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An investigative piece on autism and the Measles/Mumps/Rubella vaccine will air this Sunday, November 12 at 7:00 pm as the lead story on CBS's 60 Minutes.
In Reply to: CBS's 60 Minutes Autism/MMR Vaccine Show today posted by R. on November 12, 2000 at 18:15:17:
Thanks, R.
I saw it and thought it did a good job or showing both sides.
I Do wish, though, that they had described the biopsies of the gut wall proving the connection. Also, they needed to better explain that this (MMR and Autism connection) was only true of genetically susceptible chlidren.
Ths significance of this finding is NOT that immunization causes Autism (other than in that not yet definable genetically susceptible population) but that LGS is directly connected to the blood-brain barrier. The MMR vaccine has just proven that connection but is only causitive in a very small % of Autistic cases.
It will be interesting to see the specialists struggle with the concept that the gut has anything to to with the brain (Something we holistic types have known for at least 50 years and been called quacks for our successes.)
Namaste`
Walt
In Reply to: Re: CBS's 60 Minutes Autism/MMR Vaccine Show today (Archive in Autism.) posted by Walt Stoll on November 14, 2000 at 09:41:09:
Hi R.,
I saw the show and thank you for alerting me in time that it was coming on. As a mom of a boy with autism, I can tell you I didn't feel it offered any new information to what has already been known for at least 3 years and it's a shame that people are not progressing further in their thinking all this time.
While I don't personally feel that the MMR had anything to do with my own son's autism, I believe firmly that it had everything to do with being the precipitating factor in many many children and these parents should be listened to. My son had autistic traits from birth and was subsequently damaged further by the DPT shots causing partial seizures at 4 and 6 months of age (not related to fever), and subsequent loss of use of the right hand and arm which was diagnosed as mild hemiparetic cerebral palsy at 1 year of age (no longer noticeable due to intense therapy). Some people look at me like I nuts when I tell them he has mild CP because it is no longer noticeable to the untrained eye but the therapists who work with him can discern it and so can I.
To those "experts" on TV who keep repeating like a broken record that "there is no scientific evidence linking autism to the MMR vaccination" make me so disgusted I just want to scream! I hate it when doctors use the word "anecdotal", not because the parents stories ARE anecdotal but because they use this word as though it were synonymous with the words "worthless" or "psychosomatic". These same doctors will tell you there's no such thing as LGS and that candida syndrome is a myth. They also tell parents it is unwise to remove wheat and dairy from the diets of their children.
They need to listen to parents, AND pay attention to the scientific studies like Walt mentioned (intestinal biopsies) that do show a link. I say take a closer look at the DPT as well, especially the pertussis portion thereof.
These experts say that it is mere coincidence that autism presents itself around 18 months to 2 years, and that it has nothing to do with the shot. This is ridiculous, these parents are telling them of sudden drastic night-and-day change in their child, overnight, after these vaccinations. Our best advocates seem to be physicians who are parents who have SEEN this happen to their own child!
You cannot ignore, that after they changed the vaccination guidelines some 10 years ago, that the rates of autism "exploded". See articles by Bernard Rimland of the Autism Research Institute for more information.
I can also tell you from my own experience, that EARLY INTERVENTION is the key and it WORKS. The more the better, and the sooner the better. We started our son in therapy at 19 months old even before he was diagnosed and we even moved to another state because that therapy was not enough. Here we've come a long way and our son is doing quite well. He has the following therapies each week: speech, occupational, physical, and music - as well as special education services and in-home habilitation 4-5 days per week. It all works, it's all worth it!
The sad thing is I have this beautiful brilliant 4 year old who can read and count and has a perfect memory, can recite entire videos, but is at a loss when another young child comes and asks him to play hide and seek, or if someone asks him "what is your name?"
In Reply to: I saw the show, my son has autism... (Archive in Autism.) posted by kmd on November 14, 2000 at 10:44:54:
kmd,
Sorry to hear about your son, but I'm glad you shared your story with us. I didnt know that about MMR vacine or even DPT shots causing cerabral palsy. I didnt have a chance to watch the program either.
I remember awhile back I saw a program on how the use of 'OFF' casued some kind of brain damage in children. Or in just a few cases I should say. I cant remember the name of the condition but I remember it being quite debilitating.
Sean
In Reply to: Re: I saw the show, my son has autism... (Archive in Autism.) posted by Sean on November 15, 2000 at 01:55:44:
Hi Sean,
I think my son's case is a rare thing, and I'd never go so far as to say that I think the DPT shot "causes CP" I would say, however, that in some kids the MMR causes autism because I've seen and heard about too much of this. I don't know for sure if the DPT caused my son's CP or was it the seizures FROM the DPT that caused the CP... For all I know my son could have been born with some underlying factors for CP and the seizures were the insult that made it manifest. OR, since he was only 4 months and 6 months old when he had the seizures, maybe he had some mild CP from birth that we couldn't discern at that age.
He had an EEG (abnormal slowing on the left brain) at 6 months old (well, that was his first one), and the slowing pattern suggested a "structural abnormality" (tumor, etc.). I was scared to death, he went in for MRI with contrast when he was only 7-8 months old. I knew in my heart at that moment that I could handle ANYTHING but the thought of losing him, and that whatever disabilities he may have I feel lucky to just have him in my life.
THANK GOD there were no tumors, his CP is not severe, it's very mild, so we just choose to move on from here. I thought about contacting the vaccination companies back when this happened, and filing a claim, but chose against it as I had enough energy-draining struggles ahead of me as it was.
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