Comments on: Diagnosis: Autism

Latest Weapons Are Early Detection And Treatment

[jenny150-2009]

Just read your comment. As I tried to explain this to my dad as how it was described to me by Dr. Volkmer at Yale Hospital in new Haven, Ct. You have your first, now mind you the oldest on the show my have been around 16. she my not have gotten diagnosed until 5 maybe. She may have not gone to preschool who knows. But, during those 5 years the mother could have already given birth to 4 other children and still didn't know if anything was wrong with her kids. This happens quite often as I was told by Dr Volkmer. So before your so quick to judge. Get the facts. Janet

[michaure]

did anyone watch extreme makeover last night? 5 of their 6 children had autism. My question is after let's say the 3 child being born with autism why did they continue?
Now i know the comments that will come from you guys. But think about. You have two kids they have autism then you have another kids that one has it also then the fourth than the fifth.
Would you continue to have children after a pattern like this?
I feel bad for the children not the parents for doing this to themselves.

[jenny150-2009]

I did watch the segmant last night on autsim and I have only one comment. It is extremely hurtful to hear someone, especially it being on Tv that my child is somehow not normal. My son is 3 1/2 years old and was diagnosed with autism at 18 months and he doing beautifully. As a mother of an autistic child a any parent with a child with special needs please don't refer other children as being normal. They are just typical and my son has special needs. Thank you Janet

[jteacher-2009]

This is to the mother who was asking about no child left behind. YOu are right our special needs children are often left behind, and you are correct it is a matter of both expectaions and funding. For your son, what woudl be best is realistic expectations, maybe not passing a standardized test but being able to communicate with you. I hope that you keep talking to people and making others aware, that we need to educate ALL children and to do that we need MONEY.
I wish you the best.

[nina2002nina]

I am shocked that 60 Minutes would put on such a one sided show about Autism. The ignorance is discouraging. My child has Autism and is benefiting greatly from a special diet. Without the diet he is low functioning and with the diet he is doing wonderful. There are so many therapies that can help in addition to behavioral education. The media needs to find out what is really going on in the world of Autism before displaying such biased information. Many parents will be hurt by this show. I only hope their pain will be minimal.

[mom_ks]

My son was diagnosed with autism at 4 yrs old. He's on the severe end of the spectrum, but that doesn't mean he's closed off. The stereotypes are wrong. Not every autistic child sits in a corner and rocks. Not every child hates being touched or hugged. My son loves hugs, hates bright colors and florecent lights.
As for the early intervention, it's great for those who can efford it. I'm a millitary spouse and the only early intervention that exist is through the school district. It is far from adaquite. Teachers are not trained and our kids do not get the one on one attention they need. One teacher and 3 aids in a class with 8 boys all on the spectrum at different degrees is not acceptible. There is no funding for the care these kids need because of this reason or that.
What happened to the "no child left behind"? Why doesn't it appy to our autistic children?

If diagnostic shifting accounts for the rise in autism incidence as you asserted last night in 60 minutes, then how do we account for the rise in autism shown in the CA DDS data between 2001-2006 when no change in diagnostic definitions could have widened the parameters.
In addition, if autism is not on the rise, then why are there not more adult autistics swelling the Mental Retardation category? Mo high-quality study has been done that can validate the hidden horde hypothesis. Gillberg C, Steffenburg S, Schaumann H. Is autism more common now than ten years ago? At 2007 prevalence rates of incidence, there would be a gigantic population of disabled people in our mental retardation programs. This, however, is not the case.

[anna4439]

My son was diagnosed with autism at 18 months at Texas Childrens Hospital, and he is proof that early intervention can "cure" autism. I noticed the signs early on, as early as 2 months. I really couldn't put my finger on what was wrong with him, except that he seemed really different from all other babies. He had no play skills (he would just throw toys), no words, and would not respond to his name when called upon. Every time, my doctor kept insisting that everything was NORMAL. I had to beg him to refer us to early intervention, and got on the list to have my son seen at TCH, where I was told he was severely autistic and likely mentally retarded. We then began 20 hours a week of intensive therapy - a combination of floor time and DTI. He has made considerable gains. He was fomally reevaluated last week and we found that his cognition is above average for his age (30 months), his language is appropriate for a 30 month old, and he is just 3-4 months behind on everything else. Based on our experience, I believe that if we continue with therapy, his symptoms will completely disappear, or be minimal. I know this might not be everyone's experience, but I hope that this can help someone who was as desperate and heartbroken as I was a year ago.

[laurienew]

Please see a new study cited in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, showing a decrease in autism after the removal of thimerasol at the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics, at www.jpands.org/jpands1101.htm
Further, it is unconscionable that an amendment to the Homeland Security Bill disallowed accountability to families by the vaccine manufacturers; and that thimerosal containing vaccines are being shipped to third world countries, which will suddenly have an "unexplained" epidemic in autism.

[diputsdiputs]

"THEY" put Mercury in the shots as a perservative.
"THEY" put Mercury in the shots as a perservative.
"THEY" put Mercury in the shots as a perservative.
"THEY" put Mercury in the shots as a perservative.
IT GOES TO THE BRAIN!!!!!!"THEY" say no no no, the Mercury won't hurt the children..."THEY" LIE!
IF OFFICIALS FREAK OUT OVER A MERCURY SPILL...CLASSIFY IT AS A HAZZARD....TELL ME, WHY OH WHY WOULD I WANT TO PU IT INTO MY CHILD?!?!?!?
STUPID IDIOTS!!!ITS IN THE SHOTS..ITS IN THE SHOTS

[disgusted8]

Yakamila,

Prove it. Cite your sources.

[mimithe]

I don't know if you allow links,
here's a blog commentary on your show.
http://autismdiva.blogspot.com/2007/02/dignity-for-autistics.html
Karen Sughrue might find it intersting since she contacted Autism Diva when she was preparing this story. It compares descriptions of and attitudes toward Down syndrome and Fragile X with descriptions and attitudes toward autism.

There hasn't been an autism epidemic no matter how angry people get when you say that there hasn't been an autism epidemic. You can see how kids like the 9 year old Michael would never have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum in 1995. No way. It's kids like Michael who make up the vast majority of the "spectrum" not kids like Teddy his older brother who are the minority.

[drinuk]

I would also like to add that parents should take very little notice of the professionals, until you are absolutely confident that they are not in bed in any way with either chemical or pharmaceutical companies. That includes stocks and shares, free "junkets" trips around the world or any form of research monies. There is almost no ethical practice any more, so called experts are no longer independent, even if sponsored by government they are "Got At" in one way or another. This fact not only concerns those whose children suffer from Autism but all of us, especially those being harmed by the "Cancer Industry" Perhaps one fine day just one politician will pick this up and run with it.

[drinuk]

I find it quite worrying that the chemical ASPARTAME is not mentioned here or for that matter during the programme. How many couples were drinking gallons of diet drinks prior to producing their child, the figure of 1 in 150 sounds about right, How many women guzzled gallons of diet drinks and consummed Splenda and other such artificial sweeteners to keep their weight down during pregnacy. We have a major problem regarding these chemicals and whilst not denying Flouride and Mercury as major contributors to many conditions it really is time we took a whiter than white, independent look at this poison Aspartame. Indeed any ingredient which is contained in over 1000 food and beverage products on our supermarket shelves should have very intensive research and not the obvious smoke and mirrors approval to which Aspartame was subjected to by the FDA.
To them 1 in a 150, affected children is as nothing compared to the Trillion Dollar business that Aspartame and Splenda have become, they simply do not care.

[mom4cam]

I just wanted to respond to "Autismdad2",I also have learned that my son does have normal intellect as well.Although we live in CA we flew to Austin,TX to see Soma and learn RPM(Rapid Prompting method)Our first trip to HALO was in Oct,it was nothing short of amazing.We are returning in a week.

I know what you mean about dr's having such low or no expectation for our children and that is what can be critical in the lives of our children.Just think if we believed every nay sayer? No one would ever beleive a non verbal or severely autistic person could possess normal or exceptional intelligence.Soma Mukhopadhyay is proving it everyday.Everyone's journey is as different as each of our children are.There will never be two people to agree about causation,cure,or even which intervention works.Just imagine how much could be accomplished for our children with more unification instead of judgement,criticism and negativity.It starts with us.

[smandelphd]

I was also very disappointed in this piece for all the reasons stated in the above comments. NO parent should wait and see - early intervention is critical. My own daughter's pediatrician didn't think it was a big deal that she wasn't rolling over at 8 months, and getting her to a developmental pediatrician was my first act of advocacy out of many over the years. Stanley Greenspan's floortime is a part of an overall program that helps these children develop a capacity for connection. I would urge any parent to contact Michelle Garcia Winner's website socialthinking.com to learn more about this outstanding resource for children with autism, aspergers, pdd-nos, non-verbal learning disability,and adhd. After just spending two days at her conference I wish I'd met her years ago.

As a person with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), I have an intense interest in the subject, and the research for your story was abysmal.

You cite Dr. Steven Goodman, whose name you misspelled: "One hypothesis has been that the mercury in childhood vaccines causes autism, but Goodman himself served on a national medical panel that found no evidence of that, though more research is being done."

Goodman served on the Institute of Medicine panel in 2000. His research is out of date.

In the May 2005 issue of The Blaylock Wellness Report, Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. reported that in a 2003 study of data from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, Dr. Mark Geier and Dr. David Geier found that thimerosal, the mercury-based vaccine preservative, increased autism by 600 percent.

But vaccines aren't the only source of mercury that may be factors in the incidence of autism. Thimerosal went on sale to the public starting in 1929 as the stinging red tincture, Merthiolate. How much mercury did we absorb through our childhood scrapes and cuts?

Mercury from silver amalgam fillings leaches into the bloodstream. Are expectant mothers with a mouthful of mercury fillings giving birth to babies destined by mercury to a life of ostracism, loneliness, loss of fulfilling and financially rewarding career opportunities? The evidence drug companies want us to ignore say yes.

What are we to do about this? Get the mercury out.

As a person with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), I have an intense interest in the subject, and the research for your story was abysmal. You cite Dr. Steven Goodman, whose name you misspelled: "One hypothesis has been that the mercury in childhood vaccines causes autism, but Goodman himself served on a national medical panel that found no evidence of that, though more research is being done." Goodman served on the Institute of Medicine panel in 2000. His research is out of date. In the May 2005 issue of The Blaylock Wellness Report, Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. reported that in a 2003 study of data from the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, Dr. Mark Geier and Dr. David Geier found that thimerosal, the mercury-based vaccine preservative, increased autism by 600 percent. But vaccines aren't the only source of mercury that may be factors in the incidence of autism. Thimerosal went on sale to the public starting in 1929 as the stinging red tincture, Merthiolate. How much mercury did we absorb through our childhood scrapes and cuts? Moreover, mercury in silver amalgam fillings leaches into the bloodstream. Are expectant mothers with a mouthful of mercury fillings giving birth to babies destined by modern dentistry to a life of ostracism, loneliness, loss of fulfilling and financially rewarding career opportunities? The evidence drug companies want us to ignore say yes. What are we to do about this? Get the mercury out.

[katdan98]

(cont.)
No longer do we need well-meaning pediatricians to take a "wait and see" attitude with children. Instead of saying, "Well, I just want to rule out any problems," they say they don't want to unnecessarily worry parents. The result is a delay in treatment that could make a world of difference for a child.

Speaking of children getting better...my beautiful, wonderful son is 3 years old. A year ago we could stand close to him and scream his name and still he would not turn to our voices. He did a lot of OC stacking and lining up of objects. He bounced his way through 3 crib mattresses. He sometimes toe-walked and often flapped his arms. Our child is recovering through biomedical means (as are thousands of others). Our pediatrician, once extremely skeptical, now says things like, "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it," and "Would you mind if I refer parents with a newly diagnosed child to you?"

Some say, "You should just love your child as he is." I do. That's why I want him to be healthy. As a great side benefit of the treatments we're doing, my son is roughly 3/4 of the way recovered. By the end of the year I expect him to be indistinguishable from his peers, except cuter and smarter, of course. :) To learn more, please read "Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder: A Mother's Story of Research and Recovery" by Karyn Seroussi. Also check out the recovery videos posted here: http://www.autism-recoveredchildren.com/

Regards,
Kathy

[katdan98]

As usual--no light shed on the subject. First, a comment to Ms. Rogers: There is already a quite reliable way to assess at 14 months old whether a child will go on to be diagnosed as autistic. Cambridge Univ released a study in 1996 with a very powerful, simple method to assess children this young. See http://www.drgreene.com/21_498.html

Second, the 1 in 150 stat is outdated because the cohort for the study that revealed that number was 8 year olds from 2000 and 2002. This means we're about 5 to 7 years out from the data, so who truly knows the real (probably higher) numbers?

To those who steadfastly hold on to the antiquated notion that the increase in numbers is due to better diagnostics, I ask, "What number would convince you? 1 in 100? 1 in 50? Those numbers already exist in some areas, so what's your magic number? By the way, are you aware that thousands of parents have had to push and shove to get their children diagnosed?

In terms of a cure, my thinking is along the lines of what Dr. Levitt et al, at Vanderbilt Univ have recently discovered. The research (published Oct 2006) documents that there is a genetic vulnerability/susceptibility to autism that only when coupled with an environmental disturbance(s), leads to an expression of autistic spectrum disorder (http://www.autismconnect.org/news.asp?section=00010001&itemtype=news&id=5933). In other words, without that environmental disturbance, there is no autism, PDD-NOS, ADD/ADHD, etc. Pretty exciting, huh?
(continues)