Aspies For Freedom

This show will air tomorrow in the U.S. Just wanted to post in case anyone wanted to see what they will be saying. It seems a little bit one-sided, if you look at the guests. That is strange to me, I have seen this show a few times, and it seemed like a higher quality talk show than some others. I guess that I will have to watch and see.

From: http://www.montelshow.com/show/upcoming_...tm?index=1

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Tuesday, June 21

AUTISM...CAN IT BE PREVENTED?

Autism is a developmental disorder typically appearing in a child by their third year. Heredity, or genetics, is considered one of the main causes for the disease, however no specific gene has been linked to autism. Today, we'll meet parents of autistic children who say there's another cause that has been kept in the dark: mercury. Since the 1920s, a small percentage of mercury has been added to vaccines as a preservative. In the 80s and 90s, the number of vaccines given to babies and children has increased - so has the number of children diagnosed with autism. We'll meet Lyn and Tommy, two parents who agree with this theory. Their son, who has autism, became very sick when he was 15 months old. After a year of struggling health, he began to detach from the world and eventually stopped talking. Lyn says that her son received 62.5 micrograms of mercury from all his vaccines - well above the 5 micrograms that was considered to be toxic for a child his age and size. Their story is reviewed in a new book called, "Evidence of Harm" which studies the possible link between mercury and autism. We'll speak with the author of this book, along with Congressman Dave Weldon, and the chief science officer of the National Alliance for Autism Research about this possible link. Recently, mercury has been slowly and quietly removed from many of the vaccines being given to children. So the question remains - will the removal of mercury from vaccines reduce the rate of autism in America?

Guests:

Tommy & Lyn: Parents whose son began showing signs of autism after a relatively healthy start in life. They believe his autism was caused by the high level of mercury received from multiple vaccines given to him as a baby.

Will (on tape): Lyn and Tommy's older son who will talk about his little brother.

David Kirby: Author of, "Evidence Of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy" used Lyn and Tommy's story in his book about this medical debate.

Dave Weldon, M.D.: Doctor and U.S. Representative who believes there is a link between vaccines and neurodevelopment disorders. Has introduced "the Mercury Ban Bill" in congress last year to resolve this issue.

Lynne & Mike: Two of their four children have autism and Lynne and Mike believe that the presence of mercury in vaccines was the cause.

Barbara: Ate tuna fish daily when she was pregnant and now believes the level of mercury found in tuna fish caused her child's autism.

Andy Shih, M.D.: Chief science officer at The National Alliance for Autism Research who says there is no current evidence that proves mercury is a cause of Autism, but that more research needs to be done.

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*Edited to correct title error.

I saw a link on MSNBC that was "Montel on [some political issue]". I thought "Montel? Is that some Senator I haven't heard of?" So I clicked on it and the "Montel" mentioned was the same talk show host you referenced. That was when I knew journalism was dead in Amerika.

I have seen a lot of negative things about the book Evidence of harm.

One sided is a bit of an understatement.

Oh, such typical guests for autism-related shows. If I could, I'd ban shows on autism from the air.

I agree with Wolfy. One-sided is a definite understatement on this one.

Greetings,

I've talked to NTs from the curebie side of the fence who were offended by that program so that tells you how bad it was!

We really need to start writign in or something.
Theres not really much those of us who havent seen it can say though so anyone who has please register your complaints.

I did see the show, and it was not as bad as I had expected, but I certainly wouldn't call it good either. Please note that my description of the show is paraphrased, but direct quotes (accurate to the best of my knowledge) are in quotation marks.

Montel (the show's host) began by referring to autism as "an incurable disease," "that word that begins with an A," and similar phrases. The first guests were one of the sets of parents ("Tommy & Lyn" I think). They discussed how, at about one year of age, their son began getting frequent, repeated infections. This lasted to about one year of age. He was not diagnosed with autism until later (not sure what age).

David Kirby, the author of "Evidence Of Harm," gave some information about historical and legal matters. He stated that Thimerosal has been around since the 1920s as a preservative in a number of products. He stated that in both 1988 and 1992 several additional vaccinations were recommended for children, accounting for increased levels of diagnosis during these times.

Dr. Andy Shih, from NAAR, was featured stating that multiple studies have shown no link between Thimerosal and autism. Montel responded, in my opinion, in a somewhat confrontational way to this man, including standing up from his chair and moving very close to him while debating him. Montel recommended that we look at all of the anecdotal research that these parents provide about the Thimerosal-autism link. Dr. Shih responded to this by saying that you can't make public health decisions based on anecdotes. I believe that I heard Montel say that we can (or should, not sure) make public health decisions based on anecdotes.

The last portion of the show focused on that further research is needed on the issue before making a define conclusion. Dr. Shih recommended writing to your congressional representatives for increased funding for autism research.

Montel also stated that he plans to have additional shows on this topic. On the show's website at http://www.montelshow.com/whats_your_POV/pov.htm , you can fill out a form to share your opinions about this show. I realize that persons who did not see the show would probably not feel comfortable making comments about it, but I think that we could let him know in a polite manner (so that he does not continue to have a negative stereotype of autistic persons) that we are interested in future shows about this topic having a more positive perspective about the autism spectrum.

I was taking notes during the show, and was unable to write down/recall everything. While it does not include every guest, I think that this description will give you a basic idea of what happened on the show.

Greetings,

Seems like a good opportunity - we should try and get someone to go on.

Montel can be e-mailed at http://www.montelshow.com/about/mail.htm , but you must be a registered user of the website. The POV feature can be used without registration. I think it would be a good idea for someone with a more positive perspective to be on the show. My only concern would be that Montel might disagree with opinions presented and might be a little bit confrontational. (Not meant to be offensive to Montel, I know it’s his job as a talk show host to “ask tough questions”). I thought that Dr. Shih reacted politely when he was questioned in this manner (which made him look more professional), but I know that it would really stress me out.  :lol: