Guest Post by Lonely Libertarian
Teen Queen was born in 1995, diagnosed in 1998.
Baby Queen was born in 1997, diagnosed in 1999.
BQ was easier to diagnose quickly because she never hit the verbal markers of neurotypical kids and we’d just gone through it with TQ. TQ went from talking at 18 months to completely silent and withdrawn at 22 months. Like a switch was flipped in her brain. I know from experience how violent the discussion of vaccines and autism can get. On one side is a group of parents wanting answers and on the other side are a group of people who’ve never lived our lives screaming at us that we’re ignorant, negligent, horrible people who just need to shut the fuck up. The more they scream at us, the more we hate them.
It all hinges on one research project by Andrew Wakefield. Too many years and too many millions of dollars have been spent by the pro-vaccine groups to discredit (repeatedly) this research. Instead of hammering the same nail over and over to protect vaccine interests, why didn’t any of them branch out into research on tangents: vaccines and genetic susceptibility, vaccines and Tylenol toxicity, vaccines and a million other environmental factors. Way back when, the tobacco industry did the exact same thing to us that the vaccine industry (and trust me, vaccines are an incredibly lucrative business) is doing. Stonewalling, gaslighting. The same “if vaccines caused Autism, then every child who was vaccinated would be autistic” echoes the tobacco industry’s favorite argument, “If smoking caused lung cancer, then every smoker would have lung cancer.” What did we later learn? Genetics plays a factor, definitely. Some people who smoke are more genetically predisposed to lung cancer. Some people can smoke 8 packs a day and never get lung cancer. So that argument doesn’t float. There are also people genetically predisposed to lung cancer who never smoke and get it anyway. Does that mean tobacco doesn’t cause lung cancer? No, no it doesn’t.
The pro-vaccine group will also tell you that the increase in autism diagnoses is due to better testing and broader diagnostic criteria. I will grant probably 50% of the increase is due to better diagnosing, but that leaves 50% as a big old question mark.
Let’s look at Tylenol (acetominophen). How many of you were advised by your pediatricians to administer Tylenol either prior to or immediately after vaccines? Tylenol was not widely used in young infants for this purpose until the early 70s. Now go look at the chart. 1 in 5000 in 1975 to 1 in 2500 in 1985. In that decade, autism was still very rare and not widely understood, the diagnostic criteria was very narrow and specific. There definitely wasn’t as wide a diagnosis for Asperger’s Syndrome at that time. So why the increase in 10 years? In 2008, a University of California (San Diego) study analyzed data collected through an online survey of 83 children with autism and 80 control children from July 2005 to January 2006. The doctors found an association between the use of acetominophen and the occurrence of autism. Specifically, use of acetominophen after MMR vaccination resulted in a 6.11 fold higher instance of autism in children 5 years or younger, 3.97 fold higher risk in older children with regression in development, and an 8.23 fold higher risk in children who suffered other problems after vaccination (high fever, seizures, etc.). However, ibuprofen used with MMR shots showed no associated incidences of autism. Is this a definitive study? Absolutely not, but it’s a place to start. It’s a path that isn’t spending millions of dollars shaming vaccine questioners. This type of research is what we need. Not negative research picking apart an already clean carcass, but positive research asking, “But what about this?” (full report HERE)
Another jump in diagnoses occurred after Desert Storm and now with the Iraq and Afghan wars. The veterans of those conflicts saw occurrences of 1 in 88 in 2007, while the rest of the country was 1 in 150. 2007, those were the kids of Desert Storm veterans. With the vets of Iraq and Afghan coming home and starting families, it will be interesting (in a sad terrifying way) to see where the numbers are for them in a few years. I know the Cute Chicks’ dad underwent a battery of shots and vaccines when he went in and was forward deployed out of Japan (USS Midway). Before they berthed in Africa, more shots. Before deploying to the Gulf of Oman, more shots to battle whatever Saddam was planning on launching. No tests were done on the aftereffects. No studies on the effects on off-spring. The numbers of autistic children born to military personnel grew to the point that in 2010 several military families sued the DOD for enrollment in ECHO (Extended Care Health Option) to be made easier and more comprehensive. (HERE)
So, for all of you dismissive, condescending, asshat pro-vaccers, maybe stop and think before you attack. Those of us struggling with Autism have fought our share of battles to get adequate healthcare, therapy, education, acceptance, and protection (both by and from law enforcement), we really don’t need to fight you too. Maybe, instead of attacking us, you could start asking “What if? What if there’s something more to it? What if there are factors other than vaccines at work and vaccines are the trigger? What if Big Pharma is pushing the same way the Tobacco Industry pushed? What if I’m creating more problems by stubbornly refusing to examine other possibilities? WHAT FUCKING IF?”
And for my fellow Autism families, hang in there, keep fighting, keep loving your special angels, keep supporting each other, keep on being awesome!
Haven’t personally researched the subject, but I don’t outright reject the possible connection of autism to vaccines. Medical issues are sometimes extremely difficult to research and understand.
I know because I’ve spent a lot of time on understanding psychotropic drugs and their effect on young minds and am absolutely convinced of a direct connection of these drugs and the never ending incidents of mass violence committed by teenagers and young adults. That’s just me, but I note some real traction on the issue lately. Maybe the same will happen with autism and vaccines.
It’s a $30-40B a year business… with no liability for doctors, nurses and the big pharmas which produce the vaccines, so the incentives are violently skewed. It’s even more twisted than that – where we live vaccines are actually purchased by the county and given to the pediatricians. One more level of indirection in the liability chain. The whole thing is very similar to the globull warming industry – you don’t dare question the official doctrine lest you be publically skewered and shamed. Finding real stats and even having an honest, open, factual discussion is difficult if not impossible.
The owners are serious about population control, this is another tool in their toolbox. Males are the vast majority diagnosed with Autism…….these males will not be impregnating females in the future, win/win for the owners. How can they ruin these children and their parent’s lives and still sleep at night……pure evil.
SSS, what are your credentials to even talk about this? Are you an M.D.? A pharmacist? Do you have a Ph.D. in pharmacology? How about a Nobel Prize? What psychotropic meds are you on? I told that ignorant snickety fellow that his science degree was worthless for him being able to comment on scientific issues, and I’m telling you the same. If you don’t have an M.D., Ph.D., Nobel Prize and a prescription for multiple SSRI’s then your opinion is worthless, iffin it’s different than my opinion.
/doppel
I also question what is happening with food allergies — they used to be rare now there are several kids in every classroom with life-threatening food allergies — it’s now 1 in 11 kids under 15
Pb: you don’t need a degree in anything to look at numbers and/or observe effects. Just common sense is enough. Before anyone handed out any kind of “degree” there were intellectual people observing and making sound conclusions based on those observations.
Medical and Scientific “degrees” have quite correctly changed and evolved over the years, with new information coming to light while dearly-held old theories being debunked and thrown out.
Sometimes, the old saying “give someone a hammer” holds even more true for those with these degrees. You are taught to think and look for information in a specific way for that discipline, and that may be all well and fine, but it can narrow your outlook and perhaps make that very same person miss the forest because of the trees.
While i don’t know the answer to that or why we have so many people getting cancer. Maybe its something we come in contact with. Some things almost seem like an excuse. Like ADD.
When I was in school as a child way back in the 1950’s I don’t recall a single classmate that was autistic.
And only one that would now be considered “obese”, but she was an Eskimo (or whatever the politically correct term for those far northern Arctic circle natives is now) and it wasn’t viewed as abnormal or unhealthy.
@ Lonelylibrarian Awesome thank you I live this life every day with my son
Not all, but a lot of Autism is simply a diagnosis. Change the parameters, and wammo – you’re autistic. There may not be any more ‘real’ autistic people than before, they are just diagnosed with a different set of rules.
@realestatepup, excellent logical response to a post that I don’t think Pb meant to be taken quite literally. (By the way, Pb is an abbreviation for an element on the periodic table, and a reference to another poster.)
T4C says ” the magnetosphere is effecting us Earthlings”
Is that what happened to bb and some others here on TBP? Would that cause people not to see real events as they are? Thanks for the post.
“WHY IS AUTISM SKYROCKETING?”
Because Amerikans are trying to CATCH UP with their leaders?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slBdpb3DC9M
I think OCD is on the rise too and is somehow related to autism. For example, I totally agree with T4C but right now I’m having an OCD moment and it is driving me crazy that she used the word “effecting” instead of “affecting”.
We should be questioning everything that comes from the PTB and not taking anything they say for granted. We all seem to have our pet conspiracy theories: Some of us are in total agreement that global warming is bullshit but think that chemtrails believers are idiotic. Others agree that JFK probably wasn’t the target of a lone gunman but are convinced that the twin towers (and building 7) fell excelusively because the towers were hit by airplanes. Still others agree that psychotropic drugs are probably involved in most of the mass shootings in the US in the past few years, but think that widespread vaccine use is in our best interest and should be mandated.
There is nothing wrong with questioning EVERYTHING that is presented to us from the PTB. Any time we are told that something is settled science or that we should believe something because it is the belief of some consensus it should set off immediate red flags. I’m trying my best to question all of my most dearly held beliefs, but it is very hard because some of these things have been presented to us as truth for so many generations I have trouble even realizing they are in the list of things to be questioned.
I think it is our duty as TBP readers to question, propose theories, discuss all topics. Questioning and debating is good. I don’t think it is useful to try to shut someone down just because their beliefs don’t line up with our current way of thinking, we don’t learn anything that way.
The question of whether to vaccinate is extraordinarily insidious because of the growing insistence in our society of requiring vaccines and the knowledge that one inoculation can damage a person for life or kill them outright. In some ways it makes me glad that I didn’t have kids because I think it would kill me if there were something wrong (big or small) with my kid that I thought I was complicit in causing. How do you live with something like that?
Vaccines cause it. No question.
@Araven
— “We should be questioning everything that comes from the PTB”
The Platform That Burns?
Dun dun dunnnnnn!!!!!! :0
I’m with Dutchman on this one, broadening criteria has made it so that all of our youngsters/adults can find a mental health label if an “expert” deems it necessary.
In addition to the broadening diagnosis criteria, actual parenting has shared an inverse relationship with the disorder.
I’d argue that the lack of socialization and dissociation from real world situations is causing massive damage to young minds.
These kids are “raised” by parents who think chicken nuggets and ketchup are primary food sources, who think an iPad is a substitute for playing catch, and who think that watching TV for 5 hours every night constitutes familial interaction.
I’m not saying that Autism/Aspberger’s/ADHD are not real, what I’m saying is that these are very broadly defined effects that we do not have causes for, however the evidence indicates that it is a multi-leveled problem, with deep ties not only to current over-prescription of meds, but to dwindling outdoor exposure, and human interaction.
There isn’t a silver bullet to this problem, its going to take a large shift in modern thinking, and I sincerely doubt that would happen, as it wrests control of parenting back from the state and thrusts it into the unwilling hands of the general populace, and has history has shown time and again, people want to be comfortable, not responsible.
I think I have ODD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder; of course it didn’t get really bad until I started learning about TPTB! 🙂
AP, from the OCD point of view I believe that is “Oppositional Defiance Disorder” 🙂
I don’t have the slightest idea outside what I see in headlines which contain quite a broad range of causes. Personally I hope it’s nature saying there are way too many of us humans here and is attempting to thin the herd a bit. Ebola sure isn’t getting the job done.
I can’t imagine the anguish parents must feel when their children are diagnosed.
If vaccines were safe:
…why have the vaccine manufacturers/creators been gifted 100% immunity from ANY prosecution or fines? Even if they knowingly, intentionally, injure us, they are not to be touched. Same as Monsanto, by the way.
…why is there a national vaccination court that pays out millions a year in to the families (& lawyers) of those injured? Why are taxpayers responsible for a bunch of over-educated rich guys mistakes? Oh, that’s right, they don’t make mistakes like us mere mortals.
Personally, as I sit and listen to the “side” effects of our 24/7 advertised “health” meds, and the lawyer commercials that offer to compensate me when these medicines eventually harm me (disclaimer, not in Michigan, the pharmaceuticals were gifted immunity here), and am told about “serious infections resulting in death,” for the not understood fibromyalagia, the bloody diarrhea for the acne medicine you put on your face, the people I know with cancer, and diabetes and dying from fucking pneumonia (most likely induced by a “side” effect of some med, since I personally know of this recurring issue) and, and, and, and…
We traded a relatively few (and growing less with every new municipal sewage system and septic tank) deaths that primarily hit the genetically damaged, or already at risk/ill, for these levels of cancer, more mental issues, lower IQs, and a soon to be statistically relevant statistic reversal of our lifespans. Plus the obesity and violence. I do believe this is all connected in one big chemical and frankenscience disaster.
Not only do the boomers get to be the last generation with a paid-for retirement, they will also be the generation to have the longest lifespans. Life really ain’t fair, well, for the rest of us.
The lies and hubris and greed and corruption are nearing their end. I can practically feel it.
Sadly, I don’t believe it all falls away and we sing kumbaya, we are going to double, quadruple. down on this chemical insanity, and long before we wake up to what has been done to us, I fear there will be many, many, more painful torturous deaths at the hands of these naively, or not, evil, rich, controlling bastards.
They are our modern pharoahs, kings and gods. They know all. Only they can control nature and decide whom lives and dies. Only they are worthy of controlling and administering the lowly, unworthy, herd.
Instead of the fear that should inspire in most hearts, most willfully follow pharoahs, kings and gods and will kill you if need be. The more I read the Good Book, the more I realize just how frustrated Jesus was with us all. Nothing has changed and if anything, it has gotten much worse and the tortures and punishments and suffering handed to us by our “betters” has grown to insidious and epic proportions.
‘Cast your cares, cast your cares Tee.’
Peace all.
Line those kids up. The ingredient list below is partial. They forgot to mention the genetically modified medium remnants and many other goodies.
Where does autism come from??? The kids are being fucking poisoned by the medical industrial complex. Any sentient being that would willingly inject this toxic shit into themselves or their loved ones either has been lied to or has a death wish.
Common substances found in vaccines include:
Aluminum gels or salts of aluminum which are added as adjuvants to help the vaccine stimulate a better response. Adjuvants help promote an earlier, more potent response, and more persistent immune response to the vaccine.
Antibiotics which are added to some vaccines to prevent the growth of germs (bacteria) during production and storage of the vaccine. No vaccine produced in the United States contains penicillin.
Egg protein is found in influenza and yellow fever vaccines, which are prepared using chicken eggs. Ordinarily, persons who are able to eat eggs or egg products safely can receive these vaccines.
Formaldehyde is used to inactivate bacterial products for toxoid vaccines, (these are vaccines that use an inactive bacterial toxin to produce immunity.) It is also used to kill unwanted viruses and bacteria that might contaminate the vaccine during production. Most formaldehyde is removed from the vaccine before it is packaged.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and 2-phenoxy-ethanol which are used as stabilizers in a few vaccines to help the vaccine remain unchanged when the vaccine is exposed to heat, light, acidity, or humidity.
Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative that is added to vials of vaccine that contain more than one dose to prevent contamination and growth of potentially harmful bacteria.
More at:
http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html
I understand that in severe cases of autism the child is uncontrollable at puberty, and usually institutionalized. Very heartbreaking for family. I am in the camp its cause is mercury as a stabilizer in vaccines
Gee, wonder how many kids were undiagnosed fifty years ago
Fifty years Ago Today
Dumb Autistic
Brat Autistic
Misbehaved Autistic
Lazy Autistic
Bored Autistic
They have a hammer, and are using it everywhere. Every nail is now “Autism!”.
How about some good old fashioned parenting, instead of looking to label kids and blame anything but their upbringing?
llpoh, if we were talking about ADHD you might have a point, and no doubt many autism cases are misdiagnosed, but many of the others are, to be blunt, brain damaged.
Two relatives of mine were diagnosed with “autism”. All kinds of weird and wonderful treatments were proposed.
In the end it was all bullshit. They were fine, once people stopped treating them as “autistic” and started demanding they behave normally and in a sociable manner.
They ran into an asshat with a hammer, and said asshat hammered them. What they needed was parental guidance, not psych session, drugs, and new age treatments.
It has been admitted that the MMR tests by the CDC omitted the fact that autism was caused by the vaccine in Black Male toddlers (up to 18 mos as I recall). So there’s that.
https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/breaking-cdc-vaccine-whistleblower-given-immunity-to-testify/
I think ADHD is simply caused by distractions. I just had this conversation with my 35 y.o. son. He’s a smart kid but is still very much into video games and certainly his smartphone. Had to scold him last weekend for trying to play with it in a movie theater. Just too many temptations for their attention. We boomers didn’t grow up with all this, so we’re not as afflicted.
Lastly, just think of all the preservative and non-food junk that goes into processed food? It’s bound to have some effect. And aspartame, the sweetener Searle couldn’t get past the FDA without hiring Rumsfeld as their CEO (yes THAT Rumsfeld) has been proven to be practically poison. Wonder how many moms used that shit to sweeten the kool aid thinking they were protecting their little darlings from the evils of sugar.
While I consider myself an economist mostly, I’ve taught science also (biology, chemistry).
It is 100% vaccines as a baby’s immune system is too immature to be bombarded with that many toxins at 1 time. The 1st world’s lessening of disease is due to better hygiene, nutrition, & sanitation, not vaccines (nutrition less of a + impact with processed & Frankénfood).
You are what you eat!!! Roundup definitely linked ti Autism. Thank you Monsanto. Better living thru chemistry.
The reason it wasn’t prevalent fifty years ago was that there was no diagnosis: you were a “disciplinary problem”, “problem kid”, “troublemaker” and so forth. There were few mental health resources available, and those were expensive. Drugs were few as well; if the kid didn’t respond to tranquilizers, or maybe a placebo, the kid was untreatable.
Once the pharma people tried developing drugs like Benzedrine, a strange and unusual group was identified: those who responded “backwards” to stimulants. Most people took Benzedrine to stay awake and get a “boost”; a few kids responded by becoming LESS hyperactive / driven / “busy”. Trying to figure that one out led eventually to ADHD, ADD, Asperger’s, autism research, and so forth.
Once the pharma people saw MONEY in it, Adderall, Ritalin and so on showed up. Lots of money in medicating children.
My kids do not function well off their meds. They get really moody, irritable, distractable, and so on. On their meds they function well; the elder got an English degree (oh well, it was desired) and is living elsewhere trying to self-support. The younger is going to college now.
If your kids don’t exist on the autism spectrum, thank your lucky (genetic? environmental? combination? other?) stars. Those of us who gave birth to them and live with and love them know the truth. Autism is real, and is a spectrum. Those of us who grew up before “spectroscopy” were often lucky to reach maturity – growing up the dark, always being “different”, and watching the “normal” who never struggled with these demons was tough to handle, and likely ended many lives before they truly began.
It doesn’t help that many of these drugs are “scheduled”; some pharmacies won’t carry them, making a prescription useless there. Others stock up once a month or so on the corporate schedule; if a new kid in town shows up to grab some, when the pharmacy runs out you are on your own until next month, unless you can hopefully find them at another. Experienced parents gradually build up a stockpile, so that when the pharmacy runs out you aren’t depriving your child of a sane life for a few weeks, with attendant impacts in school, church, social life, etc. And have I mentioned IEDs, the school plans that schools hate to implement (eats up time and resources) and will generally ignore if you don’t watch them like a hawk? I pay taxes too, but somehow my kids didn’t get nearly as much help as their IEDs said they would; homeschooling solved that problem but I still had to pay school taxes, even when the schools FAILED to educate my children adequately and not every parent can sit home and teach. My wife did, from 7th grade for the elder and 3rd for the younger. Her dedication still leaves me in awe.
It’s different now; ADHD kids are at least recognized, even if you don’t have one yourself most folks have heard of it. Temple Grandin gives a valid face to the autistic high-functioning, and there are more like her but less well known. Somewhat better than fifty years ago, but still no picnic; just go visit an ADHD support group sometime (it’s OK, they’re quite broad-minded) and take an hour or two to broaden your horizons. It’s not communicable, and you won’t need a vaccine shot if you want to visit. Much better, in fact, than, say, Yemen.
Llpoh
You would find a visit to a moderate-to-severe special education classroom most enlightening. After spending a day with the autistic students, I guarantee you would come out of there with a different view of the role of parenting skills as the origin of this disorder. Parents and teachers do hold these children to a standard of behavior that you would consider somewhat normal. The kids’ brains, though, have been affected on a spectrum ranging from impaired to devastated. In some you can see great intelligence that is cloaked in obsessive repetitive behaviors or hidden in the social detachment that is so typical.
Isn’t it interesting that the young are afflicted with these kids of disorders and the brains of the old are eaten away by Alzheimer’s? Our environment is poison in a hundred different ways, and the young and the old are the canaries.
Gayle – I meet more “special education’ types right here on TBP than I would ever want, so why on earth would I goseek out more?
BTW – I have a relative that teaches special ed, so I have had a fair bit of exposure to those kids. IT is heart-wrenching.
But no way one in 50 kids is “autistic”. That is horseshit.
Llpoh
I suspect the 1/50 is due to diagnoses of Asberger’s Syndrome, which has increased tremendously the past few years. These kids function pretty well, but are usually socially “off.” They can typically perform in a traditional classroom.
It seems to me the symptoms of Asberger’s could just as well be from a number of reasons other than a mild form of autism.
“It seems to me the symptoms of Asberger’s could just as well be from a number of reasons other than a mild form of autism”
I’ve actually tried some of those shitty ass burgers and all they do is give you a mild form of diarrhea.