There is a summary here:

http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/?p=1451

and the full report is here:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/proceedings/20090629_mitochondrial.htm

I’m still working my way through it, but this stood out about vaccines:

To reduce the risk presented by acquired infections, the workshop panelists strongly encourage vaccinations in the hundreds of children they treat for mitochondrial disease. Among thousands of patients they had collectively seen, very few had deteriorated following vaccination, and in those few cases, it is difficult to determine that other stressors besides the vaccine did not play a role in the neurologic deterioration.

Hope this is helpful and I write post more—–

It also seems to state that (100%-65%) 35% of the autistic children evaluated for mitochondrial disease at that clinic did not have such. “Disease” did not seem to subtype abnormality, dysfunction or disorder.

Without further elaboration it’s a little like a cardiologist saying that a majority of the patients he sees have heart problems.

“Dr. Shoffner noted that the clinic’s findings need to be confirmed by other studies.”

Absolutely. A less invasive and expensive test would be a good thing, as the relevant genetics, biochemistry and phenotype, not only in relation to autism but in general.
I just think the story implies, perhaps unintentionally, a majority that may or may not be there relative to the general or even autistic population.
It will be interesting to see what the findings are as more work is done.

Virtually every mitochondria in a person is completely different than every mitochondria that existed a year earlier. That is, the old mitochondria have been replaced with new ones.

The only way a genetic mitochondrial defect can occur is due to damage to DNA either in the nucleus (genomic DNA), or in mitochondria (mtDNA). In both cases that DNA is transferred only from existing cells to daughter cells, that is to cells that result from the division of that existing cell.

If there were an “environmental” cause to DNA damage, that damage would be different in each strand of DNA that was damaged. No two cells would have the same genomic DNA damage, no two mitochondria would have the same mtDNA damage.

If multiple cells, or multiple mitochondria are shown to have the same DNA damage, that damage could only have occurred in the single cell and mitochondria that those multiple cells are descended from.

If every cell in a person has the same DNA damage, that damage could only have occurred when that individual was a single cell, or earlier (i.e. DNA damage in the gametes that formed the single cell).

Widespread identical mtDNA damage in multiple cells is extremely strong evidence (99.99999%+)that there is no involvement of any environmental effect past the first few days of gestation in that mtDNA damage.

What irks me is when people read more into these genetic studies than is contained within them

As I have been saying Autism is not wholly genetic, but there are various (and not identical) genetic routes toward the predisposing factors which in the right admixtures will build into an autistic neurological typology

(cynical? me? nope. Realistic)