http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/328/7438/483-a#52877
I would like to add to Alan Challoner's response on a human level regarding,
"How can vaccines cause damage?". Our son was born normal on January 17, 1985
and regressed gradually into autism after receiving the measles- mumps-rubella
(MMR) vaccine on April 28, 1986. Since 2002 to the present, our son, Eric, has
had aggressive tantrums including biting, kicking, pulling hair, scratching,
choking and head-butting. Eric is over 6 feet tall and over 200 pounds and when
he would have a tantrum at home, my wife, my 15 year old daughter and I would
have to lock ourselves in our room. Since 2002 we had to call the Parsippany
police many times and have Eric taken to St. Clare's Hospital emergency room.
Eric has been suspended several times from the special school for autism because
of his behaviors. On December 10, 2002, Congressman Dan Burton read my letter to
the people at the Government Reform hearing mentioning the fact that Eric was
kicking down doors and that we were living in h
ell and under seige because of Eric's behaviors. Congressman Dan Burton
mentioned his grandson who has autism and said that when he gets to be Eric's
age, he is expected to be 6'10". He said to the participants at the hearing that
imagine what it would be like when there are other young adults like Eric and
his grandson having these behaviors and being so strong.
Eric was suspended from school on Monday, February 23, 2004 because of his
behaviors on the prior Friday. I took Eric with me to the supermarket in the
morning and Eric pulled my hair and kicked me. I had to call the police and Eric
was taken to St. Clare's Hospital emergency room where he was transferred to the
Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit. On Friday, March 5, 2004, we were told that if
Eric wasn't taken home or transferred to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital by
Sunday, March 7, 2004 we would be sued by the lawyers for St. Clare's Hospital.
This was despite the fact that we had private health insurance and Medicaid. He
was transferred to Greystone on March 7, 2004 and we are awaiting word on when
Eric can be treated at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland for
a long-term inpatient stay. We have been waiting since July 2003 to get Eric
into Kennedy Krieger Institute but they only have 16 beds and treat only 40
children/young adults with autism a year. Th
ey rehabilitate these children/young adults who have autism and behavior
problems.
On the front page of the Sunday edition, February 22, 2004 of the Orlando
Sentinel was an article titled, "Living with Disabilities. Nearly 14,000
disabled Floridians need help with daily living, but a strained state program
can't keep up. Many are ...........DESPERATE". Also, there was an additional
related article titled, "Family struggles alone to deal with autistic son." by
Debbie Salamone. It told the following about the family of David and Beth
Schaefer that included their 16 year old daughter, Emily and their 11 year old
son with autism, Dillon:
"The loud squeak of a chair echoes through the house as Dillon rocks wildly back
and forth. He leaps up and runs from his bedroom to the kitchen, where his
screams echo through the house. He turns the lights on, off, on, off. He runs to
the bathroom and flushes the toilet once, again and again. He races into the
living room, slams himself into the windows and throws himself on the couch. He
rushes toward his older sister and pinches her. Then he targets his mother. She
tries to restrain him, but Dillon is almost her size. In an instant, he slams
his head into her mouth. Tiny drops of blood slowly ooze from her swelling lip.
This is actually a good morning."
I talked to a New Jersey Department of Developmental Disabilities (NJ DDD)
representative and they said over 50% of their placement cases are for young
children with autism. Like Florida and other states in the United States, New
Jersey has problems getting funding for group homes and residential centers for
children and adults with autism. NJ DDD in fact told us in July 2003 that Eric
could only be placed in a residential center in Pennsylvania which was 2 1/2
hours from our home and that many placements were being done outside New Jersey
in states as far away as Texas. In the prior February 22, 2004 response by Dr.
F. Edward Yazbak response and my response titled, "Research is needed, not
propaganda", a strong point is made regarding research and the numbers. (1) The
United States, United Kingdom as well as other countries will be facing a big
problem with financial costs involving the autism epidemic that will involve
millions if not billions of dollars/pounds. The human c
ost can not be calculated and will be an international tragedy that is a ticking
time bomb waiting to go off. The longer our governments wait, the bigger the
disaster.
References:
1. BMJ Rapid Responses "Research is needed, not propaganda"
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/328/7437/421-a#51141
Competing interests: Founder of The Autism Autoimmunity Project and father to
Eric, who has regressive autism and tested positive for myelin basic protein
antibodies, has elevated measles antibody titers, T-cell abnormalities and
colitis.
--
DEFINITION * TREATMENT * PREVENTION
Autism is 1 in 150 children today, 1 in 68 families! TAAP (The Autism
Autoimmunity Project) is a non profit charity dedicated to obtaining funding for
independent research addressing immune and immunogenetic abnormalities in
autism. Please visit our website for more information at
http://www.AutismAutoimmunityProject.org and help us put an end to this
silent epidemic!!! Know the Cause, FUND the Cure!