MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'autism epidemic'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:28:27 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1433790&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F287516606%2F Do childhood vaccines cause autism? (KSDK, St. Louis) No. Vaccinations do not cause autism. Source. Source. Source. Tags: asd, asperger, autism, Cause, Epidemic, Health, magical thinking, measles, mercury, mmr, Parenting, pdd-nos, savant syndrome, shots, VaccinesShare This (Source: Autism Vox) Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1433790 Sat, 10 May 2008 14:25:34 +0100 1433790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1252656&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fleftbrainrightbrain.co.uk%2F%3Fp%3D729 So – the ‘Hidden Horde’ – the term that anti-vaccinationists like to smirk about as evidence of an autism epidemic. The logic goes like this: if there’s no autism epidemic then where are all the [insert age here] year old autistic adults? I’ve heard people asking for evidence of 75 year old autistics (conveniently forgetting that the average mortality age in the US and UK is around 70), 50 year olds – even 30 year olds. Never mind that there’s been plenty of evidence for adult autistics. Thats not convenient for the anti-vaccinationist agenda so it gets ignored. Anyway, todays Sunday Herald carries another story about adult autistics in Scotland called ‘Revealed: ‘invisible’ adults living with autism’. According ... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1252656 Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:49:32 +0100 1252656 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1192865&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fleftbrainrightbrain.co.uk%2F%3Fp%3D701 This is a Guest Blogged piece written by new bloggers from Hollywood Spectrum. For those who don’t know (I wish I were one of you), there is a TV show about to premiere called "Eli Stone". It was likely going to be a pretty run-of-the-mill premiere. Possibly, it was going to be a total non event.But, the plot includes autism. Not only does it include autism, but it involves a lawyer doing what has never happened in real life-he win’s a case about how mercury in vaccines caused autism in a child. This led to a number of news stories, internet discussions and blog posts.Well, after the initial press on this, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sent a letter to ABC/Disney asking them to pull the show since it could erode confidence in vaccines.  Somehow this ... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1192865 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:22:51 +0100 1192865 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=927925&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fleftbrainrightbrain.co.uk%2F%3Fp%3D633 OK, this one has been beaten to death. I am amazed that it still think that there is evidence of an “epidemic”. This is especially true of those who rely on the California Department of Developmental Services (CDDS) data. These data are so muddy as to be able to hide a real increase or a real decline. These data have severe limitations as noted before on this blog. They are not “epidemiological” data. They are not a census of those with autism in California. They are a count of who is getting services and this can and does vary dramatically over time and geography. That said, let’s take a look at how service rates change with time for a given birth cohort. (click to enlarge). This is much as you would expect. Kids start being listed at age 3. The number in... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=927925 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:27:33 +0100 927925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=909385&cid=t_105137_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fpossibly-watershed-in-responsible.html For some of us, the day that The Observer published some egregiously poor reporting about the incidence of autism in the UK and a series of errors about the MMR vaccine, was a landmark in shoddy medical journalism. I dubbed it St. Maximilian Kolbe and Blessed Titus Brandsma Day: once The Observer had published those notorious pieces, it guaranteed abysmal coverage of the issue for the next 100 days.There was outrage throughout the UK blogosphere. Many people wrote to The Observer to correct these stories, not least Dr Fiona Scott whose views had been misrepresented and one apiece from Prof. Baron-Cohen and Prof. Bustin. Baron-Cohen:[Your] article linked MMR and autism.The research does not...The best estimate of the prevalence of autism is the 1 per cent figure published in the Lancet in 2... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=909385 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:37:00 +0100 909385 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=891636&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D641   What if there were a way that people could dramatically reduce the number of people born with autism? What if it took a concerted effort on the part of everyone to make it happen?  Should we do it?  Would people complain? Would we respect the lessons of  the past if it had already happened? Well, it may have already happened.  “May” as in it requires correlating one set of trends with California DDS numbers on Autism.  We all know how dangerous that can be.  CDDS data are not epidemological.  They don’t tell you how many people in California have autism, they tell you how many people in California are getting services under autism.  People who forgot the importance of that distinction have found themselves promo... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=891636 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 21:42:53 +0100 891636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=889633&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D639 Hey, it’s Thursday evening. Why don’t we stop by and see what the cat dragged in over at Rescue Host. Holy Vaccinations Batman! It’s more autism epidemic gibberish! The current installment comes to us from Kelli Ann Davis, who writes: I knew the day was coming. With numbers like 1 in 150 children and 1 in 94 boys, “it” was bound to happen. Her “it” apparently refers to the recent appearances of some fellow believers on daytime television. Davis goes on to share some apparent feelings of vindication: I must of recited “the-numbers-are-getting-larger-and-our-voices-are-getting-louder” mantra at least a bazillion times over the last 5 years, cuz that’s how many meetings it feels like I’ve been in. but it never seemed to r... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=889633 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:35:24 +0100 889633 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=868254&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D620 Do you miss Dan Olmsted’s writing? He now apparently showcases his version of scientific brilliance over at Rescue Host. Recently, he tried to pass off the Flu shots and Chinese mercury hypothesis (which I thought was David Kirby’s, but I guess I was wrong) without much more than unfounded speculation and belief. California, of course, is ground zero as we watch autism rates keep rising—even after mercury was “removed” from childhood vaccines starting in 1999 (the situation is much more complicated than that, since more and more pregnant women and younger and younger kids are getting mercury-preserved flu shots). So if you believe as I do that autism is fundamentally an environmental illness that whacks a subgroup of susceptible kids, mercury from Chi... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=868254 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:00:30 +0100 868254 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=863790&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F155224649%2F Headline a story “Hi-tech facial scans used to detect autism in children” and what do you think will happen? A professor angry that “his work had been misreported, he had been misquoted, and he wanted nothing more to do with the media”? The full story is at the BBC news and underscores the gap between scientific research and journalists (and throw in some bloggers, and things can get rather messy). Not all the news is fit to print, nor is it news: Note this headline from today’s Guardian: Autistic traits linked to testosterone in mother’s womb The articles notes a correlation between high testosterone levels in the womb and children getting high scores on the autistic spectrum quotient or AQ which measures “personality traits that are typically mu... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=863790 Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:10:08 +0100 863790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=816694&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D610 Acceptance. It is a word that some use to describe their relationship with the reality of their children, or their own, autism. We accept the fact our daughter is autistic. For people who claim to ‘fight autism’ this acceptance is a weak passivity. An act of giving in. This, of course, is rubbish. Those who have accepted the reality of their own or their children’s autism know that the work starts right there. We do not attempt to carry on deluding ourselves and using quack treatments such as chelation etc as shields against the reality of who our kids really are. Parents like Brad Handley of Generation Rescue claim at one point in time that: “autism is a misdiagnosis for mercury poisoning…..The whole notion of autism is mythical. It didn’t exist... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=816694 Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:37:06 +0100 816694 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=782953&cid=t_105137_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fdid-scoop-campbell-pull-brizendine-more.html There have been lots of tedious stories in the news about the alleged chattiness of women and the Trappist-like qualities of men. One of the major sources for this recent nonsense is Louann Brizendine.The San Francisco Chronicle took the appearance of the new paper in Science about women's and men's chattiness as a prompt for a front-page story last Friday (July 6), and of course got some quotes from San Francisco resident and myth spreader Louann Brizendine. Quotes of astonishing disingenuousness, it turns out. Brizendine's newest story is this:My book is really about hormones, and that one line [about women uttering three times as many words per day as men] has been taken out of context. It's fascinating, anytime you talk about sex differences, it's controversial. But the bottom line is,... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=782953 Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:20:00 +0100 782953 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=780399&cid=t_105137_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fconfused-by-muddled-medical-research.html Scoop Campbell was the trigger for St. Maximilian Kolbe and Blessed Titus Brandsma Day: once The Observer had published those notorious pieces, it guaranteed abysmal coverage of the issue for the next 100 days. Following Campbell's fine example, other staff from The Observer duly obliged with failed clarification upon failed clarification and no adequate apology although one of these articles has now disappeared from the archives seemingly related to legal enquiries. Jon of Holford Watch has been remarkably diligent about following up on factual errors with The Observer's Readers' Editor but it seems that Steve Pritchard is still not ready to acknowledge that Campbell erred in points of fact, and that Pritchard's attempts to deny this are increasingly ludicrous.Campbell was wrong. The arti... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=780399 Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:30:00 +0100 780399 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=777616&cid=t_105137_87_f&fid=34882&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbreathspakids.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fwheres-molly-and-rest-of-that.html Autism Diva has a thought-provoking post with many poignant links about the issues raised by Where's Molly? Where are the others?One day in 1957, when Jeff Daly was 6 years old, his little sister Molly, disappeared.Every night at dinner, he would ask his parents the same question, "Where's Molly?"Every night, he says, he received the same answer: "Stop asking about Molly."Decades later, Daly learned that his parents had sent Molly to a state institution nine days before her third birthday. Nearly 50 years later, Daly found his sister and made a documentary about his search."Since the movie, literally hundreds of people have come up to us and said, 'I had a [relative] that I remember my family talking about that was sent away. Do you know how we can find out about that person?'" says Daly..... Breath Spa for Kids blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=777616 Thu, 02 Aug 2007 07:19:00 +0100 777616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=771649&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D601 I occasionally get emails or blog comments along the general lines of: Why do you do this? These people [Wakefield, DAN, whomever] are trying to help autistic kids! The (il)logic train is very simple to these people: X listened to their ideas about vaccines and autism, X tries out never-seen-before-treatments on autistic patients therefore X is a hero. When X gets examined with disdain from mainstream medicine X becomes a martyr. There is a bizarre disconnect at work here. Somehow we have progressed from an idea that scientific enquiry adds to the general body of scientific knowledge to the idea that its just about OK to do anything to patients irrespective of what’s actually ‘wrong’ with them in order to advance a poorly supported hypothesis. Here’s why thi... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=771649 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:45:19 +0100 771649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=742630&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D594 A report in the online Times about the appalling practices of Andrew Wakefield, revealed what will be his true legacy. Sickness, hospitalisation and (God forbid) death. We know now after the Cedillo hearings that not only was Andrew Wakefield using a contaminated lab that couldn’t possibly have located measles virus but that at the time he was writing his Lancet paper he knew that what he was saying was false. He knew his positive results were actually not positive at all. And still he went ahead. There is yet another measles outbreak in London at the moment: City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust says that there have been 32 cases in Hackney since May and 13 in the past week. Most of the cases were among the Orthodox Jewish community. Let us all hope that none of these... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=742630 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:33:30 +0100 742630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=737584&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D589 I am beginning to wonder if National Autism Association are actually capable of discussing autism without lying any more. Its becoming more and more blatant. Today, they have released a press release of support for Andrew Wakefield which is simply bizarre: Parents and advocacy groups around the globe are asking England’s General Medical Council (GMC) to cancel the “fitness to practice” inquiry that begins today against Dr. Andy Wakefield, and Professors Walker-Smith and Murch. Advocates say the GMC should instead be asking why so many kids are sick, especially in light of an apparently suppressed analysis showing that autism rates in England are as high as 1 in 58. The medical establishment is being criticized for doing little to find the cause, treat the kids, or preve... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=737584 Mon, 16 Jul 2007 21:55:28 +0100 737584 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=734518&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D587 Every god-damn quarter, without fail. Every single one. The CDDS data gets released – Rick Rollens releases his usual ‘full syndrome’ crapola and tells us how autism is still skyrocketing and does his best Chicken Little impression and David Kirby chews at the edges of the data to try and find something that will support the idea that thiomersal plays any kind of role in autism. Its getting really, really old. Please let me say it to you one more time. CDDS is not good source data for epidemiology. They say so themselves. When CDDS refer to ‘full syndrome autism’ they are not, repeat, not referring to classical autism. See this form here? CDDS use it to record autism. It was designed in the 1970’s. The version in use today was last updated in 198... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=734518 Sat, 14 Jul 2007 09:03:05 +0100 734518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=728479&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D585 A story in the Times reveals the full extent of the utterly vacuous weekend report published by The Observer: One of the two team members reported as resurrecting the discredited theory that MMR causes autism is Dr Carol Stott, a developmental psychologist who once worked at ARC. Baron-Cohen says she left ARC some time ago. She is now listed as a member of staff at Thoughtful House, a research centre in developmental disorders in Texas. Thoughtful House is run by Dr Andrew Wakefield, the gastroenterologist who first raised the possibility of a MMR-autism link in 1998. The other figure named as having revived the MMR-autism link was Dr Fiona Scott, who still works at ARC as an honorary research associate and runs training courses on how to diagnose autism. Scott has issued a statement de... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=728479 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:09:57 +0100 728479 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=706597&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D573 The first of the nine ‘test’ Autism Omnibus cases has wrapped up. This was also the first of the designated three that will attempt to associate autism with MMR and Thiomersal causation. In todays’ Wall Street Journal, Professor Roy Richard Grinker, author of Unstrange Minds wraps up what we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks: Over the last three weeks, I listened to testimony in the first of nine test cases in the U.S. Vaccine Court (Cedillo v. Health and Human Services) considering the question of whether a mercury-based vaccine preservative called thimerosal (which used to be in many vaccines), or the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine, or both together, caused autism in Michelle Cedillo, the plaintiffs’ daughter. I heard some of the world&#821... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=706597 Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:24:13 +0100 706597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=696935&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D567 Conclusion: you are 1% more likely to have Aspergers if you have been partially vaccinated. If you are fully vaccinated your chance of being Aspergers is exactly the same as if you were unvaccinated. Number of boys with PDD-NOS Unvaccinated: 1% of total Partially vaccinated: 2% of total Fully vaccinated: 1% Fully and Partially combined: 1% Conclusion: you are 1% more likely to have PDD-NOS if you have been partially vaccinated. If you are fully vaccinated your chance of being PDD-NOS is exactly the same as if you were unvaccinated. Number of boys with Autism Unvaccinated: 2% of total Partially vaccinated: 7% of total Fully vaccinated: 3% Fully and Partially combined: 4% Conclusion: you are 5% more likely to have autism if you have been partially vaccinated. If you are fully vaccin... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=696935 Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:39:06 +0100 696935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=683303&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D565 You can always tell when the mercury militia are hurting – they wheel out their biggest gun. The biggest gun they have in their armoury is RFK Jr, a man who seems to live on the reputation of his dead family members and not a lot else. Last time he dropped the biggest, steamingest, drippiest turd on the web in the fullsome (and entirely accurate) language of Orac. Well, after reading RFK Jr’s latest verbal tantrum I think Orac might need to get out the Dynorod and try and flush this particular big shit in a small bowl away as quickly as possible. RFK Jr claims firstly that: The poisonous public attacks on Katie Wright this week—for revealing that her autistic son Christian (grandson of NBC Chair Bob Wright), has recovered significant function after chelation treatme... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=683303 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:56:13 +0100 683303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=676214&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D561 And so, as we approach the end of week one of the vaccine trial, its been truly fascinating to read (albeit a day behind my US counterparts) the ongoing proceedings. One of the things that fascinated me was the culling of the ‘expert witness’ list. Before Monday – the start of the trial – the expert list comprised: Jim Adams PhD Harland Austin D. Sc. David S Baskin MD Jeffrey Bradstreet M.D. Richard Carlton Deth PhD Mark Geier MD M. Eric Gershwin MD Phillippe Grandjean, Ph.D. Sander Greenland, Dr. PH Boyd E. Hayley, Ph D Robert Hirsch PhD Arthur Krigsman MD Cathy A Lally, Master P.H. Mary Megson, MD Elizabeth Mumper MD Andrew J. Wakefield, MB, BS, FRCS, FRCPath And on Monday, the people left from this list were: Arthur Krigsman MD. Amazing. I can only surm... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=676214 Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:06:31 +0100 676214 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=644949&cid=t_105137_87_f&fid=34867&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thediabetesblog.com%2F2007%2F05%2F30%2Ftype-1-vaccination-successfully-tested-on-mice%2F Filed under: Type 1, ResearchI do not like vaccinations. I wonder if they are connected to the autism and diabetes epidemics, even attention-deficit disorders. I do vaccinate my children, just begrudgingly. Yet if there ever was a vaccination against type 1 diabetes, I would be first in line. Researchers in France and Germany have demonstrated you can treat a type 1 diabetic mouse with a vaccination. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system's T cells cannot distinguish between "non-self" and "self", attacking cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. Previously, Drs. Falk and Rotzschke of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), blocked the misdirected immune system by vaccinating mice with modified structures of the same organ targeted by the de... The Diabetes Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=644949 Wed, 30 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 644949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=588474&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D542 As already blogged by Steve and Orac, Generation Rescue have undergone a change in both website and message. Up until this week and for the last two years, Brad Handley – GR Head Honcho (and Stanford Rugby Treasurer) has promoted a message quite unequivocal: “Autism is treatable. It’s reversible. It’s nothing more than mercury poisoning,” said JB Handley, founder of Generation Rescue. In fact, giving a reason for the redesign of the site on Orac’s blog, Brad said: From my perspective, our website and its message have always been broader than “its ONLY mercury”... Huh. Weird. Maybe its just me but I detect a teensy-weensy inconsistency between those two statements. Lets switch to the video!!: And for the non-video-blessed a... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=588474 Thu, 03 May 2007 23:42:46 +0100 588474 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=571454&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D539 David Kirby has been chewing away at the edge of the CDDS data since it became apparent that he’d screwed up and actually set himself (and the thiomersal hypothesis) an actual measurable target (eek!). I can’t believe there isn’t anyone in the autism community who doesn’t know about the CDDS’ data and its role from Saviour of the thiomersal hypothesis to Villan of the thiomersal hypothesis. But just in case, here’s a potted history. For (lots) more search my site for ‘cdds’ and you’ll get lots more background reading. 1) Kirby writes EoH and is spoon-fed the Rollens line that we’re in the midst of an autism epidemic and that the CDDS data proves this by going up and up and up. 2) Thiomersal is removed from its preservative role ... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=571454 Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:48:16 +0100 571454 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=559968&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D535 Don’t Stand So Close To Me I recently had an email conversation with someone who is married to a lapsed Mennonite and who’s secretary is a lapsed Amish. As this was too good an opportunity to miss I asked xyr about autism amongst the Amish and vaccinations. I was interested in Dan Olmsted’s idea that he and his sources waltz around Amish communities, grabbing people and asking ‘got any autism in the family’? and calling this reporting. When we talked about this xyr answer was fascinating: As for tracking autistics, forget about it. Families are not likely going to seek diagnosis unless there are seizures or some other acute issue. Imagine driving up to a bunch of Amish farms and asking, “Are any of your kids autistic?” I would guess they prob... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=559968 Sun, 22 Apr 2007 07:36:01 +0100 559968 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=553817&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D533 The demonisation of the disabled has always been with us. The purposeful assigning of negative characteristics in order to worsen a case or point of view. Sometimes the people doing this are the very parents of the disabled people in question. Autistic kids have been called ‘toxic train wrecks’, ‘walking nightmares’, ‘unreachable’, ‘soulless’, ‘empty shells, ‘dead inside’. So, I have a nasty fear, shared by Asperger Square 8 and MOM-NOS that at some point, the murderer of several teachers and young people in a gun rampage in Virginia will be diagnosed by the media as autistic. Here’s one media description of the murderer: He was always really, really quiet and kind of weird, keeping to himself all the time,&#8221... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=553817 Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:59:13 +0100 553817 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=515260&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D523 This year, the Autism Omnibus hearing in the USA will examine the idea that MMR causes autism. They will do this by taking one of the plus 4,500 cases and looking at it as a ‘test case’. The case in question is the Cedillo family, mother Theresa (just a coincidence), father Michael and daughter Michelle. The document above by the way establishes that they want the evidence they accumulate to be open to the other families but that they do not want the identities or the evidence of their expert witnesses to be made available online. I wonder why. If I may be so egotistical, it could have something to do with the fact that several bloggers have trounced both the data and the experts and they don’t want this happening any more. Anyway. What do we know about the Cedillo&#8... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=515260 Sun, 01 Apr 2007 18:55:29 +0100 515260 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=501852&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D521 Or, more accurately, Education data is the new CDDS. Up until this year, David Kirby, Lenny Schafer, Rick Rollens et al said that CDDS data was the gold standard of autism data and because rates were rising during the 90’s according to CDDS data this proved that vaccines caused autism. Then they said this would be proved in 2005 – sorry, 2007 – when it was firmly established thiomersal was pretty much out of all vaccines in the US schedule excepting the voluntary flu jab. Kirby went so far as to say that if the CDDS rates didn’t fall by 2007 then this would be a significant blow to the thiomersal theory. Guess what? No fall. In fact, there was a continued climb. Next they all said – CDDS? That stuff is rubbish – California is ‘special’.... Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=501852 Mon, 26 Mar 2007 22:04:13 +0100 501852 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=487869&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35109&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kevinleitch.co.uk%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D515 Conclusion It is important to remember that the weak criticisms in the critiques above do not remove the genuine and quality criticisms. The authors do point some genuine problems. The failure of both editor and Dr. Fombonne to make adequate response is also disagreeable. By the same token some of the criticisms are remarkable for their lack of relevancy or factual basis. There are problems with these critiques that have a real potential to mislead others. It is to be hoped that the NAA and the authors will take steps to amend this, leaving their better criticisms intact. See references and leave comments on Jonathon’s site. (Source: Left Brain/Right Brain) Left Brain/Right Brain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=487869 Thu, 08 Mar 2007 09:48:24 +0100 487869 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=486973&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35081&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmikestanton.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F06%2Fwhen-friends-fall-out%2F A few weeks ago in my post on Rett Reversal and Neurodiversity I wrote Now that there is a real possibility of a cure for Rett Syndrome some time in the future, will it undermine the movement for autism acceptance and encourage those whose aim is normalization? Some will certainly see it that way. But in the short to medium term I predict that it will increase the tension between organizations like Autism Speaks that are funding research into genetic causes for autism and those like NAA and Safe Minds who think they already know the cause and the cure and are only interested in research that confirms their prejudices.  Well, it has happened. J. B. Handley, the driving force behind Generation Rescue and Put Children First, is circulating a letter entitled Bernie versus Bryna: The Trou... Action For Autism blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=486973 Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:58:09 +0100 486973 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=486979&cid=t_105137_133_f&fid=35081&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmikestanton.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F01%2F21%2Fvaccines-and-autism-a-thoughtful-debate-1%2F This study confined itself to children with learning dificulties in special schools and never looked at children in mainstream classes where most autistic children are found today. Kirby’s Fact 3. By 2000 autism prevalence in the USA was 40 in 10,000 Again there is no citation. And autism prevalence in whom? What is the age cohort? Kirby’s Fact 4. By 2004 autism prevalence in the USA was 60 in 10,000 We do have a lot of epidemiology for this figure.It is supported by the Medical Research Council in the UK and the Centers for Disease Control in the USA. But it is usually taken to mean that we have now reached a reasonably accurate estimate of prevalence figures for the entire autistic spectrum across the entire population. Kirby sems to be using these figures to suggest a year ... Action For Autism blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=486979 Sun, 21 Jan 2007 23:46:51 +0100 486979