Temple Grandin TED Talk

I've been listening to TED talks as podcasts, and most of them are excellent. I would say all of them are excellent, but Daniel Libeskind was blah. I though Temple Grandin's was very good. If you don't know, Temple Grandin is a hero in the autism community:


During the talk, she mentions a movie about her. This is a recent HBO movie:

Mother and Son Interview

An animated interview of a mother and her boy, who has Asperger's.

Q&A from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

From Story Corps.

Do Toxins Cause Autism?

The precautionary principle suggests that we should be wary of personal products like fragrances unless they are marked phthalate-free. And it makes sense — particularly for children and pregnant women — to avoid most plastics marked at the bottom as 3, 6 and 7 because they are the ones associated with potentially harmful toxins. - Nicholas Kristof, NY Times

Autism Not Caused by Vaccines

Paul Offit’s new book, as readable as a good detective novel, tells the story of how autism, a disorder of psychological development, came falsely to be blamed first on the MMR vaccine and then on thimerosal, a preservative found in several vaccines. It is a tale about bad science, worse journalism, unscrupulous political populism, and profiteering litigation lawyers. - article in City Journal

Act Early on Autism

Some children do lose their Autism or PDD-NoS diagnosis. There is a good article in the Washington Post today by a woman who just finished many years of expensive ABA therapies with her son. The boy reminds me a lot of my own son.

Vaccines Autism and Presidential Candidates

I recieved an email from the Autism Research Institute (ARI) about the danger of vaccines and Obama and McCain's positions on vaccine safety. I thought the candidates responses were telling.

ARI is one of the groups that believes mercury (Thimerosal) in vaccines causes Autism. They are advocates of Biomedical Treatments of Autism such as: Gluten Free Diets, High doses of vitamin B6, Gut Cleaning, Protobiotics and Chelation Therapy. None of these therapies have any proven success. Similarly, several peer-reviewed studies have shown that vaccines are not a contributing cause of autism.

Here is how ARI sees the candidates regarding vaccines:

...Organizations representing many thousands of voters are calling for Senator McCain to state his policy position on vaccine safety, and for Senator Obama to clarify his comments made earlier this fall, by noon October 30, 2008, in order that voters can make an informed choice of candidate.

... McCain endorsed parental vaccination choice stating, "The key to health care reform is to restore control to the patients themselves."

...Senator Obama ... "He looked right at me and said, 'I am not for selective vaccination. I believe it will bring back deadly diseases, like polio.'"

ARI is forwarding this message on behalf of Autism Action Network, Autism United, Generation Rescue, Moms Against Mercury, No Mercury, Schafer Autism Report, Talk About Curing Autism, Unlocking Autism and U. S. Autism and Asperger's Association.

I have read a lot about this issue, and I have consulted medical experts in this field, and I am quite certain that Obama is taking the proper stance here. Mandatory vaccinations are a proven success, and studies have proven that vaccinations do not cause autism. The causes of autism are not known. It is believed to be partially genetic, possibly triggered by environmental agents. People who advocate selective vaccination and who advocate diet changes to cure autism are just plain wrong. Parents who follow their advice and try unproven biomedical cures are less likely to spend the time and money that Behavioral Treatments require. Behavioral treatments are currently the only mthod that has a scientifically proven track record.

If I must, I will do a follow up post with links to studies etc, but you can google it yourself. But, more importantly, if you suspect autism in your child, get an evalution at the nearest Children's Hospital ASAP and follow your doctor's advice.

Savage Autism Quote

I'll tell you what autism is, In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.

-Michael Savage, right wing radio host July, 16th.

...I can't believe shows like this have listeners.

Autism - ABA

Our son was diagnosed as being in the autism spectrum just before he turned two years old. His language was severely delayed, he was aggressive, and he had many self stimulating behaviors. At the time, we knew nothing about it. Since then we have learned more than we ever wanted to know about autism. We have also met more and more families with children (mostly boys) who have had similar diagnoses, some more severe, others more mild.

If you have a child who does not look you in the eye, has echolalia, self-stims, says few words; if you feel you are at your wits end trying to connect with your child, my advice, is see a doctor at the local children's hospital for a diagnosis. Hopefully, they will say you are over-concerned and send you on you way. If not, all the treatment you child needs, flows from a proper diagnosis. Getting the diagnosis can take months, so get on it right away.

There is lots of info on the web such as this father's site, however, there is also a lot of bunk out there. Don't waste your time with the bunk. ABA is the only scientifically proven approach, and I have personally seen it work with my son and with other boys. You may want to read Catherine Maurice's book Let Me Hear Your Voice. Some people feel it gives too much hope to parents of severly disabled children, but I needed to read it when I did, and would definitely recommend it.

In short, if your son is diagnosed with autism, start and ABA program.

If you feel this post applies to you, and you are in the Cincinnati area, feel free to email me and I can give you some good contacts in the area for therapists, etc..

An early detection advocacy site.