Autism: 'There's this wonderful treatment -- but you can't have it'

OPINION
Autism: 'There's this wonderful treatment -- but you can't have it'
30 June 2005

… Even when the diagnosis is finally made, often years after the best intervention can be provided, parents are faced with a bewildering array of choices. They are shown a laundry list of treatments, and assured that this is a matter for them to decide as parents. "No treatment has been shown to be superior to any other" is a commonly heard refrain.

The situation has been compared to being told that your child has cancer, and you're being asked to choose between chemotherapy, black coffee enemas, and having the child take long rides on horseback. All of these options, you're assured, will be equally valuable in treating the cancer. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth…

Full article available at:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=650549

For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Bush Administration Supports Montgomery Schools in Lawsuit

Supreme Court to Review Case Involving Special-Ed Options
By Nick Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A04

The Bush administration has sided with school systems in a special education dispute between a disabled student's parents and the Montgomery County public schools that is before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The lawsuit centers on who has the burden of proof when a student's special education plan is under challenge: the person who objects to the plan, or the school officials who devised it. At stake in the case are questions about individual student rights and public school funding priorities.

Full article available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062701617.html

For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

FDA Probing ADHD Drugs for Side Effects

Associated Press
June 29, 2005

WASHINGTON -- The government is planning to strengthen warnings about possible psychiatric side effects from Concerta and related treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity, and is probing whether other ADHD drugs need updating, too.

Concerta is a long-acting form of methylphenidate, sold generically and under the brand name Ritalin. For years, those drugs' labels have listed possible psychiatric side effects, such as agitation, psychosis or transient depression.

Full article available at:
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-attention-deficit-drugs,0,5084531,print.story

For more information and resources on autism, go to: http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Study confirms high, but stable, child autism rate

"Although it is reassuring that autism is not on the rise, this study also shows that one in 165 children is affected with a pervasive development disorder, which has strong implicationson services."

Dr. Eric Fombonne, study co-author, Dir. of Department of Psychiatry at the Montreal Children's Hospital, Division Head of Child Psychiatry at McGill University.

Medical article available at:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2005/29/c7056.html

For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

Diagnosis HYPE

Is California’s so-called autism outbreak just a case of junk science?
By Chris Bushnell

If you live in Northern California, you already have plenty to be scared about: Terrorists, earthquakes, gangbangers, partially-hydrogenated oils, child molesters, auto emissions, fast food restaurants, bio-engineered tomatoes and the stem cells of foreign workers who have been cloned to take away your job, for starters.

But pick up the newspaper, flip on the radio or tune in to the evening news and you’ll hear about a much more mysterious and sinister danger sweeping the nation, and Silicon Valley in particular: Autism.

Full article available at: http://tinyurl.com/dn4ok and
http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=25361

Note: Dr. Paul Offit is a vaccine expert whose career has taken a major hit (e.g. Rotavirus). He is not an expert on autism or mercury.

For more information and resources on autism, go to:
http://www.autismconcepts.com/.

The Got Mercury? Calculator

Ever wondered how much mercury may be in your seafood?

Keep track of the kinds of fish and amount of seafood you eat and calculate possible mercury exposure with the Got Mercury? calculator.

Available at: www.gotmercury.org.

For more information and resources on autism, go to:

http://www.autismconcepts.com/.