News on Autism

Thanks for the comments.
I agree with you, Spartan. There are the theories of vaccinations being responsible for Autism. I always cringe when I see the commercials reminding us to keep our kids safe and have them vaccinated!
I am in Texas and as I am sure you are aware, our governor has signed on the dotted line and added a new vaccine for young girls to the line up of our mandatory childhood vaccines. Let's see where that one gets our kiddos!

I don't understand what Autism is, I only suspect why there are so many new disease to how we eat---way to much junk food. I hope they find a cure and your child Jackie will be the first to benefit. ;~)

I don't go to doctors and at 65 I have out lived most doctors---Yes I will go to a doctor until I am sure what I have is not serious, the people who have helped me the most have been chiropractors and massage therapy---so much healing with the laying on of hands.

When my two sons were diagnosed the materials I received from Autism Society of America (ASA) stated it was 1 in every 10,000 kids had autism. I did see something on the news last nite on this latest study, but it really does not affect us since my kids will always be autistic and I am not looking to cure or change them.

I forgot to note that I like the image you posted. Is this your own? Since April is Autism Awareness Month I want to do an article on my site specifying some Cafe Press sites I like and their items they sell.

http://autismspectrumdisorders.bellaonline.com

The image is not my own, Bonnie. I can tell you where to get it, though.

Personally, I think the story on the news was great. I know our kids will not be cured, but I think the story and the awareness can shed more light on Autism and possibly help us to understand why it happens and maybe even prevent it from future children and allow for more money for better schools and for more help when our kids are older and 'age out' of the system. Where will our kids be then? Who will help them? It also brings awareness to people who know nothing about Autism.

Jackie, I love your courage. Thank you for sharing this and helping people be aware of what Autism stands for ...

Dear Jackie,
i respect you woman for being a mom of an autistic child, my friend has a 4-years old son with autim, i paray for yours and hers to get better. i don't know what to say, i hate it when such deseases hit and especially whn it is on young kids. God is always there, let's all pray and make a difference.

If this is something in the environment, I want to know what it is. In working with special needs kids, I have known at least 5 kids in my five years as an aide in the special education program who have autism.

Yes, I hope they find a cure.

J, I saw the story on a few different stations. NBC went into some detail about the statics and the how and whys. However one doctor thought that genetics was a main cause, maybe more than environmental influences. We can only pray that good science follows soon

I was diagnosed with Asperger's almost five years ago. It was great to find out why I was having so many problems in my life. There are different types of autism out there: mild, severe and moderate. Not one person is alike.

Wow, Yvonne! I can't even imagine how you must have felt to finally have a diagnosis. Thanks for reading the article.
I did not want to go into too many details about Autism Spectrum Disorder~ASD in the article. I just wanted to share the numbers.
My son has PDD-NOS and every day is a challenge but we are learning something new about him and Autism daily.
Good luck and cheers!

I feel for you guys and pray to god that your loved ones are spared the agony of Autism...or any other fancy stuff about which, one keeps hearing every single day.I am totally with Ronald; I hate to visit a doctor and usually keep fit (except colds which bother me now and then). However, I must say that regular golf will keep the doctors away! I hope so. Better get on the Tee and swing.

Jackie, all my best to you and your family and to anyone who has an autistic family member. A friend works with these kids and keeps me filled in on their progress. And I also agree comletely with Spartan's comments.

Unless I add that we aren't doing it so much as the food and drug industries are adding new toxins every day. And you can be fairly certain their CEOs aren't eating the same fake foods!

Genetically-modified corn, etc, is a health train wreck oncoming, imho.

Thank you for this educational article, Jackie. My son has had some learning problems with reading and we never did find out an exact diagonsis. The brain is such a mystery. I hope I didn't accidently cause my son's problems because I was the type of mother who wanted every single vaccine since we travel a great deal to Eastern Europe. I hope that you are able to get all the special services in the school system that your son is entitled to. It can be quite a fight sometimes to get the services for your child.

Thank you so much for this article. One of my students is a psycologist specialized in autistic children and I hear so much about her work with these kids.
Your article shed a new light and I liked it so mucvh
love and light to you and your child

Jackie and everyone, Here's a link to a wonderful organization, in case you do not already know about it. I had the opportunity to participate in the Run for Autism at the Marine Corp Marathon a couple of years ago. They are doing great work, offer lots of support for families, and have a terrific online newsletter. See
The Organization for Autism Research

Thank you, Lisa. I have never heard of this orginization. I love newsletters and any information I can find.

hey jackie...yeah i saw that stat and i was shocked. my youngest has autism and...i have heard so many theories about causes. i think that there are multiple causes and so we may never know why we have this huge increase in children being diagnosed with autism. all i know is that there aren't enough services. there needs to be more help for our kids. i am going to be starting up an autism website. i will let you know when i officially put it out there. great post...thanks for sharing this.

Jackie, I have a medical background and have been following this. My take is that the diagnostician are becoming more aware of different grades and severities of autism, and learning that early detection and intervention is key.

Jackie, thanks for sharing you're story with us. I am very grateful that the Government is allotted this money for the education, awareness and of course helping individuals with autism. I must say I agree with many of the comment before me.
Please, keep us informed. ~mo-zy

I agree with Spartan - and Ed, too. As the awareness of the depth of severity of autism grows, so will the number of "cases" diagnosed.

One should always be careful about a sharp jump in diagnoses, however. Too often, a physician will take the easy way out and prescribe an Rx without doing more testing. The further testing can be very expensive, onerous and yield nothing in the way of differential diagnoses.

Case in point: Ritalin. According to the American Journal of Public Health, ritalin came to be grossly overprescribed in the late 90's.

This is not to diminish the fact that autism rates are rising as are (thankfully) diagnoses of autism. I believe it is something we can fix and, with at least one family member suffering from this affliction, I am glad to see autism in the news and research moving forward faster now.

I have to agree with the fact that there are more doctors diagnosing autism. To me, that means that there is more information and awareness. It certainly can not hurt!
Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and input. I appreciate you all taking the time to read the article.

My son just got a diagnosis of Asperger's last week. I had no idea what it was. I researched it some this week, and it puts things into perspective.

Thanks Peter. He is 16 years old, and I have lived with the issues for a long time. I finally have a diagnosis that makes some sense. It certainly makes you strong, because you have no other choice.

I once met a family with two autistic boys, and I suspect my nephew might have some form of the disorder. I think your situation speaks to how society needs to change to address the needs of those who are differently abled.

Thanks James.

We are in Texas too, and I already have my vaccination exemption certificates filed with the state so that my kids can still attend public school. My oldest starts kindergarten and has been on a very delayed vaccination schedule (only about 8 shot total so far). I flat out refuse to get the chicken pox shot, etc... In fact, we would go to a chicken pox party in a heart beat just so our kids' bodies would learn how to build up more immunity to various diseases. My 3 year old has only had 2 shots so far and my 1 year old has only had 1 shot so far.

My sister works with autistic kids doing ABA therapy and nutritional couseling with them (gluten-free, casein-free diet) etc... It is fascinating to me that there are lots of things that are out there that can help them and how well therapy is working. I am not saying as moms we don't love our children exactly how they are, but to help them become more functioning/communicative can only be a good think in my opinion!