Friday, September 23, 2005

Autism Epidemic Continues...

Latest Totals for 2004/2005 from the U.S. Department of Education Compiled by the Autism Autoimmunity Project

These partial listings will be the figures submitted to the US Dept of Education for 2004/2005 (end of December 2004) and will be online as of October 2005.

For a full review of all the state listings in tables, visit: http://www.taap.info/epidemic.asp


For more information and resources on autism,
please visit: www.AutismConcepts.com.

Free Online International Autism Conference

The AWARES conference centre through their first conference, Autism2005, gives you free and direct access to over 30 autism experts from around the World. From the 17th to the 21st October 2005, these experts have agreed to come online to answer your questions.

Free registration. Limited time offer.

Register for the conference at:
http://www.awares.org/conferences/default.asp

For more information and resources on autism,
please visit: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

The Autism Community Calls for Power of Parents Rally in DC

Stop the Mercury.
Stop the Lies.

Rally in D.C.
Upper Senate Park
Protest Government Inaction

October 7
Demonstration at D.C. Convention Center
Show National Pediatricians the Truth

October 8
The American Academy of Pediatrics ("AAP") will be holding it's annual conference in Washington from October 8th through the 11th - a unique opportunity to broadcast our message to the medical community. Our last rally in Washington, The Power of Truth, was an overwhelming success!

The public heard our cries for our children from coast to coast. So did our people in Congress. The talk for another rally hasn't stopped since then - and the need for action is urgent. Even though many people heard our message great political obstacles remain for our children. More action must be taken. We need to go Washington again -- and as many times as it takes to bring public scrutiny to the travesty of the Thimerosal Generation. Only by spreading awareness of what has happened to our kids will research be devoted to truly helping the one in six children diagnosed with a learning or behavior disorder.

RALLY TO:

. Demand the CDC Tell the Truth About Mercury
How long can the CDC continue to assist Big Pharma in perpetuating the myth that overexposure to mercury does not cause mercury toxicity? Let's get this agency to do the job it was created to do: fully investigate and end epidemics. With one in 166 children now diagnosed with autism, the CDC must finally be called on the carpet for their negligence in ignoring the injured kids of the autism epidemic.

. Stop S. 3 & S. 354 or the 'Punish Autistic Kids' Bills.
These bills bear different numbers but the legislation is the same -- these bills take away your vaccine injured child's rights. They call it tort reform, we call it the 'Vaccine-Injured Kids Don't Count Act of 2005." The House version of S. 354 - H.R. 5 - has already passed. We must stop these bills in the Senate.

. Demand No-Mercury Flu Shots this Winter!
It's on the record that enough mercury-free flu shots can be produced to meet the demand for flu seasons. Drug makers have been on notice since 1999 that mercury-free shots need to be manufactured for children. Flu shots are now required for very young children, so why are drug companies still allowed to produce a limited supply of mercury-free flu shots? We need to demand that production be stepped-up to ensure all children receive only thimerosal-free vaccines.

. Tell Doctors: Study Our Mercury-Injured Kids to Discover the Truth Doctors: demand better science. Question the government's use of only epidemiology studies to clear mercury damage to our children from vaccines. Why have they done NO clinical research in ten years? Our children continue to be threatened by government secrecy regarding mercury, predatory special interest legislation, and more mercury-toxic flu shots in the upcoming season. Our children must be protected--not exploited for politics and greed. Plan now to build on the momentum gained from our last rally and join us in D.C. for the Power of Parents Rally and Demonstration.

Sign up for The Rally and Demonstraton on October 7 & 8 with Action Alert Updates here: http://tinyurl.com/a6my3

Or Sign up for our "Virtual Rally" Campaign with Action Alert Updates here: http://tinyurl.com/a6my3

For more information: www.nationalforce.org

Hotel information can be found on the Power of Parents rally website at www.nationalforce.org - please book your room ASAP as these limited rooms will go quickly. More details will be sent in the coming days.

For now, we wanted to give you the heads up to start making arrangements to join us for what we hope will be our strongest showing yet in demanding the truth for our kids. If your organization is not listed below as part of the rally team but you'd like to be included, please just let us know. Our strength lies in our ability to form a united front.

See you in Washington!

The Power of Parents Rally:
A-CHAMP Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning
Action Against Autism - UK
AdventuresInAutism.com
Angels Wings for Autism
ARROW, Autism Recovery Resources of Washington
Autism One
Autism Recovery Network
Autism Research Institute
Autism Society of America – Washington County, Maryland Chapter
Autism Society of Hawaii
Autism Society of Pennsylvania
Autism Society of Pittsburgh
Autism Spectrum Intervention - California
Autism Solution Center
BEAT-IOWA Biomedical Education for Autism Treatments
IOWA Chapter
-----------------------------------------------------------------
CASD Center for Autistic Spectrum Disorders
CoMeD
Dads Against MercuryDevelopmental Delay Resources
Educate Before You Vaccinate
F.A.I.R. Autism Media
Fighting Autism - Pennsylvania
Floyd County Autism North Georgia Support Group
Generation Rescue
HAND Foundation, Heal Autism Now Delaware
HEAL Healing Every Autistic Life Lagrange Support Group/ Parents Supporting Inclusion
MARC, Maryland Autism Recovery Coalition
Medical Interventions for Autism
Medical Veritas International
Mercury Free Maryland
Moms Against Mercury
------------------------------------------------------------------
National Autism Association
NAA-New Jersey Chapter
NAA-New York Metro Chapter
National Vaccine Information Center
No Mercury
REAACH Research, Education, and Action for Autism Spectrum Children
SafeMinds, Sensible Action for Ending Mercury Induced Neurological Disorders
SPEAK- Support Parents and Empower Autistic/Asperger's Kids
Southside Support Group for Parents of Children on the
Autism Spectrum
TAAP, The Autism Autoimmunity Project
TACA, Talk About Curing Autism
Texas Autism Advocacy
Treating Autism - UK
Unlocking Autism
The Unsolved Puzzle
Vaccine Risk Awareness Network - Canada

Monday, September 19, 2005

With Open Arms: New Financial Guide for Parents of Children with Disabilities and Other Special Needs

With Open Arms: Embracing a Bright Financial Future for You and Your Child

New Financial Guide for Parents of Children with Disabilities and Other Special Needs

Sign up to access free downloadable versions of With Open Arms!

Caught up in the daily responsibilities of caring for a child with a disability, parents often push financial planning to the back burner. Postponing financial planning is understandable when a child's daily needs are more pressing, but this lapse can result in someone else choosing a child's future, should parents become unable to oversee his or her care.

Easter Seals and the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) have collaborated to create a 72-page financial planning booklet for parents, caregivers, grandparents or others involved in the care of a special needs child. Included is information on estate planning, finding the right lawyer or knowledgeable financial planner, wills, special-needs trusts, government benefits, savings options insurance plans and other available resources. Easter Seals and NEFE encourage families to start financial planning when their child with a disability is at a young age.

The Denver-based National Endowment for Financial Education is an independent, non-profit foundation committed to educating Americans about personal finance and empowering them to make positive and sound decisions to reach financial goals. NEFE accomplishes this mission in part through unique collaborations with other national non-profit organizations to develop tailored financial literacy materials.

To order a printed copy of this free booklet, send a $5.00 check for shipping/handling, payable to Easter Seals. Mail to: With Open Arms/Easter Seals, 230 W. Monroe, Suite 1800, Chicago, IL 60606.

You can also download the file free of charge at URL: http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ntl_with_open_arms

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
www.AutismConcepts.com

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Walk Around The World for autism

The Autism Treatment Center a/k/a The Son-Rise Program proudly announces their third annual Walk Around The World, to be held in the United States and Internationally, on October 2, 2005, to raise funds and awareness to benefit the millions of children and adults living with autism, and their families.

One location in New York City is Brooklyn Prospect Park, Bartell Pritchard Area
Call (646) 879-1439 for more information.

To find a Walk location near you, get additional information, register, or make a donation, please visit:
http://www.walkaroundtheworld.org/.

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

NYS - Developmental Disabilities Planning Council

Are you getting the DDPC e-bulletin?

E-bulletin is the monthly electronic newsletter for the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. It's a great way to receive disability-related information by email.

E-bulletin features information on Council news, agency events, new projects, requests for proposal and links to disability resources.

To sign up, visit www.ddpc.state.ny.us.

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
www.AutismConcepts.com.

NYS - Autism Move-A-Thon of Orange County

The Mental Health Association in Orange County and the Autism Research Institute is sponsoring an Autism Move-A-Thon (like a walk-a-thon, except you are not limited to walking) to raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders, on Sunday, October 9, 2005, from 10:00a.m. to 3:00p.m. at Thomas Bull Memorial Park, Day Camp Area, in Montgomery, NY.

The Move-a-Thon is from 11:00a.m. to 12:30p.m. Registration starts at 10:00a.m. Pre-Register, download a Pledge Application, or make a donation, visit the MHA website at:

http://www.mhaorangeny.com/linkspage/AMOC/AMOC2005.htm

Hope to see you there!

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/

NYS - The Center for Diagnostic and Consultation Services

The Center for Diagnostic and Consultation Services at The Children's Annex in Kingston, NY, specializes in evaluation and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The Center offers:

- Comprehensive diagnostic evaluations using state-of-the art measures

- Consultations to schools or agencies providing services in self-contained or inclusive settings

- Customized trainings for professionals and paraprofessionals on best educational practices

- Groups for school-age students focusing on social skills development

These services are available to children, adolescents and adults with known or suspected Autism Spectrum Disorders.

For additional information contact The Center for Diagnostic and Consultation Services at:

The Children's Annex
70 Kukuk Lane
Kingston, NY 12401
(845) 336-2616
www.childrensannex.org

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
www.AutismConcepts.com

NYS - Workshops on Autism in Kingston, NY

The Annex Center for Diagnosis and Consultation is excited to be offering a series of 12 three-hour workshops entitled Effective Practices Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. These trainings will be offered on 6 consecutive Saturdays at The Children's Annex in Kingston, NY from 10/15/05 through 11/19/05.

The workshops will cover many topics in depth of interest to families including strategies and techniques to promote communication, learning, sensory processing, social and emotional development, diagnosis and evaluation, examination of difficult behaviors, family support and entitlements, and much more. The workshops are designed for both parents and professionals and are open to the community.

Visit www.childrensannex.org or call (845) 336-2616 for detailed information about Annex programs, workshop content, presenters, and directions.

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
www.AutismConcepts.com.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Children's Vinyl Lunch Boxes Can Contain Dangerous Levels of Lead

Press Release
August 31, 2005

A Back to School Warning:
Children's Vinyl Lunch Boxes Can Contain Dangerous Levels of Lead

Oakland, CA - The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) announced it is filing lawsuits today against makers and retailers of soft vinyl lunch boxes that can expose children to harmful levels of lead. The Center has also notified several other companies of violations under California's toxics law Proposition 65 (Prop 65) for lunch boxes with high lead levels. The lawsuits and violation notices against companies including Toys "R" Us, Warner Brothers, DC Comics, Time Warner, Walgreens, and others involve many lunch boxes featuring beloved children's characters including Superman, Tweety Bird, Powerpuff Girls, and Hamtaro. The level of lead in one lunch box, anAngela Anaconda box made by Targus International, tested at 56,400 parts permillion (ppm) of lead, more than 90 times the 600 ppm legal limit for leadin paint in children's products.

"Lead exposure should not be on the lunch menu when kids' go back to school this fall," said Michael Green, CEH Executive Director. "There is no reason to expose children to any lead from lunch boxes. We are calling on these companies to recall these products and take action to eliminate lead from their products in the future."

Initial independent laboratory testing commissioned by CEH has already found seventeen lunch boxes with high lead levels, and the group's investigation is ongoing. In addition to the testing on the Angela Anaconda lunch box, tests on other lunch boxes showed levels of lead between two and twenty-five times the legal limit for lead paint in children's products. In most cases, the highest lead levels were found in the lining of lunch boxes, where lead could come into direct contact with food. Lead is known to be harmful to children even in minute amounts, as it can impair brain development and cause other behavioral and developmental problems. Children may be exposed to lead from lunch boxes when they eat food that has been stored in them. Handling the lunch boxes just before eating could also be an exposure risk.

It is not possible to tell by appearance whether a vinyl lunch box may contain lead, so CEH is advising parents to avoid vinyl lunch boxes altogether. "Parents may need to seek out alternatives, since many mass produced lunch boxes are vinyl or vinyl-lined," said Green. "A reusable cloth bag would be a good alternative." Parents can find information on how to test for lead in their children's lunch boxes at home at: www.cehca.org/lunchboxes.

The CEH lawsuits were filed today against lunch box producers Igloo and InGear, and against retailers Toys "R" Us, Walgreens, Big Lots, and Ross Stores. Earlier this year, CEH sent notices of Prop 65 violations to Targus International, DC Comics, Time Warner, Warner Brothers, Binney & Smith (a division of Hallmark and the makers of Crayola-brand lunch boxes), FastForward LLC, and Holiday Fair Incorporated. Under Prop 65, companies have sixty days to respond to violation notices, after which lawsuits can be filed. CEH expects to file more notifications of lunch boxes that violate Prop 65 in the near future.

Photos of the lunch boxes can be found at www.cehca.org/lunchboxes.
# # #
Back to top <http://www.cehca.org/lunchboxes.htm#top#top>

Test Your Child's Lunch Box

Because it is not possible to tell by appearance whether a vinyl lunch boxmay contain lead, CEH is advising parents to avoid buying vinyl lunch boxesaltogether. You can test vinyl lunch boxes you already own using a hand-heldlead testing kit, often available at hardware stores. Two reliable and easy-to-use brands are PACE's Lead Alert and LeadCheck (also available online at www.leadcheck.com). If your child's lunch box tests positive, or you need assistance obtaining a testing kit please call CEH at (510) 594-9864. We can help you interpret the results and can use your product as evidence in our ongoing work get the lead out of our children's lunch boxes.

Back to top <http://www.cehca.org/lunchboxes.htm#top#top>

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Hurricane Katrina - Important Info for People with Disabilities from Nat'l Org. on Disabilities

The National Organization on Disabilities (N.O.D.) Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI) announces immediate deployment of their Special Needs (SN) Rapid Assessment Team for Hurricane Katrina

Project Ground Ops Title: N.O.D./EPI's S.N.A.K.E. (Special Needs Assessment 4 Katrina Evacuation) Team

Recognizing that the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the special needs and disabled communities would be catastrophic, N.O.D. President Michael Deland immediately sought to gain access to the Gulf region to assess delivery of services and recovery efforts for the nearly 250,000 men, women, and children with disabilities living in the impacted area. It is the goal of N.O.D. to capture any immediate actionable issues and provide this information to officials coordinating the response and recovery efforts.

Hilary Styron, Director of EPI received authorization to deploy four rapid assessment teams consisting of nationally recognized special needs emergency management practitioners into the Gulf region impacted by Hurricane Katrina. EPI SNAKE teams will be one of the first outside organizations to ever be allowed on disaster-impacted locations to assess these issues.

Upon deployment, the teams will quickly gather information about the impact and service delivery to those with disabilities, seniors, and medically managed persons. This is an extremely fast in and out operation with the singular goal of capturing systemic points of failure or immediate actionable correction to elevate suffering.

EPI has been monitoring the disaster from pre-event and now into the recovery operations. It has become clear that the disability and special needs communities were woefully under-prepared individually. EPI has been in touch with several of the authorities within the effected region, as well with Federal entities in Washington DC. At this point there appears to be no singularly coordinated special needs response.

Data gathered will include:

· information about the response efforts, how they responded,how gaps were filled in the immediate sense and in the long term
· information on long-term recovery efforts currently be put inplace and those gaps that exist and how they are being addressed
· information to support or disprove "stories" that emerge fromthe SN community

Upon completion of analysis of the collected data, all findings will bedocumented for EPI to rapidly distribute these action items throughout all Federal, state, and local authorities coordinating response and recovery efforts.

EPI has contracted with Elizabeth Davis of EAD & Associates, LLC to lead this effort.
Logistic and operational support will be provided by Steve Kuhr of Strategic Emergency Group, LLC.

EPI is currently providing outreach, awareness, and education via the congressionally designated earmark through the U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration. Within the approved grant deliverable project area is a component for tracking special needs in disasters.

Additional information will be made available at www.nod.org/emergency <http://www.nod.org/emergency>

Contact Person:

Hilary Styron, Director
Emergency Preparedness Initiative
National Organization on Disability
910 16th Street, NW 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20006
StyronH@nod.org

HQ Office: 202-293-5960
Direct: 202-955-6320
TTY: 202-293-5968
Fax: 202-293-7999

http://www.nod.org/emergency


For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Hurricane Katrina - 10 Ways to Disability Relief UPDATED

With special thanks to M. Johnson.

1. Let people in need know they should apply for assistance through FEMA, state their specific needs and identify their disability.

Financial:

1/800-621-FEMA 1/800-462-9029 1/800-462-7585 TDD/TYY http://www.fema.gov/register.shtm (on-line registration)
Unemployment, http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/

Other Resources:

Education, http://www.ed.gov/news/hurricane/index.html
HUD, 1-888-297-8685
Medicaid & Medicare, http://www.cms.hhs.gov/katrina/
All Government Benefits, http://www.govbenefits.gov
Local Resources, United Ways 211, http://www.211.org/

2. Send a message and/or card to ILCs and other disability rights groups in effected areas like AL (example, Mobile), LA (statewide, no snail mail inNew Orleans), MS (statewide) & TX (example, Houston). If offering money,items or time, be specific.

ILCs at http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html

3. Coordinate your efforts at all levels.

FEDERAL LEVEL

Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities,

http://www.dhs.gov/disabilitypreparedness.html
Daniel W. Sutherland, Chairperson
Daniel.Sutherland@dhs.gov
(202) 772-9816

Olegario "Ollie" D. Cantos VII, Chairperson TA and Outreach Subcommittee Ollie.Cantos@usdoj.gov
(202) 616-7920

GULF STATES

AL

Barbara F. Crozier, Executive Director
Governor's Office On Disability (GOOD)
334-353-4663
barbara.crozier@good.alabama.gov

Birmingham

Daniel G. Kessler, Executive Director
Birmingham Independent Living Center
205-251-2223, ext. 112
205-254-7333, TDD
dgkessle@bellsouth.net
http://www.birminghamilc.org

Mobile

Shannon Shelley-Tremblay
251-460-0301, 108
shannons@ilcmobile.org
shannonstremblay@yahoo.com

LA

Matthew J. Rovira, Executive Director
Governor's Office of Disability Affairs
225-219-7550
225-978-0905
Matt.Rovira@GOV.STATE.LA.US

Baton Rodge

Sandee Winchell, Executive Director
Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council
225-342-6804
225-938-9056 225-342-1970 Fax
swinchel@dhh.la.gov
http://www.laddc.org

Lafayette

Nell Hahn
Advocacy Center
(337) 237-7380 ext. 11
(337) 237-0486 (fax)
nhahn@advocacyla.org
nhahn2@cox.net

Shreveport

Mack J. Marsh, Jr.
Independent Living Services Director
New Horizons Independent Living Center
318-671-8131 ext 108 318-688-7823, Fax
mmarsh@nhilc.org
http://www.nhilc.org

MS

Christy Dunaway, Executive Director
LIFE of Mississippi, Inc.
601-969-4009
601-506-6454
lifeofms@aol.com

Mary Throupe
Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities
(601) 969-0601 (V/TTY)
800-721-7255
mary@mscoalition.com
theopendoor@mscoalition.com
http://www.mscoalition.com

TX

Houston

Sandra Bookman, Executive Director
Houston Center for Independent Living
713-974-4621 Voice/TTY 713-569-4086 713-974-6927 FAX houstoncil@yahoo.com
http://www.coalitionforbarrierfreeliving.com

Elaine Roberts
Advocacy Inc.
eroberts@Advocacyinc.org

David Truran
Advocacy, Inc.
713-974-7691
dtruran@Advocacyinc.org

Arkansas, LA, & TX

ILRU
713-520-0232 (Voice/TTY)
ilru@ilru.org
http://www.ilru.orgForwardSourceID:NT0020C28E

OTHER STATES

National Council on Independent Living with TA from ILRU
John Lancaster, Executive Director
john@ncil.org
(877) 525-3409
http://www.ncil.org/

list of local

ILCs at http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html

ILRU
2323 S. Shepherd, Suite 1000
Houston, Texas 77019
713-520-0232 (Voice/TTY) 713-520-5785 (Fax) 600-949-4232,

if in Arkansas, LA or TX
ilru@ilru.org
http://www.ilru.org

4. Help build disability specific web sites, for example

http://www.katrina-la.net/, Karen Lagrange, karen@kalidust.com,337-407-9201
http://katrinadisability.info/, Susan Fitzmaurice, katrinadisability.info@gmail.com
http://www.ilru.org
http://thearclink.org/news/article.asp?ID=710
http://www.ndrn.org/katrinalinks.htm

5. Offer to provide housing, transportation, food, personal items, etc., register at

https://www.swern.gov/emergency/asset_index.php
http://www.katrina-la.net/, disability specific
http://katrinadisability.info/, disability specific

6. Offer Equipment & Supplies
http://www.fodac.org, Paul Timmons, 843-817-2651, presslord@aol.com

7. Volunteer to assist, register at http://www.katrinadisability.info , scroll down, click on Disability Experts box
https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov/

8. Support disability specific Funds, for example

AIDS, https://secure.ga3.org/03/KatrinaEmergencyFund
ARC, http://www.thearc.org/
Autism, http://www.talkautism.com/
CA Foundation for ILCs, http://www.cfilc.org/site
Diabetes, http://www.cwdfoundation.org/Supplies.htm
Easter Seals, http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer
Families Helping Families, LA,http://www.familieshelpingfamilies.net/home.htm
Family Voices, http://www.familyvoices.org/
MS, http://www.nationalmssociety.org/hurricane.asp
NAMI, http://www.nami.org/ or at any Wachovia bank nationwide
(Account #200024603407)
National Down Syndrome, http://www.ndss.org/
NCIL, http://www.ncil.org
Spina Bifida, http://www.sbaa.org
TASH, http://tash.org/
UCP, Houston, http://www.ucphouston.org/

9. Review NCD's, http://www.ncd.gov/ , recommendations, send your social change ideas to Hilary C. Styron, 202-293-5960, 202-955-6320.
StyronH@nod.org

10. Assure people everything will be alright.

Crisis Counseling, 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)
Children, Connie Wells, Family Voices, cjwells@sprynet.com


For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Evacuee's autistic son, 21, found safe, sound

September 10, 2005
The Clarion-Ledger

Michael Kehlor, the missing son of a woman who was among the Louisiana evacuees in an American Red Cross Shelter in Laurel, has been found, a state mental health worker said.

Sharoyn Kehlor of River Ridge, La., said earlier this week that she had not seen her son, who is 21 and autistic, since Aug. 26.

Her son's group home in Kenner, La., had evacuated the Friday before Hurricane Katrina struck and his mother lost an emergency contact number for him when she was evacuated.Erin Ferguson, who works with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health in Newton, said in an e-mail to The Clarion-Ledger on Friday that she found Michael Kehlor with the help of a woman with the Louisiana Office of Mental Health.

Full article at: http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050910/NEWS0110/509100388/1260

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
www.AutismConcepts.com.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Boy Scout Camp in MS to Provide Temporary Shelter to Families of Developmentally Disabled

A Boy Scout Camp in Yocona, Toccopola, Miss., is offering to provide temporary emergency shelter to families who have children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and other developmental disabilities. The camp has a total of 350 beds. The cabins will sleep eight people. Each group of four to five cabins has a bathhouse. There is a large, commercial kitchen and dining hall available. A very good GFCF cook from Hawaii has offered to help cook, etc.

Peg Pickering is a mother of a child with autism, and the Coordinator.
Contact Peg Pickering at 662-488-9619 or 662-509-0599.

Contact the National Autism Association toll free at 866-622-6733, if you have information on families with children who have a developmental disability in need of shelter due to being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Needed Donations:
Ziploc bags
of all sizes, and large garbage bags. They also need clothes and diapers.

Additional information available at: www.AutismRescue.com.

Please send your donations to:

ASD KATRINA RESCUE
c/o Peg Pickering
2901 Hwy 9 South
Pontotoc, MS 38863

Tax-deductible donations for the Camp can be made at: www.NationalAutism.org.

Volunteers are also needed to visit shelters and other sites to let families know assistance for their developmentally disabled children is available. Flyers listing some common behaviors of autism are available at: www.NationalAutism.org.

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Shelter meets basic needs but far from all

September 7, 2005

By Julie Goodman
jgoodman@clarionledger.com

LAUREL — Sharoyn Kehlor held up a creased photograph of her son, Michael, standing in front of a Christmas tree at his group home in Kenner, La.

"Hmmm," she said, kissing his image. "My boy." Kehlor, who has joined more than 700 other evacuees at a shelter here in Laurel run by the American Red Cross, has not talked to her son since Aug. 26 when Hurricane Katrina barreled into their lives.

Michael is 21 but with autism functions more as a 5-year-old and is used to speaking with his mother by phone every night and seeing her every Wednesday. But instead of looking forward to her next visit, Kehlor, 55, is shuffling through her new home — the fairgrounds where rodeos are ordinarily held — navigating with a cane around barefoot children, pregnant women and armed men in fatigues.

Read full article at: http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050907/NEWS0110/509070386

For more information and resources on autism, please visit: http://www.autismconcepts.com/

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Disaster Preparedness Resources for People with Disabilities

Below are links to websites providing resource materials and printable manuals to help families and first responders prepare for natural disasters. Please share these resources and materials with family, friends, schools and first responders in your community.

FEMA
Assisting People with Disabilities in a Disaster
http://www.fema.gov/rrr/assistf.shtm

Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities http://www.fema.gov/library/disprepf.shtm


Red Cross
Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities
http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/disability.html

Disaster Preparedness for People with Disabilities, PDF http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/disability.pdf

Helping Children Cope with Disasters (A449) (FEMA 478)Find tips on how to help your child to cope with disaster. http://www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/preparedness/A4499.pdf

Other Publications and Resources
"Emergency Evacuation Preparedness: Taking Responsibility For Your Safety - A Guide For People with Disabilities and Other Activity Limitations,"
http://www.cdihp.org/products.html http://www.nod.org
http://www.prepare.org/text/disabilities/medicalTX.htm
http://www.ilrcsf.org/Publications/prepared/pdf/Emergency_Preparedness.pdf

Disaster Resources for People with Disabilities and Emergency Managers,
http://www.jik.com/disaster.html

Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI), National Organization on Disability
http://www.nod.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=11


Please make a donation which will assist the autism community at:

National Autism Association
www.nationalautismassociation.org

Unlocking Autism
www.unlockingautism.org

Autism Society of America
www.autism-society.org


For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
www.AutismConcepts.com.

Hurricane Katrina - 10 Ways to Support Disability Related Relief Efforts

With thanks to M. Johnson.

1. Let people in need know they should apply for assistance through FEMA,state their needs as clearly and specifically as possible and identifytheir disability.

1/800-621-FEMA
1/800-462-9029
1/800-462-7585 TDD/TYY
http://www.fema.gov/register.shtm (on-line registration)

Also encourage people in need to try United Ways 211
http://www.211.org/

2. Send a message and/or card to ILCs in effected areas like AL (example, Mobile), LA (statewide, no snail mail in New Orleans), MS (statewide) & TX (example, Houston). If offering money, items or time, be specific.
http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html

3. Coordinate your efforts at the federal and on the ground levels

FEDERAL LEVEL
Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities,
http://www.dhs.gov/disabilitypreparedness.html

Daniel W. Sutherland, Chairperson
Daniel.Sutherland@dhs.gov
(202) 772-9816

Olegario "Ollie" D. Cantos VII, Chairperson TA and Outreach Subcommittee
Ollie.Cantos@usdoj.gov
(202) 616-7920

ON THE GROUND, REGION 4 & 6 (AL, LA, MS & TX)
Lex Frieden
lfrieden@bcm.tmc.edu
(713) 520-0232, Ext. 124
http://www.ilru.org/html/whatsnew/announcements/katrina.html

OTHER REGIONS
National Council on Independent Living with TA from ILRU
John Lancaster, Executive Director
john@ncil.org
(877) 525-3409
http://www.ncil.org/

list of local ILCs at
http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/index.html

ILRU
2323 S. Shepherd, Suite 1000
Houston, Texas 77019
713-520-0232 (Voice/TTY)
713-520-5785 (Fax)
600-949-4232, if in Arkansas, LA or TX
ilru@ilru.org
http://www.ilru.org

4. Help build disability specific web sites, for example

http://www.katrina-la.net/,
Karen Lagrange,
karen@kalidust.com, 337-407-9201

http://katrinadisability.info/
Susan Fitzmaurice,
katrinadisability.info@gmail.com

5. Offer to provide housing, transportation, food, personal items, etc., register at

https://www.swern.gov/emergency/asset_index.php
http://www.katrina-la.net/, disability specific
http://katrinadisability.info/, disability specific

6. Volunteer to assist, register at
http://www.katrinadisability.info , scroll down, click on
Disability Experts box
https://volunteer.ccrf.hhs.gov/

7. Support disability specific Funds, for example

AIDS
https://secure.ga3.org/03/KatrinaEmergencyFund

ARC
http://www.thearc.org/

Autism
http://66.148.5.47/CrystalPages/default2.html
http://www.talkautism.com/

CA Foundation for ILCs
http://www.cfilc.org/site

Diabetes
http://www.cwdfoundation.org/Supplies.htm

Family Voices
http://www.familyvoices.org/

MS
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/hurricane.asp

NAMI
http://www.nami.org or at any Wachovia bank nationwide
(Account #200024603407)

National Down Syndrome
http://www.ndss.org/

Spina Bifida
http://www.sbaa.org

TASH
http://tash.org/

UCP, Houston
http://www.ucphouston.org/

If donating to mainstream relief agencies, Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army, ask them to earmark for people with disabilities.

8. Assure people (especially young and aged populations) everything will be alright

9. Share your experiences with
http://www.nobodyleftbehind2.org/

10. Share this and related messages. As we watch and hear about our brothers and sisters with disabilities: die, suffer, or somehow muddle through?.. It is a good time to take stock, review and update our personal preparedness plans and supplies as well as those of the organizations we are a part of? Here are some resources.
June Kailes-

"Emergency Evacuation Preparedness: Taking Responsibility For Your Safety - A Guide For People with Disabilities and Other Activity Limitations,"
http://www.cdihp.org/products.html http://www.nod.org
http://www.prepare.org/text/disabilities/medicalTX.htm
http://www.ilrcsf.org/Publications/prepared/pdf/Emergency_Preparedness.pdf

Disaster Resources for People with Disabilities and Emergency Managers,
http://www.jik.com/disaster.html

Emergency Preparedness Initiative (EPI), National Organization on Disability
http://www.nod.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=11

National Hotline To Locate Missing Hurricane Victims Established

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2081
Press Release
National Hotline To Locate Missing Hurricane Victims Established

Katrina Missing Persons Hotline, 1-888-544-5475, Will Go Live at12:00 Noon (Eastern) on Monday, September 5

ALEXANDRIA, VA - September 4, 2005 - The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to set up a coordinated missing persons process to locate and reunite Hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. NCMEC staff is working through the weekend and will have the Katrina Missing Persons Hotline, 1-888-544-5475, operational at 12:00 Noon Eastern time on Monday, September 5, 2005. Photographs, names, and physical descriptions of missing adults, missing children, and found children from hurricane-stricken areas will be posted to NCMEC's web site at http://www.missingkids.com/.

NCMEC has also deployed representatives ­ retired law enforcement officers ­from its Team ADAM and Project ALERT programs to the states affected to assist families with their missing persons reports. The representatives will also provide technical resources to facilitate the transfer of photographs and other data to NCMEC¹s headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

NCMEC is urging media to air the missing persons flyers to aid in there unification efforts. Viewers may access the information on missing persons and found children by clicking on the ³Katrina Missing Persons² graphic on NCMEC¹s homepage at http://www.missingkids.com/.

In addition to the U.S. Department of Justice¹s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, NCMEC is working in cooperation with the network of state missing child clearinghouses, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other state and local law enforcement agencies. With these partners, NCMEC will also be assisting with the identification of unidentified deceased victims. Images of the unidentified decedents will be digitally-enhanced in an effort to create the best likeness that can be shown to the public to aid in positive identifications of victims.

Long-time corporate partners of NCMEC¹s are providing valuable equipment and services to aid in this effort. Digital cameras and scanners are being supplied by Canon U.S.A. At the request of the parent or guardian, Lifetouch National School Studios will be providing school photographs of children, as possible, if no photograph is available of a missing child. Sprint Nextel Corporation has equipped the Team ADAM and Project ALERT representatives with cellular technology. NCMEC is grateful for the support of these private sector partners and for the dedicated volunteers who will be answering the Katrina Missing Persons Hotline.

Team ADAM and Project ALERT are made up of specially-trained retired law enforcement personnel who are available to assist law enforcement agencies in missing child and child sexual exploitation cases.

About the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children NCMEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 340,000 leads. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 116,000 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 94,000 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit www.missingkids.com.

CONTACT:
Communications Department
NCMEC
703-837-6111

Friday, September 02, 2005

FDA Knew Danger of Thimerosal - Vaccines for 60 Years

by Evelyn Pringle
(Email: epringle05@yahoo.com)

In order to enroll in day care or attend public schools in this country, children are forced to participate in a mandatory vaccine program. According to a report by the General Accounting Office released in 1999, over the 1990s, an estimated 12 million vaccinations were given each year and more than 40 million children were vaccinated.

Since the 1930s, mercury-based Thimerosal has been added to vaccines as a preservative to boost drug company profits by allowing vaccine makers to package in bulk instead of individual doses.

According to newly discovered research, which was supported by a grant from the American Medical Association, government agencies have known for 60 years ago that Thimerosal was neither safe or effective, and that it should have been removed as a preservative in pharmaceutical products.

In 1948, Dr Morton of the Department of Bacteriology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dr North of the Philadelphia General Hospital, and Mr Engley of Camp Detrick, published the results of their study in the Journal of the American Medical Association evaluating the use of mercurials in medicine.

The article, "The Bacteriostatic and Bactericidal Action of Some Mercurial Compounds on Hemolytic Streptococci: In Vivo and In Vitro Studies" explained that "Mercurial compounds have been employed as disinfectants since the beginning of bacteriology."

"Indeed, for a long period mercurial compounds, such as bichloride of mercury, headed the list of chemical which were thought to be effective in the killing of microorganisms," it said.

However, the authors basically state that Thimerosal as a preservative is useless, "It is not highly germicidal and especially does not possess high germicidal value in the presence of serum and other protein mediums. The loss of antibacterial activity of mercurials in the presence of serum proves their incompatibility with serum."

In addition, the researchers warned of the toxicity of Thimerosal. "The comparative in vitro studies of mercurochrome, metaphen and merthiolate [Thimerosal] on embryonic (developing) tissue cells and bacterial cells by Salle and Lazarus [Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology & Medicine, February 1935] cannot be ignored," they said.

These investigators found Thimerosal was 262 times more toxic for embryonic tissue cells than for Staphylococcus aureus.

More than 10 years before the results of the above study were published, Nye [Journal of the American Medical Association, January 1937] and Welch [from the Food and Drug Administration, Journal of Immunology 1939] also found the same mercurial compound more toxic. "Not only is there a direct toxic action of the mercurial compounds on the cellular and humoral components of the animal body, but there is also the possibility of sensitization," they said.

In addition, Mr Engley subsequently published an article in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in 1950, titled, "Evaluation of Mercurials as Antiseptics" in which he declared, "...mercurials are ineffective in vivo and may be more toxic for tissue cells than bacterial cells, as shown in mice (Nungester and Kempf, 1942) (Sarber, 1942) (Spaulding and Bondi, 1947) tissue culture (Salle and Catlin, 1947) and embryonic eggs (Witlin, 1942) (Green and Kirkeland, 1944), and with leucocytes (Welch and Hunter, 1940)."

Due to the FDA ignoring the scientific findings and warnings of its own researchers, Thimerosal remained in vaccines for the second half of the century and has now been linked to an epidemic in autism, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a wide range of other neurological problems.

The epidemic began as the number of vaccines added to the immunization schedule rose dramatically. American children born in 1948 were only required to show proof of a smallpox vaccination to enter school. By 1991 the number of mandated vaccines had increased from 9 to 21 and children born in 1998 were required by most states to receive 33 or 34 doses of nine or ten different vaccines to enter school.

Beginning in about 1987, as each new vaccine was added to the schedule, no one apparently thought to keep track of the cumulative amount of Thimerosal that would be injected into children with each new shot. As a direct result of the increased mercury, cases of autism began doubling every four years.

People who are still sitting on the fence over whether to believe that Thimerosal is the cause of the epidemic need only consider the staggering statistics. On February 15, 2005, the GAO, released a Report titled, "Special Education Children With Autism," that revealed the number of children ages 6 through 21 diagnosed with autism receiving special education services has increased more than 500% over the past 10 years.

State by state the numbers reveal enormity of this tragic situation. In Oregon, between 1989 and 1999, the number of school age kids with autism increased from 250 to 2,877 cases, according to the state's Department of Education statistics.

The Pennsylvania public school system is feeling the pressure. Statewide, over a10 year period, the number of children enrolled in special education classes for autism disorders has increased from 634 to 5,145 in 2002-03, the most recent year for which state statistics are available.

Federal Department of Education numbers reveal that Ohio only had 22 reported cases of autism in 1992 and by 2002, the number of cases had increased to 3,057. In Illinois, over the same decade, there was an increase from five cases to 3,802. In the same time frame, every state in the nation had an increase of at least 500 percent.

In addition, consider these odds. Fifteen years ago, autism affected only one in 10,000 children. Today, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC in January of 2004, the incidence of autism is one in every 166 kids.

Since 1999-2000, the number of Bucks County Pennsylvania autistic children receiving special education services has jumped at a rate of more than 22% every year, according to the US Department of Education.

Unlike normal kids, children with autism do not instinctively learn from observing other children around them. They must be taught even the simplest skills such as making eye contact, following directions, waiting their turn, or how to hold a conversation. In addition, behaviors, skills, and abilities vary from one child to the next and about 50% of autistic kids have few or no language skills. They often suffer from other problems that impair the learning process as well, such as hearing loss or epilepsy.

Therefore educating these children costs much more than is usually allotted for special education kids. For example, in Bucks Country, PA, for tuition, transportation, evaluations, and other services, the cost can reach $60,000 per child compared to $7,000 that the average special education student receives, according to David Mandell, co-chairman of the Pennsylvania Autism Task Force, in the September 12, 2004 Bucks County Courier.

The question of why some children develop autism and others do not, appears to be the luck of the draw. For various reasons still not completely understood, the bodies of some kids are incapable of ridding themselves of mercury. In fact, an August 2003 International Journal of Toxicology study revealed that healthy normal children excreted eight times more mercury through their hair than did autistic children.

The suspicion that Thimerosal was causing the epidemic arose in 1997, when the FDA Modernization Act was passed which required the FDA to investigate the adverse effects of all products containing mercury. Within a year, the FDA ordered Thimerosal removed from over-the-counter products, which surely indicates that officials knew that far back that it was dangerous.

Once the amount of Thimerosal in vaccines was finally measured in 1999, the FDA discovered that children were receiving more than 100 times the EPA's safe limit for mercury by 18 months of age and yet officials allowed the preservative to remain in vaccines. To this very day flu vaccines given to pregnant women and 6 month old babies contain a full dose of Thimerosal.

There can be no denying that the FDA and CDC have long known of the damage caused by Thimerosal. A June 29, 1999, email from FDA scientist, Peter Patriarca to the head of the CDC office on vaccine safety, warned that the FDA would be criticized for being "'asleep at the switch' for decades by allowing a potentially hazardous compound to remain in many childhood vaccines and not forcing manufacturers to exclude it from new products."

Patriarca also pointed out the fact that calculating the cumulative dose of mercury in vaccines was not "rocket science" and involved only ninth-grade math. He then cited the questions that could be asked of the agencies: "What took the FDA so long to do the calculations? Why didn't CDC and the advisory bodies do these calculations when they rapidly expanded the childhood immunization schedule?"

A secret report from a meeting attended by officials from the FDA and CDC in 2000, obtained with a FOIA request, even contained a graph which specifically illustrated the findings of a child's increasing risk of developing symptoms of autism upon receiving the increased amounts of Thimerosal.
In a transcript of that secret meeting, Pediatrician Bill Weil, acknowledged the epidemic, "There are just a host of neurodevelopmental data that would suggest that we've got a serious problem.... The number of kids getting help in special education is growing nationally and state by state at a rate we have not seen before."

However, notwithstanding this clear recognition of injury to kids, and although individual states have passed laws banning Thimerosal, the FDA has never required drug makers to eliminate the preservative from any vaccines.

In 2000, the independent father and son research team of David and Mark Geier, conducted a study using the same CDC data used by the government in 1999, to compare children who received vaccines with Thimerosal to kids who received vaccines without it. In the relevant time frame, they knew that fully vaccinated kids received four shots by the age of 18 months, and so they devised a computer program to separate the children who received no Thimerosal from those who received four doses.

The results were astounding. The children who received no Thimerosal had no autism, which caused the Geiers to question their own findings and rerun the program several more times. Each time it came back the same, kids receiving Thimerosal were over ten times more likely to have autism than the kids who received no mercury.

Three years later, on May 21, 2003, the Mercury in Medicine Report was published by the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness of the Committee on Government Reform. Based on an investigation spanning several years, the report rendered a specific finding that linked the preservative to autism. Included in the report was the following conclusion:

"Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is directly 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 a lack of safety data regarding injected Thimerosal and the sharper eyes of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. The public health agencies' failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry."

The Reform Report concluded that, "Because the FDA chose not to recall Thimerosal-containing vaccines in 1999, in addition to all of those already injured, 8,000 children a day continued to be placed at risk for overdose for at least an additional two years."

Over 2 years have passed since that report was issued, and FDA and CDC officials are still allowing vaccine makers to use Thimerosal in the manufacturing process of vaccines and to add a full doses of the product to flu vaccines which are injected into pregnant women, children, and the elderly.

In addition, officials still allow drug companies to ship mercury-laced vaccines for use on kids all over the world. As a result, autism rates are exploding in other countries. In China for instance, autism was unheard of five years ago. Since Chinese children began receiving vaccines with Thimerosal, well over one and a half million cases of autism have been reported. Autism is also on the rise in Argentina, India and Nigeria, according to Robert F Kennedy, Jr, in a June 20, 2005 interview on MSNBC.

Drug companies deserve to be sued. Proof has surfaced that shows they have been knowingly injecting this poison into children for many years. A 1991 company memo which surfaced last fall in a lawsuit involving vaccine maker, Merck, proves beyond any doubt, that the company knew infants were being injected with unsafe amounts of Thimerosal in 1991.

A copy of the memo was obtained by attorneys for Vera Easter, a Texas woman who blames drug makers for injuring her 7-year-old son, who is autistic and mentally retarded. The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas against vaccine makers Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Aventis Pasteur, Wyeth; as well as Thimerosal inventor Eli Lilly.

The 7 page memo describes how a 6-month-old baby who received shots on schedule would receive doses of mercury many times higher than established safety guidelines and specifically states: "If eight doses of Thimerosal-containing vaccine was given in the first six months of life (3 DTP, 2 HIB, and 3 Hepatitis B) the 200 micrograms of mercury given, say to an average size of 12 pounds, would be about 87 times the Swedish daily allowance of 2.3 micrograms for a baby of that size."

The memo even warned that "the best way to go is to switch to dispensing the actual vaccines without adding preservatives." However, it went on to point out the potential loss of profits and said that while eliminating preservatives was the best solution, there was "a cost consideration the head of Health Services has to consider. Several large ampoules or bottles are more expensive than a smaller number of larger packages."

Authored by Merck's then senior Vice-President, Maurice Hilleman, the memo was sent to Dr Gordon Douglas, head of the company's vaccine division. A disclosure of this information in 1991 could have prevented millions of children from being injured.

Even after drug makers began claiming they had removed Thimerosal from vaccines, they left all previously manufactured vaccines on the market which was clearly deceptive to parents who believed they were injecting Thimerosal-free vaccines into their babies. In September 1999, Merck declared in a press release: "Now, Merck's infant vaccine line is free of all preservatives."

However, On March 8, 2005, the LA Times reported, "Merck & Co continued to supply infant vaccine containing a mercury preservative for two years after declaring that it had eliminated the chemical."

As it turns out, the company continued to distribute vaccines containing Thimerosal until October 2001, according to a June, 2003 FDA letter sent to Rep David Weldon (R-Fla), a doctor, in response to his inquiry. Weldon called what Merck did "misleading."

"You had people literally into 2002 getting shots with mercury, having been told it was all taken out in 1999," he told the Times. To this day, vaccines with full doses of Thimerosal are still out there. Last time I checked, I found products with expiration dates as late as September 2005.
The oft asked question is why would regulatory agencies allow Thimerosal to remain in vaccines? As usual, their initial motive was to protect the profits of the pharmaceutical industry that would be lost if the preservative was removed and packaging was limited to single dose vials, because many of the same researchers, advisory board members, and officials who were involved in the vaccine approval process were also benefiting financially from drug company money.

An investigation by United Press International, found that members of the CDC's Vaccine Advisory Committee, received financial benefits from sharing a vaccine patent; owning stock in a vaccine company; payments for research; payments to monitor manufacturer vaccine tests; and funding to academic departments.

What kind of money are we talking about here? Picture this. The annual global market for vaccines is expected to rise to $10 billion by 2006, according to UPI.

However by this late date, the effort to hide the truth about Thimerosal by the FDA and CDC, is fueled by fear over the amount of money the industry, and quite possibly the government agencies it conspired with to conceal the harm, are going to end up paying out in law suits for injuring millions of children.

With that in mind, officials make sure the media steadily repeats the mantra of a May 2004 Institute of Medicine report that claims there is no link between Thimerosal and autism. However, since that report was released, Steven Goodman, MD, MHS, Ph.D, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and member of the IOM panel, has backed off from the report's certainty and said:

"It was clear from the report that we were not giving thimerosal a clean bill of health. Mercury is definitely a neurotoxin. ... We only said that the evidence favored that there was not a connection between autism and thimerosal exposure," according to the Naples Sun Times on April 27, 2005.

Researcher, Mark Geier, is a doctor with a PhD in genetics and a court-certified expert on vaccines. He has determined through numerous studies that Thimerosal is to blame and has this to say, "the current epidemic of autism may well be the greatest iatrogenic epidemic in history. The damage already done to our society is already in the trillions of dollars. The damage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and that of the AIDS epidemic pale when compared to the current epidemic of autism."

Parents of injured children and tax payers are already paying an enormous price for this man-made epidemic. According to a June 19, 2002 Written Supplement to Oral Testimony at the Hearing of the Government Reform Committee, by James Bradstreet, MD, FAAFP, Clinical Director, The International Child Development Resource Center, "the cost of education, medical care, and therapies for behavioral and physical symptoms is staggering. Many of our families report having paid $50,000 per year to care for their child."

"Custodial care for autism can exceed $100,000/year," Bradstreet said, "The public education system is literally swamped with children." Schools lack the therapists and specially trained educators to deal with the epidemic.

Back in 2002, according to Bradstreet, the Resource Center estimated the minimal cost to care for the 420,000 existing children with autism to be $1,260,000,000,000 (based on $3 million/lifetime). So a little over a $1 trillion over the next 50 years would be required if the rising number of new cases ceased in 2002.

However, because autism was doubling every four years, Bradstreet warned, "this is likely an overly conservative estimate. The societal cost could easily be $3-4 trillion."

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The amount of potential earnings lost as a result of the large number of children who will never be self-supporting is impossibly to calculate. Many parents are currently unable to work because they must stay home to care for a disabled child. Anything short of a miracle cure means these children will be disabled for life.

If the Republicans succeed in passing legislation that will immunize vaccine makers from liability for the injuries they caused by Thimerosal, Americans had better be prepared to pay higher taxes to cover the cost of live-long care for the millions of kids who have been damaged.

Evelyn Pringle epringle05@yahoo.com

(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Independent Media TV and an investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government)

(To contact this author, Email: epringle05@yahoo.com)
[All work by author is copyright protected. If you would like to use this article, please contact the author for permission.]

For more information and resources on autism, please visit: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

The Age of Autism New York nixes mercury
By Dan Olmsted
Have America's medical authorities -- including pediatricians -- lost their credibility on an issue involving the well-being of the nation's children?

It's hard to avoid that question after New York Gov. George Pataki Tuesday signed a bill banning a mercury preservative from medicines given to children under 3 years old and pregnant women. The law takes effect in 2009 and exempts mercury-containing flu vaccines in case of an epidemic.

The measure was strenuously opposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and concern about the preservative as a cause of autism has been dismissed by government regulators. As late as last week, parent advocates feared a veto due to opposition from the doctors and the state department of health, despite overwhelming bipartisan support in the legislature.

A last-minute effort by a number of groups, including A-CHAMP -- a parents' organization that advocates elimination of mercury exposure, particularly in vaccines -- prevailed in the end.

"I think this bill sends an important national message that elected officials in the states are looking at federal policy and coming to the realization they can't trust Washington to do what needs to be done," said John Gilmore, president of the New York Chapter of the National Autism Association and treasurer of A-CHAMP.

"Something is fundamentally broken at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control," said Gilmore, whose son Luke, 5, has autism. He noted that Missouri, Delaware, Illinois, California and Iowa have passed similar bans, and legislation is pending in 14 states from Florida to Washington.

The mercury preservative is called thimerosal, a component of many childhood vaccines until it was phased out beginning in 1999 at the urging of, among others, the pediatrics group.

But as states have moved to ban the substance in childhood vaccines and in medicine for expectant mothers, the pediatricians have objected, citing evidence that it has not harmed anyone.

"CONTACT GOVERNOR IMMEDIATELY AND URGE HIM TO VETO THE THIMEROSAL BILL," said a statement from the District II New York Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics before Pataki signed the bill.

"This legislation represents very bad public health policy that is based on junk science and mass hysteria, not on the evidence of science. We at the AAP District II believe this bill is bad for our patients and bad for all New Yorkers, so please act now."

At issue is whether thimerosal -- which is 49.6-percent ethyl mercury by weight -- caused an autism epidemic. While most mainstream experts dismiss the idea, some parents, doctors and scientists say it's too early to rule out thimerosal. They allege flaws and conflicts of interest in some of the studies and say too many parents have watched their children become autistic after vaccinations.

The pediatricians say a ban just reinforces the discredited idea that thimerosal is toxic and might scare parents away from vaccinating their kids.

"This bill, designed to protect individuals from alleged adverse effects of thimerosal which contains ethyl mercury, is completely unnecessary," said the AAP statement. "To legislate based on fear and misinformation is an anathema to those of us who work tirelessly for the health and welfare of our communities.

"To enact this legislation implies that the vaccines that have virtually eradicated many diseases, constituting one of the greatest public health accomplishments of the past century, are dangerous. This bill denigrates our informed scientific and medical communities while supporting all of the anti-vaccine factions in our society. This legislation potentially jeopardizes our most vulnerable communities."

Thimerosal's opponents argue such logic shows why mercury stayed in vaccines so long in the first place: Doctors can't face the prospect they caused harm to children and are still in denial.

"Why would pediatricians now want to continue injecting children with a known nerve poison?" asked Dr. Alan Clark, a founder of No Mercury, which has pushed for the thimerosal ban nationwide.

He said such legislation "directly contradicts their previous position in 1999 that thimerosal should be removed from childhood vaccines."
Gilmore, of the New York autism association, says the law will affect as many as 300 vaccines now under development.

The Buffalo News said in an editorial last week that Pataki should sign the bill. "While it has not been proven, some experts link mercury-laced thimerosal, used to prevent bacterial contamination, to autism and other neurological disorders," the newspaper said. "If there is even a slight chance thimerosal could be linked to these neurological disorders, why take chances?"

After Pataki signed the bill, supporters slammed the pediatricians' position.

"We continue to question why an organization consisting of pediatricians feels no need to protect New York's children," said a spokesman for the law's proponents. "They have opposed legislation similar to New York's in almost every state, but they should get the message, after losing now in six states, that the will and the power of parents will prevail to protect our children from neurotoxins.

"We are not anti-vaccine. We are opposed to injecting mercury, a potent neurotoxin, into babies."

One group, generationrescue.org, has begun serving as a clearinghouse for parents interested in treatments based on the premise that autism is in fact mercury poisoning by another name.

E-Mail: dolmsted@upi.com
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050831-17480200-bc-ageofautism.xml

Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

For more information and resources on autism, please visit:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.