Schafer Autism Report, July 09, 2003

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Health Officials Upset New Law Won’t Force Vaccination in Texas

      [By Nicole Foy for the San Antonio Express-News.]
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1020421

      Pediatricians and public health experts across the state are incensed over a new law that will allow unvaccinated children to attend public school and day care if their parents philosophically object to state immunization requirements. The controversial measure, which many physicians argue could put public health at risk, repeatedly has come up in past Texas legislative sessions, but failed to make it into law each time.
      This time, it passed in the form of an amendment tacked to a mammoth health and human services reorganization bill during the last, chaotic hours of the session — a move that has angered many who have worked to oppose it.
      “Vaccination is one of the greatest public health accomplishments of the 20th century,” said Dr. Michael Foulds, president of the Texas Pediatric Society. “Expanding exemptions will only increase the outbreak of deadly infectious diseases.”
      The not-for-profit professional society represents about 2,800 Texas pediatricians and 600 medical students.
      Under current law, children must follow state vaccination policies in order to enter public school or day care. Exemptions are allowed only in two cases: medical necessity, as determined by a physician, and any religious objection on the basis that vaccination conflicts with the “tenets and practice of a recognized church.”
      The new policy, passed as part of House Bill 2292 and signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry, allows any parent with a philosophical, “conscientious objection” to vaccinations to obtain a form from the state health department that, after notarization, would allow their children access into public schools.
      Among the new law’s advocates is Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE). Its director, Dawn Richardson, said the new exemption should make it easier for families to reclaim control over their children’s health from bureaucrats who shouldn’t be making vaccination decisions.
      Richardson said her group represents at least 3,500 families — many of whom she said have been harassed and discriminated against by physicians and schools intent on mandating vaccination requirements.
      “Parents are being thrown out of doctors’ offices statewide,” she said. “Every parent should have the right to pick and choose what is best for their child.”
      According to Richardson, at least 19 other states have some form of conscientious-objector clause regarding vaccinations.
      But many public health experts note that the current immunization process is based on scientific data and a wealth of evidence that vaccinations prevent disease and death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently ranked the control of vaccine-preventable diseases as the top public health achievement within the past 100 years.
      Vaccines are responsible for the control of infectious diseases that were once common and, in many cases, deadly. Those include polio, measles, whooping cough, German measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and influenza.
      It was Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, who offered a “conscientious objection” amendment on the Senate floor. His chief of staff Trey Blocker said Estes’ amendment originally made it clear that the applicant’s sibling had to have had an adverse reaction to an immunization in order to be exempt under the clause.
      But when the bill was sent to a conference committee of House and Senate members, the sibling language was struck, leaving the broader wording that will allow an applicant to decline immunizations “for reasons of conscience.”
      Dr. Tom Spurgat, medical director of the Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital, called the move a “huge mistake.”
      He noted that vaccines not only prevent disease in people who receive them, but they also protect those who come into contact with unvaccinated people.
      Spurgat said parents who don’t want their children vaccinated because of conscientious objections often are victims of unscientific information that serves as a scare tactic against immunizations.
      “It’s a shame these people are operating off so much misinformation,” he said. “They’re putting their children at risk and they’re putting my children at risk.”
      Dr. Fernando Guerra, director of the Metropolitan Health District, said he wants to work with local school districts in keeping track of the number of children with exemptions. Such tracking would better equip the local health department in the event of any disease outbreak, he said.
      Under the law, unvaccinated children can remain anonymous and the only data publicly released will be the number of exemptions allowed.
      In the event of a public health emergency, the state health commissioner also could require unvaccinated children to stay home from school, according to the law.
      The new policy also prohibits a health and human services agency from taking punitive action against parents for not immunizing their children. Richardson of PROVE said the clause will go far to protect parents who feel discriminated against because of decisions not to vaccinate.

      Three parent groups in Texas have come together in voicing strong support for the new Texas vaccine exemption law. The new law allows parents to exercise a conscientious belief exemption to vaccination. Together, all three organizations, The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) and Americans for Vaccine Safety and Accountability (AVSA) are joining with the Texas-based parent organization, Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education (PROVE), to represent more than 200,000 Americans committed to defending the informed consent rights of citizens to make voluntary health care choices when there is a risk of injury or death.
      Parent and health care professional groups are responding to last week’s outcry by Texas pediatricians and public health officials, who criticized passage of the new vaccine exemption in House Bill 2292, which was signed into law by Governor Rick Perry. NVIC President Barbara Loe Fisher said “Texas is joining 18 other states which allow this kind of vaccine exemption, including every state bordering Texas. These other states are not having raging epidemics of disease just because they respect a parent’s right to make educated choices about the benefits and risks of vaccination for their children. It is a basic human right to be able to voluntarily decide what you are willing to risk your life or your child’s life for and Texas should be proud to be among the enlightened states which recognize this simple moral fact.”
      Terry Rondberg, D.C., president of the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), which is a member of the lobbying coalition, AVSA, said “Pediatricians should be welcoming the opportunity to have open dialogue with parents about vaccination so they can be partners, not adversaries, with parents in making these important health decisions. No one should be forced to take a health care risk they don’t want to take. Only when you own a decision that involves a risk can you take responsibility for it.”
      Dawn Richardson, president of PROVE, who back grounded Texas legislators for seven years about the importance of parental rights and informed consent to vaccination, said “At a time when physicians and vaccine manufacturers have lobbied so hard for further release of liability for the harm they sometimes do, parents in Texas are grateful to the legislators who have given them back control over which vaccine risks their child will take. I was excited to receive a letter from Speaker of the House Tom Craddick, after the Governor signed the exemption into law stressing the legislature’s strong support for parental rights.”
      The Speaker’s letter said in part, “This exemption should assist parents who are subjected to any harassment at schools and day care facilities since a signed notarized exemption form will not be disputable by officials…an additional provision in HB 2292 prohibits any health and human services agency from taking punitive action against a parent for not immunizing their child. Thus, parental decisions will be protected and respected in the future on this issue.”
      The Texas legislature joins with the Arkansas legislature this past session in providing parents with the right to conscientious or philosophical belief exemption to vaccination. Internationally, there is also acknowledgement of the importance of voluntary vaccination decision-making. Last month the British Medical Association released a report which stated, “Parents have a right to receive unbiased information so that they can make an informed choice with regard to vaccination of their children….Public health policies depend on social consensus. The UK government currently recommends a national immunization schedule which is not compulsory…. we do not believe that compulsory immunization is in any way appropriate for the UK but that healthcare professionals should strive to inform, educate and advise the public about the overwhelming benefits of vaccination for their children and society in general.” That report also noted that “across Europe the trend has been toward greater voluntary participation.”

More Mercury Pollution Under Bush Plan, 100 Groups Write to Oppose Legislation

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=107-07082003

      U.S. Newswire/ -- In response to a US congressional hearing on the President’s “Clear Skies” legislation, over 100 physician, health, environmental and consumer groups say they oppose the proposal because it would actually result in increases in mercury pollution, compared with existing mandates. The criticisms were leveled at Bush in a letter signed by organizations as diverse as the Mercury Policy Project, SC Coastal Conservation League and the Women’s Health & Environmental Network to national organizations like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Sierra Club.
      “The so-called Clear Skies proposal would allow for more mercury pollution, not less,” said MPP Director Michael T. Bender, who spearheaded the letter to the President. “While recent CDC data show that 8 percent of U.S. women have unsafe mercury levels, the President seems more intent on protecting polluters, rather than America’s children.”
      The letter emphasized that, “Nowhere would the weakening of existing law have potentially more devastating results than with respect to the threats posed by mercury to human health, fish as a protein source, and the future viability of the recreational and commercial fishing industries.” Clear Skies would endanger children by allowing increases in emissions of mercury, a toxic metal now found above federal “safe” levels in eight percent of women of childbearing age-translating to over 300,000 children born each year at risk of mercury poisoning.
      Under current law, by year’s end the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must issue rules requiring mercury emissions at individual old and new coal-fired power plants, the largest aggregate source of the heavy metal, to be cut by up to 90 percent. Yet the groups maintain that, “Clear Skies would delay the start of mercury reductions until 2010, postpone full implementation until 2018, and achieve reductions that would be only a fraction of those that would be produced by current law.”
      A constituent of coal, mercury is released through smoke stacks then works its way up the food chain into the flesh large predators like shark, swordfish and tuna, and can cause brain damage, impaired coordination, blurred vision, tremors, irritability and memory loss, behavioral problems and loss of intelligence, and cardiovascular disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and 44 states warn consumers to limit intake of fish -- including canned tuna, one of the most consumed fish in the U.S. -- because of mercury levels.
      The hearing today on Bush’s proposed legislation for reducing mercury, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide pollution from coal-burning power plants will be held in the House Energy and Commerce energy and air quality subcommittee.
      For more information: http://www.mercurypolicy.org/new/documents/PresBushLetter050703.pdf http://www.mercurypolicy.org/new/documents/ClearingTheRecord022503.pdf http://www.epa.gov/mercury/index.html http://www.usnewswire.com/

Infectious Virus Linked To Development Of Mental Disorders

      [By Michael Woods for the Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh.]
http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20030708borna0708p3.asp

     The seemingly far-fetched idea that people might catch a mental illness in the same way they catch the flu gained credence yesterday as scientists reported witnessing in mice a mechanism by which a virus could cause mental disorders.
      “Our results suggest that viral infection may play a role in the development of psychiatric disorders,” said Dr. Keizo Tomonago, a member of a Japanese research team whose study on Borna Disease Virus was published in yesterday’s weekly journal of The National Academy of Sciences.
      Dr. W. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University authority on borna virus, called the Japanese research “elegant.” Lipkin was the first to isolate the borna virus from human brain tissue, and he headed the lab that deciphered the virus’s genome.
      “Mental disorders represent four of the 10 leading causes of disability in individuals over the age of five years,” Lipkin said. “Despite progress in identifying susceptibility genes, the causes of most mental disorders remains unknown.”
      The borna virus has long been suspected as a cause of clinical depression, hyperactivity, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
      Researchers have found, for instance, that borna virus infections are more common in people with mental illness than in healthy people. Children of mothers exposed to the virus during pregnancy have an increased risk of autism and schizophrenia, as well.
      Nevertheless, Lipkin said, more research is needed to prove that the borna virus actually causes such conditions, rather than just being an innocent bystander, and few scientists believe that borna virus alone could cause mental illness.
      Tomonago, a virologist at Osaka University, echoed those reservations in an interview from Japan.
      “At present, there is no direct evidence that this virus infection links to a specific human disorder,” he said. “Although the broad potential host range of this virus suggests that humans are targets for infection, the sources and routes of human infection are not clear now.”
      Borna Disease Virus was named after Borna, a town in southern Germany where an epidemic killed horses and sheep in the 1880s. People called it “sad horse disease” because depression is among the first symptoms.
      The virus also can infect birds, rats, monkeys, cows, rabbits, cats, dogs and other animals, including humans. Scientists think the virus is transmitted much like cold and flu viruses, via infected saliva and mucus.
      Infected animals develop symptoms similar to human psychiatric illnesses. Young infected rats become hyperactive, for instance, and rat pups cannot communicate normally -- a condition similar to autism. Other infected animals become violent.
      “These observations suggest that BDV is a human pathogen and that viral infection may play a role in the induction of certain human mental illnesses,” Tomonago said.

Autism Tissue Program: The Gift Of Hope

      [Source: The Exceptional Parent.]
http://infobrix.yellowbrix.com/pages/infobrix/Story.nsp?story_id=40000627&ID=infobrix&scategory=The+Iraq+Situation&

      “We never knew what was wrong with Eric when he was alive and hope that this research will help lead to an understanding about autism.” Eric, age five, had autism and died of heart failure during a seizure. The wish of his father, Jonathan Carrillo, echoes the wish of all the families who have donated brain tissue of a child or adult relative for brain research. Brain Research of Autism and Related Disorders The Autism Tissue Program works with families to make brain tissue available to researchers who look for evidence of changes in the brain that explain autistic behaviors and can give clues about useful treatments. The availability of brain specimens in this country is still limited, so the efforts of the Autism Tissue Program focus on educational outreach to families, educators and medical professionals about the importance of brain tissue donation.
      Often, the decision is made in the crisis of the sudden death of a young child. By April of 2003, there were 52 donors to the Autism Tissue Program and 26 were under the age of 16; the youngest boy was four. The Program works with advocates in chapters of the Autism Society of America around the country so they are informed about the process of donation and can provide information to others thinking about donation and support for families who go through the process.
      Compared to normal brains, minicolumns in autistic brains are packed more closely together and more regularly spaced than in control brains. The results applied equally to three cortical areas examined in both hemispheres. (M. Casanova, International Meeting for Autism Research 2002.)

We are often asked what researchers expect to find from brain tissue research amid the present confusion about the cause or causes of autism spectrum disorders. The brain is the place to go to understand how the behaviors that we identify with autism- alterations in social interaction and language development, limited interests and unusual repetitive behaviors-come about. The brain is the organ of the body generating these behaviors. Whether caused by a virus, vaccine, environmental toxins, neonatal trauma or innate genetic anomalies, the resulting behaviors we call “autism” occur because the brain is affected.

A small number of brains in children and adults with autism have been studied over the last 20 years. In that time, two major groups, headed by Drs. Margaret Bauman and Tom Kemper in Boston and Dr. Tony Bailey in London, looked systematically at the size, shape, location and numbers of cells in various parts of the brain, knowing what the typically-developing brain areas and cells in them should look like.

      What they found is that many autistic brains are larger in overall size than average and often show “migration” errors so that some cells in the cortex (outer layer) end up in the wrong location. The cortex is where incoming sensory information is processed and where associations, planning and thinking take place. Errors in positioning can lead to miscommunication among brain cells and associated problems in brain functioning. Cortical migration errors in the temporal lobes, which are located on the sides of the brain, are consistent with seizure activity, an important finding since about 30 percent of the donors to our program also had a seizure disorder.
      The most consistent brain change found is a decrease in the numbers of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum, which contains over half of the neurons of the brain and appears to play a central regulatory role for the entire brain. An excerpt from a brain- mapping book co-written by an Autism Tissue Program’s tissue advisory board member, Dr. John Mazziotta, explains the role of this structure and how damage to the cerebellum might disrupt normal intellectual, emotional and other cognitive abilities. “In the same way that the cerebellum regulates the rate, force, rhythm and accuracy of movements, so may it regulate the speed, capacity, consistency and appropriateness of mental or cognitive processes. The cerebellum is viewed as an oscillation dampener, maintaining function steadily around a homeostatic baseline.”
      Other brain structures have likewise been investigated in the pioneering brain studies. A system of linked brain areas forms the limbic system, involved in emotional aspects of face processing, in perceiving fear and in the formation of long-term memory. Some brains show increased numbers of seemingly immature cells in limbic structures called the amygdala and hippocampus. These changes, along with some evidence of brainstem structural differences point to problems arising before children are born, early in prenatal development.
      Figure 2. Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of the post-mortem brain. Arrow points to the amygdala, an area of interest in autism. (Cynthia Schumann and David Amaral; UC Davis.) New Developments The human cortex is structured in mini-columns with cell groups of 60-80 neurons taking in input (information), processing it and generating output (responses). Dr. Manuel Casanova made news with his findings that, in autism cases, these groups of brain cells are smaller and more numerous than average. “Intelligence is not the property of single cells; it’s in the circuitry,” according to Casanova, and the autistic individual may be “literally bombarded with stimulation from the environment.”
      An analogy to increased numbers of mini-columns is an increase in pixels in a digital camera. Whether or not this results in higher resolution and can account for observations of exceptional visual memory or special attention to detail often observed in those with autism is too early to tell. Certainly, educators need to understand how the brain is processing information so we can continue to adapt teaching techniques to best support brain function. In contrast to autistic brain tissue, Casanova reported that mini-columns in post- mortem tissue of individuals with Down syndrome were “large and less cell dense, while brain volumes were significantly smaller than the controls.”
      The Autism Tissue Program employs Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as a valuable, non-invasive tool for understanding structural abnormalities in the brain. The M.I.N.D. Institute at UC Davis developed a procedure to investigate anatomical differences in the post mortem brain with imaging methods for optimal contrast between gray and white matter. Images of the brain are routinely obtained before distribution of tissue for other research, providing a record of how the brain appeared prior to tissue processing. The virtual representation (Figure 2) of the whole brain can also be subjected to additional analyses such as measuring the volume of brain regions or area of the cortical surface. These images are loaded onto an open site maintained by UC Davis for other researchers (all brain cases are identified by a special case number to protect confidentiality of the donor).

Senators Introduce Bipartisan Mental Health Parity Bill

      [Source: Employee Benefit Plan Review.]
http://infobrix.yellowbrix.com/pages/infobrix/Story.nsp?story_id=39999710&ID=infobrix&scategory=Healthcare&

      Senators Pete Domenici (R-N.Mex.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), along with 24 cosponsors, have introduced the Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003 (S. 486). A companion bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Jim Ramstad (R- Minn.) and Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), along with two cosponsors. The bill was referred to the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. S. 486 would prohibit a group health plan from treating mental health benefits differently from the coverage of medical and surgical benefits. According to a statement from Senator Domenici, S. 486 is modeled on the mental health benefits program for federal employees and would expand the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996. Mr. Wellstone (D-Minn.), who was killed in a plane crash last fall, had partnered with Senator Domenici in the 1990s to promote mental health legislation.
      The bill will provide full parity for all categories of mental health conditions listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as long as the condition is included in an authorized treatment plan that meets standard protocols and medical necessity criteria. The 1996 parity law does not provide for coverage of treatment for mental health conditions that is equal to coverage of treatment for physical conditions; that law allows plans to set limits on the number of days or visits for treatment and on dollars paid per treatment for mental conditions. Like the 1996 law, the Domenici-Kennedy legislation only applies to group health plans that already cover treatment for mental health conditions; it would not mandate that plans provide coverage of treatment for those conditions or for substance abuse. The bill also contains an exclusion for companies with 50 or fewer employees.
      Copyright Aspen Publishers, Inc. Apr 2003

A Golden Harvest In Traffic Violators
Bill for NJ traffic tickets to fund autism research.

      [Source: “The Record, Bergen County, N.J.”.]
http://infobrix.yellowbrix.com/pages/infobrix/Story.nsp?story_id=39986760&ID=infobrix&scategory=The+Iraq+Situation&

      Next time you get pulled over for running a stop sign or making an illegal turn, look the cop in the eye and say you were just trying to do your part to fight autism. If the officer reaches for a Breathalyzer or a straitjacket, it might help to whip out a copy of A2601, which passed both houses of the Legislature during Tuesday’s law-a-palooza.
      The bill adds a temporary $1 surcharge to all motor vehicle fines to raise nearly $4 million a year for autism research over the next five years.
      Sitting near A2601 in Governor McGreevey’s office, among the more than 80 bills awaiting his signature, is A2617. It adds a $2 surcharge to traffic fines to generate $8 million a year to expand the number of criminals whose DNA samples are kept in police databases.
      The autism bill is sponsored by Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, D- Teaneck, who has a step-grandson with a high-performing form of autism. The DNA bill is sponsored by her running mate, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Englewood. A former Bergen County sheriff, he put in the bill after DNA in a Georgia database helped nab a guy who was robbing stores in Englewood.
      One might wonder what autism and criminals’ DNA have in common, and what either has to do with speeding or failing to “keep right except to pass.” The answer is this: They both cost money, and traffic violators are an easy mark.
      The two bills are the latest examples of what happens when legislators’ good intentions collide with a tight budget. Every day, lawmakers are approached by people pleading for public funding. And as much as partisan rhetoric portrays Democrats and Republicans as somehow different types of human beings, both parties are filled with people who would like to grant those pleas.
      When times are good, the legislators put in appropriations or bargain with their budget chairmen to get line items included in the budget. But when times are bad, evil state treasurers concerned with such trivial pursuits as balancing budgets persuade governors to delete those items.
      Over the years, lawmakers have tried to get around evil treasurers by creating “dedicated revenue streams” that tap cash already flowing into state coffers. The new hotel tax McGreevey signed last week, for example, was sugar-coated as a future funding source for arts, tourism, and historical preservation.
      Traffic fines were being tapped long before the autism and DNA bills were drafted.
      The practice started in the late Eighties when a $1 fee, later raised to $2, was assessed to create an Automated Traffic System to link municipal courts together.
      The idea was to make violators pay for the system’s operation, but it now costs $1 million more than the fee generates, and a massive upgrade is needed. Court officials say they used to be able to get parts for outdated servers on eBay, but that’s now close to impossible. It’s also getting harder to find programmers who can write the obsolete code to manage the database.
      Since the first fee was assessed, new surcharges have added $1 for police body armor, 50 cents for emergency medical technician training, and $1 for victims of spinal cord injuries. A bill providing another $1 for brain injury research has cleared the Assembly and is pending in the Senate.
      So if things keep going this way, there could come a day when motor vehicle fines are deductible from your federal income tax. At the very least, next time you get a telemarketing call from some foundation dedicated to fighting a disease, just tell them, “I gave in traffic court.”

* * *

The July-August 2003 issue of the Autism Asperger’s Digest, a bimonthly 52 page magazine devoted to autism/AS, has just been released. Spotlighting this month’s issue are articles addressing a variety of helpful interventions for individuals with autism, including:

The Road to Effective Intervention: What Speech-Language Pathologists Need to Know to Work with Students with ASD

Available by single copy or subscription, the Autism Asperger’s Digest features originally written articles, book excerpts and regular columns by some of the top names in the autism field: Temple Grandin, Reed Martin, Diane Twachtman-Cullen, Jerry Newport. For more information, visit their website: http://www.autismdigest.com or call Future Horizons, at 800.489.0727.

AWARENESS

      Plainfield -- The Smith family has not one, not two, but three autistic children, which creates some unique problems for a stay-at-home mom.
      Sharon Smith’s full-time job is taking care of 7-year-old Quinn, 5-year-old Noah, and 3-year-old Adriana, who have all been diagnosed with various forms of autism. She and her husband, Joe, live in Plainfield.
      “It’s always a scene when we go into public,” Smith said. “Adriana likes to scream. They are happy screams, but other people don’t know that.”
      According to information from the Autism Society of America, autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. The disorder affects the functioning of the brain and has been estimated to occur in as many as two to six out of every 1,000 people.
      Smith said her two youngest children were first diagnosed as autistic.
      “They don’t just play with toys and they don’t take naps,” Smith said. “Adriana will sleep in six-hour spurts, but then she will jump up and be wide awake. Quinn was only recently diagnosed with Asperger’s. He’s very smart and always has areas where he will excel, but socially, he has problems.”
      Asperger’s disorder is characterized by severe and sustained impairment in social interaction, Smith explained.
      The two younger children, she said, can’t speak like other children their age.
      “That’s another thing that makes it hard in public,” Smith said. “They look normal, but then act out. I’m sure people think I’m crazy when I have to wrestle my children out of McDonald’s.”
      She said a trip to the library can be traumatic, but a ride in the car is very relaxing.
      “They’ll sit in their seats and eat fries,” she said. “They do just fine -- then we tried going to the library for story time.”
      Smith said she stayed with her children throughout the program but they still ended up disturbing the other patrons.
      The Smith children are almost always dressed in T-shirts identifying them as autistic, Smith said, adding that Noah’s shirts generally have his name and address on them, as he has been known to escape from the backyard and wander away.
      “The symbol for autism is puzzle pieces,” Smith said. “I have shirts for them that say ‘Jesus makes all the pieces fit.’ People who know about autism will recognize the symbol.”
      Smith said her faith and her church, the Fleming Garden Christian Church on the west side of Indianapolis, have helped the family through many trials.
      “I try to get my helpers from my church,” Smith said. “Especially if they’re raising money for mission trips. But since we go to church on the west side, many of them are from that area.”
      She said she generally has a “mother’s helper,” normally a teen-age girl, on hand throughout the day.
      “They help me keep track of them (the children) and to keep the house together,” she said. “They (the children) can pretty much destroy the house. I have to vacuum at least two or three times a day.”
      She also has an adult helper who comes to help clean and watch the children so she can escape for a few hours a week.
      “That’s when I come down here to work,” she said.
      In the basement of her home is a children’s clothing shop where people can come and shop without worrying about their children running around a store. It’s sports a playroom filled with toys, chairs, couches a television, and a VCR.
      “This is how I pay for my helpers,” Smith said. “I sell just enough to pay for them and I give myself something to do. People with autistic or hyper children can come here to do their Christmas shopping and they won’t have to worry about their kids.”
      Smith says she’d like to connect with other families with autistic children and to start a support group. She may be reached by calling 839-9933 or by e-mailing to sharonweb@indy.rr.com. She also has a website at SHARONSWEB.COM.

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