"Autism rates across the country have grown over 1000% since 1990, according to the National Autism Association. Autism was first diagnosed as a disorder in the 1950s. The symptoms described then are essentially the same as those used to diagnose autism today. They may include, limited speech, impaired social interaction, and repetitive behaviors such as arm flapping. In the broader autistic spectrum of less severe cases, children may speak but have unusual behaviors and learning disabilities, or they may have high IQs but great difficulty with social interaction.
What used to be a very rare condition has now become a nationwide epidemic. The difference in the new cases of autism is that the symptoms did not appear at birth. They appeared shortly after a child received vaccinations in the second year of life.
According to the 2004 spring issue of Mother Jones Magazine, 'In 2002, an estimated 1 in 250 American children was diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in 500 in 2000, and 1 in 5,000 in the 1980s.' "
(Evelyn Pringle, Bush Puppets Push For New Law To Protect Drug Companies, http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0502/S00076.htm, February 7, 2005)
�For every 1,000 babies born in Canada, it is estimated that two will be diagnosed with autism or a related disorder."(The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2004, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040918/AUTISM18/TPEducation)
�The Pfeiffer Treatment Center (PTC) has discovered that diminished metallothionein protein (MT) activity is a distinctive feature of autism. This abnormality (believed to be genetic) results in impaired brain development and extreme sensitivity to toxic metals and other environmental substances. This disorder is often unnoticed in infancy and early childhood until aggravated by a serious environmental insult. In a study of 503 autism-spectrum patients, we found abnormal levels of copper and zinc in blood (p<0.0001) indicating a failure of the MT protein system to fulfill its role in regulation of these metals. In humans, MT proteins regulate blood levels of these metals, detoxify mercury and other heavy metals, and assist in neuronal development. The expected consequences of diminished or defective MT functioning during gestation or early childhood are consistent with most of the classic features of autism. We conclude that a compromised MT protein system may represent a primary cause of autism. [�] Since MT is directly involved in neuronal development and maturation of the brain and G.I. tract, the timing of environmental insults is critically important. Temporary disabling of MT function during a specific stage of brain development (e.g., the speech center) may result in an enduring disability in this area. Multiple insults can result in multiple disabilities. If serious toxic insults are avoided until after age three, the brain and G.I. tract may have sufficiently matured so that autism is no longer possible. MT proteins have been the subject of intensive research and the mechanisms of formation and utilization are now well understood. This information provides a roadmap for treatment of persons with a compromised MT protein system. After autism onset, MT proteins may be chronically contaminated with excessive amounts of copper, mercury, and other toxic metals which can weaken normal MT activity and have an adverse effect on learning, socialization, behavior control, and immune function.� (http://www.iquebec.ifrance.com/autismemtl/congres2/walsh_eng.html)
"Research has now determined that the cause of the escalation is Thimerosal, a mercury-based product that until recently was added to childhood vaccines as a preservative in multi-dose bottles to increase profits for the drug companies that manufacture vaccines..
Over time, these Thimerosal-containing vaccines were administered to millions of children. In 2000, during a review mandated by the Food and Drug Modernization Act, it was determined that infants were receiving more mercury in the first six months of life than was considered safe under federal guidelines.
The review found that a twelve-to-fourteen month old child receiving vaccines under the Universal Childhood Immunization Schedule, which typically delivered four to six shots in one doctors visit, children were receiving as much as forty times the amount of mercury considered safe according to EPA guidelines. The EPA guidelines were confirmed to be accurate through an independent evaluation conducted by the National Research Council, which published its conclusion in July 2000. [...] The cost of educating and caring for an autistic child over a lifetime is estimated at between $5 and $10 million. Mark Geier maintains, �One in eighty males is diagnosed with autism today. Many of them will not be able to work. [...] it is crucial that these families get financial justice from the drug companies who caused the damage."
(Evelyn Pringle, Bush Puppets Push For New Law To Protect Drug Companies, http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0502/S00076.htm, February 7, 2005)
"Across the country, parents of autistic children are fighting in court for services in schools and public funds for costly behavioural therapies that governments have been loath to provide beyond the age of 5. Parents like the Pickering couple want a therapy known as intensive behavioural intervention, a one-on-one treatment involving repetition and imitation that is widely credited with turning aberrant, anti-social beings into children able to function almost normally. In June, the Supreme Court of Canada heard the B.C. government's appeal of a ruling that found that the province's refusal to finance autism therapy for two dozen children infringed on their Charter right to equality. In Ontario, 29 families are suing the province, insisting that its policy of funding the therapy only until the age of 5, the time when it is thought to be most effective, is unconstitutional. Six months ago, the Newfoundland Court of Appeal upheld a ruling in the case of a six-year-old boy that forces the province to eliminate the waiting list for a specialized autism therapy. Within weeks, Ontario's human-rights commission had referred 121 complaints against the province, all involving autism services, to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. �At any given time, there are over 100 cases in the courts,� said Louise Fleming, executive director with Autism Society of Canada�� (The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2004, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040918/AUTISM18/TPEducation)
In the following child-protection case of two autistic children, the school board and Ontario government are called into question. The child-welfare court �forces the local school board and the Ontario government to answer allegations that a failure to provide a suitable education program for the boys constitutes the sort of neglect that children's aid societies usually pin on parents�[�] [This] case marks the first time a public institution such as a school board has been hauled before a child-welfare judge, whose bottom line under Ontario's child-protection law must be the children's best interests. (Because the case falls under child-welfare law, neither the children nor their parents can be identified.) The case could turn the child-welfare system on its ear. While the law suggests that child abuse happens when those "having charge of" children inflict harm, if the judge can be persuaded that school boards have charge of the students in classrooms as parents do at home, a brand-new frontier will open for child-protection workers. Traditionally, children's aid societies have regarded education as outside their mandate�� (The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2004, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040918/AUTISM18/TPEducation)
Diet
�Abnormal Liver Detoxification i. Found in all children in research by Edelson and Cantor
ii. Almost all children had toxic chemical levels exceeding adult tolerance levels. Gastrointestinal Abnormalities in Autism Spectrum Disorders i. In research led by Hovarth, significant numbers were found to have chronic esophagitis, chronic gastritis and chronic duodenitis, and a majority had low carbohydrate digestive enzyme activity. ii. The pain and discomfort from chronic inflammatory GI condition may be associated with the behavioural symptoms of autism. Automimmune Inflammatory Bowel Disease i. Research led by Uhlman et al. reports a new form of inflammatory bowel disease--ileocolonic lymphonodular hyperplasia ii. Research by Torrente et al. reports regressive autism presenting with lymphocytic colitis and IgG intestinal epithelial deposition, suggestive of an autoimmune lesion.� (http://www.ont-autism.uoguelph.ca/jory-autism-jun02.html)
Ratings by 23,000 parents, regarding 77 biomedical interventions : mercury detoxification rated 73% helpful, gluten/casein were rated 63% helpful.
Autism Research Institute: Treatment Options For Mercury/Metal Toxicity in Autism and Other Related Disabilities: Consensus Position Paper, February 2005
( pdf - 43 pages) http://www.autismwebsite.com
"A test for Gluten and Casein Urinary Peptides can identify if there are problems digesting gluten, found in wheat and other grains, and casein, from dairy products. New research indicates that if these foods are not broken down properly, they can mimic the effects of opiate drugs such as heroin and morphine and affect opiate receptors in the brain involved with speech and auditory processing." (Dr. Mary Ann Block's Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders, http://www.blockcenter.com/pages/pages_autism.asp)
�Although gluten and casein sensitivities are not a biological cause of autism, they may exacerbate autistic symptoms. In the guts of autistic people, gluten and casein are often inadequately digested, leading to the formation of opioid byproducts. In a damaged gut, there is increased permeability of the upper GI tract, allowing movement of the opioid byproducts into the bloodstream and across the blood brain barrier. [�] Implementation of a [Gluten-Free, Casein-Free] GFCF diet is the easiest and safest of all interventions currently in use for autism, and should be the first step. The GFCF diet may be implemented in stages, beginning with elimination of _all_ casein (in any form or trace) for a period of three weeks. Removal of all gluten-containing foods could be next or simultaneous--it's all or nothing, and response to gluten removal may take 3-6 months to be effective. Not all children will respond to a GFCF diet, but significant improvements in learning, behaviour and gut symptoms are so common with rigorous implementation that many practitioners believe that all children and adults on the autism spectrum deserve a trial on a GFCF diet. [�] The second safest dietary intervention is supplementation with Omega-3 plus a small source of Omega-6. Omega-3s are derived primarily from fish and oily seeds (esp. flax seed oil). Choose a high-quality product that has been tested as free of contaminants. [�] This has been a brief summary of some issues and interventions currently implicated in autism. It is by no means exhaustive�� (http://www.ont-autism.uoguelph.ca/jory-autism-jun02.html)
Autism & Creativity
From NATURE, VOL 428, p. 470, April 1, 2004, www.nature.com/nature
�Michael Fitzgerald, author of Autism and Creativity, says that some aspects of high functioning autism and Asperger�s syndrome enhance creativity. Because these developmental disorders are mainly genetic in origin and largely affect men, he believes that creativity in a broader sense is predominantly the result of genetic rather than environmental factors: �The view that geniuses began their lives made from the same material as the rest of us � is false.� He then engages in retrospective diagnosis to support such claims, declaring that several individuals �with creativity of genius proportions� fit the high end of the autistic spectrum. These include Isaac Newton, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, Lewis Carroll, the poet W. B.Yeats, and politicians Keith Joseph and Eamon de Valera. Apparently Hitler too had autistic traits. Fitzgerald�s thesis is not new. Hans Asperger spoke of �autistic intelligence� as being intelligence of �true creativity�, adding �it seems that for success in science or art a dash of autism is essential.� Oliver Sacks suggested that Wittgenstein had autistic traits. So too did Einstein, van Gogh and possibly Bill Gates, according to Temple Grandin, who is herself autistic. Asperger even noted that the autistic mind is an extreme variant of male intelligence. Despite these earlier revelations, Fitzgerald�s tantalizing book is a must read, as are Simon Baron-Cohen�s brilliant contributions to this area, such as The Essential Difference (Perseus,2003). The fact that genius can fall within the autistic spectrum challenges our deepest notions of creativity..." (Read more at http://www.centerforthemind.com/publications/AutisticGenius2.pdf)
