Greetings Friends As the battle rages on over weather autism is caused by childhood immunizations or not I become more determined to get to the bottom of this issue. Presently, It is my opinion that autism is indeed the result of not only a pharmacuetical concoction but, also a massive coverup attempt by the government and Ely Lilly, the manufacturer of of the immunizations in questions. Of course my opinion is only as good as my understanding of my research. It is for this reason that I present here and will continue to present any new information that I can find that may aid you in forming your own opinions. Once again, my post is quite long so grab a cup of coffee and sit back. The information presented here will definately hold your interest WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- A small text block on the cover of the current Columbia Journalism Review may be a lot bigger than it looks: 'Drug Test. Q: Does thimerosal cause autism? A: The press says no; the facts say maybe.' Thimerosal is the mercury preservative that was used in childhood vaccines; some parents and researchers blame it for an astonishing rise in autism diagnoses in the past decade, but the media has tended to treat the idea as dangerous, discredited 'junk science.' 'Steeped in controversy and intrigue, the thimerosal debate has all the makings of a compelling news story, yet it has been approached with caution by the news media, which, more often than not, don`t portray it as a legitimate scientific debate,' writes CJR Assistant Editor Daniel Schulman in the accompanying article. His closing line leaves no doubt that he thinks that`s a bad idea. '(W)ith science left to be done and scientists eager to do it, it seems too soon for the press to shut the door on the debate.' To understand why that`s a big deal, consider two stories, both running Tuesday: one on the front page of The New York Times, the other leading the Health section of The Washington Post. '5 Cases of Polio in Amish Group Raise New Fears' was the headline on the Times article by Gardiner Harris. He reported from Long Prairie, Minn., about the discovery of polio virus in an 8-year-old Amish child. '(T)he girl is now a wellspring for polio, a modern-day Typhoid Mary who can pass it along to others,' Harris wrote. 'Anyone who has not been vaccinated is vulnerable. And though vaccination rates in the United States are at historic highs, an increasing number of parents are resisting inoculations for their children, fearing that they may cause disorders like autism, a connection scientists have almost universally discounted.' The Post article, by Sandra G. Boodman, was headlined 'Feuding Over Vaccines/Doctors Vexed by Parents` Refusal.' It, too, mentioned the concern that vaccines are linked to autism and quotes a doctor reassuring a patient that 'multiple studies by prestigious groups have found no evidence that vaccines cause autism. ... His equanimity in the face of what many pediatricians say are persistent myths that circulate on the Internet -- that mercury used as a preservative in childhood vaccines causes autism, that the dangers of immunizations far outweigh the benefits, and that there is a conspiracy by drug companies, doctors and vaccine makers to conceal the harm -- is not shared by other physicians.' These two stories exactly illustrate Schulman`s point: that the media is dismissing the autism-thimerosal theory as almost universally discounted Internet mythology, right up there with conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine know-nothingism. Schulman`s valuable service is simply pointing out that, inconveniently, some thoroughly legitimate scientists still say, 'Maybe.' They include members of the epidemiology department at Columbia`s own Mailman School of Public Health. The department chair, Dr. Ezra Susser, wrote The Times in June to complain about a front-page piece that made parents and researchers who remain concerned thimerosal has caused autism look ridiculous. 'Scientists pursuing research on mercury and autism are caricaturized as immune to the `correct` interpretation of existing studies,' Susser wrote. 'Researchers rejecting a link are depicted as the sole voice of reason. ... Whether mercury in any form (or any of several factors recently introduced to our environment) has anything to do with autism can and should be resolved with rigorous studies and respectful discourse, not moral indictments and denunciations.' About that earlier Times article, Schulman writes in CJR: 'Headlined `On Autism`s Cause, It`s Parents Vs. Research,` the story cast the thimerosal connection as a fringe theory, without scientific merit, held aloft by angry, desperate parents. ... Readers were left with little option but to believe that the case against thimerosal was scientifically unsound.' The Times did not run Susser`s letter and did not change its approach -- its ombudsman effectively told readers who complained to pound sand, and the report from Minnesota on polio and the Amish is more of the same. As is the Post`s lumping of the issue with conspiracies and coverup scenarios that only the most equanimous pediatricians could reasonably be expected to tolerate. We should point out that Schulman mentions Age of Autism in the article. His thesis -- that a careful reading of the facts suggests it`s too soon to close the door on thimerosal as the possible cause of a horrendous affliction -- is one we have put forward since beginning this column at the start of the year. But now that critique is coming not just from 'angry, desperate parents' who need to calm down and stop endangering the rest of us, or the odd reporter who can be dismissed as biased or misguided, but from a respected peer and arbiter, the Columbia Journalism Review. That`s a big deal. It`s the kind of thing that makes journalists stop and think -- or ought to, anyway. This ongoing series on the roots and rise of autism welcomes reader comment. e-mail: dolmsted@upi.com Copyright 2005 by United Press International 1 | 2

Every now and then i run across a story that kindles the spirit and warms the heart. This my friends, is one of those stories More From Staten Island Advance | Subscribe To Staten Island Advance For boy with autism, a coach and a friend Mother sheds tears as teen volunteer is honored for helping her 11-year-old be a runner Thursday, November 10, 2005 By KIAWANA RICH STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE For Anthony D'Addesa, there can be no better coach than Michael Rota -- or truer friend. All of 17 years old, Michael is a volunteer running coach for Our Lady Star of the Sea R.C. Church, Huguenot; Anthony is an 11-year-old with autism. They met when Michael responded to a notice in the church bulletin. Advertisement » View Newspaper Ad » Store Locator » Contact Pella "I was hoping I could help Anthony at practice," said his mother, Laurette D'Addesa, a former runner, "but I had been fighting cancer and the chemo made me too weak. Then comes an angel, Mike Rota. Anthony would not have been able to participate without his help." Mrs. D'Addesa wept tears of joy yesterday as she told the Staten Island Children's Museum Circle of Friends Awards business luncheon how the bond between Michael and Anthony gives her son the chance to be a normal kid. Mrs. D'Addesa took to the podium to read her nomination letter for Michael, who received the first-ever Kid of Achievement Award. She noted that Michael even took heat at first from his own coach, who didn't realize the reason Michael missed a St. Joseph by-the-Sea High School practice was to run a cross-country race with Anthony. "Mike never told me this; that is when I realized how much volunteering his time to help Anthony was important to Mike, too," she said. "I had to do the right thing," said Michael afterward. "I knew helping Anthony would be the right thing to do, and it meant so much more to me than running the school track, so I knew right away [that was I what I had to do]." The luncheon, held in the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, was co-chaired by Elizabeth Sorkvist and Sam Farag. It honors nonprofit organizations, businesses and individuals who have demonstrated exemplary service to the welfare and development of the borough's children. Also honored yesterday were the Global Medical Relief Fund; the Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation; Northfield Savings Bank, and Jerry and Stella DeLuca. In another emotional moment, Farag found it difficult to hold back tears while presenting the Good Neighbor Award to his longtime friend, DeLuca, and posthumously to DeLuca's wife, Stella, who died on Sept. 21. For his part, DeLuca said the two were "a community couple," together for 48 years. "This is the first affair I am going to without her," said DeLuca. "[This morning] I had a king-sized picture of her on my kitchen table and I gave her some words and a kiss and I left. ... I know she's here in spirit." Elissa Montanti, founder of the Global Medical Relief Fund, said, "I am honored today that I am recognized in my own community. This is special to me." Kiawana Rich is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at rich@siadvance.com. Print This E-mail This

Hello Friends Over the years I have met many people who were near death with one illness or another. Friends, relatives or even just strangers that I happened to meet. Most of those who were on the verge of death just passed on just as expected by most of those around them. Then I began to notice something. I would meet someone with cancer who had 6 months to live but they would live for many years past their life expectancy. I began to question why some lived and some died and here is the conclusion that I came to. Those who died had no hope. No vision of living beyond the point their Dr. informed them of. The ones who lived were different. They refused to believe their final diagnosis. Somewhere along the line they were given the gift of hope. Once they had hope, it was only a matter of time untill they also had faith. You see, hope gave them the ability to believe that maybe they could survive. This led to them aquiring faith and faith is what gave them the strenth to try to accomplish what they had hoped for. The following story is about a man with a Doctorate Degree in Special Education who started out in life as as a boy with Autism. Speaker talks about his journey through the ‘autism spectrum’ By LOUIS DiPIETRO, The Times Herald 11/11/2005 Email to a friend Printer-friendly Author Stephen Short speaks to an audience Thursday about autism during a presentation at Olean High School's auditorium. OLEAN — Author Stephen Shore told an audience of nearly 200 of his experiences moving through the “autism spectrum” at a presentation Thursday night at Olean High School. He described the different forms of autism — Asperger Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder — and how someone with autism reacts with their senses. Advertisement Mr. Shore said those with autism often find it difficult to do two things at once such as simple tasks like listening and taking notes. He found the process of constructing words and writing them down lacked structure, which those with autism need. At 4 years old, however, he was able to dissemble watch motors and put them back together. “Watch motors had a structure to it,” he said. “Writing is structureless. It’s just you and the paper and you have to form the words. How do we help an autistic child write? A computer keyboard has structure.” He said using a keyboard allows him to listen and type at the same time, something he wasn’t able to do with a pen and paper. Mr. Shore broke down periods in his life and how he adapted to the world around him. In the 1960s, he was diagnosed as neurotic because doctors had yet to fully understand the autism disorder. He found it difficult making friends as a child because of his autism, but he used his strengths to his advantage. By age 8, he had become interested in astronomy and weather. It was around this time a teacher told him he could never learn math, although “I’ve taught statistics at the college level,” he said. At age 13, he said he was “finally getting it together but still often felt in left field.” Still, he used his gift of learning musical instruments and joined the school band and made friends. Open-minded college students made his college experience a comfortable one. “I was with others that had different ideas and physical differences,” he said, adding that he met his wife at college. Mr. Shore urged parents with autistic children to make them aware of their strengths and build off that. Mr. Shore is the author of “Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum” and “Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome.” In the spring, he will receive a doctorate in special education from Boston University. ©Bradford Publishing 2005 Email to a friend Printer-friendly Top

Hello Friends While I am different than some of you in that I do not have a child afflicted with autism, I am also the same as you in another respect. I too would like to see a cure or at least a breakthrough treatment become available. It is for this reason that I continue to search through these pages hoping to find something that none of us has found before. While I cannot make guarentees as to the effectiveness of any treatments that I might find, I can assure you of this. I honestly hope that somewhere, sometime, one of these articles leads someone to a point they couldn't reach before. A degree of wellness that was untill now, unattainable. Hopefully, this will be one of those articles. Good luck and may the Good Lord Bless You. There are links on this page that do not work. If you want this information, please let me know. I have this saved and i will get the links for you Byonetics... Finding Solutions To End Autism My name is Jean Genet and I just might be the most important person you'll talk to if you have a child that is afflicted with autism. Why? Because I conquered autism and became a noted researcher in order to validate my success. My research created Byonetics; a program that is applied in the home environment and is proving to be successful in bringing about solutions in the campaign to end to autism. I ask that you click on Parent Responses to review their successes with my program. Then take the opportunity to fill out the Child Profile so I can determine if I can be of service to you and your child. Here is an example of the service I provide. We will then set up a free consultation to define my service and how it will enhance the opportunity to end your child's experience with autism. You will soon realize that I have earned the right to be of service to you and your child. MY GIFT TO YOU - "25 MYTHS OF AUTISM" "It was truly wonderful to speak to someone who understands where we are and how we feel. I thought there was really no way but after speaking with you I once again can begin to hope." S. Greene/Autistic Mother & Special Needs Teacher To receive information on my Occupational Therapy Program With Dolphins please click on GO Don't Manage Autism - End It! Ending Autism is different than Curing Autism Ending Autism is advancing your child to the point where they have available speech, emotional contact, and mental focus, so they can integrate into society. Curing Autism is reached when all children, who receive vaccinations, do not develope autism. ... TheeForce.Org ... Campaign To End Autism We Don't Need Your Money - We Need Your Voice Click NOW To JOIN Byonetics... Finding Solutions To End Autism My name is Jean Genet and I just might be the most important person you'll talk to if you have a child that is afflicted with autism. Why? Because I conquered autism and became a noted researcher in order to validate my success. My research created Byonetics; a program that is applied in the home environment and is proving to be successful in bringing about solutions in the campaign to end to autism. I ask that you click on Parent Responses to review their successes with my program. Then take the opportunity to fill out the Child Profile so I can determine if I can be of service to you and your child. Here is an example of the service I provide. We will then set up a free consultation to define my service and how it will enhance the opportunity to end your child's experience with autism. You will soon realize that I have earned the right to be of service to you and your child. MY GIFT TO YOU - "25 MYTHS OF AUTISM" "It was truly wonderful to speak to someone who understands where we are and how we feel. I thought there was really no way but after speaking with you I once again can begin to hope." S. Greene/Autistic Mother & Special Needs Teacher To receive information on my Occupational Therapy Program With Dolphins please click on GO Don't Manage Autism - End It! Ending Autism is different than Curing Autism Ending Autism is advancing your child to the point where they have available speech, emotional contact, and mental focus, so they can integrate into society. Curing Autism is reached when all children, who receive vaccinations, do not develope autism. ... TheeForce.Org ... Campaign To End Autism We Don't Need Your Money - We Need Your Voice Click NOW To JOIN

Hello Friends Even though it doesn't appear that we are getting much response to this forum, I have chosen to continue to post what ever information I can find. The following article I think, could be very useful for anyone who has an autistic spectrum disorder in their lives. I hope that you find this information helpful Sincerly Bill Vanderbilt Autism Spectrum Disorders You Are Here: BellaOnline > Health & Fitness > Autism Spectrum Disorders > Articles Bonnie Sayers BellaOnline's Autism Spectrum Disorders Editor The Autism Encyclopedia Every few months I check out the website for the library and use "autism" in my search to see what new releases they have received. Usually they are checked out and I need to place a hold on a copy from another branch since my location does not carry the latest book offerings on this topic. I was able to obtain a copy fairly quickly of The Autism Encyclopedia and now must return it for another person waiting to peruse through. The Editors of The Autism Encyclopedia are John T. Neisworth, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus and Pamela S. Wolfe, Associate Professor of Special Education. Both are with The Pennsylvania State University, which leaves no impression on me as I am not familiar with this University. There are nine pages listing the Contributors along with their affiliation and address. These do not include phone numbers or email addresses. Only a handful of these Contributors are familiar to me. These include Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D., Carol Gray, Catherine Lord, Ph.D., Donald J. Meyer, M.Ed., and Eric Schopler, Ph.D. A scan of the Contributors shows they are all professionals in the field, ranging from Psychology Fellow, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Developmental Therapist, Graduate Student, Doctoral Candidate, Professor, Dean, Psychiatrist to Senior Therapist. The back cover of The Autism Encyclopedia states " More than 100 respected autism experts have contributed items from various disciplines". I have no clue who these people are and would like to see a list of who respects them and what makes them autism experts. The listing of Contributors lacks those on the Autism Spectrum like published authors and speakers on the topic. It is also evident that the book lacks any input from parents, who are the real autism experts. The topics listed on the back range from - diagnosis, early detection, legislation, research, signs and symptoms, education, interventions, diet, behavior and daily living. How exactly do these "autism experts" include items that relate to daily living when the parents and those on the Autism Spectrum are doing the living on a daily basis? While I do have issues pertaining to the Contributors of The Autism Encyclopedia, I still wanted to peruse through to see what terms were listed and if I could gain further insight into the terminology that is forever increasing and changing at the same time. Two therapies I lack experience in and would like to learn more about were not even listed in this 2005 book. That would be crano-sacral therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Also missing was the mention of chiropractor and developmental pediatrician, although neurologist was listed inside The Autism Encyclopedia. I have heard of many parents seeing a Chiropractor for their child on the Autism Spectrum. Here is a sampling of what will be found listed in The Autism Encyclopedia: amygdala bias clostridium tetani doman/delacato approach encopresis false-belief paradigm graduated guidance habit reversal itinerant teacher locomotion milieu teaching operant conditioning premack principle rumination statistical significance terminal behavior zero reject There are twenty-one pages of references, a screening and assessment tools and curricula - this is thirty pages for Appendix A. This includes the age and date. There are no corresponding websites or ISBN numbers to actually find these tools. Appendix B consists of fourteen pages. These do have websites, email addresses, fax numbers, address and phone numbers. Although The Autism Encyclopedia is marketed as a book for parents and professionals it is highly technical with lots of jargon that is not necessary for a family to have to sift through. At first I thought this would be a suitable book for a family to give to relatives to understand more about the terminology, but it could become overwhelming to see all these terms and wonder where they fit into the equation for a family member. There were many listings that should have been included that were overlooked, and these would be most helpful to families that actually are raising the children on the Autism Spectrum. Instead this reads more like a book that all the professionals who contributed could keep on their shelfs and use these words in assessments that have little meaning to the parents reading them. After reading through The Autism Encyclopedia over the last three weeks I feel this statement on the back cover is not exactly accurate, " This one-of-a-kind encyclopedia is a clear, comprehensive guide to the wide range of terminology related to autism spectrum disorders." It goes on to further state, " Every professional whose work involves autism spectrum disorders needs a copy of this essential resource - to keep on hand as a daily reference and to share with patients of children who have these complex disorders." I found the terminology itself to be complex and over the top. References going back to 1965 are really not necessary in 2005. If you want to market a book to assist families you need their input before the book is published. Here is an example from "naturalistic interventions - Techniques and/or strategies that occur in a natural environment (e.g., class-room home, community), rather than in a decontextualized setting" I have no idea what decontextualized setting means! My nine year-old son Matthew is nonverbal and I have yet to hear this term - " protodeclarative - Pertaining to early vocalizations or nonverbal language used by an individual to get another person to look at or listen to something." Another term referenced in that term is " Protoimperative - Pertaining to early vocalizations or nonverbal language used by an individual to get a person to obtain what is wanted; requests". Abbreviations are also listed - IFSP, IPE, UTP, IWRP, IPG, FBA, FCT, EO, BCABA, AT, IPG, LEA, NNP, SPECT, SEA, VB, CRC, TLK, VSM, TSS, ZPD. In my opinion the terms are geared for professionals, written by professionals. Perhaps it is time for the parents to offer their perspective in a similar compilation. At some point in time I will probably purchase a copy of The Autism Encyclopedia. I like the idea of utilizing some of the terms for meetings and to include in an IEP, stump the professionals or as some say the autism experts. Don't let my thoughts sway you away from purchasing your own copy of The Autism Encyclopedia and make up your own mind on whether these autism experts covered all the terms parents need to raise a child on the Autism Spectrum. This is available at Amazon. Stocking stuffers for children with Autism An impression of autism from a kid on the Spectrum Social Skills Assessment The DK Guide to Dinosaurs New Autism Spectrum Disorders Topics Holding down a job w/ special needs kids - MotherInterupted Waking up very early, new sleep pattern - BellaAutismHost An Israeli Mainstreaming success - BellaAutismHost The GOOD things about our "Special" kids - BellaAsthmaHost School District Crap - MotherInterupted Content copyright © 2001-2005 by Bonnie Sayers. All rights reserved. This content was written by Bonnie Sayers. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Bonnie Sayers for details. For FREE email updates, subscribe to the Autism Spectrum Disorders Newsletter