TACA holds monthly meetings in many locations throughout the United States that feature educational speakers on important topics and allow family members to connect with one another and stay on top of the latest information in the autism world. Each TACA group maintains a resource library of the latest autism books and tapes that can be checked out by members at no charge.

Check out our group listings: each contains information on TACA meetings and special events as well as a contact form.

Are you wondering what happens at a TACA meeting? Watch our video.

By Catie Beck

We last met Austin in March. Several months ago we introduced you to a 7-year-old named Austin, who has autism, and needed a loving family to help him grow. This week Austin got what he was waiting for, his forever family.

It was a happy day for the new parents, and their new addition, however unexpected it may have seemed just a few months ago.

"We weren't thinking about it, we weren't looking for adoption, but we saw a news story," Austin's new adopted father Bryan Jepson said.

WATCH THE VIDEO

New Family

News 8's Catie Beck was there and now brings you the moment Austin's been waiting for.

The family saw a News 8 Forever Families segment, and months later they sat before a judge to make their case.

"Seeing this little boy and knowing that we could help him. I just knew that I would wonder every day whatever happened to him if I didn't help him," Austin's adopted mother Laurie Jepson said.

It was an emotional moment when Bryan Jepson described the family's affection for Austin.

Her husband, Bryan Jepson, is an autism expert by profession and experience, as the family's middle son, Aaron, is also autistic.

"We've been there, done that, so its part of our life, so hopefully it will give him a chance to make some good progress," Laurie Jepson said.

Austin has lived with the family for five months, but now he's officially one of them.

Austin not only gets two new parents, but he also will have two new brothers.

"He's fit in right from the beginning," Laurie Jepson said. "Today is just making it official and real and it's been really special."

No doubt it's a special day for Austin too, with a permanent place to call home and a family to love and be loved by forever.

Julia Berle’s son Baxter was vaccinated when he was 12 months old and Julia believes that he developed autism because of it. She cautions against the one-size-fits-all vaccination approach. Instead, Julia encourages parents to view a vaccination as a medical procedure and ask that the vaccine be individualized for their child. Dr. Tanya Altman from the American Academy of Academics advocates the use of vaccines and warns that without vaccines, disease spreads.

Watch the show.

When it comes to fighting autism, maybe we should send in the Army.

Autism and the military have a deep history together. Children of service members are reportedly almost twice as likely to have autism (1-in-88) than those in the general population (1-in-150). Meanwhile, the Department of Defense quietly spends millions in taxpayer dollars researching the possible causes of autism at far-from-the-spotlight centers around the country.

Recently, several documents have been brought to my attention which, when viewed together, suggest that the Department of Defense has legitimate concerns about vaccine injuries and their possible connection to autism, perhaps more so than other branches of the Federal Government.

These documents raise several questions that I am currently trying to get answered from DOD officials:

1) Autism may be an "adverse event" of Tripedia (DTaP) use

According to the website of the Vaccine Healthcare Centers Network, run by DOD and CDC, autism is listed as an "adverse event" associated with use of the Tripedia triple vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.

My questions are: Why does autism appear here? Does VHC consider autism to be a possible adverse event of DTaP use, or has it simply been reported that way by parents?

2) Patients who have bad vaccine reactions should avoid multiple vaccines in the future

According to this VHC slide, any patient who has a "Systemic Event" following immunization - defined as "symptoms and signs of illness after vaccination" and "any reaction that does not involve the injection site" - should avoid multiple vaccines in the future, if possible.

My questions are: Is that standard DOD policy? Is there an alternative schedule for these patients? Does this advice apply to children of service members as well? Why is this information not shared with civilian doctors and pediatricians?

3) Patients who develop serious neurological diseases might need vaccine exemptions in the future

This VHC slide says that a patient who develops a severe neurologic disease following vaccination might need temporary or permanent exemption from future vaccines. Such diseases include peripheral neuropathy, encephalopathy (including autism, presumably) Guillain-Barré syndrome and progressive focal neurologic disease. Such patients should be given temporary exemptions from future vaccinations.

Meanwhile, risks for recurrent reactions should be assessed before additional doses are given, and "permanent vaccine exemption may be required."

Again, is this DOD policy? Are such exemptions given? Because autism is listed as a "severe neurological disease," would those patients (ie, children of service members) also be exempt from future vaccinations? And, on a related note, does VHC consider autism to be a "neurological disease," as opposed to a developmental/behavioral disorder?

4) Mercury, and possibly thimerosal may cause autism and dementia

According this slide (#22) on the vaccine preservative thimerosal, from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), "exposure to mercury in utero and children may cause mild to severe mental retardation and mild to severe motor coordination impairment." The slide also seems to indicate that autism and dementia might questionably be "health effects" of mercury or thimerosal exposure.

My question is: Why does autism appear on a list of health effects on a slide about thimerosal, even if it is followed by a question mark?

5) Alternative biomedical treatments may be prescribed for thimerosal exposure

The same slide says that "treatments" for thimerosal exposure include: "Methyl-B12, ointment DMPS, & glutathione (GSH)." These are all alternative (some would say fringe, radical and dangerous) treatments being used today by thousands of autism parents and their children's physicians, with varying degrees of success (including reports of full recovery).

Methyl-B12 - has been shown to repair damage to the process of methylation, and to restore methionine and glutathione levels in patients with autism to within normal ranges.

DMPS - is a sulfur-based amino acid used in the process of chelation - in which sulfur molecules bind with heavy metals such as mercury, and eliminate them from the system.

Glutathione - is a sulfur-based protein that binds with heavy metals and eliminates them from the system. It is also a powerful anti-oxidant. Many children with autism show signs of glutathione depletion, heavy metal accumulation and oxidative stress.

My questions are: Was the speaker simply refering to treatments that some people have tried, or is the AFID endorsing these treatments for thimerosal toxicity and/or autism? On what evidence is this based? Are Methyl B-12 and GSH, like chelation, considered standard of care in the military for mercury toxicity? Can you explain why autism families in the military have these treatments covered, (at thousands of dollars a year), even if they also have an autism diagnosis? Is this why military insurance will pay for visits to doctors in the Defeat Autism Now!network, which advocates the use of these non-traditional treatments?

I eagerly await the replies from VHC and AFID officials, and will update this blog as soon as I hear anything.

Meanwhile, regardless of the Pentagon's positions on the above questions, we know for certain that DOD is concerned about the risk of injury from multiple vaccines.

In fact, it may even need to reconsider the practice.

"We have preliminary findings from one of our many on-going research studies that suggest a relationship between adverse events and multiple vaccinations exist," US Army Colonel Renata J. M. Engler, MD, director of the VHC, (a "collaborative network" of the Defense Department and the CDC), wrote to Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). "These findings will require validation, but heighten our concern for the current clinical practice of multiple vaccinations."

"The more drugs one is exposed to, the greater the likelihood of having an adverse event so as vaccine numbers increase, and (sic) we will see more people who have efficacy or safety issues," Col. Engler said. "The standard of care (ie, in the context of mixing vaccines) is to minimize drug exposures because of the recognition that the more drugs being used, the greater the chance of a reaction and potentially a serious adverse event."

I wonder when the CDC and America's pediatricians will issue an equally thoughtful and cautionary statement, instead of their usual reassurance that small children can easily get 100,000 shots at once, without a single "serious adverse event" among them.

PS: For a list of scientists and government leaders who called for more vaccine-autism research in 2008, please CLICK HERE.

Jessica Glover hopes to be a champion for children on the autism spectrum, like her son Cade

BY CHRISTINA LENT

Cade Glover has regained his engaging personality after a switch in diet. His mother Jessica is on a mission to share the lessons she’s learned with Cade to help other children with autism.

Jessica Glover is on a personal quest to change opinions about autism on a local and national level.

She and her family moved to Beaverton from Bend eight weeks ago to launch Autism Resources of Beaverton, a non-profit resource agency dedicated to autism and advocacy, and to work with the Beaverton School District to open its first K-12 charter school for autism spectrum children.

The 27-year-old mother of four children also opened an in-home Sun Drops Child Care and Preschool for children on the autism spectrum.

Her focus on autism awareness and advocacy is one from the heart.

Glover’s son Cade was diagnosed with autism when he was 22 months old after going in two months before for vaccinations.

“When I went to the health department in Central Oregon, they told me they wanted to ‘catch him up’ on his vaccinations,” Glover recalled. “They gave him 12 at one time.

“When I took him home, his fever spiked to 102, 103, 104 and 105. I took him to the emergency room four times in six days. In two weeks, he stopped walking and talking and regressed to an infant. Before that, he was a very typical, very healthy baby.”

Over the next couple months, Glover began to notice other changes in her once “very loving, adorable, cuddle bug.”

Cade had been really excited about the coming birth of his baby sister Maycie, often asking questions and feeling his mom’s expanding tummy. But when Maycie was born, his previous interest was nonexistent.

“For two months he never kissed or touched her,” Glover said as she fought back tears. “I knew then that something was wrong because by that point he had stopped looking at us.

“All of a sudden he wanted nothing to do with us. He didn’t want to be held or kissed and we’d find him buried in his room under blankets. He also started to fixate on things like lining up all his toys or playing with his trains for eight hours at a time.”

At that point, Glover began seeking answers for the differences in his personality and behavior.

“Something inside me started this personal quest,” Glover recalled.

After extensive research and reading, “Unraveling the Mystery of Autism,” the business woman’s life focus shifted.

She began using holistic methods she found in her research to help her son.

“I took him off of dairy and within a week he started walking,” Glover said. “It was like a veil had lifted.

“A week into his new diet, he said, ‘Mama,’ and I about died. From there I cut out gluten and the words just started flowing. Within that week he also stopped obsessing over things. He would drink out of different cups. He wanted to interact with the family again and started loving on his baby sister.”

Glover cherished each new development.

“It was like he had been in a cave for 18 months,” she recalled. “Now he is the most loving child – it’s like he’s making up for lost time.”

It became Glover’s mission to start Autism Resources in Bend and help other families convert autism children’s diets over to gluten- and dairy-free.

“I needed to share this with as many people as possible,” she said.

That thought led her to dreaming of opening a school that would not follow the common Applied Behavioral Analysis model used in many public schools.

Her dream school for children like Cade would have a natural setting, where teachers and specialists would work one-on-one with students, figure out their allergies and focus on their abilities rather than their disabilities.

“By sitting with them one-on-one you can help them with their social skills by getting them to use their words to say how they are feeling or having them draw a picture to express their emotions,” she said.

The school would also offer all organic food, not require immunizations, follow a pattern of daily routines rather than a strict schedule and expose students to art, music and outdoor activities like gardening.

That vision became so clear that Glover looked for the ideal place to open a charter school.

Beaverton is that place, she said, “because it has one of the highest autism rates in the nation.”

“There is an entire lost generation of kids that are lost in public school systems across the nation because they were mainstreamed and there is no funding for supporting these kids,” Glover said. “There is a big group of teenagers who are hurting.

“It’s important to work with autistic children when they are young and focus on their abilities. These children are gifted in their own ways.”

Glover is in the process of laying the ground work for opening a charter school tailored for autism spectrum children in Beaverton.

The idea to offer an alternative option for students has gained the interest of both the Educational Service District and Beaverton School District.

“They are both helping me so much because they want a different option for these kids,” Glover said. “The responses I’ve had so far have been wonderful. Families have really welcomed me with open arms.

“We all want these kids to feel like there is a group of people here who love and support them.”

Ideally, she’d like to open a charter school near Beaver Acres Elementary School in August 2009, just as Cade enters kindergarten.

But there is a lot to accomplish between now and then, including an extensive review process by the Beaverton School District.

“There are a lot of people in Beaverton that need another option for their children, so this will be very good for the community,” Glover said.

As for Cade, he’s doing very well, she said as the young man bounced from one inflatable activity to the next at Pump It Up Jr.! in Beaverton.

“My biggest goal is to find what he likes and is passionate about,” Glover said. “I want him to be able to one day be able to make a living doing what he loves, be able to live on his own and ultimately be able to relay his feelings with others.”

With her crimson curls and angelic face, little Hannah Poling, a 9-year-old girl with autism, hardly looks like a pioneer. But the Georgia native is the first to receive a mea culpa of sorts from federal health officials, who acknowledged that routinely recommended vaccines she received as a toddler might have contributed to her autism. Poling's case is unique in that she received five injections in one day in order to catch up after falling behind the recommended vaccination schedule. More important, she also has a rare mitochondrial condition that disrupts normal cellular function; this, experts believe, was worsened by the immunizations, causing brain changes. It's one more data point in the continuing war over whether childhood immunizations are linked to autism; scientific studies to date and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find no consistent cause-and-effect relationship.

The December 1st issue of Time Magazine carries a special section on "The Year in Medicine," which mentions the case of Hannah Poling, the young girl with autism who received compensation from the federal vaccine injury program. Like many news accounts back then, Time has called the case "rare," because it involved an underlying dysfunction of Hannah's mitochondria, the little powerhouses within each cell that produce energy.

The widespread misconception that Hannah's case was "unique," and without any bearing on other autism cases, was promulgated by opinion leaders such as CDC Director Julie Gerberding and the newly rich vaccine inventor Dr. Paul Offit, (who told Newsweek that his share of the royalties from the vaccine was "like winning the lottery.")

But on Wednesday, a new chart-review study was published showing that "mitochondrial autism" is not rare at all.

"These and prior data suggest a disturbance of mitochondrial energy production as an underlying pathophysiological mechanism in a subset of individuals with autism," wrote the authors of the study, "Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort Analysis." http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003815

In fact, the authors wrote that mitochondrial dysfunction "may be present in a substantial percentage of children with ASD." (They did not mention prevalence in adults with autism).

I first reported on this phenomenon back in March, when I interviewed one the of the study's authors. Back then, I wrote that mitochondrial dysfunction was detected in 7-to-30 percent of people with autism, and that genetic mutations that might confer such dysfunction could be as common as 1 in 50 people in the general population.

Now, I freely admit that I do not understand everything written in this new study. But there are a few things that I think are worth pointing out.

REGRESSIVE AUTISM IS REAL

I have long held that there are many different subsets of autism cases. One such group is made up of children who were developing normally, only to regress later - typically between one and two years of age. Nearly all of the children in my book regressed into autism - a process that often began almost immediately after receiving multiple vaccinations.

Perhaps that is why the very idea of regressive autism has been cause for derision among many scientists, who insist that the parents were simply too ignorant to "notice" autism symptoms in their children earlier on.

But among the 25 children in the chart review, 14 of them, or 56%, suffered from "regression of previously acquired skills." This is a rate that is significantly above the roughly "one third of autistic children" in general who are reported to have regressed, the authors said. So then, not only is regressive autism real, it seems to be almost twice as common in cases of "mitochondrial autism," (the authors; words, not mine).

MANY CHILDREN WITH AUTISM ARE PRONE TO BIOMEDICAL PROBLEMS

Most of the children in my book - and Hannah Poling as well - had rather severe physical, biomedical problems associated with their regression. Again, this claim has been met with scorn by many in the medical and science communities, who say that autism is much more of a behavioral/neurological than biomedical condition. Parents and doctors who do try to treat these physical symptoms - with conventional and alternative therapies alike - are singled out for particular damnation by many of these so-called experts.

And yet, the authors of this study found the following:

Twenty-one patients (84%) had histories of major non-neurological medical problems, most commonly of the gastrointestinal system, with gastroesophageal reflux affecting nine and constipation affecting eight subjects. Seven patients had structural or functional cardiovascular abnormalities. In addition, 17 patients had excessive fatigability or exercise intolerance and several children had abnormal physical exam findings including six with facial dysmorphism, four with microcephaly, four with macrocephaly, and five with growth retardation.
Again, biomedical problems - in addition to regression - may be more common in the subset of children with "mitochondrial autism."

Much more research is needed in this regard. As the authors noted: "it is possible, if not likely, that a still broader clinical, biochemical and genetic spectrum of mitochondrial autism exists."

MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION IS NOT NECESSARILY INHERITED

Of the 25 children in this study, only two (8%) had specific mutations in their mitochondrial DNA that are considered pathogenic (disease causing). Mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother only. And though mutations in the nuclear DNA (inherited from both parents) can affect mitochondrial function, the authors wrote: "It is possible that there are important environmental or genetic factors in addition to the mtDNA mutation" in the development of autism in some cases.

This finding is not inconsistent with an earlier estimate from the Cleveland Clinic, which says that 75% of mitochondrial disorders are "sporadic" in nature, meaning they were probably triggered by environmental factors. Heavy metals, pesticides, formaldehyde, alcohol and some medications can damage mitochondria, especially in developing fetuses, published studies show.

BIO-MARKERS FOR MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION ARE NOT DIFFICULT TO MEASURE

The authors used reference levels to measure "blood lactate and pyruvate, plasma alanine, urinary organic acids, CK (creatine kinase) AST (aspartate transaminase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase," they wrote. And they added that, "Biochemical evidence of mitochondrial ETC dysfunction included increased blood lactate and pyruvate levels, elevated plasma alanine level, and increased urinary levels of Krebs cycle intermediates or 3-methylglutaconate."

This is significant because one day, we may routinely test children for signs of mitochondrial dysfunction. Such tests might be able to predict which children are most at risk for autistic regression and other developmental problems. They could also be quite useful for diagnostics and biomedical treatments in children with autism.

VACCINES MAY PLAY A ROLE IN AUTISTIC REGRESSION IN SOME CHILDREN WITH MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION

Here is where the long knives of science really come out. And it is why the Hannah Poling case is so extraordinarily controversial.

"Recently, there has been increased concern regarding a possible causative role of vaccinations in autistic children with an underlying mitochondrial cytopathy (cellular disorder)," the authors wrote. "For one of our 25 patients (Hannah, who DOES have autism, contrary to claims by Gerberding, Offit et al, who erroneously insisted, without ever meeting the child, that she only had "features" of autism), the child's autism/neurodevelopmental deterioration appeared to follow vaccination. Although there may have been a temporal relationship of the events in this case, such timing does not prove causation."

Maybe not - but one must wonder, then, why medical personnel at HHS's Vaccine Injury Compensation Program conceded that the "cause" of Hannah's "autistic encephalopathy" was "vaccine induced fever and immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves."

When I first reported this story, the researcher I spoke to told me there had been 30 children in the study, and two of them (8%) showed signs of brain injury from vaccines. Of the five children since excluded from the final published review, one must have been the second vaccine-related regression.

Most of the children had regressed following illness-induced fever, the doctor told me. But now I wonder how accurate that statement was.

Why? Because we now find out that nine of the children (36%) had so-called "multiple regressions," and nothing in this review indicates that any attempt was made to determine if vaccines, febrile infections, or some other factors acted as triggers in the subsequent regressive episodes.

But there is no mention at all in this new review of parental interviews, nor of comparing vaccination records with the timing of the regressions. Likewise, there was no attempt in the paper to explain the regressions with other illnesses or stressful events.

No wonder, then, that the authors themselves conclude that "there might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic stress of vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases, which are known precipitants of mitochondrial regression."

In fact, they added: "Large population-based studies will be needed to identify a possible relationship of vaccination with autistic regression in persons with mitochondrial cytopathies."

This statement will surely be heartily endorsed by the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF), which supports research into mito dysfunction and autistic regression. Last April, at a vaccine safety meeting at HHS in Washington, a leading scientist affiliated with the UMDF, Dr, Douglas Wallace of the University of California at Irvine, said that over-vaccination of people with mitochondrial disorders was a deep concern, especially in light of Hannah Poling, who got nine vaccines at once.

(Time Magazine said she got "five injections" but failed to mention that two of them contained triple vaccines. Time also said that Hannah's situation was "unique," which is demonstrably false and will require a correction).

We have always advocated spreading the immunizations out as much as possible because every time you vaccinate, you are creating a challenge for the system, Dr. Wallace testified. And if a child has an impaired system, that could in fact trigger further clinical problems.

I took that to mean that children with impaired mitochondria might also have impaired immune systems. And children with impaired immune systems might not be able to handle nine vaccines at once.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

There were many other very interesting findings from this review that should be followed up by scientists as soon as possible. For example, the ratio of boys to girls was roughly 1-to-1, as opposed to the 4-to-1 boy/girl ratio found in "idiopathic" cases (or, autism of unknown origin).

The rate of multiple births is also intriguing and deserves further investigation. Also, some of the siblings of the autism cases also had mitochondrial disorders, but did not regress into autism. This fact would be extremely important in developing a susceptibility hypothesis, rather than a genetically predetermined disease process..

Finally, the youngest children in this chart review were two years of age. I was told that the review first began five years ago, meaning that all of these cases were born before 2002. That is significant because most of these children would have received a large number of vaccines containing thimerosal - the preservative made with 49.6% mercury - which is a known toxicant to mitochondria.

One would expect that this new study would prompt Time Magazine, Julie Gerberding and Paul Offit to issue statements of correction on the "rarity" of mitochondrial disorders in autism.

But one should not hold one's breath, in my opinion.

Can vaccines contribute to the onset of autism in some children? I believe that contention is not only possible, it is plausible. More research is needed.

But anyone willing to make such a statement in public opens themselves up to the wrath of science. But the problem is, there is simply no such thing as "scientific consensus" when it comes to vaccines and autism.

Any scientist who tells you that this case is closed is either stupid, lying, or shockingly unwilling to acknowledge the facts on the ground.

Of course, many scientists want this issue to "go away," as they believe it is settled. But their "belief" is counterweighted by the beliefs of other scientific and health policy authorities, who beg to disagree.

The list is significant, and growing (see below). And to it, should be added Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the Department of Health in the UK - (which, if I'm not mistaken, is roughly the same as our head of the FDA).

An editor at the Age of Autism site, Anne Dachel, wrote to Dr. Fletcher to seek his reaction to the stories about reportedly high rates of autsim among Somali children in Minneapolis.

Here was his reply:

"I have always thought since I first heard about the Somali children that this really proves the causal role of vaccines. The Amish children who have no vaccines have no autistic-like disorders and the Somali children who are newly exposed to aggressive vaccine programmes have exceptionally high levels! What more evidence is needed?"

So there you have it. A leading scientist talking about "proof" of a vaccine-autism connection -- only you won't see this statement in The New York Times or on ABC News.

This seems to be a step forward for Dr. Fletcher, who said in 2006 that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might be implicated in autism. According to a report in the Daily Mail:

Dr Peter Fletcher, who was Chief Scientific Officer at the Department of Health, said if it is proven that the MMR jab causes autism, "the refusal by governments to evaluate the risks properly will make this one of the greatest scandals in medical history".

He added that after agreeing to be an expert witness on drug-safety trials for parents' lawyers, he had received and studied thousands of documents relating to the case which he believed the public had a right to see.

He said he has seen a "steady accumulation of evidence" from scientists worldwide that the measles, mumps and rubella jab is causing brain damage in certain children.

But he added: "There are very powerful people in positions of great authority in Britain and elsewhere who have staked their reputations and careers on the safety of MMR and they are willing to do almost anything to protect themselves."

And to you, angry scientists out there getting ready to trash me for this post -- just remember: You are not trashing me, you are trashing one of your own. And he is hardly alone.

NOTE:

During 2008, all of the following groups and individuals have advocated or considered exploring possible links between vaccines and autism:

1) Both Presidential Candidates
2) Director of the CDC
3) Former head of the NIH and American Red Cross
4) Chair of the U.S. House Science Subcommittee on Investigations
5) Dr. Jon Poling, Pediatric Neurologist
6) HHS Vaccine Safety Working Group
7) CDC Vaccine Safety Research Agenda
8) Medical personnel at HHS Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
9) Members of the Strategic Planning Workgroup of the IAC Committee
10) Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network - CISA
11) Autism researchers at Johns Hopkins University Medical School
12) America's health insurance companies
13) Autism Speaks
14) The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
15) Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health

By Shari Rudavsky
Posted: November 29, 2008

Trained as a physical therapist and married to a pharmacist, Julie Funk did not question the routine vaccinations that doctors gave her son Jason. But just before his second birthday, Jason was diagnosed with autism.

And Funk, who lives in the Castleton area, started to question the safety of vaccines. Like many in the autism community, she had heard the debate over whether vaccinations contribute to or even cause autism, an increasingly common neurological disorder.

When Funk's daughter was born in October of last year, she opted against vaccination. Allison showed no signs of autism, and Funk said she wasn't taking any chances.

Around the country, there is debate over what role, if any, vaccinations play in autism, and many parents are deciding against immunizations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many scientists say the preponderance of evidence shows there's no link.

But many parents of children with autism dispute that claim, pointing to alternative studies they say prove there's a connection.

In the wake of this debate, some states have seen the numbers of schoolchildren with exemptions for vaccines soar, although the majority of children in school today have been immunized.

In New York, for example, immunization exemptions have nearly doubled since 1999, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. This year in Oregon, about 4 percent of schoolchildren have exemptions, but in one Oregon community, one-quarter of kindergartners are exempted from at least one vaccine, the Oregonian newspaper reported.

In recent years in Indiana, the numbers of medical and religious exemptions have remained stable, at less than 1 percent each. Last year, of about 84,000 kindergartners, 249 children were exempted from immunizations for a variety of medical reasons, and about 560 were exempted on religious grounds.

Indiana does not track the reason for the medical exemption, whether it is because of autism or another condition, such as allergies or cancer, said Dr. Joan Duwve, the state's medical director for human health services and preparedness.

While medical exemptions require a doctor's verification, any parent can file for a religious waiver on the grounds that their personal beliefs prohibit vaccination.

"I would say most of the people who are concerned about autism probably are choosing -- and this would just be my assumption -- to file a religious objection," Duwve said.

Funk says she likely will vaccinate her daughter before she enrolls her in school.

But for now she thinks it's safest to wait. "I don't believe there's a need for it when they're so young," she said. "I think vaccinations are very important, but they're giving too many to little babies."

Some physicians agree. Dr. Mary Lou Hulseman, with Fall Creek Family Medicine in Indianapolis, specializes in the care of children with autism. She recommends parents not vaccinate children with autism, and that parents of children who seem healthy should proceed carefully.

Those who are wary of vaccines think autism may be a form of mercury or other heavy metal poisoning. Children who develop autism may be unable to rid their bodies of certain toxins, stressing their immune systems and producing the neurological symptoms associated with autism, Hulseman said.

While thimerosal, a mercury-based vaccine preservative Eli Lilly and Co. created but no longer makes, has been removed from most vaccines, those who question vaccine safety say trace amounts of it and other toxins, such as aluminum, remain.

"We can't get rid of all the mercury and lead in our water," Hulseman said. "But I think we need to look at vaccine policy. That's something we can do."

Rather than giving five vaccines at once, Hulseman advocates spreading them out. Her nonautistic patients never receive more than two injections at one visit, and never when a child is ill, she said.

For her patients with autism, Hulseman prefers to wait until she has evidence that the physical symptoms -- such as immune dysfunction and impaired nutritional status, symptoms she views as part of the disease -- are addressed before vaccinations.

Abolishing vaccines altogether is not the answer, she said.

"It's not that vaccines are bad in themselves," she said. "I'm concerned that unless we look carefully at our immunization policy, more parents will stop vaccinating. We need to start vaccinating more judiciously."

At the Christian Sarkine Autism Treatment Center at Riley Hospital for Children, Dr. David J. Posey, center chief, advises that parents follow government recommendations and vaccinate their children.

The preponderance of evidence shows vaccines work and are safe -- even for those who have autism, he said.

"The efficacy of these vaccines is based on trying to get as many people vaccinated as possible," Posey said. "If you start to whittle away at that, eventually you start to run the risk of increases in the incidence of those diseases that the vaccine is trying to prevent."

In communities and countries where fewer than 90 percent to 95 percent of children receive vaccinations, such as England and Japan, outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles are occurring.

Before routine immunizations, measles killed about 450 children each year in this country, Duwve said.

But not every parent is willing to take the mainstream medical authorities' word that vaccines can be trusted.

After doing extensive research, Fishers father Dave Tuckman thinks vaccines contributed to both of his sons' autism, as well as many others'. His 8-year-old was fully vaccinated, and his 4-year-old was exposed to the flu vaccine, which contained thimerosal, in utero.

When his older son was diagnosed four years ago, the Tuckmans stopped immunizing the younger boy. Mainstream medicine just has not shown the practice is safe, he said.

"There's this medical dogma that vaccines are the greatest boon to mankind and nothing can be wrong about them," he said. "If your child has already been damaged, you don't want to take a chance on making it worse."

Both Tuckman boys have medical waivers. And Tuckman has no intention of continuing vaccinations for his younger son.

"Let me put it this way," he said. "I'll take the chickenpox or the measles over autism any day of the week."

Immunization waivers

The relative increase in Indiana kindergartners with waivers for religious reasons could be caused by fears over the suggested link between immunizations and autism, some experts speculate.

*A vaccine shortage the year before likely increased the number of medical exemptions, as children may have been misclassified as exempt when the immunization was appropriately deferred.

Sources: Indiana School Immunizations Reports, Indiana State Departmentof Health Data and Statistics Reports
• Call Star reporter Shari Rudavsky at (317) 444-6354.

1:00PM EST - UPDATE: Dr. Tayloe, who is visiting the Middle East on AAP business, has written to David to thank him for the note and to let him know that the Academy will issue a formal reply soon. Stay tuned here for further developments.

Managing Editor's Note: David Kirby sent this letter to Dr. David Tayloe, new president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

November 22, 2008

David T. Tayloe, Jr., MD, FAAP
President, American Academy of Pediatrics

Dear Dr. Tayloe,

It has been seven months since I had the pleasure of meeting you in Los Angeles at the “Larry King Live" studio. Allow me to congratulate you on your inauguration as President of the Academy.

I am writing because I have just received a copy of a letter from Elie Ward (HERE) Co-Chair of the NYS Immunization Coalition, a project of the AAP. The letter was sent to Rep. Carolyn Maloney in regards to the Congressional briefing on vaccines and autism that she sponsored on Capitol Hill in September.

In the letter, Ms. Ward accuses me of presenting “misinformation” as well as “unscientific, irrational proposals” to staff members of more than 90 House and Senate offices, as well as two US Representatives who were in the room.

The letter also accuses “a few people, some of whom are making a great deal of money from the suffering and false hope of frightened parents,” of continuing to “beat the drum for this discredited position.”

I take these remarks by a representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics very seriously. I also wonder why the Academy would not direct these allegations to me personally, but instead chose to send them to a member of Congress, who does not, and can not answer for me.

As for the allegations made by this AAP-affiliated individual, I respectfully ask the Academy to provide specific instances of “misinformation” attributed to me during the Capitol Hill briefing of September 23, 2008.

If, by her remark, Ms. Ward was referring to my discussion of a National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences’ panel report on the VSD database, then I would refer her, and you, to the following letter that I sent to Dr. Stephen Cha, a health advisor to Rep. Henry Waxman, on the subject (HERE).

I also respectfully ask that the AAP please provide me with specific instances of “nonscientific” or “irrational proposals” that I put forth at the briefing, so that I may respond accordingly. Specifically, which slides among those that I presented would meet these criteria? (The slides are available at Evidence of Harm.)

If you cannot do so, I will take this to mean that you concur with me, and that I did not in fact present any “nonscientific” or “irrational” proposals during the Congressional briefing.
I have also asked Ms. Ward if she, and by extension the AAP, considers me to be one of those people who are “making a great deal of money” from the vaccine-autism debate.

In the interest of public disclosure, I can categorically state that I have earned approximately $140,000 from my autism-related activities. This includes the advance and royalties from my book, “Evidence of Harm,” all speaking fees, a movie option and various freelance writing assignments. This income has been spread out over a six-year period (2003-2008, inclusive), for an average of about $23,300 per year. That amount covered my rent in New York City, but not much else.

I disclose this information publically as a way of encouraging Dr. Paul Offit, who is mentioned several times in Ms. Ward’s letter, of doing the same in terms of his projected income for his role in developing a U.S.-approved rotavirus vaccine.

Dr. Offit told Newsweek Magazine (HERE) that he earned a “small percentage” of the estimated $182 million in royalties expected from the product.

In the public interest, I hope that the AAP would urge Dr. Offit to disclose this amount, as I feel it is pertinent to the discussion at hand (and it is another reason why I chose to disclose my own earnings related to autism). How much of a “small percentage” was his share? Was it 0.5% ($910,000) or was it closer to, say, 3% ($5.46 million)?

Dr. Offit said it was, "like winning the lottery."

I certainly do not begrudge Dr. Offit making a profit from his work at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and I am sure that his royalty payments represent many years of hard work on behalf of the vaccine manufacturer. But it does not appear to be an insignificant amount and, therefore, it seems to me, is as worthy of scrutiny by the American Academy of Pediatrics as is my income from autism work.

Finally, I would also like to ask if you agree that my position, (that the debate over vaccines and autism is not over) has been “discredited,” especially when so many leading authorities and organizations do seem to believe that more research in this regard is likely warranted (Please see list below).

To that end, I hope you will encourage Ms. Ward, or any member of the Immunization Coalition, or anyone else affiliated with the AAP, to agree to discuss these issues and allegations with me, in person, before a live audience, in a reasoned and controlled debate format.

I am available at any time for such a discussion, not unlike the event I will have in March in NYC, when Dr. Marc Siegel, of NYU Medical Center, and I will talk about the vaccine-autism controversy at a major educational conference sponsored by WNET-Channel 13 (PBS) in New York. (Please see HERE.)

Again, in the interest of public disclosure, this letter will be shared on the Age of Autism blog. Many thanks for your attention to this matter.

Respectfully yours,

David Kirby

During 2008, all of the following groups and individuals have advocated or considered exploring possible links between vaccines and autism:

1) Both Presidential Candidates
2) Director of the CDC
3) Former head of the NIH and American Red Cross
4) Chair of the U.S. House Science Subcommittee on Investigations
5) Dr. Jon Poling, Pediatric Neurologist
6) HHS Vaccine Safety Working Group
7) CDC Vaccine Safety Research Agenda
8) Medical personnel at HHS Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
9) Members of the Strategic Planning Workgroup of the IAC Committee
10) Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network - CISA
11) Autism researchers at Johns Hopkins University Medical School
12) America's health insurance companies
13) Autism Speaks
14) The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation

For years now, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and elsewhere have said that autism is probably a purely genetic disorder, and that the dramatic increase in numbers was due to better diagnostics, wider reporting and greater awareness -- and not because of any environmental factors.

Those days are over now.

Today, I received an email from an official in the Office of CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding (rumored to be on her way out in January), "Office of Enterprise Communication," replying to my questions on what the agency is doing to look into the reportedly high rate (1 in 28) of Somali children with autism in Minneapolis.

The responses I got from the CDC (and the Minnesota Department of Health) were thorough, thoughtful, and quite lengthy. They will be published in their entirety shortly at www.ageofautism.com.

But one of the last questions answered by the CDC really stuck out.

I cannot recall anything quite like it from any Federal agency when asked a question about the possible causes of autism.

Instead of the usual, tired, "it's just better diagnostics" mantra one routinely gets from most public health authorities (and prominent author-pediatricians), this particular person at the CDC chose to tell the refreshing truth -- and it is something that I have been saying for quite some time, myself.

Here is the question I posed to CDC:

If it is determined that Somali children in Minnesota do in fact have higher rates of autism than non-Somali children in Minnesota, and that they also have higher rates than Somali children in Somalia, will CDC officially concur that autism, at least in these cases, must necessarily have an environmental component?

And here is part of the reply:

While it is important to understand if autism is affecting any group of children disproportionately, it is also important to keep in mind that there are likely multiple causes of the autism spectrum of disorders. Most scientists agree that today's research will show that a person's genetic profile may make them more or less susceptible to ASDs as a result of any number of factors such as infections, the physical environment, chemical exposures, or psychosocial components.

The idea that "chemical exposures" (vaccine related or otherwise) might cause autism still brings virtual apoplexia to certain scientific circles. Let's hope they all take a deep breath and consider the CDC's wisdom.

Thank you, Centers for Disease Control.

Thank you for your candor, your courage, and your ability to admit that there is no such thing as a genetic epidemic.

ATLANTA (AP) - About one in 10 doctors who vaccinate privately insured children are considering dropping that service largely because they are losing money when they do it, according to a new survey.

A second survey revealed startling differences between what doctors pay for vaccines and what private health insurers reimburse: For example, one in 10 doctors lost money on one recommended infant vaccine, but others made almost $40 per dose on the same shot.

The survey was revealing even to some doctors. "Many physicians really weren't aware and that they were getting reimbursed so little," said Dr. Gary Freed of the University of Michigan, a co-author of both articles published in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The studies are the first to attach numbers to doctors' long-simmering complaints that they are only breaking even - or even losing money - when they give shots.

"It's a pleasure to see a real study to show we're not just making this up," said Dr. Herschel Lessin, a pediatrician in Hopewell Junction, N.Y. who said his practice's spending on vaccines has more than doubled from 2006 to 2007.

Experts say there's no evidence that significant numbers of doctors are quitting the vaccination business yet because of financial concerns.

But health officials are worried. Reimbursement concerns were behind an exodus of doctors from vaccine programs in the 1980s, which contributed to a terrible resurgence of measles in 1989-91 that caused 11,000 hospitalizations and 123 deaths.

This year, U.S. measles cases rose to the highest level in more than a decade, mainly because some parents are opting out of getting their kids vaccinated.

Health officials fear that problem, along with doctor's economic concerns, could set the stage for bigger outbreaks in the future.

"This is a very important wake-up call," said Dr. Lance Rodewald of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, referring to the two new studies.

The first study was based on a mail-in survey last year of nearly 1,300 pediatricians and family physicians; nearly 800 responded.

About half said they had delayed buying at least one vaccine because of the cost. Roughly one in five said they felt strongly that reimbursement for the purchase and administration of vaccines was not adequate.

The second survey asked doctors what they paid for vaccines and how much they were reimbursed by private insurers. It was answered by 76 doctors in five states, representing about 20 percent of those asked to participate. Many contracts prevent doctors from talking about their spending and reimbursement for vaccinations, Freed said.

One example of the disparity was a vaccine that protects against pneumococcal disease. The per-dose difference ranged from a $40 profit to an $11 loss. A chickenpox vaccine netted some doctors $35 but cost others nearly $30 per dose.

The survey examined the cost of the vaccines and the expense of storage and related medical supplies. But it didn't look at administrative fees and staff time.

The studies did not look at the 50 percent or more of vaccinations paid for by government, which generally provides free vaccines to doctors and covers administrative fees.

In New York state, some doctors actually do better financially with the government vaccine program than they do on the private market, with the government's administrative fee double or triple what some private insurers pay. But some business-savvy doctors can still make at least a small profit on vaccines in the private market, said Lessin, who is vice president of a 24-physician pediatric practice.

Most pediatricians are likely to keep giving vaccinations to kids, partly because of altruism and partly because giving shots drives business. "For us to give up vaccines would hurt our core business because that's why kids come in," Lessin said.

But family practice doctors - who are not as dependent on vaccinations for patients - may decide the shots are too much of a financial headache, he added.

Indeed, the new studies reflected that schism: Overall 11 percent of physicians have seriously considered stopping vaccinations for privately insured patients. But 21 percent of family doctors felt that way, compared with just 5 percent of pediatricians.

The financial problem has been getting worse in recent years, as more vaccines have come on the market, experts say. Some have been unusually expensive, including Gardasil, a vaccine for girls against cervical cancer which is given in three doses over six months and is priced at about $375 for the series.

A government advisory panel studying the financial burden of vaccines is expected to submit proposals for changes in reimbursement practices to federal health officials next year.