SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet"

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Monday, December 30, 2002

RESEARCH

(Abstracts)

* Autism, An Extreme Challenge To Integrative Medicine

* Impaired Recognition of Social Emotions Following Amygdala Damage

* Oxytocin Infusion Reduces Repetitive Behaviors in (Autistic) Adults

* How to Locate Research Abstracts and Get Full Text Articles: From CAN

(News)

* Autism Program Aims To Increase Study Of Brain Tissue

PUBLIC HEALTH

* U.S. Officials Mull A Military Role In Enforcing Smallpox Quarantine

* Parents' Trust in MMR Jab May Have Halted Measles Epidemic Crisis

ADVOCACY

* Provision In Bill Angers Parents Of Autistic Children

CARE

* How an $11 Toy Saved My Sanity in Two Short Days

* Autistic Australian Boy, 8, Wrestles Snakes

LETTERS

* Watching Porn On The Taxpayer's Dime

* A 'Jello Theory of Autism', Anyone?

* Doesn't Get It

RESEARCH - Abstracts

Autism, An Extreme Challenge To Integrative Medicine.

Part 2: Medical management

ds=12495373&dopt=Abstract <- - address ends here.

Kidd PM.

Parris Kidd, PhD (Cell Biology, University of California at Berkeley) - Contributing Editor, Alternative Medicine Review; Health educator and biomedical consultant to the supplement industry. Correspondence address: 847 Elm Street, El Cerrito, CA 94530.

Autism and allied autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) present myriad behavioral, clinical, and biochemical abnormalities.

Parental participation, advanced testing protocols, and eclectic treatment strategies have driven progress toward cure Behavioral modification and structured education are beneficial but insufficient.

Dietary restrictions, including removal of milk and other casein dairy products, wheat and other gluten sources, sugar, chocolate, preservatives, and food coloring are beneficial and prerequisite to benefit from other interventions.

Individualized IgG or IgE testing can identify other troublesome foods but not non-immune mediated food sensitivities.

Gastrointestinal improvement rests on controlling Candida and other parasites, and using probiotic bacteria and nutrients to correct dysbiosis and decrease gut permeability.

Detoxification of mercury and other heavy metals by DMSA/DMPS chelation can have marked benefit.

Documented sulfoxidation-sulfation inadequacies call for sulfur-sulfhydryl repletion and other liver p450 support.

Many nutrient supplements are beneficial and well tolerated, including dimethylglycine (DMG) and a combination of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and magnesium, both of which benefit roughly half of ASD cases.

Vitamins A, B3, C, and folic acid; the minerals calcium and zinc; cod liver oil; and digestive enzymes, all offer benefit.

Secretin, a triggering factor for digestion, is presently under investigation.

Immune therapies (pentoxifyllin, intravenous immunoglobulin, transfer factor, and colostrum) benefit selected cases.

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids offer great promise.

Current pharmaceuticals fail to benefit the primary symptoms and can have marked adverse effects.

Individualized, in-depth clinical and laboratory assessments and integrative parent-physician-scientist cooperation are the keys to successful ASD management.

PMID: 12495373 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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ds=12495531&dopt=Abstract <- - address ends here.

Adolphs R, Baron-Cohen S, Tranel D.

University of Iowa.

Lesion, functional imaging, and single-unit studies in human and nonhuman animals have demonstrated a role for the amygdala in processing stimuli with emotional and social significance.

We investigated the recognition of a wide variety of facial expressions, including basic emotions (e.g., happiness, anger) and social emotions (e.g., guilt, admiration, flirtatiousness).

Prior findings with a standardized set of stimuli indicated that recognition of social emotions can be signaled by the eye region of the face and is disproportionately impaired in autism (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, & Jolliffe, 1997).

To test the hypothesis that the recognition of social emotions depends on the amygdala, we administered the same stimuli to 30 subjects with unilateral amygdala damage (16 left, 14 right), 2 with bilateral amygdala damage, 47 brain-damaged controls, and 19 normal controls.

Compared with controls, subjects with unilateral or bilateral amygdala damage were impaired when recognizing social emotions; moreover, they were more impaired in recognition of social emotions than in recognition of basic emotions, and, like previously described patients with autism, they were impaired also when asked to recognize social emotions from the eye region of the face alone.

The findings suggest that the human amygdala is relatively specialized to process stimuli with complex social significance.

The results also provide further support for the idea that some of the impairments in social cognition seen in patients with autism may result from dysfunction of the amygdala.

PMID: 12495531 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Oxytocin Infusion Reduces Repetitive Behaviors in Adults with Autistic. . . . . .and Asperger's Disorders.

ds=12496956&dopt=Abstract <- - address ends here. Hollander E, Novotny S, Hanratty M, Yaffe R, DeCaria CM, Aronowitz BR, Mosovich S.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by dysfunction in three core behavioral domains: repetitive behaviors, social deficits, and language abnormalities.

There is evidence that abnormalities exist in peptide systems, particularly the oxytocin system, in autism spectrum patients.

Furthermore, oxytocin and the closely related peptide vasopressin are known to play a role in social and repetitive behaviors.

This study examined the impact of oxytocin on repetitive behaviors in 15 adults with autism or Asperger's disorder via randomized double-blind oxytocin and placebo challenges.

The primary outcome measure was an instrument rating six repetitive

behaviors: need to know, repeating, ordering, need to tell/ask, self-injury, and touching.

Patients with autism spectrum disorders showed a significant reduction in repetitive behaviors following oxytocin infusion in comparison to placebo infusion.

Repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorders may be related to abnormalities in the oxytocin system, and may be partially ameliorated by synthetic oxytocin infusion.

Neuropsychopharmacology (2003) 28, 193-198. doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300021

PMID: 12496956 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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How to Locate Research Abstracts and Get Full Text Articles: From CAN

Research Abstracts:

genetics") to find abstracts about the subjects you are interested in which have been published in scientific journals. You may also search by entering an author's name (ie: Cook, E). Each abstract also provides you with a link to related articles. There are excellent tutorials on this site with instructions for more advanced search techniques.

Full Text Articles:

Many people don't realize that the medical school library at their local University is open to the public. You can usually purchase a library card and check out books and some journals. You can also browse through the "stacks" of medical journals and make copies of articles.

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Autism Program Aims To Increase Study Of Brain Tissue

378179.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire <- - address ends here.

Two groups that help autism patients and fund research on the disorder have launched a new collaboration to increase the amount of brain tissue from deceased people with autism available for scientific research.

The Princeton-based National Alliance for Autism Research is committing $140,000 for the initiative, a new part of the Autism Tissue Program, which the alliance and the Autism Society of America established in 1998.

The program gives qualified scientists access to post-mortem brain tissue to advance research on the developmental neurological disorder; the new collaboration will develop standard procedures for outreach, registration, tissue collection and storage.

"In the field of neuroscience, as it pertains to autism research, brain tissue is the most valuable material on the planet, enabling scientists to go far beyond the constraints of other technologies and study autism on both a cellular and molecular level," said Prisca Chen Marvin, president of the alliance.

Autism, usually diagnosed by age 3, leaves children with limited ability to communicate or interact socially. Many obsessively perform repetitive behaviors such as spinning in circles.

While the exact cause of autism is unclear, scientists believe there is a genetic component that leaves the brain "wired differently," Andy Shih, director of the alliance's research programs, said Friday.

Determining which genes are involved could lead to a treatment. There currently is no treatment for autism other than behavioral therapy programs that help people learn to do everyday tasks and build stronger bonds with family and caretakers. However, that doesn't work for most patients and is generally effective only if begun very early, Shih said.

"If you can identify genes that confer susceptibility to autism, you can actually help the medical community to diagnose autism more definitively and earlier," he said.

Diagnosis currently is based on lengthy observation of a child's behavior. Because an official diagnosis is usually required for autistic children to get into special education programs, earlier determination with a gene-based test could help patients and families, Shih said.

While the medical community has learned more about autism in the last decade and no longer automatically lumps it together with mental retardation, little is known about adults with autism and most are institutionalized, Shih said.

Most of the brain tissue collected under the existing program comes from children with autism, who suffer more fatal accidents, such as drowning, and thus have a higher mortality rate than other children, according to one preliminary study Shih cited.

Under the new collaboration, the alliance will partner with Autism Society of America chapters in Iowa, Maine, Michigan and New Mexico to increase education and awareness about autism and outreach for tissue from deceased patients.

"We believe the Autism Tissue Program is an important component in our understanding of the autism puzzle," said Rob Beck, executive director of the society.

---

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PUBLIC HEALTH

U.S. Officials Mull A Military Role In Enforcing Smallpox Quarantine

The Bush administration is taking initial steps to plan for a potential military role in enforcing a massive quarantine, if smallpox or another highly contagious virus were to break out somewhere in the United States, defense officials tell Inside the Pentagon.

Talks have begun among various federal agencies that could delineate a role for U.S. troops, should local and state law enforcement authorities become overwhelmed, officials say.

This week a congressionally mandated commission on homeland security said the military should begin preparing for the possibility that "rapid-response" forces will be needed in such a case.

The commander of U.S. Northern Command -- the military organization assigned to defend the American homeland from attack -- must have "dedicated, rapid-reaction units with a wide range of response capabilities such as an ability to support implementation of a quarantine," states a new report from

the Gilmore Commission. The panel was created four years ago to advise the president and Congress on domestic response to terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.

The possibility of a biological attack on the United States is receiving increased attention as the nation contemplates war against Iraq, which experts fear may have "weaponized" smallpox, anthrax or other biowarfare agents. On Dec. 13, President Bush announced a plan to vaccinate almost 500,000 military personnel against smallpox, beginning immediately, and to start inoculating up to 10 million medical workers and emergency responders shortly thereafter.

Administration officials say the nation soon will have stockpiled enough smallpox vaccine to inoculate all Americans within days after an outbreak occurs. The vaccine is believed to be effective as many as four days after exposure to the disease. Without rapid treatment, this once-eradicated virus is deadly. "Our government has no information that a smallpox attack is imminent," Bush said last week. "Yet it is prudent to prepare for the possibility that terrorists who kill indiscriminately would use diseases as a weapon."

Existing public health plans call for local and state officials to institute and enforce a quarantine, if necessary, in which individuals who may have been exposed to a contagious disease -- but show no symptoms -- are confined and physically separated from those who have not been exposed.

But some federal officials, public health analysts and national security experts anticipate a large-scale quarantine would almost surely incite public panic and could require the use of federal troops to restore order. Defense officials emphasize military forces would act solely in a support role to federal civil authorities in such a domestic mission.

Controlling the spread

In the case of even a limited outbreak of a highly contagious disease like smallpox, plague or yellow fever, health officials may call for a broad geographic area to be sealed off, officials say. That is because an infected individual might come into casual contact with dozens of people days before developing or identifying symptoms. Simply breathing within six feet of another person can spread the smallpox virus. A common example of a large quarantine is the creation of a perimeter around a city like Cincinnati, OH, so that no one may leave or enter on foot or by vehicle, train, aircraft or boat. Such a quarantine might be lifted for individuals who remain symptom-free for a period of time, or could be eliminated en masse after an outbreak has been contained, sources said.

But depending on the extent of the outbreak, a quarantine could remain in place -- potentially in multiple U.S. cities or regions simultaneously -- for weeks, months or even years.

"Is there any doubt in your mind if a single case of smallpox is discovered that the troops would be in there in a flash?" asks Stephen Dycus, a specialist in national security law on the faculty of Vermont Law School. "I don't have any doubt, because smallpox or pneumonic plague are highly contagious," and both have a latency period that increases the risk of a rapid spread, he said.

"As soon as word gets out, there's going to be panic in the population," Dycus said in a Dec. 17 interview.

"There will have to be quarantines on a massive scale."

Experts imagine scenarios in which large numbers of parents, seeking to protect their families, attempt to flee a city in which one or more smallpox

cases have been identified. Conversely, a mother or father who is out of town during an outbreak would almost certainly want to return to a quarantine zone to care for their children.

Although local and state health officials are the first line of defense -- and a governor can call up the National Guard under Title 32, if necessary, to enforce a quarantine -- Pentagon and federal civil authorities are concerned state and local law enforcement capabilities may quickly become overwhelmed. Particularly in situations where smallpox has been discovered simultaneously in multiple cities, the federal government anticipates getting involved in the response.

Guidelines for "isolation and quarantine" published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that federal regulations authorize action by CDC "in the event that measures taken by local and state health authorities are insufficient to prevent the spread of smallpox to other states."

Title 42 of the U.S. Code says health regulations "may provide for the apprehension and examination of any individual reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease in a communicable stages," who is moving from one state to another or in contact with a person in transit. "Such regulations may provide that if, upon examination, any such individual is found to be infected, he may be detained for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary," states the law.

Title 42 suggests the U.S. surgeon general, with approval from the secretary of health and human services, has the authority to make and enforce regulations in this regard. However, experts say in the case of a bioterrorism attack, health policy decisions that begin on a local or state level would likely elevate quickly to the U.S. president.

The Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prevents U.S. military forces from engaging in domestic search and seizure, includes exceptions that allow the use of federal troops to restore civil order in national emergencies. Legal experts believe an outbreak of smallpox may well justify the involvement of U.S. troops.

How much force?

But if military personnel are deployed to enforce a quarantine, what level of force could they use to stop the movement of individuals seeking to leave or enter a quarantine area? Experts cite concerns about domestic missions for a military generally trained to use lethal force more readily than local law enforcement. Should troops be allowed to shoot someone trying to escape quarantine, given the risk of widening a limited smallpox outbreak into an epidemic?

"You should use the lowest degree of force necessary to achieve the end in view," says Eugene Fidell, a former Coast Guard judge advocate general now in private practice. He says a bio-terror attack "strikes me as a 21st century equivalent of a natural disaster that could potentially involve the breakdown of civil order."

But the U.S. military should plan for non-lethal force in such a case, using devices for crowd control, rubber bullets and warning shots, he said.

Fidell described a massive quarantine as "a siege in the public interest."

CDC envisions the creation of a "cordon sanitaire" or "line around a quarantine area guarded to prevent spread of disease by restricting passage into and out of the area," according to the organization's published guidelines. Concentric circles of quarantine might be established that allow for various levels of restriction. If just a single case of smallpox has been discovered, "isolation and quarantine measures can be implemented on a voluntary basis," CDC states. But a wider outbreak may necessitate "population-wide quarantine measures which restrict activities or limit movement of individuals," according to CDC. Prior to a smallpox attack, CDC recommends public officials identify "relevant legal authorities, persons and organizations empowered to invoke and enforce" a quarantine, build "public trust and compliance with government directives," and vaccinate "personnel required to implement and enforce quarantine measures." As the federal government kicks off its inoculation campaign, the other two imperatives have barely begun implementation, experts note.

Dycus says CDC draws upon a confusing set of statutory and regulatory authorities in planning to handle communicable disease outbreaks. He says a number of critical factors remain undecided:

* Whether CDC has the authority to mandate that persons -- citizens, legal and illegal residents, and visitors -- undergo physical exams or inoculations, or take pharmaceutical drugs;

* Who has the authority to declare a quarantine or determine the criteria for ordering one; and

* Who will determine the geographic scope, duration, or allowable activities in a quarantine.

The Gilmore Commission -- named for its chairman, James Gilmore, the former Republican governor of Virginia -- also advises the federal government to review the statutory basis for establishing quarantines. The new U.S. national strategy for homeland security "appropriately calls for a review of legal authority for use of the military domestically," states the panel's fourth report, released Dec. 16. "But other legal and regulatory issues must be addressed, not the least of which are quarantine, isolation [of those symptomatic or exposed], mandatory vaccinations, and other prescriptive measures that may be called for in the event of a biological attack."

The Gilmore Commission recommends the president direct the attorney general to conduct such a review of applicable laws and regulations immediately, and "recommend legislative changes before the opening of the next Congress."

Informing the public

Dycus and others say public information is among the most important elements currently missing. If the federal government recognizes the need to plan for a potential smallpox quarantine, "we should do it openly," he says.

Others say a massive quarantine may actually be unworkable, with panicked individuals perhaps triggering the very spread of disease that the quarantine aims to contain.

Planning should focus on less Draconian measures, says retired Air Force Col. Randy Larsen, director of the ANSER Institute for Homeland Security. The kind of small-scale quarantines the World Health Organization used to eradicate smallpox in African and Indian villages in the early 1970s will not work in today's "densely populated, highly mobile, unvaccinated" U.S. population, he told ITP this week.

The Gilmore Commission notes that following the 2001 anthrax mailings, which resulted in deaths in New York, Washington and Florida, "only 44 percent of those instructed to complete a 60-day course of Cipro actually did so. This does not bode well for quarantine, isolation, vaccination or other public health measures."

The federal government should focus its planning on a public information campaign and massive inoculations, to be implemented immediately upon discovering a large-scale smallpox attack, Larsen says. Mass vaccinations of the entire public would be difficult but not impossible, following the model of getting 100 million Americans to the voting booths every Election Day, Larsen says. Both quarantines and public inoculations should be highly recommended, but made voluntary, he says.

"Many health care workers will say that people must be forcibly quarantined," Larsen wrote in a July white paper. "I disagree. Those who do not receive the vaccine will not be a threat to those of us who choose to vaccinate our families."

Public health experts note, though, that additional people may be at risk. The smallpox vaccine is not recommended for pregnant women, young children, or those with skin conditions or weak immune systems. The latter includes people with the AIDS virus, many cancer patients and those who have recently received organ transplants. But these individuals would be encouraged to take the vaccine if risk of smallpox exposure were high.

"Imposition of large-scale quarantine . . . should not be considered a primary public health strategy in most imaginable circumstances," a group of physicians wrote in a December 2001 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "In the majority of contexts, other less extreme public health actions are likely to be more effective and create fewer unintended adverse consequences than quarantine."

A broad information campaign is an essential part of the federal government's planning for responding to a smallpox outbreak, one defense official said this week, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But will it be effective? Probably not," said the official, noting that more rigous alternatives must be planned in case they become necessary.

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Parents' Trust in MMR Jab May Have Halted Measles Epidemic Crisis

Increased confidence in the MMR vaccine may mean parents have prevented a measles epidemic in the Midlands, according to experts.

Health officials in Sandwell said that there has been renewed trust in the triple measles, mumps and rubella jab.

But they have warned parents who have not had their children immunised to do so in the New Year to avoid an outbreak.

Dr Iain Blair, consultant in communicable disease control for Sandwell's Primary Care Trusts, said the uptake of the MMR inoculation had reached 88 per cent this year - up more than five per cent on last year.

Numbers dropped to a low of 82.6 per cent uptake last year following controversial revelations that the triple vaccine could be linked to autism in children.

However, many parents across the UK remain convinced that their children developed autism as a result of the vaccine.

And many families in Birmingham have been paying private clinics to administer the three vaccines separately.

'While this means we are unlikely to get a major outbreak in the local area people should remain aware that there have been measles outbreaks in So uth London and Italy this year,' said Dr Blair.

'Children travelling abroad could pick up the disease. Parents who have ignored or missed the invitation to have their children immunised should make a resolution to see their doctor in January.'

Dr Blair added that the latest study ofMMR in Denmark published last month showed there was no scientific evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

'The fact is that MMR vaccine is extremely safe and has saved millions of lives during the last 26 years.

'For the sake of the health of all in Sandwell, parents should make sure their children are vaccinated and protected from these dangerous and infectious diseases,' he added.

Since MMR was introduced in the UK in 1988, the number of children catching these diseases has dropped to an all-time low.

The measles vaccine prevents death and complications which can be related to the disease.

Mumps was the biggest cause of viral meningitis in children before the introduction of the inoculation. The rubella vaccine prevents babies being damaged if their mother catches the disease when pregnant.

Copyright Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd, 2002.

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ADVOCACY

Provision In Bill Angers Parents Of Autistic Children

They say it was slipped into Homeland Security bill to shield drug companies from litigation

e/opinion/104117135880420.xml <- - address ends here.

Parents with children suffering from autism are outraged at a provision slipped into the Homeland Security bill to shield drug companies from litigation over a vaccine preservative alleged to cause the disorder.

The two-paragraph provision was quietly inserted into the 475-page bill as it was about to pass Congress last month by House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, apparently to protect the Eli Lilly company. It introduced the mercury-laden preservative -- called thimerosal -- 60 years ago and has been recently hit with hundreds of lawsuits filed by families seeking damages.

The provision retroactively bars such lawsuits in state courts, thus eliminating the possibility of large judgments, and channels all complaints into a 14-year-old, taxpayer-financed compensation program in which awards are capped at $250,000.

"This is really a horrible situation," said Joseph Gamble of Annadale. "A tremendous injustice has been done to thousands of people."

Gamble, the father of a 10-year-old autistic son and the executive director of the Grace Foundation, a support group representing about 300 Island families affected by autism, said Armey's last-minute maneuver had embittered many of them against the Republican Party and President Bush.

"A lot of people are saying they are never going to vote Republican again," said Gamble, a plaintiff in one of the Eli Lilly lawsuits.

Ties To Eli Lilly Other Island members of the Foundation charge that Armey acted at the urging of the White House, which they say has close ties to the Eli Lilly. As evidence of the relationship, they note that Bush's father once sat on the company's board and that current White House Budget Office director Mitch Daniels is a former Eli Lilly executive.

"This is absolute travesty," said Gina Giordano of Tottenville, the mother of an 8-year-old autistic boy. "I believe 100 percent that there is a cover-up going on within the White House and the Republican Party."

She charged that Armey was selected as the "fall guy" for taking responsibility for the provision because he was retiring from Congress as of Jan. 1.

"As far as I am concerned, this came from the White House," said Thomas McComb or Grant City, who has a 5-year-old autistic son. "The more you look at this, the more disgusting it is."

Armey has denied acting at the behest of the White House and defended the provision as necessary to protect Eli Lilly and other drug companies that produce life-saving childhood vaccines from a bankruptcy-threatening flood of litigation.

Eli Lilly officials say they sought to have the anti-liability provision attached to the Homeland Security package this summer but ceased their lobbying efforts this fall when congressional leaders informed them they wanted a "clean bill."

Although Eli Lilly had nothing to do with the last-minute inclusion of the provision, the company still "strongly" supported it, said spokesman Ed Sagebeil. "It is an important part of homeland security to make sure our nation has viable vaccine program," Sagebeil said.

He also contended that there was "no credible evidence" connecting thimerosal to autism and that, in fact, several recent studies on the issue had ruled out the link.

"We have the deepest compassion for families with individuals suffering from autism but the link between thimerosal and autism does not stand up," he said.

The Island families and their lawyers disagree. "We are not saying that it 'causes' autism," said Gamble of thimerosal. "But we are saying that it is a trigger for someone who might be pre-disposed to autism."

Mrs. Giordano stressed that the heavy mercury content of thimerosal automatically made it a highly dangerous substance. "We know that mercury is one of the most toxic metals in the world," she said. "How could it be injected into children and be safe?"

Evan Feinberg, a lawyer for some of the Island families suing Eli Lilly, dismissed as "propaganda" the recent studies concluding that thimerosal was not a factor in autism. He said his side has assembled a large body of evidence showing that autism was a "form of mercury poisoning."

An effort to strip the homeland security bill of the anti-liability rider has been announced by several members of Congress, including one leading Republican, House Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton of Indiana, Eli Lilly's home state.

In a recent statement, Burton, who has an autistic grandson, said the provision "takes away an avenue for restitution" and "leaves families without hope."

Republican Rep. Vito Fossella indicated he was in favor of revisiting the issue to reach a compromise acceptable to both the companies and the families. "I have seen first-hand the debilitating effects of autism," he said in a statement. "Not for a moment will we allow to stand a law that is not in (the families') best interest."

"We need to strike the right balance to ensure that there is an adequate number of vaccine producers ... while also guaranteeing who have been harmed access to appropriate legal remedies," said the congressman.

Aides stressed that he had been a long-time supporter of the Grace Foundation and had served as the honorary chairman of a recent fund-raising event held by the group.

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CARE

How an $11 Toy Saved My Sanity in Two Short Days

[On the joys of finding that perfect motivator for your child. Thanks to Karen Oyler on the autism@list.feat.org list.]

My darling son got into a pattern quite suddenly of fighting me every single time we had to get ready to go anywhere. What used to be quick and easy turned into a battle of epic proportions, complete with high-pitched sustained screaming. At my wit's end or maybe a bit beyond, I talked to the speech therapists who come to my home to help me out with him. We talked and plotted. The idea of a motivating item or system seemed the most reasonable.

Tuesday night, I went shopping after the kid was in bed. Several stores later, I entered Kaybee Toys. I asked a sales clerk for assistance. At first she couldn't think of anything, then suddenly remembered one toy that might work. It was a small board with pictures of Elmo and Zoe of Sesame Street and many dials, buttons, slides etc that could produce short bursts of neat and silly sounds. Perfect! I took it. She said it was even the last one they had. I didn't check the price, of course. I purchased it. Only $11! A bargain, if it worked.

Wednesday morning was the inaugural trial. Some body-over-body and hand-over-hand prompts initially. But my son caught on quickly. He hurried through the potty and dressing routine as each step earned a chance to "pick a sound." Shoes and socks were a bit of a struggle at first. But with Grandpa's help and "picking a sound," he was soon ready for the school bus.

This morning, the potty and dressing routine was a breeze. He asked for "sound." I brought it with me when I joined him in the bathroom. He hurried through each step, earning a sound with each step completed. When the time came to meet the school bus, he happily grabbed his backpack and allowed me to put on his shoes, socks, and coat. Each step again earning a sound. All done, he dashed out to the bus. Happy as a lark! And not one bit of screaming.

And that is how $11 saved my sanity in two short days. - Karen Oyler

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Autistic Australian Boy, 8, Wrestles Snakes

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Fearless eight-year-old Kyle Smith would make even Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin squirm.

Kyle gave his parents the fright of their lives when they spotted him with both hands wrapped around a 70cm snake in the family's swimming pool at Munruben, in Logan City, on Saturday. He reluctantly set the wriggling creature free after more than a minute of coaxing from his mum Kathie, only to have it turn around and bite him on the hand. The culprit, originally feared to be a potentially deadly brown snake, was captured and shared an ambulance with Kyle as he was taken for treatment. Logan Hospital staff quickly established it was a yellow-faced whip snake, whose bite is painful but not usually deadly.

It is the third time this year that Kyle, who has autism, has wrestled with a snake. During winter, his grandmother was watching him beside the pool when she called out a question that sent his parents bounding outside. "Do you keep a rubber snake in the pool?" she asked innocently. No such luck. Kyle had grabbed hold of the real thing by the tail and was trying to liven up the creature, apparently numb from the cold. Three weeks ago, he had picked up a snake from the grass and taken it on to his trampoline. His dad Terry found him pulling at the snake's tail every time it tried to slide away.

"He has absolutely no fear, which can be a problem," Mr Smith said yesterday. "You could write a book about him and he's only eight years old." On Saturday, mum Kathie had left him alone for a moment while she went to the bathroom. She heard him laugh "in a way that usually means he's doing something he shouldn't be doing". Snake bite victims are advised to move as little as possible and wrap a bandage firmly around the bite area. But the hyperactive Kyle, who does not talk, was not the easiest patient to keep still and did not want anything to do with the bandage.

Mr Smith thanked the paramedics who came to the house for handling the special-needs case with sensitivity. One of the paramedics, Gary Fuller, said the Smith family had done the right thing by calling for an ambulance. "Every snake bite needs to be treated as venomous until proven otherwise," he said. "The most dangerous thing to do is have a home identification of a snake. It's really playing with lives." He said recent rain may be bringing more snakes out, while school holidays put more children in danger. A two-year-old boy was also taken to Beaudesert Hospital on Saturday after being bitten by a snake, but was not seriously injured and allowed to go home.

_______________________________________________________

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Subscribe, Read, then Forward the Schafer Autism Report.

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* * *

LETTERS

(To The Washington Times)

Watching Porn On The Taxpayer's Dime

Americans should be disgusted and outraged not only about the sex study funded by the National Institutes of Health in which women watch erotic films, but over comments by the man conducting the study, J. Michael Bailey ("Federally funded study measures porn arousal," Nation, Monday).

Mr. Bailey believes Americans are small-minded and the government is "skittish" for not sufficiently supporting sex research, as if a woman's response to pornography is an important health issue. Yet many legitimate health interests are being neglected. For example, over the past four years, NIH hasn't been able to scrounge up enough money to fund a study [for the cause] of autism in children. I'm sure if such a study were tailored to examine the effects of autistic children on lesbian and bisexual women, such research would arouse Mr. Bailey's interest.

It is unfortunate that Americans work all year and pay taxes to the federal government only to see their hard-earned money go to support the sexual curiosity of persons such as Mr. Bailey. Why can't he use his own money to fund his own devious studies?

- Kevin Landreneau, Baton Rouge, La.

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A 'Jello Theory of Autism', Anyone?

By 1930 vaccines were being cultured in either agarose gel or egg culture and vaccines are still grown in these conditions. By 1942 Kanner reported on the existence of autism. These cultures contain naked DNA as heat shock protein 72 kDa. Heat shock proteins cross all living species from plant, viral pathogens including measles, cytomegalovirus and candida and single celled animals to humans. The protein coating on immune cells that tell a living thing when to respond to injury, pathogen, environment, stress.

In autism studies measles containing the 72 kDa heat shock protein are found in every cell which contains the measles virus. Gut dysbiosis is common and candida overgrowth is often identified.

Science recommends that infants and toddlers with neurodevelopmental delay, autoimmune weakness and food allergy to egg and now gelatin not receive vaccination. Infants are vaccinated in the nursery at birth, is science following its own guidelines. Do those who provide policy and procedure for vaccination schedule have any method of determining who is at risk for neurodevelopmental delay and autoimmune weakness? Yes, in fact they do. Molecular biology research has provided substantial information that at least ten percent and up to twenty percent of the human population have autoimmune phenomena which can be traced to vaccination. In some populations the autoimmune phenomena or evolution of the immune system has resulted in celiac disease, in other populations spontaneous abortion, in the general population diabetes, lupus and arthritis. A simple question which should be used as a measure to recommend a delay in the vaccine schedule at the very least or a recommendation for testing to determine immune response to egg and gelatin before vaccinating would be - is there a family history of autoimmune disease. Autism research continues to include that a significant percent of those families who have a child or children with autism have also autoimmune disease.

More common than autoimmune disease is genetic diversity, children with autism born to families where ancestry is mixed. When the family history is of mixed ancestry and there is also a history of autoimmune phenomena then the presentation of autism is generally more severe.

Plant foods and particularly those containing lutein, a pigment derived from chlorophyll from which the plant color can become red, green, yellow or orange during ripening have the 72 kDa heat shock protein coating.

Humans had never gotten a virus from plant foods but the development of vaccines resulted in the immune system being presented with viral pathogen and heat shock protein simultaneously. A wolf in sheeps clothing, a Trojan horse? The immune system evolves and information is stored in our genes and passed to the next generation. During fetal development the developing infants immune system uses the genetic information and alters our development. The immune system must first identify a pathogen and a substance associated with heat shock protein 72 kDa that commonly crosses the placental barrier is lutein. Lutein and carotenoids easily pass into breast milk and both Kanner and Asperger reported on the difficulty in feeding for infants later identified with these conditions.

Unfortunately science left this characteristic of autism out of the main body of literature for diagnosing a child with autism. Feeding problems, fear of food and unusual relationship to foods remain as a primary characteristic of autism. Infants and children with autism desperately trying to avoid the foods which their bodies experience as pathogen. Foods which contain substances which are like poison to their bodies. Foods which cause their immune system to produce elevated levels of small immune cells which in turn allow their bodies to produce increasing numbers of macrophage cells, like a pac man cell that removes toxins and produces antibodies. As the number and types of food increase in the childs diet, which excite the immune system, the potential for a vaccine reaction also increases. What the child is being fed at the time of vaccination can contribute to vaccine reaction.

Science currently has been looking at using the heat shock protein as vaccine chaperones (carriers). This research has led to WARNING as the discovery of damage and autoimmune phenomena in the offspring of animals vaccinated using this method has become known. But, science has been unwittingly using this method for nearly a century.

Autism does have a cause and the primary treatment option is dietary intervention.

- Sandra Desorgher MA-TFM, MA-FSN

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Doesn't Get It

Am I the only one who doesn't get it? How can the government study the MMR vaccine, who says it is a safe vaccine, and state that gelatin might be a problem because some people with reactions have gelatin antibodies? It just doesn't make any sense when some autistic children have enormously high antibodies to measles in their guts and even brains. Antibodies to measles in guts and brains don't prove anything, yet gelatin antibodies proves a problem. Go figure.

- Debi Haney

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