Autism Stuff

A couple things to write about Autism today.

The other day, someone posted something quite annoying on one of the Autism forums I read. It wasn't the poster's opinion, but something she'd read and that had annoyed her as well, and she wanted to share.

So, I read what was posted on the Autism site, then went to the site to see it in the flesh.

First of all, it's from the website, Biblelife.org, so I was prepared for the, er, most biblical.

Second, it was in a section under "Pregnant?" - Yeah, you know there's going to be some good stuff there, if there's biblical ministering going on.

The pregnant section starts out with:

Don't get an abortion or give your baby up for adoption.
Look to the future with hope and prayer for your baby.

OK, I understand the whole Bible people have an anti-abortion thing going, but don't give your baby up for adoption? WTF? So, say you're a 14-year-old rape victim living on your own on the streets, but you don't believe in abortion. Best thing would be to put your baby up for adoption since you can't support it, let alone yourself, right? Oh, hell no! Not if you're a good Christian. You pray about it and everything will be fine. Huh.

Now, here are the good parts (good meaning "OH MY GOD! THEY DIDN'T WRITE THAT!):

Well, I just went to the website to copy some stuff, and lo and behold they've changed it! That's good to an extent. I'll paste in what they had on last week that made my blood boil:

Mommy's Diet Can Cause or Prevent Autism in the Fetus

Autism in infants has soared to become an epidemic and shows every sign of heading higher. This is a dreadful brain damaging condition that is incurable and destines the poor child to live a life as a retarded adult....Autism is caused by the USDA recommended low-fat, low-cholesterol diet when eaten by the mother before and during pregnancy. The fetus in the womb needs cholesterol, essential EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids and essential arachidonic omega-6 fatty acid as found in meat and fish in order to grow a healthy brain...Autism is caused by the mother's dietary deficiency in fats and cholesterol during development and growth of the baby's brain. Pregnant women should eat a high-fat, high-cholesterol, high-protein diet before and during pregnancy in order to have a healthy baby without autism. Vegetables and fruit have no fat, no cholesterol and no protein. The low-fat, low-cholesterol vegetarian diet causes autism. A high-carbohydrate diet with excessive amounts of fruits and vegetables as recommended by the USDA Food Guide Pyramid actually causes autism.

Mommy, your salad for lunch will not grow a baby with a healthy brain. Salads will cause a brain damaged baby. The baby's brain is made of cholesterol and fat. Your low-fat diet can cause your baby to become a retarded child.

OK. Good stuff, no? They go on to rant and rave about the importance of essential fatty acids, etc., which I do agree are important in the diet. The problem I have is that I did eat a high fat, high cholesterol, high protein diet when I was pregnant. Guess what? Hutton has Autism. Hmm. How did that happen? I was eating my red meat and drinking my milkshakes.

The entire part about autistic children being destined to live as retarded adults with no future really pissed me off, though, as well as the incurable thing. Uh, tell that to all the recovered kids out there, and spend a few minutes with most of the autistic kids I know, and you would NOT call them retarded. Whoever wrote this, on the other hand, might be considered retarded.

Anyway, one of the moms on the Autism forum this was posted on, who happens to be a Christian, sent the website an angry letter soon after, and it seems to have worked, because now there is no mention of incurable brain damage and retarded adults. However, they do still have this little gem on there with their dietary warnings:

If you are the mother of an autistic or ADHD child you should deal with the reality of the situation. Go look at yourself in the mirror and shout, "It is your fault." Then change your diet. Go out to dinner and eat a ribeye steak without bread, potatoes or dessert so your next child won't be autistic or ADHD also.

Yeah, you can bite me, you pompous jackass. My child's Autism was not caused by my diet. I'll be praying for you to grow a brain. Ha.

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The second annoying thing I read yesterday in a more mainstream source, but it was still quite ignorant. It was in Hubby's college alumni magazine. I thought it would be good to read about the Autism treatment world in my hometown, as I never know if we might end up there someday. Well, the article was going well until I came to this:

For a while, some people argued that thimerosal, a mercury-based additive in childhood vaccines, was behind the rise in autism cases—but that theory has not held up under scientific scrutiny. Thimerosal was removed from American vaccines in 1999, and as far as anyone can tell, there has been no subsequent decline in ASD in children born after that time.

Yeah, that's good and all, but it's completely wrong. Thimerosal (which is about 50% mercury, and extremely toxic) was not removed from American vaccines in 1999. That is when the FDA brought it up and the Public Health Service, American Academy of Pediatrics and vaccine manufacturers agreed to remove thimerosal-containing vaccines "as soon as possible." Of course, that didn't mean much. Money is involved after all. We didn't have an immediate recall. Some vaccine makers didn't start cranking out mercury-free vaccines until 2003! Those made before 2003 could have up to 25μg of thimerosal, and they are possibly still in use as well, as they still haven't been recalled. Vaccines made shortly before the new thimerosal-free ones in 2003 won't expire until 2006 at the earliest, 2008 at the latest. So, if your doctor has a big stockpile of vaccines, your child could be getting pumped with mercury for two more years.

Oh, and the pregnant women and kiddies who are "doing the right thing" and getting their flu shots? Yep, they're most likely getting a nice dose of mercury as well, as most flu shots are still made with mercury.

So, this whole, "No, there's not anything to see here!" thing the CDC has tried to pull isn't working on many in the Autism community. The reason there hasn't been a noticeable decline in Autism numbers could be because thimerosal wasn't really removed from vaccines in 1999. It's still in them. That and the zillions of other toxins are children are being exposed to. We won't be able to see if there's a decline in Autism numbers due to the removal of thimerosal for several years, and even then, if pregant women are still getting flu shots with mercury, isn't it possible this is damaging to their fetuses and could cause Autism? Since nobody knows the cause of Autism, I think it's safe to say it's possible a potent neurotoxin still widely used in vaccines could have something to do with it.

The take home message -- ask for a single dose vial of your vaccine if you're going to get one, and double-check that it doesn't have thimerosal, aka nasty potent neurotoxin. Or don't get vaccines at all. That will really piss off the CDC. Har har.