My issues are the focus on stupid reporters and blaming boogy men like “big pharma” are taking away funds/research/etc from kids like mine who are not autistic but need special ed. and educational supports. The vaccines are a non-issues, the medical, educational and employment supports are real issues.

Where do you get this 1:6 figure? Are you referring to the distribution of data on a bell curve?

You can be a lot smarter than the Temple Grandin comment… You debase your holier than thou scientific arguments by stooping to such tactics.

I advocate on all fronts. I advocate for more valid educational and support research. As a society we need to hold accountable the corporations that caused the dramatic rise. I only focus on the mainstream medical and big pharma because they have the most dollars and in my mind the most likely link to the 1 in 6 children with cognitive deficits. They should pay. Let’s assume they are not to blame. Why don’t they step up and support the autism community… Pay us off so they can continue making billions of dollars?

At this point we can not even agree that there is a dramatic rise. You would think that would be the first step the government would take. The whole situation with angry parents would go away if there were some support programs in place and protection for these children’s future and present… Did you see the Florida Taser story this week?

This is not the first generation. Previous generations were institutionalized, or worked on their own (have you heard of Temple Grandin?).

If you read what I wrote, you will notice that the focus has to be taken away from the vaccine/autism myth and towards the more realistic support in education, and of course, employment.

My 20 year old son was put on the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation list when he was 15 years old… he is just now getting those services.

@Tanners Dad: Are you saying this is the first generation of autistic children who will become adults?

Nonsense.

Advocate for more valid educational and support research.

Dear Autism Speaks,
The parents are fighting for our children. Autism speaks is fighting a good fight of awareness. As we become the squeaky wheel and the focus of everyones attention we must find common ground and unite to complete our mission. I feel we must unite. A divided front accross so many different organizations is only hurting our children. It is time for us to find a middle ground. It is time for us to demand the research that was requested more than a decade a go. It is time to see results. There are researchers who have been working with grant money for more than 20 years on Autism research and have produced nothing. Yet they are now getting grants in the 10, 20 and 30 million dollar range. It is time to ask for performance. It is time to ask the question… What happens in 10 years when all these children become adults?

It is time to tighten the belt. If the AIG incidents have taught us anything it should be this. Tighten the belts. Never again should planes show up on annual reports. Never again should black ties be required. Every penny spent on luncheons, kick offs, give aways, gift baskets, and even rent. The Parents are going bankrupt. Do you see that? It is time to tighten the belt.

The Autism society is quickly coming a society of have and have nots. Some parents have the chance at ABA therapy. Some parents do not. Some parents have therapies paid for by inurance. Some do not. Some parents are advocates for a safer vaccine schedule and safer vaccines. Autism Speaks seems to advocate for the government (All vaccines on time no exception). Some groups have black tie affairs. Some groups sit at home and clean up feces.

Even Bob Wright said in October …

…The last vaccine Christian had before he regressed was MMR – that’s why my daughter concentrates on that. I don’t know whether his autism is linked: it was certainly coincidental, what we don’t know is if it was causal. Nor do we know whether the thimerosal (the mercury-based preservative used in vaccines) is a factor, although mercury is clearly poisonous. Governments want to run from that issue but they should become more aggressively involved. They have to follow children through to see if there are any effects.

It is time to choose sides. It is time to choose our children. The Government has more than enough resource to defend their never ending policy of mandating more and more vaccines. Do you speak for Autism or do you speak for the pharmaceutical companies?

Are you for our children or against them?

http://www.causecast.org/member/tanners-dad

It also makes no sense to suggest that the reason Leary is wrong is because there’s an epidemic of autism. Suppose Leary had said the same thing of, say, children with Down Syndrome. Would it be OK then because there’s no epidemic of Down Syndrome?