Whether or not to try biomedical treatments is a question that’s perhaps unavoidable for parents with an autistic child today. One hears constant, albeit anecdotal, reports of a child who has “recovered“; the publication of Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism last fall by Jenny McCarthy further renewed attention on such experimental treatments as the gluten-free casein-diet, among many others.
Today’s Austin American-Statesman has a long article about Thoughtful House Center for Children, a non-profit center that offers a number of alternative biomedical treatments that is “fighting for the recovery of children with developmental disorders through the …read more

Today at a hearing before the General Medical Council, Dr. Andrew Wakefield—-the doctor who is at the center of the controversy over the MMR vaccine—admitted that he had what the BBC terms a “poor grasp of the medical ethics surrounding work on children.” Dr. Wakefield faces being struck off the medical register in regard to “serious professional misconduct relating to investigations undertaken on 12 children between 1996 and 1998.” Among the allegations is a charge that he took blood samples from children at his son’s birthday party; the children were paid £5.
According to the BBC, Dr. Wakefield said:
“I’m perfectly willing …read more

It was his duty as a human being to help mothers who came to him seeking answers.
Says the March 28th Times about Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who is “at the centre of the MMR vaccine controversy.” Dr. Wakefield’s comments were made in a hearing before the General Medical Council in London; he faces being struck off the medical register in regard to “serious professional misconduct relating to investigations undertaken on 12 children between 1996 and 1998.” (More details about the specific charges here.)
Just to consider Dr. Wakefield’s claims that he felt it was his “duty as a human being” to help …read more