Jenny McCarthy Slams Rumors Claiming Her Son Does Not Have Autism

[bananas]

Source: Huffington Post

Jenny McCarthy slammed rumors claiming her son does not have autism, calling the assertions "blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous."

Talk of the "View" co-host's 11-year-old son, Evan, began circulating Friday, Jan. 3, after RadarOnline.com published a story saying McCarthy has changed her position on vaccinations and stating her son might not have autism after all. (The piece has since been deleted, but it can still be viewed here.)

Radar's report cites a "new interview with Time magazine" -- a story that's actually from 2010. The website misconstrued the 41-year-old's quotes in the piece and falsely portrayed it as a "new" stance.

<snip>

On Saturday, Jan. 4, McCarthy took to Twitter to respond to the rumors:

Stories circulating online, claiming that I said my son Evan may not have autism after all, are blatantly inaccurate and completely ridiculous. Evan was diagnosed with autism by the Autism Evaluation Clinic at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital and was confirmed by the State of California (through their Regional Center). The implication that I have changed my position, that my child was not initially diagnosed with autism (and instead may suffer from Landau-Kleffner Syndrome), is both irresponsible and inaccurate. These stories cite a "new" Time Magazine interview with me, which was actually published in 2010, that never contained any such statements by me. Continued misrepresentations, such as these, only serve to open wounds of the many families who are courageously dealing with this disorder. Please know that I am taking every legal measure necessary to set this straight.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/06/jenny-mccarthy-son-rumors-autism_n_4548244.html

[sakabatou]

1. Even if he does have autism

Her claims about antivirals and other medicines are false. Especially scaring parents away from the MMR.

[closeupready]

2. Well, something tells me she's not a member of DU.

Those of us who are members know that our resident keyboard anti-woo geniuses here know more about her than even she does.

[enki23]

7. Her son being, or not being autistic has nothing to do with the dangerous bullshit woo she pushes

.

[closeupready]

8. LOL

[NickB79]

14. Because measles outbreaks are FUCKING HILARIOUS!

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/health/worst-measles-year/index.html

Pneumonia!
Brain damage!
Deafness!
Dead babies!

I can see why you'd be It's a non-stop laugh riot!

[enki23]

18. "LOL". She and the other conspiracy nuts help convince idiots to kill kids.

And they do it, in this case, by convincing the idiots to deny their children access to life-saving vaccines. "LOL." I realize that, in spite of the "Lulz,"she, and presumably you take your irrational, conspiracy-mongering beliefs quite seriously. That does not make it less dangerous, or her less culpable. No more than it makes it less stupid and wrong to treat mental illness or epilepsy with woo exorcism. No more than convincing desperate people with cancer that they should forgo actual treatment in lieu of magic woo water or raw woo diets or fucking faith healing in all its woo forms. No more than convincing people not to use condoms because a mythical woo Hell is worse than actual devastating AIDS. No more than denying people's right to their choice of consenting adult marriage, or sexual partners because your favorite flavor of nonexistant woo sky pixie doesn't want you to let them. When it comes to irrational beliefs that hurt people, sincerity just does not fucking matter. There's a very sincere bigot in Utah going on a hunger strike to deny adults the right to marry in ways he doesn't approve of. He is very sincere in his conviction that he is doing the right thing. So. Fucking. What.

No. Not even if she, or you very sincerely believe you are right. Much less if you are in it for the "LOLs".

[AtheistCrusader]

23. Or worse, by collapsing herd immunity, getting kids who ARE vaccinated sick or dead anyway.

Even vaccinated immune systems can be compromised, at times, under some conditions, or when too exposed to a carrier.

[Progressive dog]

27. +1 nt

[Bradical79]

29. Yeah, it's disgusting.

There have been multiple idiots like this recently using some truly awful things to push their anti-science bullshit. I think they should feel free to argue whatever idiotic magical fairyland view of reality they want, but at least show a bit of empathy and don't laugh at deadly epidemics or use ground water poisoning as a stupid attack in some forum vendetta (like I saw in a fracking thread blaming science for fracking polution).

[AtheistCrusader]

3. He may well have autism.

Obviously, we can't know what doctors diagnosed him with due to medical privacy, other than what she has disclosed personally.

Speculation by others, backseat diagnosing the kid, is just as unhelpful and likely inaccurate as her speculation that his issues were caused by vaccines.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Radar are not the only people to interpret the Time article that way

2010:

After years of speaking publicly about her belief that MMR shots (immunization for measles, mumps, and rubella) caused her son to suffer from autism, Jenny McCarthy now faces the reality that her 7-year-old son Evan — who no longer shows any signs of autism — may likely have lived with completely different illness.

A new article in Time magazine — which Jenny was interviewed for — suggests Evan suffers from Landau-Kleffner syndrome, “a rare childhood neurological disorder that can also result in speech impairment and possible long-term neurological damage.”
...
And she is also reversing her initial position that the MMR shots caused Evan’s autism. Jenny now says she wants vaccinations better researched — rather than getting rid of them altogether, as she previously promoted. And though her son may never have had autism, Jenny insists, “I’ll continue to be the voice” of the disorder.

http://hollywoodlife.com/2010/02/26/jenny-mccarthy-says-her-son-evan-never-had-autism/

July 2013:

McCarthy later insisted that she had cured their son through a combination of diet and vitamins. She accuses the government of being afraid to confront "the truth" about vaccines. In the last year or so, although she now admits her son never had autism, she is still selling fear by talking about the schedule of vaccines as dangerous. She has put the full force of her celebrity to the task of convincing parents to leave their children vulnerable.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/destabilizing-the-jenny-mccarthy-public-health-industrial-complex/277695/

[bananas]

15. You mean "mis-interpret" - the 2010 Times article is archived at archive.org

http://web.archive.org/web/20110805041329/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968100,00.html

[Nine]

19. I'm strongly against McCarthy's anti-vax stance, however...

...after reading the original Time article, her words do seem to have been misrepresented.

[yellowcanine]

5. Neither here nor there if he has it. Still wrong to blame it on vaccines without evidence.

Still a lot of factoid truthiness going on with all these claims.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. Vaccine lovers?

Is that supposed to be an insult? Hell, call me a round earther while your at it.

[arcane1]

11. Yes, because if you doubt her claim, it's because you hate her. Or something.

When people resort to this kind of name-calling, it proves they are full of shit, IMHO.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. That study speaks to dose/frequency.

What of it?

[hrmjustin]

17. bye dear.

[AtheistCrusader]

21. Awwww, what did it say?

I missed it.

[NickB79]

12. Is she still claiming she "cured" her son of autism?

Because if he no longer shows signs of autism, then he never had autism to start with.

AFAIK, no one with actual autism has ever been cured of autism. Learn to live with it and adapt, yes, but cured? No.

[proverbialwisdom]

25. "No one with actual autism has ever been cured of autism." FALSE, a recently published case hx here.

Check it out.

http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/05/new-study-by-dr-martha-herbert-dr-julie-buckley-in-journal-of-child-neurology-on-autism-and-dietary-.html#comments

New Study by Dr. Martha Herbert & Dr. Julie Buckley in Journal of Child Neurology on Autism and Dietary Therapy

Managing Editor's Note: Thank you to Dr. Martha Herbert and Dr. Julie Buckley.

Of special significance is that we have an academic researcher working in conjunction/cooperation with a practicing physician in order to publish academically rigorous case studies that may have an immediate impact on patients. Sure beats another eye gaze study in Amazonian water rats, eh?

Journal of Child Neurology

Autism and Dietary Therapy
Case Report and Review of the Literature

Martha R. Herbert, PhD, MD -1
Julie A. Buckley, MD, FAAP -2

1Pediatric Neurology and TRANSCEND Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
2Pediatric Partners of Ponte Vedra, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

Martha R. Herbert, PhD, MD, Pediatric Neurology, TRANSCEND Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02129, USA. Email: [email protected]

Author Contributions MRH and JAB contributed equally to this work.

ABSTRACT:

We report the history of a child with autism and epilepsy who, after limited response to other interventions following her regression into autism, was placed on a gluten-free, casein-free diet, after which she showed marked improvement in autistic and medical symptoms.

Subsequently, following pubertal onset of seizures and after failing to achieve full seizure control pharmacologically she was advanced to a ketogenic diet that was customized to continue the gluten-free, casein-free regimen. On this diet, while still continuing on anticonvulsants, she showed significant improvement in seizure activity. This gluten-free casein-free ketogenic diet used medium-chain triglycerides rather than butter and cream as its primary source of fat. Medium-chain triglycerides are known to be highly ketogenic, and this allowed the use of a lower ratio (1.5:1) leaving more calories available for consumption of vegetables with their associated health benefits. Secondary benefits included resolution of morbid obesity and improvement of cognitive and behavioral features.

Over the course of several years following her initial diagnosis, the child’s Childhood Autism Rating Scale score decreased from 49 to 17, representing a change from severe autism to nonautistic, and her intelligence quotient increased 70 points. The initial electroencephalogram after seizure onset showed lengthy 3 Hz spike-wave activity; 14 months after the initiation of the diet the child was essentially seizure free and the electroencephalogram showed only occasional 1-1.5 second spike-wave activity without clinical accompaniments. (see the pdf of the abtract HERE: http://www.rescuepost.com/files/j-child-neurol-2013-herbert-and-buckley-0883073813488668-1.pdf )

Check this out, too. Listen while multitasking until something grabs your attention, as it will, then pay careful attention. You'll hear that 20-25% of children diagnosed with autism lose the diagnosis, as I recall. The field is highly dynamic and evolving rapidly. Come back later and update your post, if you wish.

http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=13225

2013 IACC Strategic Plan Update Workshop Agenda

Friday, November 15, 2013
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern

National Institutes of Health

Runtime: 07:33:03

Description: The workshop will feature discussions between IACC members and external subject matter and community experts regarding updates from the field and from the community that the committee may consider when developing the 2013 update of the IACC Strategic Plan.

[proverbialwisdom]

34. Direct journal link below via Generation Rescue pdf.

http://www.rescuepost.com/files/j-child-neurol-2013-herbert-and-buckley-0883073813488668-1.pdf

Journal of Child Neurology: http://jcn.sagepub.com/

Autism and Dietary Therapy : Case Report and Review of the Literature
Martha R. Herbert and Julie A. Buckley
J Child Neurol published online 10 May 2013 DOI: 10.1177/0883073813488668

The online version of this article can be found at: http://jcn.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/09/0883073813488668

http://www.generationrescue.org/about/scientific-advisory-board-and-committee/
http://www.generationrescue.org/about/background/
http://www.generationrescue.org/home/about/jenny-mccarthy/
http://www.generationrescue.org/recovery/

Both Handley parents are Stanford educated.

[proverbialwisdom]

36. JB Handley's written op-eds with astonishing bluntness and clarity at AOA; here's a PBS transcript.

http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/11/if-i-ran-the-cdcid-be-a-hell-of-a-lot-more-careful.html#more

Posted by Age of Autism at November 19, 2012
By J.B. Handley

In the activism world, there are times when I have really felt like I’ve said everything I can possibly say on the topic of autism. When those feelings arise, I usually take a break and shut my mouth for a while. Thinking about AoA’s recent 5th Birthday, and coming up on 8 years since my wife and I founded Generation Rescue, the same thoughts keep running through my head:

“Are we still really arguing about this? Are we still really ruining all these kids’ lives? When, dear God, is this nightmare going to end?”

In honor of 8 years of activism, I wanted to share the complete transcript of an interview I gave to PBS, a snippet of which they aired in a documentary called The Vaccine Wars. In many ways, this interview sapped my activism energy, at least for a period of time, because I really got the chance to say everything I wanted to say!

I hope you enjoy:

A businessman whose son was diagnosed with autism, Handley co-founded with his wife the web site Generation Rescue. It's an autism advocacy site and has been highly effective in organizing a community of parents concerned about an autism-vaccine link. This is the (un?)edited transcript of an interview conducted on Jan. 29, 2010.

<>

[bananas]

39. That video really clarifies Jenny McCarthy's position - thank you.

I haven't followed this issue much, that video clarified a lot - both about Jenny McCarthy and her attackers.

At this link http://www.generationrescue.org/home/about/jenny-mccarthy/
there's an embedded video of Jenny McCarthy http://vimeo.com/29349428

It's clear from the video she isn't against vaccines.
Her actual position seems very reasonable.

It's also clear that her son did recover from autism.

So why are there so many outright, and easily falsified, lies about her?

That says a lot about the people spreading those lies.

[closeupready]

41. The ad hoc health care system the US has provides a livelihood

for, what, about 20% of the US workforce? Anything and everything that competes with that is destroyed, not necessarily by the best, most responsible members of that economic sector, but by the bottom-feeders and the bad guys.

This notion guides me in assessing the good faith/bad faith in which certain such members come to DU seemingly in order to do little more than smear Jenny McCarthy, or to condemn the silly concept known only on DU as 'woo'.

Cheers.

[proverbialwisdom]

42. Her media persona is ditzy, IMO; that very moving video isn't. I just watched it for the first time.

Here's Generation Rescue's Executive Director Candace McDonald.

Published on Jun 3, 2013

Generation Rescue's Executive Director Candace McDonald shares why being a part of the organization is so important to her.

[progressoid]

20. "irresponsible and inaccurate"

Pot meet Kettle.

Kettle, Pot.

[proverbialwisdom]

22. Related.

Absolutely ugliest frenzy on DU I've ever witnessed: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024271774

Live and learn, ideally.

[question everything]

24. Who is Jenny McCarthy and why is this earth shattering news?

Is this from HuffPost T&A section?

(or whatever they call it).

[d_b]

26. some broad who had an mtv show 20 years ago.

apparently she's influential enough to convince parents not to vaccinate their children...or something

[closeupready]

28. She is a VERY important Demi-GODDESS who has omnipotent

powers to control life and death itself!!!!11!!

[bananas]

30. The false rumor got 60 recs before it was self-deleted.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024271774

[question everything]

32. This is strange

OP is self deleted but all the AMEN and +1 and others n/t remain so one can only ask huh?

Thanks.

[bananas]

40. When someone self-deletes their OP, the thread becomes locked.

Also, if an OP is hidden by jury, the thread becomes locked.

That's my understanding, but the admins are constantly changing the rules, so that may have changed, or may change in the future.

[bananas]

31. Her son had autism and now he's cured.

Since that's medically impossible, she must have used witchcraft.
Burn her! Get out the pitchforks!
Also, she posed in Playboy, and pornography is evil.
She is a witch and a harlot!
Get out the pitchforks! Burn her!

[Chakaconcarne]

33. Wow... sure are alot of autism/vaccine experts here...

when there are still questions to be answered around the safety of vaccines.....and everyone here should know that if there is evidence to the contrary, there is a hell of a lobby to prevent any of us from obtaining it, isn't there? And why would that be? That should always be in the back of our minds to provide some perspective. What also should be in the back of our minds for perspective is that 97% of all medication trials are done by the manufacturer and 98% of those trials show favor in efficacy toward the medication being trialed....the other 1.5% never make it to publish…and why might that be? That being said....

Yes, the evidence says vaccines do not CAUSE Autism...no direct correlation. That's it! This is what everyone cites, but it's not robust..... very much LARGELY ignored are schedules. Until someone can point me to the study or studies that claim the same for the current recommended schedules for vaccines and the outcomes where physicians try and push schedules (ie multiple vaccines in one visit), then you have something to substantiate the hatred toward this movement. I'll tell you right now... there are no such studies! "Mercury hasn't been used in vaccines since 1999 and Autism hasn't decreased" there's your proof... Buy it.

I've seen the Jenny McCarthy "Body Count"..that's what many will point to as their proof that what she is doing is harmful, but where's the evidence behind that? Were those individuals properly vaccinated, were there bad batches of vaccines (yes it happens), etc.... I don't know there's enough proof. Do you? Take the flu vaccine…50-60% effective they say… and how do they claim efficacy? Well, if you got the flu vaccine and didn’t get the flu, then it’s effective, right? Chew on that a bit.. and if you’re convinced, then look up antigenic sin and you might just find that getting the flu shot should be an exception and not the norm.

I'm not suggesting anyone here side with McCarthy....but holy shit, have some perspective. Attacking her and the movement without incontrovertible proof is really not any more right than some of the claims she is making. Quite frankly, without this movement, I don't know we would be as far as we are with Autism and I don't know that we wouldn't still be using mercury in vaccines or anything else that might be questionably safe and draw unwanted attention. Perspective.

We don't know enough about Autism, there's a huge block of information we are missing regarding vaccine schedules and the adjuvants used. My feeling is IF this all gets figured out, we'll land somewhere in the middle of the vaccine manufacturers and the anti-vaccine movement.

[closeupready]

35. Yeah, but WAIT! What about JENNY MCCARTHY!!!!??!!

Isn't that the important topic of discussion here?

[enki23]

37. There's this thing about "no direct correlation"

"Yes, the evidence says vaccines do not CAUSE Autism...no direct correlation."

If there is no correlation, there is nothing to explain. Everybody has heard "correlation does not imply causation" a million times, yes? And that is, strictly speaking, true. But correlation very much is evidence for causation. It just isn't sufficient evidence for causation. On the other hand, it very much is necessary evidence for causation. You see, causation is a fairly difficult thing to prove. The reverse is not true. A proposed causal chain is quite easy to disprove, if it isn't real, to anything within a million miles of a reasonable standard for "disprove". That's what lies behind the entire Popperian structure of falsification. Maybe falsificationism doesn't cover the entire gamut of what we might want to call science, or knowledge in general. But it certainly applies to most of it. And it definitely applies here.

If there is no relationship between two variables, you have almost no motivation to even *suspect* a causal relationship, unless you have other, non-scientific, non-rational motivation to do so. Of course you can still imagine that there is still come causation there, but that it's just too small, or too localized, or too complicated to detect. You will always, always be able to do that if you are motivated to do that. There's even a tiny chance you may be right.

But if one happens to be the nutbag advocating that people can live on sunlight and clean air alone, the rest of us are under no obligation to let you go unopposed among the potentially-persuadable masses in the infinitesimally small, philosophical probability that you are actually right. Because you are almost certainly wrong, and being wrong can fucking kill deluded people.

And the "vaccines cause autism" idea, with no evidence for it and a great deal of evidence against it, is much closer to being in the "nutbag conspiracy theory" camp, and in the "you can live on sunlight and air and water" camp than it is to being in the "honest disagreement" camp. To say it might be right is to say the Earth might be the center of the fucking universe. Nope. Bullshit. No. I don't have to pretend that some airy philosophical pondering about how we can't know anything to absolute certainty means we can't call bullshit on this one.

We don't have certain evidence that all bullshit isn't made of gold. All we can note is a complete lack of a direct (positive) correlation between bullshit and gold. So, you know, bullshit might be gold. Only, of course, it isn't. All the bullshit we've ever found isn't. And this bullshit, for certain, isn't.

[proverbialwisdom]

38. Think again. These autism experts cannot be dismissed by your ridicule.

FACTUAL RECAP: Please examine these quotes in their full context at the linked posts to support intelligence and nuance on DU by providing accurate information against bogus internet memes. This material represents the tip-of-the-iceberg, as you likely already know.

In April, 2011, Dr. David Amaral, Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis MIND Institute, was interviewed for PBS by Robert MacNeil.

"... It's not to say, however, that there isn't a small subset of children who may be particularly vulnerable to vaccines. And in their case, having the vaccines, or particular vaccines, particularly in certain kinds of situations -- if the child was ill, if the child had a precondition, like a mitochondrial defect. Vaccinations for those children actually may be the environmental factor that tipped them over the edge of autism. And I think it is incredibly important, still, to try and figure out what, if any, vulnerabilities, in a small subset of children, might make them at risk for having certain vaccinations."

http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/06/autism-and-what-the-experts-are-saying-part-two-.html

On April 2, 2012 on WNYC, interviewer Kurt Andersen... did a segment on the ADDM numbers with Dr. Walter Zahorodny, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. Zahorodny was the lead researcher on the New Jersey portion of the CDC study. Starts at 13:20 (AUDIO LINK): http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/2012/apr/02/autism-rates-rise-new-jersey/

Kurt Andersen (Seth Mnookin's friend): “I guess we know what they (the causes of autism) aren’t, for instance childhood vaccines. Right?
Dr. Zahorodny: “Vaccines don’t play a significant role in autism increasing. Some small number of children probably do have autism because of an adverse vaccine reaction, but they don’t make for the overall rise.”

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2012/04/dr-walter-zahorodny-believes-vaccines.html

AUDIO (starts at 40:57): http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/04/02/autism-numbers-skyrocket/player

Monday, April 2, 2012 at 10:00 AM
Autism Numbers Skyrocket

GUEST: Dr. Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for the advocacy group Autism Speaks.

Ashbrook: "Dr. Dawson, here's a question online from Melrose, has the link between MMR vaccine and autism been completely discredited. I notice that the word 'vaccine' has not even come up so far in this hour. Is that...for some years that had a lot of attention, is that off the table now, Dr. Dawson?"

Dr. Dawson: "There is no evidence that the increase in prevalence that we're seeing in Autism Spectrum Disorder is linked to the MMR vaccine. You know, if vaccines play a role, and there has not been any evidence thus far to show that it has, it would be a very small minority of individuals who have an underlying medical condition where the vaccine may have triggered an onset of symptoms for an already existing condition or vulnerability. So we do not believe that vaccines are an explanation of the increase and we strongly encourage parents to get their children vaccinated."

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2012/04/dr-walter-zahorodny-believes-vaccines.html
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2012/04/02/autism-numbers-skyrocket

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2012/04/dr-walter-zahorodny-believes-vaccines.html

April 3, 2012
by Ginger Taylor

...Ashbrook, like Andersen, took the initiative of bringing the vaccine question into the interview, and in both cases it was merely an invitation to declare the vaccine hypothesis DOA. And neither Zahorodny or Dawson took the opportunity to do so!

They BOTH could have said, "Correct." And just moved on. But they didn't!

They both contradicted their interviewers presumptive statements, and said a version of, "Incorrect, vaccines do cause autism in some children, and it is a smaller number of cases than people think, but I don't see that vaccine induced autism could be playing a major factor in the increase."

IMHO... no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that these two didn't know exactly what they were doing. They had every chance to run from vaccine causation and they didn't. They confirmed it. Then they minimized it.

We have just witnessed the very quiet pushing of the envelope. Dr. Geri Dawson and Dr. Walter Zahorodny have just joined you and me and all our friends in taking our position that vaccines cause some cases of autism, just not all the cases of autism. Now we are only separated by the degree in which we believe the vaccine induced autism is a factor in the skyrocketing autism numbers.

<...>

See Dr. Julie Gerberding video here:

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2008/03/julie-gerberding-admits-on-cnn-that.html

-----------------

Please also read the letter sent from Dr. Jon Poling to Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University, in post #29 here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014148376

-----------------

http://www.ageofautism.com/2014/01/american-military-families-autism-support-salutes-sarah-stockwell-as-person-of-the-year.html#more

American Military Families Autism Support Salutes Sarah Stockwell As Person of the Year

Please join us in wishing Age of Autism contributor Sarah Stockwell (Military Kids with Autism Face Special Challenges and Tricare Going AWOL on Military Autism Families?) congratulations on being named the AMFAS Person of the Year for 2013. From the AMFAS site:

About

American Military Families Autism Support is a grassroots effort started in 2008 by military families, for military families, providing news, information, contacts and options for military families dealing with autism spectrum disorder. Due to the nature of military life and the challenges of autism, these families often experience additional stressors over non-military families.

As many of you may have encountered during your autism journey, your attempts to find information and support is often difficult. This site is about one thing: your family.

The Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard have many things in common, but also many things that differ including care and services for special needs families. AMFAS was created because of the challenges families had making sense of what really applies to them.

AMFAS is not a corporation, a fund-raising machine or a site created using money or outsourcing to interns. We are miltiary families who have experienced the intricacies of care, both on and off installations. We do not look to raise money, just support for military families. AMFAS serves as a starting point for a military family with a newly diagnosed child.

<>

January 02, 2014

[enki23]

43. Oh shit, it's an effing Gish gallup, cherry picked video quote mine glurge.

Well, god damn, that's novel. Cranks never do that. I give it half a time cube, with extra points for relative brevity.

What you've got there is mostly a few people cherry picked for the moments when they are hemming and hawing about how there is indeed a miniscule risk of adverse reactions to vaccines that in *extremely* rare cases may present as something somebody somewhere would diagnose under the broad and ridicuously-mushy "autism spectrum disorder" label. And, just like when the creationist nutbags use this approach, almost all of them would be appalled that you are trying to use their tendency toward sciency reticence to spread Fear Uncertainty and Doubt about the safety and necessity of life-saving vaccines. Vaccines which are a fuck of a lot safer than the the diseases which would rage through the population killing and maiming everyone from babies to the elderly like they used to do. Like they may again if people are fucking stupid enough to listen to the bullshit pushed by internet nutbags and celebrity nutbag crusaders.

It's like that scene in dumb in dumber: "one in a million? so you're saying IT'S POSSIBLE!" But it isn't that many.
Vaccine-preventable diseases killed a fuck of a lot more than one in a million. They maimed and tortured even more. Still do, in places where people are as ignorant in large numbers as some of our internet cranks are persistent, over here in happier climes. Those disease savaged entire populations. Crippled them. Killed them. They could again. May again. And Jesus effing Christ, it's tiresome.

It's like telling an obese man to stop trying to walk, because walkers can become pedestrians, and pedestrians sometimes get hit by cars.

[proverbialwisdom]

44. Calm down. The field is rapidly evolving. Working together for optimal health outcomes is the goal.

In part, the upcoming Congressional hearing on VICP will help clarify matters. Meanwhile, see the IACC Workshop in its entirety and read the studies by Drs. Mumper and Herbert in NAJMS.

http://www.ebcala.org/areas-of-law/vaccine-law/chairman-issa-postpones-vicp-hearing

http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol28/iss2/6/

http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=13225

Air date: Friday, November 15, 2013, 8:45:00 AM
Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local

Category: Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee
Runtime: 07:33:03

Description: The workshop will feature discussions between IACC members and external subject matter and community experts regarding updates from the field and from the community that the committee may consider when developing the 2013 update of the IACC Strategic Plan.

http://najms.net/wp-content/uploads/v06i03.pdf#page=34

Preface to the special issue of autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the fastest-growing complex neurodevelopment disorder, continues to rise in its prevalence, now affecting up to 1 in 50 children in the USA, and averaging 1% globally, according to the latest CDC report. More children will be diagnosed with ASD this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined in the USA. ASD costs the nation $137 billion a year and this debt is expected to increase in the next decade. Hence, ASD has become a huge healthcare burden and global threat, categorized by the CDC as a national public health crisis.

ASD is characterized by social-communication impairment, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, which cause significant disability for those affected. With its etiology still largely unknown, and its pathophysiology poorly understood, ASD currently has no universally accepted therapy. ASD is affecting more and more families; unmet services and limited resources need to be addressed urgently. Researchers, clinicians, healthcare providers, social agencies and government need to coordinate efforts to develop more effective treatments and a satisfactory continuum of care, across the lifespan. Ultimately, a cure needs to be sought for the various subtypes of ASD that exist.

The current issue of North American Journal of Medicine and Science (NAJMS) represents a continuation of our previous two special issues on autism (NAJMS Vol. 5 Issue 3 and Vol. 4 Issue 3) published in July 2012 and July 2011, respectively. In this issue, we are honored to have another panel of expert researchers and clinicians on the frontlines of ASD research and treatment to present their newest research findings and views from different perspectives.

This issue of NAJMS consists of five original research articles, two comprehensive reviews, one case report and two commentary articles, covering topics in genetics, pathogenesis, metabolic disorder biomarkers of ASD, and a clinical study, that bring into focus our newest understanding and treatment strategies.

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The data presented in Dr. Mumper’s review of the medical literature, suggests that ASD may be impacted by environmental toxicants, duration of breastfeeding, gut flora composition, nutritional status, acetaminophen use, vaccine practices and use of antibiotics and/or frequency of infections. In her current general pediatric practice (Advocates for Children), she has noted a modest trend toward a lower prevalence of ASD than in her previous pediatric practice or recent prevalence estimates from the CDC.

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The final commentary was written by Dr. Herbert, who presents her paper entitled “Everyday Epigenetics from Molecular Intervention to Public Health and Lifestyle Medicine.” She asserts that it may well take a grass roots epigenetic/lifestyle medicine revolution to avert the worsening health trends we are facing in the setting of a progressively more toxic and endangered planet. She posits that everyday epigenetics can inform science of what is possible so that society can respond on an appropriate scale to the magnitude of the crisis we are facing.

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Xuejun Kong, MD
Editor-in-Chief, NAJMS
Department of Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard Medical School

Christopher J. McDougle, MD
Guest Editor, NAJMS
Lurie Center for Autism Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101672031