Here is your update on the TACA (TALK ABOUT CURING AUTISM) Group for June 2003 - #1. As always, email your thoughts and or questions.
I want to make this e-newsletter informative for you. Let me know your thoughts on how I can improve it.
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IF this email is NEW to you and you don't recognize the name... WELCOME! These emails happen two to four times a month for Southern California Autism support called TACA.
We focus on parent support, parent mentoring, gluten / casein free diets, the latest in medical research, special education law, reviews of the latest treatments, and many other topics as it relates to Autism.
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) provides general information of interest to the autism community. The information comes from a variety of sources and TACA does not independently verify any of it. The views expressed herein are not necessarily TACA’s.
IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS, just respond and I will be happy to remove you from the list. EMAIL ADDRESS IS: contact us
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TACA has an official web site at www.talkaboutcuringautism.org
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In this edition of TACA e-news:
- Next TACA Meeting Information
- Upcoming TACA Schedule & other TACA meeting schedule info – June - August 2003
- Some inspiration
- General News:
- Recovering from Autism – from the Toronto Sun
- A wish for “Harry Potter “
- Autism DADS – just in time for Fathers day!
- Vaccine News –
- New resources
- Big Fun introduces “the Gene Pool” – Swimming Lessons for special needs kids
- ABC has some openings for ABA!!
- Calling all multi-plex Autism Families
- Free SOCIAL EVENT FOR TACA FAMILIES!
- Upcoming Conferences
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1) Next TACA COSTA MESA support group meeting:
Date: Saturday, June 14th, 2003 (always the 2nd Saturday of each month)
Time: 2:30 - 5:30
Kirkman
Labs – the new world of supplementation
Presented by Kirkman
Labs – Rhonda
PLACE: VINEYARD NEWPORT CHURCH - 102 East Baker Avenue - Costa Mesa
(Please do not contact the church for meeting details. They have graciously offered use of their facility, but are not affiliated with TACA.)
Directions:
405 FWY South, Exit Bristol
Right on Bristol
Left on Baker
Go under FREEWAY.
The Vineyard church is on the corner just after the FWY - turn left onto the freeway access road, MAKE FIRST right into the Vineyard's parking lot.
And remember, we are still a non-faith based group!
CONTACT PHONE FOR DAYS OF THE MEETING ONLY: 949.678.9010
Please do NOT use the cell contact for days outside of the meetings. Thank you!
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2) UPCOMING TACA Costa Mesa Meeting Schedule:
July 12, 2003: Child Neuropsychologist: Dr Christine
Majors
- What is in a test and
outside evaluations? Why are they important?
- Where should you start? How should you continue?
August 9, 2003: Who pays for WHAT
SERVICES?
Parent options for PAYING services for their children.
Much more is being planned for September – December of 2003! Stay tuned!
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TACA has FIVE So. California meeting locations:
1) Costa Mesa: 2nd Saturday of each month (info in item #1)
2) West Hills (the valley man!): the 1st Sunday of every month, on the Cal State University Northridge Campus in the Early Intervention Psyche Clinic... - Info: Contact Us
3) San Diego: 4th Tuesday evening – 6:30- 8:00pm – Info: Contact Us
4) Corona: 3rd Saturday – 2:30pm – 5:30pm – Info: Contact Us NOTE: No June TACA Corona meeting due to Great Plains conference! Meetings to resume on July 12th!
5) Torrance: 3rd Monday of each month at Whole Foods Market on PCH In Torrance – 6:30-9:00pm. Info: Contact Us
3) SOME INSPIRATION FOR FAMILIES WITH SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN:
This was forwarded to me by another parent. It is printed out in my daily planner and above my computer monitor.
BEATING THE ODDS
Count it all joy when you fall into various trials . . . (James 1:2,NKJ)
Some of the world's greatest men and women have been saddled with disabilities and adversities but have managed to overcome them.
Cripple him, and you have a Sir Walter Scott. Lock him in a prison cell, and you have a John Bunyan. Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington. Raise him in abject poverty, and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Subject him to bitter religious prejudice, and you have a Benjamin Disraeli. Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes a Franklin D. Roosevelt. Burn him so severely in a schoolhouse fire that the doctors say he will never walk again, and you have a Glenn Cunningham, who set a world's record in 1934 for running a mile in 4 minutes, 6.7 seconds. Deafen a genius composer, and you have a Ludwig van Beethoven. Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have a Booker T. Washington, a Harriet Tubman, a Marian Anderson, or a George Washington Carver. Make him the first child to survive in a poor Italian family of eighteen children, and you have an Enrico Caruso. Have him born of parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down when he is four, and you have an incomparable concert violinist, Itzhak Perlman. Call him a slow learner, "retarded," and write him off as ineducable, and you have an Albert Einstein.
James S. Hewett
(Illustrations Unlimited;
Wheaton: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc, 1988)
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4) General News:
Recovering from autism
Going beyond the stereotype to therapies that work
By JOANNE RICHARD, SPECIAL TO THE TORONTO SUN
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Sam and Fannie DeCaria's world came crashing down three years ago. Their son Giulio, then five, appeared normal physically but had developed troubling behavioural traits over two years.
"Giulio had an insistence on sameness. He would always wear the same red, black and white striped shirt and on laundry day would wait patiently beside the washer and dryer until his shirt was ready to wear again," says Sam DeCaria.
"He was also overly sensitive to loud noises, had no desire to interact with children his own age and became fixated on the turning wheels on his toy cars," adds the Etobicoke father of two boys.
Giulio was diagnosed with autism. "The diagnosis was numbing. We were devastated," DeCaria says.
"The word itself we associated with disturbing images of little children flapping their hands and jumping around, absorbed and lost in their own world," he adds.
WORLD OF CONTROVERSY
They entered a world raging with controversy and dissention amongst medical experts.
Autism has reached epidemic proportions -- its cataclysmic rise is affecting millions of children worldwide. In Canada, this disorder is currently diagnosed in up to one in 150 children; it strikes boys three to four times more often than girls and can range from mild to severe.
The lack of scientific data, research and funding makes it difficult to medically treat these children, and is especially frustrating and disheartening for parents seeking information and solutions.
"We were advised to focus our energies on speech and behavioural therapy. We were told that there was not much else available," says DeCaria. "All hope was taken away from us."
But, according to DeCaria, he found a "window of hope" using a multi-disciplinary approach, including dietary and biomedical treatments advocated by two leading U.S. autism experts, Drs. Jeff Bradstreet and Jerry Kartzinel, both who have autistic children.
"The first thing we did was put Giulio on a gluten/casein free diet. Two months later, Giulio, who previously was speaking in one-word sentences, amazingly was able to recite the Lord's Prayer."
Besides dietary changes, the DeCarias introduced other broad-based therapies in order to alleviate and eliminate many of the common symptoms and, in the past three years, Giulio's progress has been immense.
"Children can recover from the symptoms of autism," says DeCaria. "I believe Giulio will eventually live a normal life and even get married."
This multi-disciplinary approach, entitled Open Windows Essential Training, will be presented in Toronto in June for parents, teachers and the medical community. The comprehensive two-day workshop, hosted by the Autism Canada Foundation, provides in-depth instruction on integrating medical, behavioural and nutritional treatment options to help children with developmental disorders maximize their potential.
According to Autism Canada Foundation director Cynthia Zahoruk, her 7-year-old son has recovered from many of the symptoms of autism through the use of the treatment that'll be introduced by Bradstreet and Kartzinel at the Library Lecture Theatre at Ryerson University, on June 21 and 22.
Bradstreet and Kartzinel are the founders of the Florida-based International Child Development and Resource Center (ICDRC) and have dedicated themselves to researching new, effective treatments.
According to Zahoruk, "The current thought is there is a genetic component to autism in the same way that someone may be genetically predisposed to cancer or heart disease. These individuals are exposed to an environmental trigger that could be a virus or a toxin, and this alters the immune system in a way that affects the development of the brain."
Bradstreet agrees. "I see this as an environmental effect. Environment includes vaccines, infections, toxins like mercury and a great many other things," says Bradstreet, whose son Matthew became ill after his childhood MMR vaccine.
OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR
Warning signs include unresponsiveness, trouble communicating, difficulty in forming social relationships, lack of concentration, language problems, and engaging in repetitive and other obsessive behaviours.
Early identification and treatment is key to possible recovery, says Zahoruk. "An intervention that may be effective within a few months if applied when the child is 24 months old, may take several years when the child is seven."
Mainstream medicine usually directs parents towards behaviour modification called Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) program, "and little else," she says, adding that while ABA is a fundamental treatment for autism, most individuals, if not all, will benefit far more by combining it with other effective biological treatments.
According to experts, autism has become an epidemic that will cripple our social support system and efforts must be made to finding a cure. "The government needs to respond through early intervention before these kids get older and we have to institutionalize them," she says.
Early intervention is essential, agrees Bradstreet: "We are doing everything we can to remove the Humpty Dumpty stigma -- all of the King's horses and all of the King's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again -- from autism which prevents many doctors from even trying to help."
For more workshop info, visit www.autismcanada.org or call 905-332-4766.
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FROM THE LA TIMES:
The Region; Brother's Wish to
Help His Sister Is Winning Formula in Essay Contest; In the Harry Potter
competition, the 8-year-old Camarillo boy writes of a magical cure for autism.
He earns a trip to London.
Daniel Boyce likes Harry Potter.
And he loves his little sister.
So when the 8-year-old Camarillo boy heard about an essay contest asking kids what
magical power they would choose if they went to Harry's school, it wasn't hard
to come up with an answer.
Of all the powers taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Daniel
wrote, he would choose the ability to make a magic potion to cure his
5-year-old sister, Suzie.
Suzie is autistic.
Daniel's essay, one of 12,000 submitted by children nationwide, was among the
10 chosen by publisher and contest sponsor Scholastic Inc.
The prize is fairly magical: a trip to London for Daniel and his mother, Nancy,
to hear Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling read from her newest book at Royal
Albert Hall on June 26. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
comes out June 21.
Daniel is looking forward to the trip, in part because he'll get to check out
some Harry Potter locales.
Prior to this, the farthest the Dos Caminos Elementary School second-grader had
traveled was South Dakota, where he visited Mt. Rushmore last summer.
His mom is happy about it too, but for different reasons. "He spends so
much time sitting at therapists' offices" while Suzie, who has been
diagnosed with mild to moderate autism, a neurological
disability, is undergoing treatment, Nancy Boyce said. "We don't get to do
anything that's just special for Daniel."
For instance, because Suzie wouldn't have been able to handle the crowds at a
recent recital at Daniel's school, the family was unable to attend.
For the record, Daniel's favorite Harry Potter book is No. 2, "Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," and his favorite character is Harry.
Daniel's teacher, Cheryl Parker, said Tuesday that she had first read the essay
last week after receiving a copy of it in an e-mail from a school librarian.
"When I looked at it, I thought of Daniel," Parker said. "He's a
gifted little boy and a real Harry Potter enthusiast."
The winning essay wasn't Daniel's first crack at serious writing Parker said.
Her students regularly write brief narratives and letters, assignments that
Daniel thoroughly enjoys, along with his
other favorites -- reading and math.
After Daniel and his family learned of his contest win last week, Daniel told
his classmates and then read the essay to the entire student body during an
assembly, Parker said.
He even answered a few questions posed by the principal about the essay, she
said.
Principal Paige Fisher said some students were teary-eyed, but everyone clapped
with enthusiasm after hearing the story.
"It was just so well-received," Fisher said. "I think it is a
tribute to his sensitivity and not just for the fact that his sister has
autism, but for the fact that he wanted to come up with a potion to
fix everyone."
When he gets to London, Daniel wants to check out King's Cross rail station.
That's where the boy wizard and his friends catch the train to Hogwarts from a
track invisible to those who aren't bewitched.
Closer to home, he's looking forward to reading his four-paragraph essay to the
board of the Pleasant Valley Elementary School
District.
In it, he says he'd like to make a Laughing Potion that Suzie could drink so
the sound of loud laughter wouldn't bother her and a Crowd Potion so she could
go to places like Disneyland without crying.
But best of all, he said, "would be the Autistic Cure Potion. I would give
some of it to Suzie, and then give the rest to other kids with autism. If Suzie
didn't have autism we could go to the same school.
She could just be a normal kid."
Lynne Barnes
Times Staff Writer
Copyright 2003 The Los Angeles Times
Times staff writer Holly Wolcott contributed to this report.
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|
Autism
Dads
Special note: HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL FATHERS! ESPECIALLY DAD’S TO OUR SPECIAL CHILDREN!
Station Channel Rebroadcast schedule |
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IF YOU MISSED A NIGHT OF TOO MANY STARS:
If you
missed the premier of The Night of Too Many Stars, it will be re-airing on
Comedy Central this summer.
Airtimes for this summer on Comedy Central include:
Sunday,
June 15th at 8pm
Tuesday, June 17th at 8pm
Saturday, July 5th at 7pm
Wednesday, August 20th at 8pm
PLEASE REMEMBER: This is a comedy presentation by Saturday Night Live volunteers and other stars. I do not recommend this show for children!
Please
note: Lauren (Jeff’s amazing sister) is featured in a Public Service
Announcement during this presentation. She is amazingly supportive of Jeff –
please look for her! (She is the beautiful 20 year old brunette “I am a sister
of an autistic person.”
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5) VACCINE NEWS: -
Vaccines fueling autism epidemic?
Report: U.S. infants exposed to mercury beyond EPA, FDA
limits
(From Shafer Autism Newsletter & YAHOO! NEWS)
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Posted: June 9, 2003
The mother of an autistic child wonders aloud when health officials
will wake up to the epidemic that has claimed not only her son but hundreds of
thousands of other children in the United States, with no end in sight. She
muses, "Maybe someday this will be as important as SARS and we'll get the
same attention. God knows we need it."
Autism is a severely incapacitating developmental disability for which there is
no known cure. According to a recently released report by the California
Department of Developmental Services, or DDS, entitled Autistic Spectrum
Disorders, Changes in the California Caseload: 1999-2002, the rate of children
diagnosed with full-
syndrome autism in the Golden State between
1999 and 2002 nearly doubled from 10,360 to 20,377. The report further revealed
that "between Dec. 31,
1987, and Dec. 31, 2002, the population of persons with full-syndrome autism has increased
by 634 percent." That is a doubling of autism cases every four years, and
the staggering
increases are not limited to California.
Infants are being inoculated with vaccines containing toxic ingredients that
can be harmful — or fatal.
According to data provided by the U.S. Department of Education, the increased
autism rate in California is in line with the increases other states
are experiencing. For example, in 1992 Ohio reported 22
cases. A decade later the number had increased by 13,895 percent to 3,057. In Illinois the rate of autism cases climbed from just five in
1992 to 3,802 - an increase of 76,040 percent. Mississippi, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia reported no
cases of autism in 1992, but by 2002 the number of cases reported were 461, 404
and 144, respectively.
Only Puerto Rico can claim to have an increase of less than
100 percent, with the remaining states reporting increases of at least 500
percent during the same period.
Although once considered rare, during the last two decades the chance of a
child being diagnosed with autism has skyrocketed from one in 10,000 to one in
150. In California, full-syndrome autism now is the No. 1
disability among children and more prevalent than childhood cancer, diabetes
and Down's syndrome. It is estimated that within the
next four years autism cases in the Golden State will exceed the total number of cases of both cerebral palsy and
epilepsy. To get a better idea of how quickly the epidemic is spreading one
need only consider that in 1987 there were 2,778 persons with autism in California. By 2002 the number had increased to 20,377, and in 2002
3,575 new cases had been added to the rolls, far exceeding the total number of
cases in the state 15 years earlier.
For years there has been a debate about the cause or causes of autism, but the
vast majority of finger-pointing has been directed at childhood vaccines as the
culprit. And considering what is put into the vaccines injected into hours-old
infants, it is easy to understand why they are at the top of the list of
suspects: formaldehyde (used in embalming), thimerosal (nearly 50 percent
mercury), aluminum phosphate (toxic and carcinogenic), antibiotics,
phenols (corrosive to skin and toxic), aluminum salts (corrosive to tissue and neurotoxic),
methanol (toxic), isopropyl (toxic), 2-pheoxyethanol (toxic), live viruses and
a host of unknown components considered off-limits as trade secrets. These are
just part of the vaccine mixture.
For those who believe there are elements in vaccines that may be responsible
for the increased number of autism cases and other neurological disorders, thimerosal
currently is at the top of the list of possible culprits being investigated.
Despite official insistence that the evidence linking injected thimerosal to
autism is inconclusive, the data suggest otherwise. In 1999 the National
Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, or IOM, must have thought there was
something seriously wrong when it supported removal of thimerosal from
vaccines, stating that it was "a
prudent measure in support of the public goal to reduce mercury exposure of
infants and children as much as possible." The IOM further urged that
"full consideration be given to removing thimerosal from any biological
product to which infants, children and pregnant women are exposed."
A recently published study in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons
by Mark Geier, M.D., Ph.D., and president of the Genetic Centers of America and his son, David Geier, president of Medcon
Inc. and a consultant on vaccine cases, was titled "Thimerosal in
Childhood Vaccines, Neurodevelopment Disorders and Heart Disease in
the United States." It presents strong epidemiological
evidence for a link between neurodevelopmental disorders and mercury exposure
from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines.
Specifically, the authors evaluated the doses of mercury that children received
as part of their immunization schedule, then compared these doses with federal
safety guidelines. Furthermore, to compare the effects of thimerosal in vaccine
recipients, the incident rates of neurodevelopmental disorders and heart
disease reported to
the government's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System were analyzed. The
results were dramatic. The report revealed that "U.S. infants are exposed to mercury levels from their
childhood-immunization schedule that far exceed the EPA [Environmental
Protection Agency] and FDA [Food and Drug Administration]-established
maximum permissible levels for the daily oral ingestion of methyl
mercury."
The authors concluded that "in light of voluminous literature supporting
the biologic mechanisms for mercury-induced adverse reactions, the presence of
amounts of mercury in thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines exceeding
federal safety guidelines for the oral ingestion of mercury and previous
epidemiological studies
showing adverse reactions to such vaccines, a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing
childhood vaccines and neurodevelopment disorders and heart disease appears to
be confirmed."
It is no secret among government and health officials that mercury is toxic and
causes serious adverse reactions. In July 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health
Service issued a joint statement calling for the removal of thimerosal from
vaccines. Five years after the joint statement, however, it still is difficult
for parents and physicians to be sure that the pharmaceutical companies have
indeed removed the toxic substance from their vaccines.
According to Mark Geier, "The 2003 Physicians' Desk Reference, or PDR,
still shows childhood vaccines containing thimerosal, including diphtheria,
tetanus and acellular pertussis. DTaP, manufactured by Aventis Pasteur,
contains 25µg [25 micrograms] of mercury, Hemophilus influenzae b (Hib) vaccine
manufactured by Wyeth contains 25µg of mercury and pediatric Hepatitis B
vaccine, manufactured by Merck, contains 12.5µg of mercury."
Geier continues, "In addition, the influenza vaccine that is recommended
for an increasing segment of the pediatric population in the U.S. also contains 25µg of mercury. Assuming that the labeling is
correct, it is possible that children in the U.S. in
2003 may be exposed to levels of mercury from thimerosal contained in childhood
vaccines that are at higher levels than at any time in the past. Possible total
childhood mercury in 2003 is more than 300µg."
Whether the "labeling is correct" is the question du jour. According
to Len Lavenda, a spokesman for Aventis Pasteur, the maker of DTaP, "Aventis
only sells the DTaP vaccine in the preservative-free formulation. The PDR
references both the single and multidose. However, when we received the license
for the preservative-free we
ceased sales of the multidose vial. For some reason, the package insert takes
much longer to revise than one would expect. I believe it is at the FDA waiting
for approval, but the fact is we do not sell or market that product. In March
2001 we stopped all sales of that product in the preservative formulation. We
did not recall the product at that time because it was our belief that if we
did children may go unimmunized. It's been two years since anyone has
been able to purchase the preservative formulation from us."
Lavenda continues: "The package insert talks about both the single and multidose
vials and it says that the single-dose vial is preservative-free, and that is
all that is sold. The PDR is outdated, but parents don't have to worry about
their children being administered 25µg of thimerosal. It just takes time to get
the paperwork caught up. The current package insert does not accurately reflect
what is being marketed."
Geier is astounded by Lavenda's admission. "If this is true, they should
be in jail. They can't have an insert on a drug that is totally wrong. It is
against all regulations. If I'm a doctor and I'm giving you a shot and the
insert says such and such is in the shot, it had better be in it. If doctors
can't rely on the instructions that come with what we're injecting then all
bets are off. This is a far worse admission than admitting that thimerosal is
still in the
vaccine. There are at least 15 laws that say the insert has to match what is in
the product. This is absolutely horrendous. In my entire career in medicine I
have never heard of a drug company claiming that what's in the insert and the
accompanying product don't match. This is total mislabeling and fraud by their
own admission. Legally they
should be forced to close down because our clinical decisions are based on
their labeling."
Assuming that the package inserts are correct, Geier tells Insight, "The
EPA limit is 0.1 micrograms of mercury per kilogram body weight per day. It
doesn't take a genius to do the calculations when on their day of birth
children are given the hepatitis B vaccine, which is 12.5 micrograms of
mercury. The average newborn weighs between 6 and 7 pounds, so they would be
allowed 0.3 micrograms of mercury – but in this one shot they are getting 12.5
micrograms. That's 39 times more than allowed by law. And it gets worse when
you consider that children are getting multiple vaccinations at 2 months. And this
limit is for oral ingestion and not injection, which is much worse."
Rhonda Smith, a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, tells Insight that, except for mere traces, thimerosal has been
removed. "All routinely recommended licensed vaccines," says Smith,
"that are currently being manufactured for children in the U.S., except influenza, contain no thimerosal or only trace amounts - a
concentration of less than 0.0002 percent." But according to the 2003
immunization schedule and the package inserts, there appear to be a number of
childhood vaccines that still contain mercury, including those for tetanus and
diphtheria.
This scenario becomes even more bizarre when one further considers
that thimerosal is not a necessary component in vaccines. It first was
introduced by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. in the 1930s and is added
to vaccines only as a preservative – the theory being that multiple doses are
taken from the same bottle and that thimerosal will protect against
contamination. However, according to Geier, "the solution to any such
problem is to make vaccines
available in a single dose, which will cost the pharmaceuticals about one penny
more. What is interesting is that if you look up the mumps, measles, rubella
[MMR] vaccines in the PDR you'll see that they do not contain thimerosal
because it would kill the live virus. The MMR is available in multidose
packaging and, yet, there is no preservative – nothing. What they did was put a
label on it that says 'This product does not contain preservatives. Handle with
care.' It's that simple."
Geier insists, "I'm pro-vaccines, but the bottom line is that our kids are
getting massive amounts of mercury. Mercury has been withdrawn from everything,
including animal vaccines, yet we keep injecting it into our children. Everyone
should absolutely refuse to take a vaccine shot that has thimerosal in it, and
they should insist on reading the vaccine package insert. Our data showed that
the more mercury children received in their childhood vaccines the more
neurodevelopment disorders there are. We've looked at this every possible way
and every time there's massive evidence to support it."
So, if everyone acknowledges the toxicity of mercury and top U.S. health officials have called for its removal, why is thimerosal
still in vaccines?
"Maybe," concludes Geier, "the mercury isn't being taken out all
at once because if the pharmaceutical companies did that you would see an
unbelievable change in the rate of autism and there would be massive lawsuits.
If you look at the graphs now they go up and up. If you stop the thimerosal all
at once you'd see the numbers fall
dramatically."
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., a longtime advocate for victims of autism, has a grandson who became autistic after receiving nine vaccines in one day. Burton recently sent his second request in as many years to the White
House asking for a conference of scientists, researchers and parents to look
into the causes of autism.
The Indiana lawmaker tells Insight, "There is no
doubt in my mind that the mercury in vaccines is a major contributing factor to
a growing number of neurological disorders among children, but in particular
autism."
Burton explains that "thimerosal is a toxic
substance – mercury – and should not be put in close proximity of people,
should not be injected into people, especially children who have a newly formed
immune system that may not be able to handle it. To my knowledge there never
have been long-term tests on thimerosal and we never should have used mercury
in vaccines, period. Now what we've got is an epidemic that is absolutely out
of control."
The Indiana congressman continues, "One reason
this isn't getting the attention it needs is that the Food and Drug
Administration has very close ties to the pharmaceutical companies, as does the
Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] and the Centers for Disease
Control. I've said in the past that in some cases it appears that it's a
revolving door and people leave government health agencies and go to work for
the pharmaceuticals, which I think have undue influence on our health agencies.
Of course, they may not want to look at this because there's a possibility that
large claims would be filed and the pharmaceutical companies would have to cough
up the money to take care of these kids who have been damaged."
Burton means business. He insists, "The FDA,
CDC and HHS should put out in a very public way the dangers of mercury, but as
soon as they do it will amount to an admission that their mercury is causing
these problems. So the reports that come out of the FDA, CDC and HHS use
ambiguous terms. Well, if they're not sure, and there's the remotest
possibility that mercury in vaccines could cause autism, they ought to get thimerosal
off the market. Too many kids are being ruined for life because of this
stuff."
Barbara Loe Fisher is founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, a
charitable organization dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries and
deaths through public education. Fisher tells Insight, "There are many
things in vaccines that could be causing these disorders, and thimerosal is
only part of the problem. In the last 20 years, we've gone from giving children
23 doses of seven vaccines to 38 doses of 12 vaccines. I think the mercury is
part of
it for some kids, though I'm not sure it's the answer for all." But this
is a no-brainer, says Fisher. "Mercury shouldn't be in vaccines. They've
taken it out of everything else so why not the vaccines? The one thing that
people really need to look at is the dramatic rise in chronic disease and
disabilities in our kids in just the last two decades. You have to admit that
there is something occurring that a growing number of children cannot get
through without being immune-system and brain-system damaged. And what is the
one thing that we expose every child to? Those vaccines."
Fisher concludes, "I've always argued that public health is not measured
only by an absence of infectious disease. It also is measured by the absence of
chronic disease. By that score we get a big fat 'F.' So we don't have measles
and mumps, but look what we have now. It's just really simple: Take the mercury
out and let's see what happens."
Even so, based on the Aventis admission that the package insert does not
reflect what is in the vaccine, it will be difficult to know when, if ever, the
thimerosal actually has been removed. This skews the data about the
relationship between thimerosal and autism. More important, it means parents
cannot be sure the vaccinations their children receive are free of mercury.
Neither the Wyeth nor Merck pharmaceutical companies, nor HHS or FDA, returned
Insight's calls about this matter.
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6) New Resources for Southern California
Big Fun Gymnastics introduces “the Gene Pool” – Swimming Lessons for special needs kids
For safety, for fun and just in time for summer – SWIM LESSONS!! These are provided by qualified, special needs friends to help your child become swim ready. Here are the locations, date and times for your review:
Newport Beach: June 19 – Sept 18 – on Tues 12:30pm-6:00pm / Thurs 10:00am-2:00pm
Van Nuys: June 2 – Sept 18 – on Mon & Thur 9:00am – 12:00pm
Pasadena: June 4 – Sep 19 – on Wed & Fri 9:00am – 12:00pm
Culver City: June 7 – Sep 20 – on 1:15-2:45 on Saturdays only
El Segundo: June 7 – Sep 20 – on 1:15-2:45 on Saturdays only
Fees are $25 for 25 minutes or $50 for 50 minutes
No swimming experience required!!
For additional information PLEASE CONTACT Big Fun at 310-837-7849
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Provider has some availability:
Currently ABC has a few openings for families in Northern Orange Co. and Long Beach area. The following are a list of cities we are accepting new enrollment in:
Downey
Cerritos
Cypress
Seal Beach
Garden Grove
For more information – PLEASE CALL:
Laura Roberts
Autism Behavior Consultants (ABC)
3440 Torrance Blvd.
Suite 104
Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 937-3633
Speech Pathology Professionals
Social Skills Summer Camp
A Social Skills Summer Camp, provided by Speech Pathology Professionals located in Yorba Linda, will run from Monday to Thursday on July 7th through the 10th. There are currently openings in the 1:00-3:00 session for ages 9-12. A morning session for this age
group may also be made available depending on the number of participants interested in attending. A camp for younger children, ages 5-8, is tentatively being arranged for the following week, July 14th through the 17th (camp for younger children will run for 1.5 hours per day). Please call if you have further questions or would like further details. Camp will include field trips, indoor and outdoor game play, dining and shopping excursions, and much, much more! If you are unable to attend camp, we still have openings in our weekly Social Skills groups. Please contact Teresa Cardon or Lori Jacob at (714) 993-3233 for further details.
"Camp I Can"
This Camp I Can program was put
together with Autism Society of America - San Diego Chapter (way to go Greg)
and YMCA.
For information and registration for
Camp I CAN 2003 please contact Stephanie Yoo at the Mission Valley YMCA.
Stephanie can be reached at (619) 298-3576. You can also visit ASASD at http://www.sandiegoautismsociety.org/newsandevents/campican.htm
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7) CALLING ALL AUTISM FAMILIES WITH 2 + CHILDREN AFFECTED
National Institute of Mental Health Tells Cure Autism Now
Foundation:
Recruit More Families!
Does your family or a family you know have more than one member diagnosed with
autism, PDD or Asperger's Disorder? Families now have a significant opportunity
to contribute to the future of research which will lead to effective treatments
and a cure for autism.
In the past, researchers have struggled to recruit enough families with more
than one member affected by autism for genetic studies. Progress tracking the
genes responsible for autism was slowed. The needed large family collections
for genetic analysis were unavailable.
It was then that the Cure Autism Now Foundation (CAN) established the Autism
Genetics Resource Exchange (AGRE) - the world's largest autism gene bank with
samples from families with more than one member diagnosed with autism.
CAN, known for its nationwide network of families, has successfully recruited
450 families in just five years. This year, CAN received a 4-year, $3.9 million
grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to build on that success and
expand its recruitment efforts. AGRE's goal is to recruit 400 new families by
2007.
Families that have more than one member diagnosed with autism, PDD or Asperger's
Disorder are encouraged to join AGRE. Families are asked to complete clinical
assessments and participate in a family blood draw. Family blood samples are
"immortalized" through a laboratory process making the samples a
perpetual resource, one that is used repeatedly by qualified researchers
worldwide.
AGRE recruiters coordinate all aspects of family participation. Professionals,
such as research associates, phlebotomists, and pediatric neurologists, visit
the family in their homes to accommodate families' schedules and make
participation goes as smoothly as possible.
Once a family's data is collected, AGRE makes confidentially-coded family
samples immediately available to researchers for analysis, to publish research,
and submit grant proposals. There are currently 102 AGRE-approved researchers
worldwide with access to the AGRE samples.
If your family or a family you know has more than one member diagnosed with
autism, PDD or Asperger's Disorder, please join us by calling:
CONTACT: Marianne Toedtman 888-AUTISM-2 (288-4762) familyagre@agre.org
www.familyagre.org
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8) CONFERENCES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:
2003 TRAINING DIVISION CALENDER
Solutions for Language Training - July 22-23, 2003
Teaching Play and Social Skills - July 24, 2003
Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS) - July 28, 2003
Teaching Children with Language Delays - August 25-28, 2003
Teaching Verbal Behavior - July 29-31, 2003
All workshops run 9:00 4:00.The workshops will be held at:Centre Concord -
5298 Clayton St. - Concord, CA 94521. For additional information regarding
these courses, please check out our website at http://www.behavioranalysts.com
Register early courses have a participation limit > of 20!
To register: Contact Laurie Winkler at winkler@behavioranalysts.com or
(925) 210 9370 ext. 100
Questions: Contact Stacy Carroll at carroll@behavioranalysts.com or
(925) 210-9370 ext.109
MAJOR CONFERENCE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BY GREAT PLAINS LABS!
Did you know the DAN! (Defeat Autism NOW) Conference is not being held in San Diego this year? Instead it will be held in Oregon! Here is a great conference to attend held right here in Southern California!
June 21-22, 2003 in Anaheim - National Autism Conference on the Recent Findings in the biological and behavioral therapies for Autism, PDD and Hyperactivity Disorders.Organized by the Great Plains Laboratory, Inc. with collaboratorion of the Talk About Curing Autism and Center for Autism and Related Disorders
Registration fees
After May 1, 2003 - Internet registrations $189.00, mail, fax or phone $199.00
Spanish session only (Saturday night) $25.00 (this fee does not apply if
you register for the conference)
No refunds are given after May 22, 2003
For more information and registration: www.greatplainslaboratory.com
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JUNE 17th FREE INTRODUCTION TO ABA SEMINAR
Zina Rhee from Autism Behavior Consultants
A One Night Seminar Tuesday, June 17th
3521 Lomita Blvd. Suite 201 Torrance
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Introduction to Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
To Rsvp: Laura Roberts laura@autismprograms.com
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JUNE 28th FREE AUTISM CONFERENCE - Torrance library is having "A Day of Autism
Awareness". It is a free conference sponsored by the library and
L.A. Feat on Saturday, June
28 from 10am to 5 pm. The speakers are Dr. B.J. Freeman, Dr. Ron Leaf,
Dr. Douglas Moes, Marianne O'Brien-Gordon and Rosemond Seligson. No need
to sign up in advance. The flyer I have says if you have any questions
you can contact Dana Vinke at 310-618-5962.
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JUNE 26th FREE CONFERENCE = Featuring Dr William Walsh – Pfeiffer Treatment Center
NOTICE: A new, free Speaker Series, called Food For Thought, which would probably be of interest to your members. The first speaker will be William Walsh from the Pfeiffer Treatment Center, on June 26, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla, (UTC area). My group, Parent ASK, is sponsoring it. The series is funded by a grant from the First 5 Commission of San Diego.
You can get more information at our web site http://www.parentask.org
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Family Focus Empowerment Center of California State University, Northridge
Presents
Pat Trenhaile - District E Special Education Coordinator - "Navigating Special Education in the Los Angeles Unified School District" Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
California State University, Northridge - 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330
Education Building ARCO Conference Room ED1214 - Free Parking in lot B5 off Resdea Blvd and Plummer
PLEASE RSVP TO: (818) 677-5575 FAMILY FOCUS RESOURCE CENTER. All are welcome!
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AUGUST 5 & 6: PECS WORKSHOP
· PECS Workshop Date: August 5 & 6, 2003
· PECS Follow Up Workshop Date: August 4, 2003
· Location: Holiday Inn Mission Bay- Sea World, San Diego
· Who should attend: SLPs, Special Ed. Teachers, Parents, Other Therapists, Administrators…
Participants will get $30.00 off their registration fee when they mention on their registration form that they heard about the workshop from Sarah Buswell.
Registration fee includes a copy of the 2nd Edition PECS Training Manual.
· Questions? Contact me at sbuswell@pecs.com or 703-421-4001.
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9)FREE SOCIAL EVENTS
South Coast Plaza FREE Carousel rides!
Attention all TACA members! Diane Gallant has worked hard with South Coast Plaza management in arranging FREE CAROUSEL RIDES for children with Autism and their siblings!!
Come join us for a morning of fun and horse rides at South Coast Plaza!
Dates:
Next date is: Saturday, 6/21/2003
Times: 8:30am-9:30am (BEFORE the mall opens)
Local: South Coast Plaza by the carousel (NOT the Crystal Court carousel!)
Costs: FREE!!!!!!!!!
Park: Park by ZTejas Restaurant and the Bank of America ATM’s off Bristol
Note: Kids can ride as often as they would like and based on availability. Come join us for some free fun!!
NO NEED TO RSVP! JUST COME AND PLAY!!
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From www.projectsea.org – SURF CAMP!
It’s surf time again and before I post it on the calendar, I wanted to give you first pass on it. The days and locations are listed below and there is a maximum for each day.
The sessions are half day and on rotational. The events in South County is sponsored by Paskowitz Surf Camp and coordinated by Surfers Healing Foundation. The event in Ventura is held by Project SEA with various volunteers local from UCSB, Surfrider and a couple of folks who are in the Autism field.
Dates are as follows:
July 23rd – 8 kids (South Orange County)
July 31st – 8 kids (Ventura)
August 20th – 8 kids (South Orange County)
I wish we could do Santa Monica or South Bay, but the surf and current are a bit rough on the little ones. An ideal location is Palos Verdes, but it requires a hike which makes it hard for the kids.
Get back with me if you are interested before I post it on the website this weekend….
…Gil Murillo…
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______________________________________________________________________
Hugs, thanks and be safe -
Lisa A Jeff's mom
Web Page for the TACA GROUP: www.talkaboutcuringautism.org - check it out!
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) provides general information of interest to the autism community. The information comes from a variety of sources and TACA does not independently verify any of it. The views expressed herein are not necessarily TACA’s.
TACA does not engage in lobbying or other political activities.
P.S. TACA e-news is now at 648 families