Aspies For Freedom

It sounds like you may be fairly new to the whole vaccine discussion, so here's a few pointers.

For starters, autism is often first noticed at around 2-3 years, which is about the same time kids start getting vaccinated. This is the reason so many parents say their child "regressed into autism" after being vaccinated.

As far as the science goes, there have been 13 different comprehensive studies showing no link between mercury & autism, and 14 different studies showing no link between MMR & autism. The people that believe the mercury theory of autism believe that a world-wide conspiracy run by pharmaceutical companies falsifies data.

The rise in autistic numbers is due to accurate diagnosis being more readily available, as well as to the autistic spectrum criteria changing to fit a larger number of people. For example, aspergers has only been around since 1994, and wide-scale diagnosis of aspergers has only recently become available. The aspergers figure is included in most quoted autistic tallies (i.e. the currently quoted "1 in 150" rate includes aspies).

To top it all off, many people on this site can trace a direct line of autism descent back through at least one or two generations. For myself, my mother is on the spectrum, and her father was on the spectrum. My aspie partner can also trace autistic tendencies back two generations.

Part of the reason people deny the genetic origins or autism to the extent they do is that they want to have something they can "fix", or at least a person they can blame. Another part of the reason is that many parents have a very negative view of autism, and do not want to acknowledge that it may have come from themselves or their partner.

Some food for thought, in any case...

I didn't know that about the Hep B vaccinations...

About the other point, the studies were done by the Institute of Medicine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Medicine), as per this article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_con...Thiomersal). The IOM is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation.

Thanks for the links. I never heard of the Institute of Medicine. I read the articles Thanks. I think its dangerous not to vaccinate! I know some moms who didnt vaccinate their second child because they said it "caused" autism and their other children got diagnosed  anyways.

*grins* No probs.

I only found out about them doing research for other debates like this one - it's amazing how many big organisations out there you just don't hear about until you dig for a while...

Completely off topic so sorry , but have you come across articles pertaining to genetic links for migraines/autism. Migraines run in my family, myself included. A friend of mine brought up a good point of light/sound sensitivies with migraines being like sensory issues in someone with autism. I thought it was something to look into.

It makes sense that there could be a connection (as in AS sensory issues causing migraines), but I've never seen any articles on it...

I can completely understand how frustrating it is - it took me a long time to sort through all the propaganda.

One thing I can clarify is that the studies weren't done by an organisation with a bias - I think you missed this earlier post:

I know what you mean about information and misinformation - there's a lot of both out there.

As far as autism having always been out there but undiagnosed, that's pretty much what I think. I don't have the figures for it, but someone on the site once pointed out that there was a sudden downturn in the diagnoses of schizophrenia & avoidant personality disorder at around the same time the autism rate started going up.

As far as actual accounts go, some of the earliest are the scandinavian changeling myths - which are about children being "replaced" by faerie creatures as young children. To save myself some typing, I'll copy from an earlier post (http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthre...#pid152995):

As far as ADHD & autism being linked goes, I've heard about the idea before, and I've seen some fairly convincing arguments for the idea that ADHD is another manifestation on the spectrum - but I don't really know enough about ADHD to say for sure, or know anyone offline with ADHD. It's entirely possible, though...

And finally, I think it's always a good thing to have more questions than answers - it's the hallmark of a good philosopher.

What about my husband and I were there is NO one in the family with autism or any other neurological disorder for that matter. How can it be genetic then?

Retts syndrome is very dibilitating.  I've seen a girl with it she was 12 - they have problems with using their muscles . She couldnt walk and had leg braces on to keep her legs straight while her mom tried to move her around places. She couldnt move her hands or her body at all.

Genetic doesn't have to mean direct inheritable - for example, autism might be a complex set of genes. In this case, both you and your partner would have some of these, and your son recieved the full combination.

This doesn't mean that you and your husband are both "a little bit autistic", the same way that flour and eggs aren't individually "a little bit cakey".

I probably shouldn't be saying this, as it's based on very little evidence - but another option is that your husband might want to look into the aspergers thing, if he's interested. From some of your earlier posts, I remember you mentioning autistic traits in his family, and the fact that he's a D&D player (it's a bit of a stereotype, but RPG's are a very common aspie interest).

My husband plays several RPG's (Not just D&D), I didnt even know what the letters stood for but I asked him LOL. He completely looses track of time when he plays too. He is very much into video games of all sorts.  He's somewhat of a child .He is also a computer "geek" . He builds them and works with them - He works in computer networking. I forget his exact title   I doubt he'll look into aspergers though - or how should he look into it?

I have thoughts about one of his uncles having AS. I dont know for sure. I hardly ever see him at social functions to tell but perhaps that is an indicator. He's in his 40s I think and was never married. When I do see him you have to talk to him first - he never approaches you for communication. He is the only person I can see as a possible though.

Entirely up to him - if he's getting along fine, it's probably only something he'd want to look at for fun or self-understanding.

The easiest and most non-threatening way would be to get him to do some of the online aspie quizzes, etc - not so much so they can give him an answer, but because the questions themselves are a very good way to get an understanding of what aspergers is.

I'd be very curious to find out, as I've never actually found a couple that had an autistic child without one of the parents having some autistic traits - which isn't to say that it's not possible, just that I've never seen it. In fact, I would never have mentioned it except for the fact that you have an autistic child.

I've met plenty of parents where one of the two was obviously in denial, though...

Not to seem like an expert, but I have a suggestion.  You say you're looking for a genetic link to AS/autism in your family.  And I'm not sure if you said it in this thread or another, but somewhere along the line you described your husband as an "uber-nerd" with an introverted personality.  And you've said many times that one of your husband's uncles is probable AS, even though it's just guesswork.

To me it seems like you have your answer--it's on your husband's side.

My vote is still, undeniably, for genetics.  You?

Any way you hang this, I still feel this is a destructive kind of thinking.  The official studies done, for example, almost unilaterally show that this is not true.

For right now, I'd prefer it if people didn't go around thinking autistic people have been damaged by vaccines.

Again, anyone here think this vaccine thing is a bunch of crap?  Really, I'd like a show of hands.  I will raise mine.

Well, I wouldn't do my usual "black and white" categorization with you, Breeze.   If I can be blunt and say what I think, however, I observe that you're somewhat in between on this case.