Nature Laughs

CAN Helps Katrina Victims Who Have Autism

2005-09-05T05:19:00.000-04:00

To make an online donation to go to help those in need, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M710778208163352818374165&af=y
Help the Victims of Katrina: Autism Community needs your help!
We would like to apologize for interrupting your Labor Day weekend. But, we need to ask for your help.
Autism organizations are partnering to provide assistance to affected families from the hurricane Katrina.
‘Autism Cares - Katrina’ will coordinate support for the unique needs of affected families dealing with autism, by connecting families and professionals who can provide resources with ‘needy families’.
Resources can be money, transportation, accommodations in their own home, therapy and respite, or anything that can be of use.
Donations are appreciated. Monies collected will go to current autism Disaster Relief efforts, and offerings of inkind resources will be responded to shortly.
If you are able to host a family, please visit http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M710778218163352818374165&af=y
If you are a family in Need please visit: http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M710778228163352818374165&af=y

New York Says No To Thimerosal

2005-09-03T05:11:00.000-04:00

It appears that NY Governor Pataki has signed a bill to ban thimersol from childhood vaccines.

Vaccine Manufacturers and Texas Juries

2005-08-28T05:21:00.000-04:00

Vaccine manufacturers who use thimerosal must be very thankful that the federal governments keeps them away from Texas juries.

New Schools For Kids With Autism

2005-08-12T06:09:00.000-04:00

Two schools worlds apart for kids with autism.

In the UK, plans are under way to establish Northern Ireland's first school for autistic children. The South Eastern Education and Library Board school will serve up to 40 children (a 2004 school census identified more than 2,000 children across Ulster with autism/Asperger's syndrome).

In Scottsdale, Gateway Adademy will be Arizona’s first private school solely for kids with higher-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome.

Massachusetts House Approves Autism Medicaid Waver

2005-08-03T00:28:00.000-04:00

The Mass. House thankfully has approved an autism Medicaid waver. If approved by the Senate, the Commonwealth joins Maryland, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Colorado in doing the right thing (although the funding in each state seems to be threatened to one degree or another).

Vaccines, Guns and Water Pollution

2005-08-01T00:56:00.000-04:00

Congress wants to protect gun makers, vaccine makers, and energy producers who pollute our water. When is Congress planning to protect the rest of us?

Product Liability: Vaccines vs. MTBE

2005-07-29T22:51:00.000-04:00

Congress fails to pass product liability protection for the energy industry concerning its pollution of our water with MTBE. Amazing! And vaccine manufacturers?

H.R. 5 (and S. 354) - The "Keep Hurting Kids With Autism" Bills

2005-07-28T01:34:00.000-04:00

The House wants to pass H.R. 5 (and S. 354), which will override state law and prevent persons injured by vaccines from holding manufacturers accountable. Some groups love this bill.

Where are their press releaes in support of H.R. 881, which will reduce human exposure to mercury through vaccines?

Our Bodies, Our Mess

2005-07-22T06:58:00.000-04:00

Yuck! Our bodies are full of poison, including mercury. It should be no surprise that newborns have the same problem.

Kids With Autism Have Fun With "The Group"

2005-07-13T05:10:00.000-04:00

If you've ever watched kids with autism trying to play with their classmates during school recess, you know why we need more efforts like The Group.

Fulbrigh Scholar Takes On Autism

2005-07-10T07:41:00.000-04:00

Here's a solution to limited local education budgets: Diana Strohecker, principal of Millersville Elementary School in Maryland, is using a Fulbright Scholarship to observe education programs for students with autism in England.

Kids With Autism Need A Hug

2005-07-08T00:10:00.000-04:00

Everyone needs a hug...maybe even more so today. The Children's Center in Glendale Arizona uses Temple Grandin's machine as part of its therapy offerings for children who suffer from autism.

New Autism Figures

2005-07-05T22:26:00.000-04:00

You guys can fight over the real number of persons with autism. We know there are more person with this disease: they are in our classrooms, in our doctor offices, living in our neighborhoods, walking in the mall, playing in the playground...

NYT: Autism - Parents vs. Research

2005-07-03T00:11:00.000-04:00

Why blame the victim?

Major League Support for Autism Fights

2005-07-02T03:15:00.000-04:00

Ranger and Astro baseball wives took the field in Houston to raise $$$ for the local ASA chapter. On a more personal level, former MLB player Will Clark spends his retirement helping his son cope with his autism.

Montel Williams Takes On Autism

2005-06-25T00:26:00.000-04:00

Montel's June 21 show on autism was very satisfying. His background with MS and lets him comfortably challenge the prevailing medical orthodoxy. A good start to the summer.

Scarborough and Kennedy Agree on Autism

2005-06-22T19:08:00.000-04:00

Amazing! I never thought that Joe Scarborough and Bobby Kennedy would agree on anything, but they do agree on the mercury/autism connection.

Tech Helps Find Missing Child With Autism

2005-06-17T06:33:00.000-04:00

A simple transmitter helps find a missing seven-year-old who has autism. That's great.

I never understand why persons complain about the use of technology to help children. Technology is not good or bad in itself -- it is the use that is good or bad...and in this case, the use is for the good of the child

Lots Of Autism-Related Fundraisers

2005-06-11T06:42:00.000-04:00

It's a busy time of year for folks doing the good work: raising funds to help those with autism.

The Ride For Autism Research is starting from the Camden Yards Sports Complex in Baltimore.

A golf tournament takes place in the Hudson Valley on July 18. Advance registration is preferred by June 30. For more information, call Beatrice at 297-6253 or Steve Boffolia at 297-9004 or e-mail hvpoac@aol.com.

Former WVU defensive lineman John Thornton helped raise $20,000 at a charity event Thursday night to benefit the Autism Society of Greater Cincinnati. Thornton brought along many of his teammates and colleagues from the Cincinnati Bengals organization.

Brait Builders Corp. of Marshfield will hold their annual charity golf tournament benefiting the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism on July 28, at the Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth. For more information, call Brait Builders at 781-837-6400, ext. 212 or visit www.braitbuildersopen.com.

Finding Autism Early

2005-06-11T06:31:00.000-04:00

WSJ writes about the new development: efforts to diagnose autism in infants and toddlers. This could almost be considered a miracle development -- it wasn't that long ago that you would hear of story after story (not so much now) of a child not getting diagnosed with an autism-related disorder until he or she showed up in the school system at age 5 or so.

Beck Rocks, Fights Autism

2005-06-08T05:51:00.000-04:00

Looking forward to the August release of the recording by Beck and others to combat autism. Proceeds from Dimension Mix will go to Cure Autism Now. This will be part of the Dimension 5 Records for Children family of recordings.

Utah Checks For Mercury

2005-05-29T19:58:00.000-04:00

Now that know that Nevada is pouring mercury into Utah (and others) and that scientists link air-carried mercury to autism, Utah is getting around to check its fish for mercury.

Still No Amish With Autism

2005-05-27T05:03:00.000-04:00

UPI's Dan Olmsted keeps looking for autism among the Amish community. First in Penn. Then in Ohio. Ind. too. He isn't finding a lot of it. Not a lot of vaccine use either.

Do You Trust The Drug Companies?

2005-05-26T01:14:00.000-04:00

Do you trust the drug companies when it concerns autism? Then what do you think of the defibrilator maker waiting three years before telling 24,000 patients that a small percentage of its machines could fail? What about the drug maker that put users of its painkiller at risk of heart attack and stroke?

Blogger Peter Cohan argues that "Something is deeply wrong when companies have the power to choose whether to sacrifice the lives of their customers in order to maintain their profits."

Autism Inflation

2005-05-25T05:06:00.000-04:00

The guy last seen getting involved in the social security reform debate now joins the autism debate.

Generation Rescue Formed To Help Persons With Autism

2005-05-25T03:01:00.000-04:00

Generation Rescue has been established by a group that believes in the mercury-autism connection. I know parents that swear by detoxification.

Autism Is A World

2005-05-22T07:52:00.000-04:00

Like all of you, I plan to be watching the Oscar-nominee Autism is a World on CNN tonight at 8 pm (or, more likely, recording it for future viewing since I'll probably be doing this, that, and the other thing with the kids at that time of night).

Stem Cell Research and Autism

2005-05-20T05:02:00.000-04:00

They say the Korean stem cell advances have implications for autism research.

Teaching Police About Autism

2005-05-19T05:53:00.000-04:00

I'm always impressed when local police offices -- often on their own time -- attend sessions to learn how to work appropriately with persons with autism.

The Return of the Vines

2005-05-18T00:58:00.000-04:00

Everyone's favorite band with autism -- the Vines -- are heading back into the studio.

900 Pounds Of Mercury Annually

2005-05-16T05:58:00.000-04:00

I thought that folks in Utah had to worry about the mercury coming into their state from the gold mines of Nevada. Turns out they've got problems in-state: 900 pounds of mercury annually from in-state coal-fired power plants.

Does Autism Hide In Chromosome 17?

2005-05-14T07:30:00.000-04:00

Does autism hide in Chromosome 17? If it does, can we use this knowledge for treatment of the disease through gene therapy? I hope so. Or will the doctors be content with offering genetic screening to pregnant women? I hope not. We want a cure for autism for those who want to make use of it.

Mercury-Free Missouri

2005-05-12T05:23:00.000-04:00

The Missouri House and Senate have approved a bill banning all but trace amounts of mercury in vaccines for young children and pregnant women."My attitude is what can it hurt to get (mercury) out?" said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Norma Champion. It's a start. Let's hope that Gov. Blunt signs the bill.

Try To Cut The Hair Of A Child With Autism

2005-05-11T06:40:00.000-04:00

Try to cut the hair of a child? Real tough, right? Now try to cut the hair of a child with autism? Someone who doesn't like to be touched. Someone who cant stand the sound of the clippers. Donna Rogers will do it. She set up her salon in Brielle, NJ, to serve these clients as well as folks with deafness, who are in wheelchairs. Clients who need permanents, manicures and hair coloring. Kids who need a birthday party. Homebound customers. All kinds.

Keep Holding Your Breath In New Hampshire

2005-05-10T06:55:00.000-04:00

The N.H. House Science and Technology Committee is holding onto a bill that would cut "total mercury emissions at power plants in Bow and Portsmouth to 50 pounds per year by 2009 and 24 pounds per year by 2013. The plants now emit about 130 pounds of mercury annually," according to AP. The committee chair says they are not killing the bill but that it needs more work.

Mercury Pollution On Campus

2005-05-09T06:22:00.000-04:00

It might take awhile to remove mercury from the air, food chain, vaccines, etc., but institutions -- especiall those with a large population of women of child-bearing age -- can take steps to remove the hazzard today. They are having varying degrees of success at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

A Blood Test For Autism

2005-05-08T18:55:00.000-04:00

It appears that a blood test for autism is on the horizon? This means that a mother who worries about her child's development no longer will have to hear: "Don't worry, boys develop slower than girls" or "Einstein didn't talk until he was four (or five or three depending who tells the story)" or "My son acted like that and he's ok." And EI and the schools can't ignore blood test results.

It Pays For Drug Companies To Have Friends In High Places

2005-05-08T17:20:00.000-04:00

The New York Times reports on a new law allowing US drug companies to return as much as $75 billion in overseas profits to the US while paying a 5.25 percent tax rate as opposed to a 35 percent tax rate. It must be nice for drug companies (like the folks who gave us thimerosal and autism) to have friends in high places.

If Something Doesn't Work, Change It

2005-05-04T12:03:00.000-04:00

New research shows that some parents are avoiding vaccines because of fear of harm they may cause and because of a distrust of government, public health, and medical sources of info about vaccines. Advice from researchers: "discussions with health care professionals and public vaccine information campaigns."

Will more information from sources that are not trusted sway parents?

Visit Elko: Enjoy 11% Of USA's Mercury Emissions

2005-05-01T17:03:00.000-04:00

Folks in the Salt Lake area are getting a nice gift from their neighbors in Nevada: mercury from Elko's gold mines -- "as much as 11 percent of the nation's total mercury emissions."

EPA: Removing More Mercury Boosts Economy

2005-04-30T08:51:00.000-04:00

If the EPA really thinks that aggressive action to reduce mercury pollution would benefit the Southeast to the tune of $2 billion a year, why did they publicly announce that such action was not necessary, since it would only save $50 million a year?

Time's Top 100 For 2005

2005-04-29T03:51:00.000-04:00

Bram Cohen invents file-swapping software BitTorrent, gets media companies excited, awaits a Supreme Court decision, lives with autism, and is named to Time magazine's Top 100 list for 2005

States Lead The Way

2005-04-28T05:43:00.000-04:00

Massachusetts moves one step closer to creating a state office focusing on autism.

Vaccines, Water And Beryllium

2005-04-26T21:45:00.000-04:00

Silly me. Why would I expect the goverment to protect us from mercury and MTBE when it can't protect OSHA inspectors beryllium sensitivity (and potentially fatal lung disease)?

Vaccines, Water, And Bankruptcy

2005-04-25T01:47:00.000-04:00

Mercury in your vaccines? Tough luck. MTBE in your water? Too bad. Bankrupt from getting sick from these poisons? You're on your own.

Ethyl Mercury Vs Methyl Mercury

2005-04-23T21:39:00.000-04:00

Vaccines vs fish: either way, we don't want mercury in our bodies!

And Now The Santorum And Dodd Bill

2005-04-20T01:37:00.000-04:00

Hope Congress passes one of these autism-related bills:

Combating Autism Act of 2005 (Santorum/Dodd)

H. Res. 158 (Tierney/Burton/Doyle/Smith/Waxman/Kind/Boswell)

Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Improvement Act of 2005 (Burton)

Where Are The Amish With Autism?

2005-04-18T19:38:00.000-04:00

UPI's Dan Olmsted can't find them in Lancaster County.

Bobby Kennedy Doesn't Like Mercury...

2005-04-16T03:58:00.000-04:00

...or thimerosal or autism. Neither does the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Charlie's Our New Darling

2005-04-15T01:01:00.000-04:00

Didn't take long for former Patriots coach Charlie Weis to support the fight against autism in his new role at Notre Dame head coach with the new Notre Dame/Autism bracelets. Visit www.HannahandFriends.org

Sens. Leahy and Snowe Want To Clean The Air

2005-04-14T06:20:00.000-04:00

The Leahy-Snowe bill would reduce the annual 48 tons of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 90 percent by 2010.

Go Mets

2005-04-13T07:17:00.000-04:00

The baseball team holds its 3rd annual Autism Awareness Day to support person with autism

Sped Funds For Parades

2005-04-09T20:59:00.000-04:00

The superintendent of schools used sped funds for parades, meals, and advertisements. How did that help the students?

Go Fly A Kite

2005-04-09T07:38:00.000-04:00

The Autism Alliance of MetroWest knows how to let a child with autism have fun.

Mercury-lite Dentists

2005-04-05T19:37:00.000-04:00

Massachusetts dentists are voluntarily installing filtering equipment to remove mercury from their wastewater at a surprising rate. Newspaper reports say the Commonwealth used phased-in enforcement to get cooperation.

Don't Judge A Book...

2005-04-03T08:43:00.000-04:00

An immunization group has issued a media advisory warning the public about the "potential" of David Kirby's new book "to confuse families."

Their first bullet point is: "Extensive evidence shows no link between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism. This evidence is based on well-established scientific studies."

But today I see new research about a link between free-radicals, glutathione, thimerosal, and autism.

Should I pay attention to the rest of the advisory?

Thimerosal Timeline

2005-04-02T20:02:00.000-05:00

Craig Westover has a chilling thimerosal timeline, which he says he got from, among others, David Kirby and Mother Jones Magazine. (scroll down a bit)

$18,000 And Climbing

2005-03-31T23:39:00.000-05:00

Congressman Dan Burton says that educating a student on the autism spectrum costs three times as much as educating a student who is not on the spectrum.

Nine States Want Cleaner Air

2005-03-31T06:26:00.000-05:00

New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York and Vermont want a lot less mercury in the air. How about you?

A Top Clinic

2005-03-29T06:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a nice profile of the LADDERS clinic outside of Boston.

N.H. Senate Does It

2005-03-25T22:17:00.000-05:00

The New Hampshire Senate wants less mercury in its air.

More Mercury For New Hampshire?

2005-03-24T20:09:00.000-05:00

Will the utility in New Hampshrie with the dirty power plant do the right thing and clean the air or will they trade for pollution credits because they do not want to "...do business on the basis of analytical assumptions and conclusions"?

Ooops! The EPA Forgot The Mercury Data

2005-03-23T08:22:00.000-05:00

Must be a simple oversight that made the EPA forget to include the Harvard data (that the EPA paid for) that showed the harm caused by mercury in the air to be way, way higher than the final agency predictions.

How To Clean The Air

2005-03-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

This is more like it. A couple of states and the fed get an Ohio utility to commit to an 80 percent reduction in pollution from its smokestacks, one of which is 1,000 feet tall -- the height of the Chrysler Building in NYC. Would this take place if the utility could buy pollution credits?

Who Doesn't Like The New Mercury Limits?

2005-03-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

New Jersey doesn't like the new EPA rules on mercury. Colorado doesn't like them. They are wise. A new Texas study suggests a link between environmentally-released mercury and autism.

Hold Your Breath Until 2020

2005-03-16T03:47:00.000-05:00

The federal government is limiting mercury levels in the air. Now I only have to hold my breath until 2020, at which point mercury levels will be reduced by half. Of course, by then the industry will request several delays in the deadline, and probably to to court to get a few extra breaks. Nevermind that some folks will get no pollution relief because the action allows dirty power plants to trade pollution credits with cleaner power plants. So, if you live downwind from one of those plants -- embrace Law and Economics theory and keep holding your breath. And keep holding it, even though we now have the technology to clean the air, because it is the political will that we lack.

Mercury Is Everywhere

2005-03-13T08:38:00.000-05:00

Mercury is everywhere.
It's in the bugs.
It's in the air (although we have to go to court).
It's in the vaccines (although they said it was out).
It's in the loons.
It's everywhere.

It's Real

2005-03-08T06:35:00.000-05:00

A new study confirms what we have known all along: that the increase in the number of persons with autism is real, not the result of better identification.

Since there are persons who apparently have a difficult time believing us when we say that there are many, many more children alive who struggle to walk, talk, learn, play...perhaps they will believe Craig J. Newschaffer, director of Johns Hopkins' Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology: "The analysis shows that the number of children receiving a special ed classification of autism has increased drastically over the past decade."

Separated At Birth?

2005-03-01T06:23:00.000-05:00

How exciting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have decided to separate their national immunization program (which promotes vaccine use) from their vaccine safety branch (which oversees the safety of vaccines). Long overdue I say. You cannot be an advocate and a watchdog at the same time. The government tried it with nuclear power decades ago. In 1946 the Atomic Energy Commission was formed to promote and regulate peaceful use of nuclear power. The AEC gave us nuclear waste and superfund sites and Dixie Lee Ray and set the foundation for Three Mile Island and WPPSS. It worked out so well that the government was forced in 1974 to junk the system and create the Nuclear Regulatory System to oversee the industry and the Energy Research and Development Administration to be a cheerleader.

House vs. Senate I

2005-02-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

What happens when the sponsors of HR.881 Mercury Free Vaccine Act of 2005 meet up with the sponsors of S. 3 Protecting America in the War on Terror? One takes it out and one keeps it in.

The Iman Comes Through

2005-02-26T00:34:00.000-05:00

Imus might have had the best 1/2 hour TV/radio interview ever concerning autism - with Bob and Suzanne Wright. Here's a portion:

Bob Wright Chairman and CEO of NBC-Universal, and his wife Suzanne are co-founders of "Autism Speaks.
They spoke with Imus this morning about the importance of awareness in the battle against Autism.
Imus: "What can I do for you? What can we do for you?"
Bob Wright: "Quite frankly we need to have hundreds of millions of dollars of research done and that is not going to happen tomorrow. Awareness... what you are doing right now is very important because it gets people to feel... people that have autistic people in their family, they can come out of their shell, they can be proud to identify themselves with this. They are doing everything they can and they should not feel that they are going to be discriminated against, they should not feel that they have done something wrong, it has nothing to do with the parents....It has nothing to do with the parents."
Suzanne Wright: "We want to be a strong voice for all these children."
Imus: "That may be the most heart breaking aspect of all of it, the guilt."
Bob Wright: "Children don't die of autism, they become adults. If they are serious,they become institutionalized and they live long lives. The estimates are that the cost of dealing with Autistic people in this country overall is ninety billion dollars a year."
Too bad the clip doesn't include the followup conversation after break where the Iman considered using strong-arm tactics on the Today Show.

You Can Trust Your Car...

2005-02-25T06:07:00.000-05:00

Perhaps I should be filling up my tank at Texaco (and Chevron). Watch more NASCAR too.

I See You In A Different Light

2005-02-24T15:49:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest takeaways from the NBC news autism programming this week is how autism can be identified at an early age. Now there is an army of mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles and grandparents and friends who can look at their tiny young relatives and friends with informed eyes.

Lose Your Focus, But Suceed

2005-02-21T13:05:00.000-05:00

David Neeleman is my kind of guy. Corporate success and family man, despite battling A.D.D. (without meds!).

57 Channels and Something's On

2005-02-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

Looks like I'll be watching lots of NBC news programming this week about the not-so-hidden epidemic.