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What is autism?
Autism (sometimes called “classical autismâ€) is the most common condition in a group of developmental disorders known as the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (usually referred to as PDD-NOS). Experts estimate that three to six children out of every 1,000 will have autism. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females.
What are some common signs of autism?
There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling.
The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child. As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement.
Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They lack empathy.
Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I†or “me.†Children with autism don’t know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking.
Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are abnormally sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged.
Children with autism appear to have a higher than normal risk for certain co-existing conditions, including fragile X syndrome (which causes mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (in which tumors grow on the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. For reasons that are still unclear, about 20 to 30 percent of children with autism develop epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood. While people with schizophrenia may show some autistic-like behavior, their symptoms usually do not appear until the late teens or early adulthood. Most people with schizophrenia also have hallucinations and delusions, which are not found in autism.
How is autism diagnosed?
Autism varies widely in its severity and symptoms and may go unrecognized, especially in mildly affected children or when it is masked by more debilitating handicaps. Doctors rely on a core group of behaviors to alert them to the possibility of a diagnosis of autism. These behaviors are:
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impaired ability to make friends with peers
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impaired ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others
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absence or impairment of imaginative and social play
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stereotyped, repetitive, or unusual use of language
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restricted patterns of interest that are abnormal in intensity or focus
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preoccupation with certain objects or subjects
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inflexible adherence to specific routines or rituals
Doctors will often use a questionnaire or other screening instrument to gather information about a child’s development and behavior. Some screening instruments rely solely on parent observations; others rely on a combination of parent and doctor observations. If screening instruments indicate the possibility of autism, doctors will ask for a more comprehensive evaluation.
Autism is a complex disorder. A comprehensive evaluation requires a multidisciplinary team including a psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist, and other professionals who diagnose children with ASDs. The team members will conduct a thorough neurological assessment and in-depth cognitive and language testing. Because hearing problems can cause behaviors that could be mistaken for autism, children with delayed speech development should also have their hearing tested. After a thorough evaluation, the team usually meets with parents to explain the results of the evaluation and present the diagnosis.
Children with some symptoms of autism, but not enough to be diagnosed with classical autism, are often diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Children with autistic behaviors but well-developed language skills are often diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Children who develop normally and then suddenly deteriorate between the ages of 3 to 10 years and show marked autistic behaviors may be diagnosed with childhood disintegrative disorder. Girls with autistic symptoms may be suffering from Rett syndrome, a sex-linked genetic disorder characterized by social withdrawal, regressed language skills, and hand wringing.
What causes autism?
Scientists aren’t certain what causes autism, but it’s likely that both genetics and environment play a role. Researchers have identified a number of genes associated with the disorder. Studies of people with autism have found irregularities in several regions of the brain. Other studies suggest that people with autism have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters in the brain. These abnormalities suggest that autism could result from the disruption of normal brain development early in fetal development caused by defects in genes that control brain growth and that regulate how neurons communicate with each other. While these findings are intriguing, they are preliminary and require further study. The theory that parental practices are responsible for autism has now been disproved.
What role does inheritance play?
Recent studies strongly suggest that some people have a genetic predisposition to autism. In families with one autistic child, the risk of having a second child with the disorder is approximately 5 percent, or one in 20. This is greater than the risk for the general population. Researchers are looking for clues about which genes contribute to this increased susceptibility. In some cases, parents and other relatives of an autistic child show mild impairments in social and communicative skills or engage in repetitive behaviors. Evidence also suggests that some emotional disorders, such as manic depression, occur more frequently than average in the families of people with autism.
Do symptoms of autism change over time?
For many children, autism symptoms improve with treatment and with age. Some children with autism grow up to lead normal or near-normal lives. Children whose language skills regress early in life, usually before the age of 3, appear to be at risk of developing epilepsy or seizure-like brain activity. During adolescence, some children with autism may become depressed or experience behavioral problems. Parents of these children should be ready to adjust treatment for their child as needed.
How is autism treated?
There is no cure for autism. Therapies and behavioral interventions are designed to remedy specific symptoms and can bring about substantial improvement. The ideal treatment plan coordinates therapies and interventions that target the core symptoms of autism: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and obsessive or repetitive routines and interests. Most professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better.
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Educational/behavioral interventions: Therapists use highly structured and intensive skill-oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills. Family counseling for the parents and siblings of children with autism often helps families cope with the particular challenges of living with an autistic child.
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Medications: Doctors often prescribe an antidepressant medication to handle symptoms of anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anti-psychotic medications are used to treat severe behavioral problems. Seizures can be treated with one or more of the anticonvulsant drugs. Stimulant drugs, such as those used for children with attention deficit disorder (ADD), are sometimes used effectively to help decrease impulsivity and hyperactivity.
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Other therapies: There are a number of controversial therapies or interventions available for autistic children, but few, if any, are supported by scientific studies. Parents should use caution before adopting any of these treatments.
What research is being done?
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is one of the federal government’s leading supporters of biomedical research on brain and nervous system disorders. The NINDS conducts research in its laboratories at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland , and also awards grants to support research at universities and other facilities.
As part of the Children’s Health Act of 2000, the NINDS and three sister institutes have formed the NIH Autism Coordinating Committee to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH’s autism research. Eight dedicated research centers across the country have been established as “Centers of Excellence in Autism Research†to bring together researchers and the resources they need. The Centers are conducting basic and clinical research, including investigations into causes, diagnosis, early detection, prevention, and treatment, such as the studies highlighted below:
* investigators are using animal models to study how the neurotransmitter serotonin establishes connections between neurons in hopes of discovering why these connections are impaired in autism
* researchers are testing a computer-assisted program that would help autistic children interpret facial expressions
* a brain imaging study is investigating areas of the brain that are active during obsessive/repetitive behaviors in adults and very young children with autism
* other imaging studies are searching for brain abnormalities that could cause impaired social communication in children with autism
* clinical studies are testing the effectiveness of a program that combines parent training and medication to reduce the disruptive behavior of children with autism and other ASDs
Thimerosal FAQs
Thimerosal What is Thimerosal?
Thimerosal Why is Thimerosal Controversial?
Thimerosal What is Mercury Poisoning?
Thimerosal What are different types of Autism?
Thimerosal What is a Vaccine and what are the side effects?
Thimerosal Which Vaccines Contain Thimerosal?
Thimerosal What Are My Legal Rights?
Thimerosal Has There Been a Cover-Up?
What is Thimerosal?
Thimerosal is an organic compound that contains mercury, or an ‘organomercurial’ and can cause Mercury poisoning. It has been used since the 1930s as a preservative in a number of biological and drug products, including many vaccines intended for children and adults, to aid in the prevention of potentially life threatening microbe contamination. The compound was first introduced by the Eli Lilly Company and is 49.6% mercury by weight. In the human body it metabolizes into ethylmercury and thiosalicylate. Mercury poisoning is believed to be a cause of certain types of autism.
Why is Thimerosal Controversial?
Quite simply, because it contains mercury, one of the most toxic compounds found in our environment. The harmful effects of mercury have been linked to many different diseases, with autism from Mercury poisoning being just one. Learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, lupus, arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and bipolar disorder are also potential issues that those with high levels of mercury in their system can develop. While the harmful effects to adults are limited when it comes to the amount of mercury found in a vaccine containing Thimerosal, in children, and especially an unborn fetus, the toxins can be devastating to long term development, as well as affecting the kidney and the nervous system.
What is Mercury Poisoning?
Mercury is generally a substance you’d like to keep out of your system. In fact, mercury is the second most toxic element on earth, next to plutonium! The amount of mercury that you’d generally find in one mercury thermometer is generally accepted as potent enough to pollute a small lake. When inhaled, eaten, or placed on the skin, mercury can be very damaging. Even a low concentration that might initially appear to have no effect can work its way through your system and develop later, or become more noticeable with continued exposure.
Mercury poisoning can result in a loss of feeling or a burning sensation in arms and legs Mercury poisoning can also result in psychological effects, paralysis, congenital malformations, kidney toxicity, and loss of memory, vision and hearing. In extreme cases, death may occur. In the womb, it takes a lot less mercury to be damaging than it would to harm an adult. Prenatal toxicity can leave a child seemingly normal at birth, but later develop delays in the ability to walk and/or talk. Because of the long latent period for observable effects, the need for treatment may be recognized too late.
What are different types of Autism?
A neurological disorder that usually appears within the first couple years of a child’s life, autism is a disorder where the individual shows impaired sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral functions. In the last thirty years, autism has become the third most common child development disorder in the United States, rising from an incidence of one child in 2000 in 1970, to one child in 250 some thirty years later.Symptoms of these types of autism include:
*Speech Issues: No speech; non-speech sounds; delayed speech; echolalia (mimicking words without any understanding of meaning); pronoun confusion; frustration with lack of speech.
*Interaction Issues: Lack of peer interaction; lack of eye contact; seemingly unaware of other people; treating people as objects; parallel play rather than interactive; lack of imaginative play.
*Behavioral Issues: Not interested in being picked up/cuddled; preoccupied by hand movement; flapping hands (especially when excited or over stimulated); spinning; balancing; tiptoe walking; aggressiveness towards others; lack of interest in "normal" toys (often preferring kitchen tools); obsessive toward patterns; repetition in behavior (performing the same act over and over again, such as rewinding one section of a movie on the VCR to watch many times); lining things up; self injury; needing to live with a routine that does not change.
*Sensory Issues: Dislike of certain sounds, textures and/or tastes; dislike of being touched; very passive or very active behavior; nervousness; unaware of various physical stimuli such as pain; covering ears at loud noises; "blanking out" in active environments; often seem to be uncomfortable in extreme temperatures.
*Splinter Skills: Drawing; musical; math; calendars; memory; computers; mechanical ability such as complex video/audio equipment.
*Biological Markers: In some types of autism, MRI scans sometimes are abnormal; serotonin levels may be raised; bowel problems; some children are afflicted with seizures; sleep disturbances (not requiring as much as other children of the same age); often unusually attractive children with large eyes.
What is a Vaccine?
A vaccine is generally a preparation containing the weakened or killed microorganisms that actually cause a particular disease. When these are introduced into the system, either through injections or an oral dose, the body kicks the immune system into action and produces the necessary defenses against that disease. Because the introduced microorganisms are weaker, they’re easily dealt with while leaving the body fully prepared should any fresh outbreak of non-weakened microorganisms enter the body.
Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to adverse reactions, either through side effects, irritation or lesser symptoms of the disease the patient is being vaccinated against. These sometimes include:
*mild fever
*faint rash
*localized pain at the site of the injection
*joint pain
*head cold and runny nose
*cough and puffy eyes
*irritability
*irritation and swelling at the site of the injection
*general ill feeling
*nausea
Which Vaccines Contain Thimerosal?
The U.S. Public Health Service and the American Academy of Pediatrics have provided a list of vaccines that contain thimerosal, to which we’ve added several products the USPHS and AAP left off:
*DtaP – Acel-Imune Lederle Laboratories
*DtwP-Hib – Acel-Imune Lederle Laboratories
*HibTITER multidose – Acel-Imune Lederle Laboratories
*Pnu-Imune 23 – Acel-Imune Lederle Laboratories
*Tripedia – Pasteur Merieux Connaught
*TriHIBit – Pasteur Merieux Connaught
*ProHIBit4 – Pasteur Merieux Connaught
*Hep-B-Gammagee - GlaxoWellcome
*Hyper-Tet – GlaxoWellcome
*Certiva – North American
*Engerix-B - SmithKline Beecham
*Recombivax HB – Merck, GlaxoWellcome
*Rabies Vaccine Adsorbed – Bioport Corporation
*Menomune A, C, AC and A/C/Y/W – 135 CLI
*DTwP – All brands
*DT – All brands
*Td – All brands
*TT – All brands
*Influenza – All brands
*Various tetanus and diphtheria toxoids
There are also many non-vaccine products that contain thimerosal. According to the GlaxoWellcome corporation, that list includes, among others:
Antibiotics for the Eye
Cortisporin® Ophthalmic Suspension
Neosporin® Ophthalmic Solution
Nasal Preparations
Nasal Moist® AF
Neo-Synephrine® Pediatric Formula, Mild Formula, Regular Strength, and Extra Strength Nasal Spray
Ear Preparations
Coly-mycin® S Otic
Cortisporin® Otic Suspension
Pediotic® Suspension
Cosmetics
L'Oreal® Miracle Wear Mascara
Stagelight® Mascara
What Are My Legal Rights?
For detailed information on that, you really should talk to one of our lawyers. There are many lawsuits being filed to bring the companies that used thimerosal-vaccines to justice, and if your child displays symptoms of mercury poisoning and has been vaccinated with any of the drugs listed above, you could have a case.
As far back as September 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics directed physicians to warn parents about the risks that come with using thimerosal-containing vaccinations, and to make alternatives to thimerosal available wherever possible. Sadly, the message doesn’t seem to have got out there, as thimerosal-laced vaccines continue to be stocked on shelves.
If you would like to speak to one of our representatives, or would like more information regarding your legal rights in this situation, please contact us.
Has There Been A Cover-Up?
Well, let’s just say that certain parties have been much less than forthcoming about information on the topic. Much like the cigarette situation where Big Tobacco held back on providing evidence of nicotine toxicity over the past several decades, drug companies could have provided more information, done a lot more study and answered a lot more of the questions that parents have been asking of late. Clearly when the risks associated with mercury-based preservatives in children’s vaccines cause many government departments and health organizations to warn against it, there’s a case to answer.
Where questions of ethics truly raise their head is when looking at the extremely controversial Homeland Security Bill, which protects the drug companies from being held liable for their wrongdoing. Why a law relating to vaccines was added to a bill that has nothing to do with health is anyone’s guess, though it must be said – who would have voted against the Homeland Security Bill after the events of 9/11/2001, regardless of what surprises were snuck into it via the backdoor?
If the bill is left in place, any legal action against thimerosal would be under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), a government fund created in 1986 essentially to deal with far less damaging vaccine reactions than autism. Not only does the NVICP protect vaccine producers from paying large punitive awards decided by juries in state civil courts (of the size presently being paid by Big Tobacco), but the claim must also be filed within three years of a child's first symptoms. Added to that, it also limits pay-outs to a maximum of $250,000, irrespective of the scope of damage to your child. When it takes around four years to reach a decision through NVICP, clearly there are parties determined to make it anything but easy for a claimant to win a case against the drug companies.
But the wheels keep turning… change is in the wind. If you want to be a part of that change, contact us. Click here for more information.
