New government study shows autism on the rise
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Monday, October 26, 2009
Karen Miller gave birth to a baby boy about the same time she heard startling news about baby boys in general.
A new national report in the Oct. 5 journal Pediatrics revealed that 1 percent of U.S. children age 3 to 17 have an autism spectrum disorder. This comprises an estimated prevalence of 1 in every 91 children, or roughly 673,000 cases nationwide.
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This new projection is a dramatic increase from the 1 in 150 prevalence rates reported just a few years ago, let alone the 1 in every 10,000 rates from a quarter century ago.
Making matters even scarier for Miller, who now has three young sons, the report states the odds of having autism are four times higher for boys than for girls.
"It put chills up my spine," says Miller, a St. John, Ind., mother who works as a massage therapist in Chicago. "Those new numbers are frightening for new mothers."
The study, using federal data and conducted via a telephone survey of 78,000 parents, also noted that white children are more likely than minority children to have autism, a complex developmental disability and by far the fastest-growing one. The condition typically appears during the first three years of life, primarily impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills.
'My son has autism-and it's OK'
Toni Modglin doesn't believe her 7-year-old son, Chase, is part of the current "epidemic" in this country, or that his life is somehow "destroyed" by the condition.
"Chase isn't broken and somehow needs to be fixed," says Modglin about her son's autism diagnosis.
Modglin doesn't believe that a child's diagnosis within the autism spectrum is strictly the doom-and-gloom that gets all the media attention these days. It also doesn't have to spark conspiracy-theory crusades against mercury poisoning, preschool vaccines or something in the water, she says.
Chase, who was diagnosed at 3 as severe on the autism spectrum, has been "different from the very beginning. But he's happy, content and making great progress," Modglin says. "Autism isn't a death sentence, it's an adjustment."
For decades, autism had been viewed as a mysterious disorder emerging like a serpent from the genetic lagoon, snatching young children while parents watched in helpless disbelief. Only recently has mainstream medicine acknowledged that environmental factors form another stream into the autism pool.
Some parents believe their children's autism was triggered by mercury poisoning, primarily induced by a vaccine preservative called thimerosal, during routine immunizations. But experts and federal health officials repeatedly insist there is no link between autism and vaccines.
Parents and officials on the front lines of autism advocacy were not overly surprised by the new report and its alarming projections. Most were convinced that it would simply reveal what they already knew: Autism is a national health crisis.
"We expected these new numbers because we see it first-hand here," says Karen McDonough, executive director of the Autism Society of Illinois. "The number of families who phone us with questions has increased 70 percent since 2007."
Researchers suggest the increased prevalence might be partly explained by methodological differences between these new surveys, with the inclusion of Asperger disorder, pervasive developmental disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Previous studies have shown the average age of diagnosis is decreasing, which leads to an increase in total prevalence at any one point in time.
"That may be true, but I'm hearing of more children being diagnosed with autism," says Miller, who is worried about a connection between autism and routine vaccinations. "For instance, I approved a Hepatitis B vaccine on the day my new son was born. I can only cross my fingers and hope and pray I made the right decision."
Miller's pediatrician, Dr. Lisa Gold of North Point Pediatrics in Crown Point, Ind., says environmental factors, coupled with genetic predisposition, play a major role in the higher numbers of autism cases. However, there is "simply not an association between autism and vaccines," according to numerous studies, she says.
"But it doesn't stop new parents from being more worried and asking more questions about the development of their child," says Gold, who hands out questionnaires to parents to keep track of such developmental markers.
McDonough, whose 15-year-old son is among those on the autism spectrum, has heard critics claim that better diagnostic testing is the key to the higher number projections. In other words, these kids were always in our society but they weren't labeled as autistic.
She disagrees. "If that's the case, where are all the autistic people in their 40s or 50s? Statistically then, there would be many more in this country. But they don't exist."
Jerry Davich is a freelance writer and father of two living in the Chicago area.
See more of Jerry's stories here.
Contact Jerry at jrdavich@frontier.com
Our picks
Understanding the fear to vaccinateBy Maurine Meleck on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 If I were having a baby right now I would be afraid to vaccinate too. Sadly, I have two vacccine injured grandchildren. There were no autistic chilren in schools when I taught in the 70's and 80's. They simply did not exist. The health officials can't tell us why it's 1 in 91 now. I think they have had too many years to figure out their so-called "puzzle." Where is our independent vaxed vs unvaxed chilren? We've been waiting years for this study. Why won't they do it? My second grandson recovered because we stopped vaccinating him before he turned 6 months old. He had many fewer vaccines than his brother, who is still in recovery . These kids are sick physically. They don't just have soome psychological issues. That is crazy to accept a total metabolic illness that autistic chilren have. |
Mr WonderfulBy Rick Tallman on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Part of the "new national report" states "About 38 percent of the children who were ever diagnosed with ASD were no longer reported by their parents to have the diagnosis". I guess that debunks the myth that there is no cure for autism. The next sentence says "Children diagnosed with ASD had more problems obtaining referrals and coordinating their health care". This is not true. There are many health care providers who specialize in people with ASD. Schools are mandated by the IDEA to provide services for them as well. |
No Causal Relationship Between Vaccines and Autism???By Todd M. Elsner, D.C. on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 M.D's continue to say there is no evidence supporting vaccines to be responsible for our current autism epidemic. The United States Congress disagrees. After eight independent investigations they concluded that “Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is likely related to the autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding the lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal and the sharp rise of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. Our public health agencies’ failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self-protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry.” Source: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=E1030&dbname=2003_record |
former nurse, mom to ASD childBy Joanne Antonetti on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 It makes my blood boil when I hear comments from doctors that claim all the scientific evidence proves that vaccines do not cause autism. The only "evidence" that they are exposed to are the studies funded by vaccine makers and the pharmaceutical industry. They are never presented with the many studies done by independent scientific groups that SHOWS a clear link. These studies get swept under the carpet, are not allowed on the censored media, and are kept from parents seeking information. THIS IS A CRIME I was a nurse who used to administer vaccines. Since having one very sickly baby and another born with autism, I was forced to do research of my own. What I came up with shocked me. After eight years of looking DEEP into this matter, it is my personal and professional opinion that vaccines are the primary cause of autism and a whole host of other medical disorders, diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions. You won't know and understand the truth unless you look hard for it. It is purposely well-suppressed. |
Mr WonderfulBy Mr Wonderful on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 I would have to disagree with Toni Modglin's comment that her son "isn't broken and somehow needs to be fixed". If there wasn't something wrong he wouldn't have a diagnosis of autism or anything else. Doctors don't hand out diagnosises to "normal", healthy people. Autism is more than an adjustment, it alters lives. My son is 33 years old and still lives at home. He can't drive so we have to drive him anywhere he needs to go. He needs full time supervision, so one or the other of us has to be available for him. My wife and I have only had one vacation as a couple since he was born. So YES, autism is more than just an adjustment. |
Ms.By Jody Mack on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 We don't talk enough about the financial costs associated with raising children who have autism (or other vaccine side effects) . I have two children that suffered severe vaccine reactions. Since our doctor wasn't effectively trained to see their symptoms as anything other than a "coincidence", we missed an initial diagnosis that may have provided us with immediate treatments and/or compensation. For us, it took years of research to figure out what had happened to both of our children. While they are now labeled with autism, adhd and/or food allergies - those are just lingering "labels" - they don't fully describe what happened to my babies. As we took them to doctors who treated their biomedical issues, we began to see both of them improve. We ran tests, changed their diets, cleaned up their environment, added supplements and used occasional pharmaceuticals to address their viral, bacterial, yeast, heavy metal, GI and other issues. Over the past four years, they have progressed tremendously. My son went from having unintelligible speech, extreme hyperactivity, lack of focus, GI issues and ears filled with fluid to a child is very articulate (and chatty), above grade level in some subjects and much healthier (no more need for ear tubes, fewer GI issues, etc.). My little girl went from being diagnosed as severely autistic and almost completely non-verbal to participating in a regular classroom (with support), reading, writing, playing with peers and having enough language to answer questions and tell us her needs. While neither of my children are "cured", they are much healthier and better able to function in our world. We have been able to trace their disorders back to their vaccines and it is frustrating that it took so long for them to receive the treatment they required to improve. Even more difficult, is the fact that the majority of their treatments are not covered by health insurance. Other than some testing and occasional prescriptions, we must pay for everything out-of-pocket. While we've gone deep in debt to allow them access to some key treatments, financial constraints have forced us to be very conservative. When one of our doctors wants to do a follow up appointment at three months, we often must wait six months - because the doctor is not in our insurance plan and we must pay 100% of the cost. There are other treatments that we are convinced would help our kids, but they have been deemed "experimental" and are completely out of our budget. We are working hard to heal our children and constantly running into roadblocks financially. It is infuriating to read vaccine inserts that list my children's side effects and be forced to pay the medical costs largely alone. It's very frustrating that costs associated with this disorder are often minimized. Families, such as mine, are facing huge financial burdens to heal their children and allow them to function as normally as possible. We are bearing great costs now and hopefully lower costs in the future. For other families, they may not be spending lots of money now by choosing to "accept and live with autism"...but, in the future, these children will grow into adults who still have autism and require expensive residential or community placements. Some families may be able to bear this expensive on their own, but the majority of adults with autism will eventually come to rely on the generosity of taxpayers to pay for their housing, Social Security, Medicare and other similar programs. Autism isn't a "death sentence" or an "adjustment", it's a very expensive condition that will need to be paid for eventually - either by families or our society. |
Former Patients of North Point PediatricsBy Autism MOM on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Theresa, I like you am the mother to a severely affected teenage son with autism. My children were at one time patients at Dr. Gold's practice. Though, they never saw her only some of her associates. Under the care of the 2 physicians we did see (who are both no longer there) my son was given a Hep B series- which neither of my children received at birth- I refer to that as his "insult to injury" shots. He regressed after his MMR and chicken pox vaccine at 12 months. Then at 2 he was going to be enrolled in a children's play group so the doctor felt Hep B was necessary. Of course I had no idea what I know now about vaccines and how they played a role in my son's regression. I'm pissed I was lied to and misinformed or uninfomed. At least today parents know to ask questions- I had no idea. I gullibly believed vaccinating my child would only be good- I was so wrong. Like your daughter Theresa my son has battled so many health problems- GUt, immune dysfuntion, infections etc.. It's been a nightmare. I want parents to be empowered with knowledge when it comes to vaccines. And that means listening to stories of parents like Theresa and I. What reason would we have to lie? I feel like the only thing I can do to attempt to right the wrong is inform people to research vaccines for themselves- pro and con. Look at the research that says vaccines don't cause autism- www.fourteenstudies.com - decide for yourself if it is an iron clad completely resolved issue. How can that be when only 2 things have ever been looked at in the vaccine schedule? We have never studied vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children. We have never looked to answer the question- what are the differences in the rates of autism between those who have received vaccines and those who have not? I think too many of us had no idea what we were agreeing to. These doctors go on and on about parents today don't know about polio and other horrible diseases. Well, many of us parents do know the horror of watching a baby descended into autism. Autism is not an acceptable alternative in preventing diseases. I feel sorry for the autistic patients at Dr. Gold's practice. All they will be offered is drugs to help control behaviors and nothing else. Go over to Homefirst. You'll get real help there. |
Where are the autistic adults?By Anne McElroy Dachel on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 Doctors and health officials can tell us nothing about autism and the numbers continue to explode. The only thing they seem sure of is that the mandated vaccination program isn’t at fault. They have lots of studies to back up their claim, but if anyone actually looked at the research, they’d discover that it's either paid for by the vaccine makers or done by those with financial ties to pharma. Karen McDonough asks the question that none of the experts has an answer for: ‘If that's the case, where are all the autistic people in their 40s or 50s? Statistically then, there would be many more in this country. But they don't exist.’ Right now when we talk about autism, we’re always talking about children with autism. Soon that will be changing. We’ll have hundreds of thousands of autistic children aging out into adulthood with nowhere to go. All the experts who told us that having one percent of children with autism was nothing new can tell us how we’ll pay for it. Anne Dachel Media editor: Age of Autism http://www.ageofautism.com/ |
ParentBy Mary Komperda on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 My son was diagnosed with Aspergers. The process of diagnosis was not pleasant. I was made to feel like a failure as a parent by the pediatrician. I had to write after I saw Dr. Gold's comments. The people on the spectrum in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, etc are your savant physicians, enginers, scientists, homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics, loners, musicians, etc. They are the social outcast who were dismissed as quircky. They will outgrow their behavior. They are every where in our community, some doing better than others. As a physician it is important to listen to the parent and not dismiss their concerns. |
This is a major health crisis!By Teresa Conrick on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 As a parent to a teen with severe autism, who regressed after a series of vaccines before the age of 3, these numbers are real and frightening. The denial by government and industry should not make anyone feel safe as autism numbers increase right along with the vaccines mandated. My daughter was a healthy and happy baby who began to regress after vaccinations before her 2nd birthday. Many of those were with thimerosal, the mercury preservative that has been around since the start of autism in the 1930's. After a triple live virus vaccine, the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, my daughter broke out in a rash, lost all language, began to have chronic gastrointestinal pain, cried all the time, lost eye contact, and was ill with fevers then was subsequently diagnosed with "Idiopathic" (of unknown origin) autism. Not one medical professional who dealt with her then (pediatrician, neurologist,psychiatrist) told us that these were signs of vaccine injury. Research on the actual children is showing that they are ill with dysfunctional immune systems, mitochondria disorders, and inflammation (brain and GI). This is a new paradigm with a medical focus rather than the psychiatric one originally written about by child psychiatrist, Dr. Leo Kanner. There is mounting research showing that this historically misunderstood disorder has its roots in neuroinflammation, not produced by genes, but by an outside (environmental source). There is no such thing as a genetic epidemic and thousands of other families share my story of regression, an autism diagnosis, and then labs, tests now showing vaccine injury - mitochondria dysfunction, demyelinating disorders, transverse myelitis, toxic encephalopathy, hypotonia, seizures, and chronic arthritis. My daughter now receives biomedical treatments aimed at helping her immune system work properly. The children have chronic illness that affects their behavior. For example, head banging is a tragic and horrific behavior though it is not an autism behavior but rather a response to pain due to brain and GI swelling/ inflammation from food, bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals. A child deserves labs and tests to determine appropriate treatments to stop that pain. To say that these children don't deserve and need treatments..to be "fixed" is cruel. They are not "damaged" but their immune, neurological, sensory, and gastrointestinal systems are. You can read my daughter's story here and hopefully it will help illustrate this tragic story playing out far too often across our nation: http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/03/mother-warrior-the-bitter-sweet-16.html |
Easter Seals DFVR Services for Children with Autism and Support for FamiliesBy Crystal Ward on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 While there is no known cause or cure, nor one single effective treatment, autism is treatable. Children with autism are capable of making significant progress through personalized interventions and therapy, and can and do lead meaningful lives. Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region provides help, hope and answers to children with autism by delivering personalized services and treatments by expert and experienced staff. Find out more at www.eastersealsdfvr.org or call 630.620.4433. |
Vaccine Injured
By Elaine Dow on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The causes of autism has been solved by a group of physicians called DAN physicians (Defeat Autism Now!). It is oxidative stress, inflammation of the brain, autoimmunity, gastrointestinal disease, induced by mercury poisoining and viral infection derived from vaccinations. In the original cases of autism, any seventh grade science student could have concluded that from the scientific facts. The patients were boys (testosterone-mercury binds to it) and their parents had a connection with mercury compounds, one child had recently received a small pox vaccine. Dr. Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins we know now was a fraud or a baffoon! He first identified the condition of autism in the 1940's, shortly after a mercury compound was used as a fungicide on government grounds and parks. He taught at Johns Hopkins up until the 1970's. At some point in his career he must have figured this out, but autism had made his famous. I don't think any amount of children for over 60 years have suffered more than getting this diagnosis. Imagine locked away and taken from your parents for mercury poisoning! In the past Mother was being blamed and the recent treatment: the use of anti-psychotics, even Johns Hopkins want to use electric shock therapy. All pediatricians should be certified in toxicology before graduating from medical school. They might just be able to make the correct diagnosis of their patients.