Owner and operator Lisa Witte, 29 and diagnosed at age 2 with autism, has cut a place for herself in the world at Lisa’s Quality Rags, based in Wyoming, Mich. Witte can’t read, write or talk beyond saying, “Hi, I’m Lisa,” and sometimes parroting what others say (sounds like Alex), but she’s turned a decade and a half of training by Goodwill Industries into a profitable business. She began by taking clothes out of boxes and putting them on hangers, but her aide soon saw she could do a lot more, becoming by last summer a veteran rag cutter, producing half …read more

From MSNBC: “NBC News’ Matt Lauer will take an unprecedented look at the emotional debate surrounding vaccines and the suggested link to autism today, August 30, 7 p.m. Eastern with “Dose of Controversy.” In the one-hour Dateline, Lauer speaks with Dr. Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 medical study was the first in the world to suggest a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism.”
 
Here are some questions and points to bear in mind during Matt Lauer’s “Dateline” show concerning autism, vaccines, and the possible connection:
General Electric owns NBC.  Does General Electric own or have a financial interest in any company that …read more

“Retarded” as been used three times in the past six months aloud in my office: “That’s retarded!” “He’s so retarded!” “I’m not a retard!” Each time, the word flew right out of a cubicle, clear and loud, for all to hear.
Anyone older than 5 could imagine many words that would cause quite a stir – not to mention a lawsuit – if they flew with such abandon right out of cubicles. “Retarded” and “retard” don’t seem to be among those words.
I Googled the word and turned up some 18 million hits (down from more than 19.1 million when I Googled …read more

On October 12, while presiding as the honorary chair for an Autism Speaks walk on the campus of Ohio State University, President Gordon Gee made remarks including the statement that “‘It [autism] should not exist.’” Melanie Yergeau, a 2nd-year Ph.D. student in English, wrote this letter, which is posted on the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network blog. As Yergeau, who notes that she has Asperger’s Syndrome, writes:
Until very recently, I have felt incredibly welcome at Ohio State—due to the interdisciplinary work of the Disability Studies Program and the Department of English, the Office of Disability Services, and the programs for high-functioning/Asperger’s adults …read more

Do we really need a “crusade against autism”?  Autism Speaks co-founder Bob Wright, grandfather of an autistic child, spoke of just such a “crusade” in the inaugural Annual TreeHouse Lecture. Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick (who’s the parent of an autistic child) writes about how such a “crusade” does more harm than good in the October 29th Spiked. Here’s his conclusion:
Many families affected by autism welcome the higher public profile of autism, as reflected in the US election campaign. If this leads to greater resources to enable children with autism to get appropriate schooling and for affected families to get the …read more

Palin has experience with special needs kids, says an October 16th Associated Press article which I discussed some in the previous post. Says the Associated Press:
Sarah Palin is frequently seen at campaign stops cradling her infant son Trig, who has Down syndrome. Her decision to give birth to Trig even after learning her fifth child would have the condition has burnished her anti-abortion views with conservatives.
So viewers of Wednesday night’s presidential debate might have been somewhat taken aback when John McCain said his running mate understands “what it’s like to have an autistic child.”
Palin, it’s noted “does have a 13-year-old …read more

Over at Salon on his blog sWell blog, physician Rahul K. Parikh deconstructs David Kirby’s September 24th presentation to Congressional staffers. The presentation’s title was “The Vaccine-Autism Debate: New Developments from Science and Policy” and the PowerPoint slides and a write-up are posted on the Age of Autism weblog. Sullivan has been posting about the hearing as Vaccines on the Hill III, Vaccines on the Hill II, and Vaccines on the Hill. Liz at I Speak of Dream noted that this latest attempt to “indoctrinate congressional staffers” by the usual suspects in the anti-vaccine/pro-vaccine safety annals—-Davis Kirby, Mark …read more

‘Tis September and, it seems, the season for autism books: Started off the month with Dr. Paul Offit’s Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine and the Search for a Cure and now here comes Jenny McCarthy’s autism book #2, Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds , and accompanying appearances on Oprah, video clips, and the like.
So there you have it. The Vaccine Doctor and the Autism Mom Heroine. In this script, Jenny and her following of David(a)s are poised, too-good non-toxicness products in their hands, to take on the evil Goliath of the Medical …read more

Sometimes I think this blog is in danger of becoming a vaccine blog, as vaccines are so frequently a topic here. There’s what some refer to as their right to vaccinate or not. There’ve been recent outbreaks of measles and mumps, with many cases among unvaccinated persons. There’s the fear that vaccines or something in vaccines might be connected to autism.
Indeed, it’s “fear of autism” that is the reason for the continued talk about vaccines and autism. Anti-vaccine/pro-vaccine-safety advocates say that they want to “change the schedule” and to “make vaccines safer” to ensure that future generations of children do …read more

Hillary Clinton mentioned autism in her speech at the Democratic National Convention and, last night, Bill Clinton did too (”I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other severe conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn’t afford health care and couldn’t qualify their kids for Medicaid unless they quit work or got a divorce”). Will Obama; will McCain……..
More than sadly, the mother with cancer and two adopted autistic children mentioned by Hillary Clinton has died.