The Diane Rehm Show

One of my concerns is that bunching of vaccines may have a role in the increasing number. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatricians) and the insurance industry are very adamant not to agree on the fact - at least to see if the bunching of vaccines has any effect on kids.

My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 7. On the advice of his Pediatrician and Pyschologist, we put him on medicine for a year, which he hated and told us didn't help at all. At age 9 we had evaluated more extensively with a different Psychologist and she found he did worse on attention and behavior tasks on medicine than he did when off. As a result, she strongly recommended we take him off the meds, which we did and he is much happier, as are we. He still has all the textbook behaviors of an ADHD kid- high energy, low attention, poor social skills, poor executive functioning skills, but my point is to also listen to your own child and not be too quick to jump to a diagnosis without a second opinion.

Yes, autism has been consistently shown to be clustered in high socioeconomic areas.

Tom T, yes there are geographical differences. Alabama has increased but the rate there is 1 in 210. Utah otoh has a rate of 1 in 47 kids.

It seems obvious Gerald that labeling as autistic is a powerful marketing and extraction device in such a mercenary culture as ours. While environmental poisoning may mean more defective neurology researchers refuse to address this. They prefer to remedy the results because of profitability. I assume that humankind has always, though, produced a variety of perceptual types with different assortments of ability and that we now stigmatize those who are not a good candidate for formulaic predation. I've got a little cousin who plays saxaphone with the high school band. He is in the 6th grade and is no achiever, but because his parents are high earning professionals he receives every possible remedy and accolade. You could educate several dozen poor kids to be successes with what is wasted on his blunted potential to be "normal." Stiggy, as I call him, might have made a good itinerant musician or a farm hand decades ago, but now baking a twinkie requires an advanced degree.
Do you see what I see Gerald? I love my little cousin more than the other relatives because he is distinctive. I know how Rick feels about Bella.

Incorrect. The vaccine issue is not closed. And the issue was not ONLY the thimerasol in vaccines. Of course, that made it worse. The issue is that all children are different with different toxic tipping points. Not all kids can handle 36 vaccines in the first 2 years of life. Is that really so shocking??? Why can't professionals ackowledge that it is the vaccines - there are tooo many, tooooo soon.

My son appears to be one of those kids that are "growing out of it". Do you see problems later on in life? Do they develop other issues? My son's teacher is now more concerned about possible ADHD instead of autism.

My daughter did not have an autistic spectrum disorder, but did have another genetic linked disease not really recognized. I struggled with the insurance system for years with getting appropriate care for her because it didn't fit into either the physical or DSM criteria. It was only because I am very familiar with how insurance works that I was able to get much of the care she needed covered. The rest was covered by me out of what should have been my retirement funds.

Narrow definitions allow the insurance companies to deny coverage. I feel strongly that the entire autism spectrum disorders should be covered by the definitions so appropriate care will be covered.

Autism was added as a special education category under IDEA in 1990, not 2007. The cost of an appropriate and effective education for most students with autism far exceeds what the federal government allocates for special education for each student.

I recently read the book "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time" and found it both very fascinating and illuminating as it was written from the perspective of a very high-functioning young boy, chronicling what he was thinking and how he accommodated his needs and dealt with various challenging situations. Does your panel think this book is an accurate representation of a child somewhere on the spectrum? I was struck by the many similarities between this child and how I think, and conclude that perhaps we aren't so different after all.

If Autism is happening from birth and being more prevelant than in years past, what about looking into the diet & health of the mother as a possible concern. From the health of her body through adequate protein, good fats, veggies and fruit instead of so many poor dietary choices that a lot of women eat even before they get pregnant. There are so many issues that affect the child in the womb through the mother like smoking, drugs, drinking alcohol, etc. but I don't think doctors express the importance of cleaning up a diet even if a women does not do those harsh things, the diet can be just as harsh either through the bad choices or simple neglect of good choices like omega fats, vitamins & minerals and not just through a supplement pill.

Where is the discussion of those with classical autism?
Seems like this discussion is only on high functioning autism.
It would also be a better discussion of these costs on the family and school systems. I think they are now just starting to discuss what happens to the adults once they turn 22 and are aged out of services and there is an extreme shortage of group homes.

The clarification is also not being discussed that there has NOT been a placebo vs vaccine study done independently of the Big Pharmaceutical companies own studies. There also has not been a large study of children who are vaccinated vs unvaccinated such as the amish community. There is not a separation of Pharmaceutical companies and CDC/FDA members, many of whom have financial ties to the makers of the vaccines, to represent an unbiased safe guard panel.

We have a highly functioning son who has autism, ADHD, PDD, and mild mental retardation. My son is 13 years old. My son is struggling in Jr High because he doesn't understand the basics in any of his classes. His class material is way over his head. The school told us "this is the curriculm the school has to follow." Basically, the school is setting up our son for failure. Our son has had awful behavior at school. He has had detentions, in school suspensions, and now a court date this month with a fine of $350.00. He has a class ratio of 1:25 and this is not working for him. He has tutoring every morning and after school when he remembers. I have told his teachers "not to send any homework home for him because he just doesn't get it and as parents we don't get it." Our son is on a lot of medicine, goes to a Child Neurologist and we are looking into counseling. We have had extensive counseling before but we have recently moved and need to research a counselor. There are too many distractions in my son's classes and he isn't learning anything. We are frustrated because Jr High is not working for my son at all.

It also was not clarified that the reported whooping cough outbreak that 92% of those affected were vaccinated.