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

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