the sole cause of autism, she believes they are a trigger, much like obesity is a trigger for diabetes. She also pointed out that her son had candida, a yeast infection, and as soon as this was cleaned up with an antifungal diet and an antifungal drug, Max started speaking complete sentences and his social development was back on track. Jenny said Evan’s experience is common among kids with autism.
The DAN doctor who Jenny credits with diagnosing Evan’s candida overgrowth is pediatrician, Dr. Jerry Kartzinel. He was also on the Larry King show and said, “this isn’t in the books”, meaning the treatment of yeast in autism. Dr. Kartzinel has a special interest in autism because his own child became autistic after an MMR vaccination. His wife’s directive to him was pretty explicit. She said, “you broke him, you go out and fix him.” He quickly realized that there was nothing in the pediatric medical literature to describe the cascade of problems that develop in an autistic child. This lack of information led him to the DAN group and he is now considered a top expert in the field.
When you allow yourself to go beyond the behavioral model of autism you will find research showing that one pivotal metabolic insult to an infant who develops autism is damage to a specific kinase enzyme. In a vulnerable segment of the population, perhaps 10%, a particular gene sequence can be damaged by heavy metals (mercury in children’s vaccines or flu shots and dental amalgams in the elderly), antibiotics, alcohol, and acetaminophin. This vulnerable gene sequence is found in people who have autism and Alzheimer’s; it is the template for creating the kinase enzyme P13. Some researchers refer to this gene sequence as the Alzheimer’s gene, which is damaged early in these children by of overwhelming metabolic insults.
Why is kinase P13 so important? The body requires kinase P13 for many tasks, one of which is to help break down gluten (a wheat, rye, oats, and barley protein) and casein (a milk protein). This same enzyme allows the methylation (or biochemical modification) of certain B vitamins. Without proper methylation of B12 into methylcobalamin and folic acid into folinic acid, hundreds of functions are impaired. For example, if you don’t have methylcobolamine, your liver can’t make glutathione (a powerful antioxidant). Without glutathione the body is not able to detoxify heavy metals. The vicious cycle is complete. The heavy metal that causes the gene damage in the first place is not excreted as it should be and continues to accumulate and cause more damage. So intricate are these pathways that giving children the wrong kind of folic acid or B12 can make matters worse; consequently autism therapy must be overseen by knowledgeable parents and practitioners.
The therapies used to successfully treat autism are similar to ones used for Alzheimer’s patients who suffer mercury and aluminum toxicity and people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), hormone imbalance, allergies, yeast overgrowth, viral infections, nutritional deficiencies, and heavy metal toxicity, because autistic children suffer from all of the above.
Treatment must begin with diet. Casein and gluten are eliminated because they are not digested or absorbed properly in a kinase P13-damaged body. When not completely digested casein and gluten produce brain-disrupting hallucinogens or brain depressants. In my telephone consulting practice, I tell parents that a proper diet for autism is not just a matter of giving your child healthy food, it’s more important to eliminate foods that are poisoning them. Sugar is another important food restriction. Sugar feeds yeast in the intestinal tract, which is often stimulated by overuse of antibiotics to deal with chronic infections that plague autistic children. Yeast produces up to 180 different toxins that cause or aggravate rashes, brain irritation, hypothyroidism, and IBS. In many autistic children the MMR vaccine with live measles virus has produced an ongoing intestinal infection.
Therapeutic supplements are added to the diet as needed. For measles infection and yeast overgrowth natural antibiotics can be used. Methylcobalamine (B12) and folinic acid are given instead of the more common cyanocobalamine or folic acid. Hyperbaric oxygen helps revive damaged and starving brain and nervous system tissues. Urinary porphyrin testing helps determine the mercury and lead burden in a child and IV chelation with glutathione, phosphytidyl choline or calcium EDTA helps reduce the load. I recommend food based organic vitamins and angstrom-sized minerals for superior absorption of missing nutrients. Homeopathy is used to treat minor ailments in children so they aren’t exposed to unnecessary medication. Practiced by an experienced homeopath, homeopathy has the potential to heal autism and ADHD. Judyth Reichenber-Ullman has written several books about the treatment of ADHD and autism with homeopathy. Impossible Cure – The Promise of Homeopathy written by Amy Lansky, PhD, a former NASA computer researcher describes how the writer’s son, Max, recovered from autism using homeopathy.
To those of us in the thick of the effort to treat autism, it’s a modern day battlefield and no single practitioner and no single therapy holds all the answers. The management of autism requires exquisite chorography between practitioners of diverse disciplines and the use of all manner of non-toxic products.
The job is difficult and expensive but the rewards are great. In one family I work with, we began with simple dietary exclusion of sugar, gluten, and dairy. Within days the 2-year old’s siblings exclaimed “Justin is back. Where was he?” Pulled back from gluten and casein-induced brain depression that kept him in a fog of withdrawal and apathy, Justin was, indeed, back among the living. In another family I worked with, magnesium and a simple homeopathic remedy were all that Allen needed to begin detoxifying and healing.
For me, the most heartbreaking part of working with families with autistic children is that modern science and modern medicine do not acknowledge the need for nutritional intervention. Long-standing criticism in our culture of people following healthy diets being called ‘health nuts’ and self-help being labeled ‘unscientific’ has kept most people in the dark about the necessity to take care of themselves and their children. Such criticism has likely been promoted by the drug industry and processed food industry and has served them well economically but has led to a population struggling with chronic disease.
I encourage the parents I work with to think of themselves as scientists who use safe therapies and through a process of trial and error, they can “scientifically prove” in their own clinical trial (with their child) what works and what doesn’t work for them. In our local parents group, whose members have given themselves full permission to look to all corners of the healing arts industry, I am constantly learning new things. Most important to realize is that each of us is different, and each child has its own set of issues that need to be addressed on an individual basis. Pediatricians, however well meaning, are trained to follow a standardized treatment plan and usually have no means of individualizing care the way a mother would or the way a natural health practitioner always does.
Hopefully this brief overview alerts you to the epidemic of autism and in the same breath assures you that there are viable treatments for this so-called incurable condition. Browse the links that Elissa has provided to further your research and please leave no stone unturned to help the next generation overcome autism.
Resource list for article.
ORGANIZATIONS –These sites offer videos of many children who have been restored to normal function as well as considerable help for parents and families.
www.talkaboutcuringautism.org
www.safeminds.org
www.generationrescue.org
www.childrenscornerschool.com/stankurtz.htm
www.autism.com
www.danconference.com
www.autismmedia.org/media15.html
TREATMENT RESOURCES
ARI Summary of Biomedical Treatments for Autism
ARI Mercury Detoxification Consensus Position Paper
Laboratoire Phillipe Auguste – Testing available to doctors and direct to the public for health issues including autism.
The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential – offers courses and other support to teach parents about the field of child brain development so that parents can use that knowledge to help their brain-damaged child toward wellness.
TV TRANSCRIPTS
Larry King Live
Oprah
Transcript
Video
BOOKS
Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism By Jenny McCarthy. Blow by blow story of how the author’s son was healed.
Impossible Cure – The Promise of Homeopathy by Amy L. Lansky, PhD. Author’s son was cured by homeopathy. Book covers details of his treatment as well as many other aspects of homeopathy useful to know.
Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman - books about how to treat Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD and other related maladies with homeopathy.
Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy – by David Kirby.
Carolyn Dean, MD, ND – three books covering health issues autistic children suffer. The Yeast Connection, IBS Syndrome and Magnesium Miracle and several soon-to-be published E Books on mercury, sugar, as well as a health encyclopedia of naturopathic interventions to use instead of medications for common health problems.
ARTICLES
DNA Is Not Destiny – The new science of epigenetics rewrites the rules of disease, heredity, and identity – by Ethen Watters. Discover Magazine November 2006. by Ethan Watters
Autism: It’s Not Just in the Head: – The devastating derangements of autism show up in the gut and in the immune system. That unexpected discovery is sparking new treatments that target the body in addition the brain - by Jill Neimark. Discover Magazine. February 2007.
© 2007 Carolyn Dean - All Rights Reserved
Dr. Carolyn Dean is a medical doctor, naturopath, and nutritionist. She is a recognized authority in conventional and alternative medicine and author of a dozen books on health and healing. Dr. Dean offers private telephone wellness consultations through her website.
Website: www.carolyndean.com
E-Mail: holeopharm@pol.net
Elissa Meininger is co-founder of Health Freedom Action Network, a grassroots political action group, as well as a health freedom political analyst who can be heard on the natural health radio show SuperHealth, broadcast twice weekly on Fox Sports Radio 1340 AM in Oklahoma City and on the internet.

Take a Look at Vaccine Ingredients – You Might Think Twice!

http://tinyurl.com/25s65v


Immune System May Target Some Brain Synapses, Stanford Researchers Find

http://tinyurl.com/ytnmcm

A baby's brain has a lot of work to do, growing more neurons and connections. Later, a growing child's brain begins to pare down these connections until it develops into the streamlined brain of an adult.
Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered the sculptor behind that paring process: the immune system.
The value of this discovery goes beyond understanding how connections are weeded out in a normal, developing brain. The finding could also help explain some neurodegenerative disorders - such as glaucoma, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis - that result from the loss of too many neuronal connections, which are known as synapses.
The advance, which has implications for drugs that could halt or reverse such conditions, will be published in the Dec. 14 issue of the journal Cell.
It was widely known that synapse elimination occurs during normal development of a child's brain, but until now, no one knew how certain synapses were flagged for removal. "We have identified the long-mysterious mechanism by which excess synapses are sculpted away in the developing brain," said the study's senior author, Ben Barres, MD, PhD, professor of neurobiology.
Barres' team found that the brain-sculpting process was controlled by a component of the immune system known as the classical complement cascade.
The complement cascade is one part of the multipronged attack the immune system launches throughout the body when it detects a foreign invader. Consisting of more than 20 small proteins that normally circulate in the blood in their inactive forms, the complement system is triggered into action by an invading parasite. The first activated protein activates a second one, which in turn activates a third, continuing down the line in a domino effect, ultimately yielding a membrane-attack response that kills cells.
Barres' team produced the first proof that the complement system also plays a role in the brain by showing that complement proteins bind to unwanted synapses, targeting them for elimination. Future studies will determine how the synapses are marked for death.
When children reach the age of 10, synapse elimination normally shuts down. But the researchers found that this elimination process becomes reactivated very early in glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease that is a major cause of blindness. They found that the earliest known sign in glaucoma was the complement cascade becoming active at synapses, followed by massive synapse loss. Only much later did the neurons die, which is the hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases.
"This is interesting, as these complement proteins are known to be drastically up-regulated in nearly every neurodegenerative disease process that has been examined," said Barres. Up-regulation is the process by which a cell increases the amount of a molecule, such as a protein, in response to a change in its environment. Alzheimer's disease, which involves massive synapse loss, has a hundredfold up-regulation of complement proteins, he said.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/ytnmcm


Possible Prevention

By: Victoria Swoboda Reported by: Ashley Reynolds Posted by: Michael Brannen.
http://tinyurl.com/2grobt

Lexington, KY - The most heated debate about the causes of autism is over mercury's role in developing the condition.
Vaccine makers used to pump their product full of thimerosal to keep them fresh, but the mercury in the compound alarmed some people and the Center for Disease Control took the precautionary measure of lowering the allowable levels of thimerosal in most vaccines. However, the tiny amount that's left still has some seeing a huge problem.
Dr. Boyd Haley is the Chairman of Chemistry Department at the University of Kentucky. Most of his work pertains to the toxicity of mercury.
"You can dilute it a lot and still have enough to suppress the immune system especially if you got 2-3 vax at one time. So it is a immune system suppressor. Which makes it stupid to put in vaccines."
Haley added, "The Einsteins at the CDC vaccine unit decided it was a good idea to inject that on the day of birth without doing no safety testing. Without looking at the amount mean, it is a comedy of errors, and I don't think the American people appreciate it."
He believes autistics have mercury poisoning.
"We wrote a paper suggesting that autistics representative children...that in their infancy could not excrete mercury as well as controlled children, and since then, MIT and the people at Arizona State University have reproduced that. So it's not a joke...and with the bio chemistry that has been done, the cell biology, we have done about everything we can do to show these kids are mercury toxic" said Haley.
The study goes on to say autistics have 54%lower glutathion levels which lowers their ability to get rid of mercury that gets into their bodies. The CDC said no harm has been reported from using thimerosal in vaccines, but Dr. Haley said that's not true.
"To be very blunt, they are lying to you. In my opinion, they have never looked. If you don't look, you won't find it, and if you look and find it, you bury it. What do you call that Verstraeten study that found at 7.62% relative risk? That is a huge overwhelming proof that thimerosal is toxic. And you don't call that a proof just because you didn't put it in a newspaper? Because you didn't want it to be that way. I mean there is no other explanation I have than the people at the CDC in charge of vaccines are just flagrant liars."
No CDC and other major, government-supported study about autism has yet to show a link between autism and mercury in vaccines.
"Our government agencies just only believe science if it fits into their agenda. At the IOM meeting we talked about them being unable to methilate DNA and RNA, and how that enzymes is really sensitive and inhibited mercury...and they just totally swept that under the table. And what did they believe? They believe five epidemiological studies, which the CDC funded, which has all kinds of indications there were a lot of shenanigans going on. You don't like accusing people of doing things that are wrong, but sometimes they just stink so bad, that you cannot turn your head away from it" Haley said.
"When people are there arguing about this and I know the CDC knew about this thimerosal issue. In 1999, they had it in their fat little hands their own study showing it was a tremendous risk for autism. They should have done something immediately and instead of doing that, they covered it up."
You might not see or hear much about Dr. Haley's studies because they are overshadowed by the CDC and FDA. Haley said he is confident the truth will prevail.
"You would have to be a total idiot at the CDC not to be nervous about that. Pediatricians are not scientists. They are not taught to think about toxicology and toxic effects, and they don't think about them. And if you say 'who is telling you the truth?' I don't make any money off of it. All these moms out there fighting this don't make any money off of it.
"There are tons of scientists on my side. When they say science is on their side they are taking about physicians administrators at the CDC. They definitely aren't scientists."


Hospital Breaks Ground On Neurological Center In Houston

http://tinyurl.com/2a96b7

Texas Children's Hospital broke ground Friday on the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute.
In October, Houston businessman Dan Duncan and his wife, Jan, gave the hospital $50 million to help start the institute, which will study and treat pediatric neurological disorders.
Dan Duncan is chairman and director of Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners LP, a provider of midstream energy services. Jan Duncan is on the board of Texas Children's Hospital.
Construction on the 370,000-square-foot building will begin in January and is scheduled for completion in 2010.
The institute will house more than 170 researchers who will look for new treatments for common pediatric neurological disorders such as autism, epilepsy, Rhett syndrome, cerebral palsy and learning disorders.


Despite Court Win, Parents Struggle To Pay Tuition

By Marilyn H. Karfeld for the Cleveland Jewish News.
http://tinyurl.com/3yl8ln

She won her case in the U.S. Supreme Court, but Sandee Winkelman has more battles to fight in her effort to educate her son Jacob, who has autism.
The high court ruled last May that Winkelman and her husband Jeff have the right to sue their public school district over their disabled child’s individualized education plan (IEP), even if they cannot afford a lawyer. This sent the Winkelmans’ case back to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which earlier ordered the case dismissed unless the parents hired an attorney.
While elated last spring with her Supreme Court victory, Winkelman now finds herself still struggling to pay her bills. She is waiting for the appeals court to rule: Who should pay Jacob’s tuition at Monarch School for Children with Autism?
Parma has refused, saying the district offers an appropriate education for Jacob in its special education program. The Winkelmans think otherwise and have been fighting the school district since 2003 for tuition reimbursement.
Because the Parma school district won another extension from the Sixth Circuit, Winkelman does not expect the appeals court to rule until next spring.
“Until the court tells Parma they have to pay Jacob’s tuition, we’re stuck,” she says. “I call it a hostage situation. Basically Jacob’s life and education have been on hold since his kindergarten year."
The system ends up destroying families who challenge their child’s IEP, Winkelman contends. There’s a high divorce rate, a heavy toll on physical and emotional health, or financial ruin. “It’s why not too many families are willing to do it,” she says.
Before the Winkelman case reached the Supreme Court, most federal courts refused to allow parents to represent their disabled child without a lawyer, agreeing with state statutes that the parents would be engaging in the “unauthorized practice of law."
Jacob, 10, the youngest of four children, currently attends Monarch, a private school in Shaker Heights run by Bellefaire JCB. (His 14-year-old sister Jenna also has a form of autism and now attends Julie Billiart School in Lyndhurst.) At Monarch, Jacob has made enormous progress, says Winkelman.
But the tuition is over $60,000 a year, more than Jeff Winkelman earns in his job as a dialysis nurse. He now works a second job as a paramedic to help with family expenses.
After multiple refinancings, their home is currently in foreclosure. Monarch has done everything it could to help, Sandee Winkelman says, putting the family on a payment plan. The Parma mother cannot work herself due to all her responsibilities, which include driving her two youngest children across the county to and from schools in the eastern suburbs.
“With my handling the children and the legal issues, and Jeff handling everything else, we’re both working ‘round the clock,” she notes. “There are not enough hours in the day."
A disabled student’s home public-school district typically pays tuition at schools like Monarch, because of a federal law that gives all children the right to a “free and appropriate public education.” When parents and school district disagree on the proper education for a disabled student, the parents can challenge the child’s IEP, initially with a hearing officer. The courts are a last resort.
Advocates for the disabled across the country have hailed Winkelman as a hero because she has continued to press her case despite so many obstacles. She’s spoken to groups across the country about her uphill battle to do what she thinks is best for Jacob.
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/3yl8ln


A Statesman To Be?
Mont Vernon sixth-grader shares stage with Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey

http://tinyurl.com/ywzw7j

Manchester — Cameron Kershaw, 11, of Mont Vernon, was among the guest speakers for the Barack Obama rally at the Manchester Verizon Wireless Center on Sunday.
Cameron spoke to a crowd of more than 8,500 people, no easy feat for an individual of any age.
“Yes, I was nervous,” said Cameron. “But I had to do it."
Though he was apprehensive at first, Cameron knew he could not pass up the opportunity because the subject of his speech, autism, is personal to him.
Cameron has a cousin and a long-time classmate who both have autism, and he has developed an understanding of the disability and the care it requires.
The speech called for a better understanding of autism from educators, politicians, and the general public. He also outlined the tremendous need for more government funding.
At a young age he learned the incredible influence that government can have on treatment and care for those with disabilities.
Shortly after the re-election of President Bush in 2004, a significant amount of federal funding intended for those with disabilities was cut. Cameron witnessed first hand the devastating impact of these cuts, as a specialized school that his cousin attended closed its doors.
He decided to take a stand on behalf of his classmate and his cousin, and he has become an advocate for autism in the Mont Vernon community.
Cameron said he found that Obama plans to reinstate many of the programs lost as a result of cuts made by the current administration.
Cameron’s mother works as a volunteer for the Manchester Barack Obama campaign center. She had told her fellow volunteers about her son’s strong sentiments about autism and this information climbed the ranks of the campaign.
Three days prior to the rally she received a call from an Obama campaign director asking if her son would be interested in taking the stage to show his support for Obama. With a little urging from his mother, Cameron accepted.
He said that the speech could not have gone better, and he is happy that he accepted the offer. Following his time on the stage Cameron received praise from Obama, talk show host Oprah Winfrey, and several members of the audience. The first day back to school he was mobbed with questions from fellow students and teachers.
“We’re still getting over the whole shock of it all,” said Cameron’s mother, Lisa Kershaw.
Though his time to meet Obama was short, the presidential hopeful did offer a few inspirational words, “Dream big dreams,” and that is exactly what Cameron is doing.
When asked about his plans for the future the answer was quick and decisive, “I would like to be a senator,” he said.


A Mother's Autism Campaign

By Kent Erdahl.
http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/12551816.html

Lin Wessels' campaign to find a cause for autism began when her son, Sam, was diagnosed three and half years ago, but it intersected with Senator John McCain's campaign for president on October 26th.
"Would you commit to meeting with a special task force of parents such as myself? Anywhere, any time, you name the place, we'll be there," asked Wessels.
Sen. McCain said, "Yes Ma'am and I will do it at your convenience either here or Washington D.C. or some other geographic location that is most convenient for the people that you want me to meet with."
In November that meeting took place in Washington, where Lin says McCain acted more like a Senior Senator than a candidate.
"When I walked into his Senate office, right in front of him on the table was the research I had given him at the town hall meeting here in town. The folder was tattered and bent and well used."
Wessels has been pushing for more research into a link between autism and vaccines that contain a mercury based preservative, ever since she found that Sam suffers from mercury poisoning, but after she and the other parents shared their concerns with Senator McCain, "then he said, well this is what I think needs to happen. I think we need to request hearings in the Senate on behalf of your kids. And we were totally in awe," she said.
Last week Lin received a copy of a letter formally requesting Senate hearings to examine potential causes of autism. It's signed by McCain and Senator Joe Lieberman. The request still has to clear some political hurdles before hearings become a reality, but Lin says she's hopeful her campaign will continue.
"You have to. You have to keep marching on, keep speaking out, and hope that this may be the time for things to start to change."
Senator McCain and Lieberman's request is now in the hands of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. It will decide if and when the autism hearings take place.


Responding to Autism Stories

By: Sarah Hill Edited by: Jennifer Ayres and Jenilee Jewert
http://tinyurl.com/3byz2a

Over the last couple weeks, KOMU devoted eight stories to the complexity of Autism and there's more to come throughout December.
KOMU's Ashley Reynolds and a team of producers covered the breakthroughs and heartbreaks of the disorder not only on the air, but online.
Our blog about Autism received 18,000 hits.
Some viewers thought our reports about a possible link between autism and mercury in vaccines scared parents. Kay Cooper called our report "biased"...."totally unsupported" and appalling."
"Not only does it contradict every credible study done to date in regards to the issue, it is nearly guaranteed to further terrify uninformed parents into not vaccinating (read: PROTECTING) their children from what can be deadly medical conditions," Cooper wrote.
"One of the benefits of doing a long extended series like this is we get to get a lot of different points of view and have enough time to explore these points of view in these nightly stories," said KOMU News Director Stacey Woelfel. "So yes, there's not balance in each individual story giving each individual point of view but if you watch the whole series or a substantial part of it, you'll learn much more about it than you typically would on local TV news."
Dr. Edward Fogarty of the University of South Dakota school of medicine is watching our Autism series online and writes..."Now that the epidemic is upon us, medical professionals need to pull our collective head out of the sand that keeps getting piled up by the last great American industry (pharmaceuticals) and start doing the brave science that will help these children, Fogarty wrote. "Thank you for protecting the collective conversation and thought that can lead to such a hypothesis through investigating the stories of those like the Weinmasters who have legitimate concerns that this hypothesis may be correct, as do I. " Edward F. Fogarty, M.D.Chairman of Radiology at the University of North Dakota School ofMedicine.
And this from Frances." I liked your coverage about Autism however your anchor (I believe) used the term autistics in the segments close. I believe the term that is more politically correct is "Person(s) with Autism".
"Duly noted. Frances, when we refer to a specific person, we say that person "has autism" but when we refer to a general group it is acceptable to refer to that group as Autistics. ...and one footnote about our coverage of the Salisbury civic spat between the mayor and a former police officer.
"The news media serves as a watchdog. The news media serves as a watchdog in our community. Sometimes, the news media serves to throw gasoline on the fire of that controversy and make it burn hotter," said Your View Executive producer Kent Collins. "Such was the case in Salisbury , Missouri the last couple weeks after we did a big story there. I suspect in the next couple weeks, KOMU-TV will send a news crew back to Salisbury to do a follow up story because it's a good thing that the news media serves as a watchdog and as a public forum."
And if you'd like to comment about KOMU News, we'd love to hear from you, just click on the Your View tab, then watch Friday nights at six as we report Your View of the news.


The Google Top Ten “What Is?” Questions By English Users Around The World:

http://tinyurl.com/242g4h

1. What is love? 2. What is autism? 3. What is RSS? 4. What is lupus? 5. What is SAP? 6. What is Bluetooth? 7. What is Emo? (For those of us who do not keep up with modern trends it is a style of rock music) 8. What is Java? 9. What is HPV (human papillomavirus)? 10. What is gout?

18 December, 2007 | Interview with K104.1 Country Radio Morning Show
Mark will appear with John Reynolds on the morning show of K104.1 to talk about the new Christmas cd, and "The Lights of Home" at 7:45 am. Tune in and support the troops through the purchase of the new cd. All proceeds go to Angel Ministries and OperationSoldierBox.com.

18 December, 2007 | Singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg dies
Dan Fogelberg, one of the most popular singer/songwriters of the '70s and '80s, died Sunday at home in Maine at age 56. He had battled advanced prostate cancer since being diagnosed in 2004.
Fogelberg was a key component of the golden age of the confessional singer/songwriter, joining the likes of James Taylor, Carole King, Jackson Browne and more in turning pop music's focus inward after the '60s' explosion of social commentary. He had started as a rocker in bands around his hometown of Peoria, Ill., but began performing solo while attending the University of Illinois.

14 December, 2007 | Mark Leland Performs at West Monroe Convention Center
Friday night as the lights were dimmed, Mark Leland performed the new hit Christmas single for the troops around the world. Dedicating it to his son in Iraq, along with all the many other brave men and women who are currently fighting overseas and at home.

13 December, 2007 | "The Lights of Home" CD released by Mark Leland
The concert to debut the brand new release, "The Lights of Home" was a huge success. Many other great artist were at the Monroe Civic Center to perform with Mark Leland. It was a night to remember, and the Christmas concert for next year is already booked for an encore performance. This song was written for the troops who have bravely fought in the war on terror, and especially dear to Mark's heart, because he has a son currently fighting in Iraq. You don't want to miss the opportunity to own this cd in it's entirety. All the proceeds from the sale of the cd will go to Angel Ministries to help the less fortunate in life and to send care packages to the troops now serving in Iraq.

11 December, 2007 | Operation Soldier Box
Mark Leland has teamed up with Angel Ministries of Monroe, La., and formed a new company called OperationSoldierBox. It is designed and dedicated to sending care packages to our troops overseas. It is their goal to send packages out each month to soldiers overseas. Contact us for more information if you would like to be a part of this ministry.