By DANIEL MARTIN - Last updated at 00:03am on 7th April 2008
Risk of autism is greatest for children who are the smallest at birth, say scientistsPremature babies could have as much as a one in four risk of developing autism.
The much higher rate offers one explanation for the increase in children diagnosed with autism in recent years, as early births have become more common. One in 100 Britons - around half a million - are estimated to be autistic. Just 20 years ago, scientists estimated that fewer than one in 1,000 people had the condition. But over the same period, there has been a rise in the number of babies born prematurely and surviving into adulthood.
This is attributed to a combination of medical advances and a trend for more older women, for whom premature babies are more likely, to give birth. Almost one in eight babies are born prematurely every year, according to baby charity Bliss. That equates to 76,000 babies in the UK. The Canadian study involved children who were born between seven and 14 weeks prematurely and weighed 3.3lb (1.5kg) or less at birth.
A behavioural test performed at around 21 months of age found suspected autism in 23 of the 91 children. The study also found that the risk of autism was greatest among those children who were the smallest at birth. Experts say babies born early may suffer mentally because their brain is still forming. Previous studies have linked premature birth and low birth weight with developmental problems, including autism.
But the Canadian study is the first to attempt to quantify the risk of autism. The danger was greatest among those children who were the smallest at birth, and those born to mothers who suffered a prenatal infection or bleeding, said Catherine Limperopoulos, lead researcher of the team from McGill University in Montreal.
"Early autistic behaviours seem to be an under-recognised feature of very low birth-weight infants," she said. "Ongoing follow-up is needed to understand if this initial positive screen is transient or persistent."
The toddlers who tested as being at high risk for autism were also more likely to be male, and their mother was more likely to have experienced haemorrhaging during labour and delivery.
Autism can have relatively mild symptoms or can severely disable a child by interfering with speech and behaviour.
Higher rates in recent years have been attributed to various causes, including improved diagnoses. Other studies have found genetic and environmental links to the condition.
But now there is a growing belief that premature births may also be a factor.
The increasing number of mothers who delay giving birth until their forties has been linked in studies to a serious increase in the number of underweight babies. Most low birth-weight babies are born prematurely - that is, born before 37 weeks' gestation. Britain has the second worst rate for low birth weights in western Europe - second only to Greece. The number of over-45s giving birth has doubled in a decade to 1,117 in 2005. Women over 40 have an 8.5 per cent risk of giving birth to underweight babies, compared with 6 per cent for those in their thirties.
Other studies have shown that premature birth and low birth weight babies are more prone to a low IQ, poor cognitive functioning and learning disabilities. They are also more likely to exhibit behavioural problems at school.
On top of this, medical advances mean more premature babies are surviving. Latest figures show that 39 per cent of babies born at 24 weeks live - well up on previous years.
The Canadian study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Drinking while pregnant risks autism in babies
by Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Editor
Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy may be putting their babies at risk of developing autism, according to new research.
The consultant psychiatrist who alerted the medical profession to the finding that drinking while pregnant can give babies a condition called foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has now found that the consumption of alcohol by expecting mothers can also cause autism.
The research is the first to suggest that autism may be triggered by the child’s mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
The findings will heighten concern about the increase in alcohol consumption among women of childbearing age.
More than half of all mothers drink alcohol while pregnant, according to the Department of Health. This week the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will issue a new warning about the dangers.
A recent survey showed 8% of women aged 18 to 24 had consumed at least 35 units of alcohol, the equivalent of about 15 glasses of wine, during the previous week. Binge drinking among young women has resulted in the number of alcohol-related deaths in women aged 35 to 54 doubling between 1991 and 2005.
Earlier this year, the British Medical Association warned that the increase in alcohol consumption by young women will be reflected in a rise in drinking during pregnancy and, subsequently, will put more babies at risk of being damaged by alcohol while in the womb.
Raja Mukherjee, consultant psychiatrist at Surrey Borders Partnership NHS trust, has spent the past 18 months examining children who have been damaged by their mother’s drinking during pregnancy and found that a high proportion of them have autism. The research has been presented at scientific meetings.
Mukherjee, who has presented his findings to medical colleagues, declined to discuss them in detail before their publication in a medical journal but said: “Genetic conditions are by far the most common cause of autism but that is not to say that other things cannot cause it, and prenatal alcohol appears, possibly, to be [a cause].
“Unlike genetic conditions, this is 100% preventable.”
Mukherjee has previously warned against any drinking during pregnancy and believes that even low levels of alcohol may endanger babies.
Drinking during pregnancy can cause foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the umbrella term for a range of disorders — from minor anomalies such as low birth weight to severe FAS, the symptoms of which include mental retardation and facial abnormalities such as a short nose.
The number of cases of FAS in Britain has increased in recent years. So far the government and medical bodies have given out conflicting messages about how much alcohol it is safe to drink during pregnancy.
Cases rising
One per cent of British children suffer from autism, according to the Office for National Statistics. Some academics argue that the percentage of children suffering from the disorder is increasing but others say that numbers are up because of better diagnosis.
Although the cause of autism is unknown, many doctors believe some people have a genetic predisposition towards it.
Dr Andrew Wakefield linked autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, but the research was discredited. It led to a fall in immunisation.
Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy may be putting their babies at risk of developing autism, according to new research.
The consultant psychiatrist who alerted the medical profession to the finding that drinking while pregnant can give babies a condition called foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has now found that the consumption of alcohol by expecting mothers can also cause autism.
The research is the first to suggest that autism may be triggered by the child’s mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy.
The findings will heighten concern about the increase in alcohol consumption among women of childbearing age.
More than half of all mothers drink alcohol while pregnant, according to the Department of Health. This week the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will issue a new warning about the dangers.
A recent survey showed 8% of women aged 18 to 24 had consumed at least 35 units of alcohol, the equivalent of about 15 glasses of wine, during the previous week. Binge drinking among young women has resulted in the number of alcohol-related deaths in women aged 35 to 54 doubling between 1991 and 2005.
Earlier this year, the British Medical Association warned that the increase in alcohol consumption by young women will be reflected in a rise in drinking during pregnancy and, subsequently, will put more babies at risk of being damaged by alcohol while in the womb.
Raja Mukherjee, consultant psychiatrist at Surrey Borders Partnership NHS trust, has spent the past 18 months examining children who have been damaged by their mother’s drinking during pregnancy and found that a high proportion of them have autism. The research has been presented at scientific meetings.
Mukherjee, who has presented his findings to medical colleagues, declined to discuss them in detail before their publication in a medical journal but said: “Genetic conditions are by far the most common cause of autism but that is not to say that other things cannot cause it, and prenatal alcohol appears, possibly, to be [a cause].
“Unlike genetic conditions, this is 100% preventable.”
Mukherjee has previously warned against any drinking during pregnancy and believes that even low levels of alcohol may endanger babies.
Drinking during pregnancy can cause foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the umbrella term for a range of disorders — from minor anomalies such as low birth weight to severe FAS, the symptoms of which include mental retardation and facial abnormalities such as a short nose.
The number of cases of FAS in Britain has increased in recent years. So far the government and medical bodies have given out conflicting messages about how much alcohol it is safe to drink during pregnancy.
Cases rising
One per cent of British children suffer from autism, according to the Office for National Statistics. Some academics argue that the percentage of children suffering from the disorder is increasing but others say that numbers are up because of better diagnosis.
Although the cause of autism is unknown, many doctors believe some people have a genetic predisposition towards it.
Dr Andrew Wakefield linked autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, but the research was discredited. It led to a fall in immunisation.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Accelerated head growth can predict autism before behavioral symptoms start
Children with autism have normal-size heads at birth but develop accelerated head growth between six and nine months of age, a period that precedes the onset of many behaviors that enable physicians to diagnose the developmental disorder, according to new research from the University of Washington’s Autism Center.
The study also indicates that this aberrant growth is present in children who have the early onset form of autism as well as those later diagnosed with the regression type of the disorder, according to Sara Webb, who led the research.
“We know there are a number of risk factors for autism, and if we can pinpoint them we have better ways of identifying children at risk so we can get them into prevention or monitoring,” said Webb, a UW research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
“This abnormal or accelerated rate of head circumference growth is a biological marker for autism. It occurs before the onset of behavioral symptoms at 12 months of age such as a child’s failure to respond to their name, a preoccupation with certain objects, not pointing to things, a lack of interest in other people and the absence of babbling.
“By itself, head growth is not an indicator of autism,” she said, “because kids are going to be getting bigger and development is so variable. However, if you notice it and some of these other symptoms, it is a red flag to seek evaluation.”
She said is it important understand that the data used in this study were based on three measurements made during the first three years of life, not from single point in time. To do this, the researchers obtained the medical records of 28 boys who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 3 and 4 at the UW Autism Center and eight boys with developmental delay. All of the boys were participating in a larger longitudinal study.
Infant head measurements are typically done on a regular basis by pediatricians through the first 18 months of life, but are not reliably done after that. Head circumference is calculated from the brow, or ridge above the eyes, around to the bony bump on the back of the skull and back around to the brow. Three measurements, including at birth, were required to chart the growth of each child and compare it with the range of normal development.
Webb said in most cases parents would have a difficult time detecting abnormal growth because there is a range of normal head sizes. Approximately 20 percent of children with autism have abnormally large head sizes, or what is called macrocephaly.
“Some of the children in our study started with a very small head size and later their growth accelerated. What we are looking for is disproportionate growth in children compared to the rest of their body. In this study nearly 60 percent of the autistic children had accelerated growth but only six of the children met the criteria for macrocephaly.”
Webb said she sees this information being used by pediatricians to screen children and refer them earlier rather than later for evaluation and intervention before other symptoms develop. The UW researchers plan to further explore the implications of abnormal head size as part of a larger autism prevention study of 200 infants at high risk for the disorder that has just started.
These youngsters have older siblings already diagnosed with autism and have a one in five chance of developing the disorder, which has a strong genetic component. The typical risk for autism is now believed to be one in 150.
Earlier research at the UW Autism Center by its founding director Geraldine Dawson showed that accelerated head growth in children with autism slows down in the second year of life and this deceleration coincides with a with a period of worsening symptoms of autism.
###
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Mental Health funded the research. The study was published in the Journal of Child Neurology. Co-authors of the new paper are Dawson, Theresa Nalty, Jeff Munson and Catherine Brock, who are all affiliated with the center, and Robert Abbott, a professor of educational psychology.
For more information, contact Webb at (800) 994-9701 or sjwebb@u.washington.edu
The study also indicates that this aberrant growth is present in children who have the early onset form of autism as well as those later diagnosed with the regression type of the disorder, according to Sara Webb, who led the research.
“We know there are a number of risk factors for autism, and if we can pinpoint them we have better ways of identifying children at risk so we can get them into prevention or monitoring,” said Webb, a UW research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
“This abnormal or accelerated rate of head circumference growth is a biological marker for autism. It occurs before the onset of behavioral symptoms at 12 months of age such as a child’s failure to respond to their name, a preoccupation with certain objects, not pointing to things, a lack of interest in other people and the absence of babbling.
“By itself, head growth is not an indicator of autism,” she said, “because kids are going to be getting bigger and development is so variable. However, if you notice it and some of these other symptoms, it is a red flag to seek evaluation.”
She said is it important understand that the data used in this study were based on three measurements made during the first three years of life, not from single point in time. To do this, the researchers obtained the medical records of 28 boys who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 3 and 4 at the UW Autism Center and eight boys with developmental delay. All of the boys were participating in a larger longitudinal study.
Infant head measurements are typically done on a regular basis by pediatricians through the first 18 months of life, but are not reliably done after that. Head circumference is calculated from the brow, or ridge above the eyes, around to the bony bump on the back of the skull and back around to the brow. Three measurements, including at birth, were required to chart the growth of each child and compare it with the range of normal development.
Webb said in most cases parents would have a difficult time detecting abnormal growth because there is a range of normal head sizes. Approximately 20 percent of children with autism have abnormally large head sizes, or what is called macrocephaly.
“Some of the children in our study started with a very small head size and later their growth accelerated. What we are looking for is disproportionate growth in children compared to the rest of their body. In this study nearly 60 percent of the autistic children had accelerated growth but only six of the children met the criteria for macrocephaly.”
Webb said she sees this information being used by pediatricians to screen children and refer them earlier rather than later for evaluation and intervention before other symptoms develop. The UW researchers plan to further explore the implications of abnormal head size as part of a larger autism prevention study of 200 infants at high risk for the disorder that has just started.
These youngsters have older siblings already diagnosed with autism and have a one in five chance of developing the disorder, which has a strong genetic component. The typical risk for autism is now believed to be one in 150.
Earlier research at the UW Autism Center by its founding director Geraldine Dawson showed that accelerated head growth in children with autism slows down in the second year of life and this deceleration coincides with a with a period of worsening symptoms of autism.
###
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Mental Health funded the research. The study was published in the Journal of Child Neurology. Co-authors of the new paper are Dawson, Theresa Nalty, Jeff Munson and Catherine Brock, who are all affiliated with the center, and Robert Abbott, a professor of educational psychology.
For more information, contact Webb at (800) 994-9701 or sjwebb@u.washington.edu
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Genetic link to autism may explain speech problems
London, Jan 12: Scientists have found a genetic link to autism that may explain why affected children can take months or even years longer to speak, a study says.
Variants in this gene could help to diagnose the condition and, in the long run, provide valuable insights into how to develop more effective treatments, the study said. ''Autism is a developmental brain disorder that impairs basic behaviours needed for social interactions, such as eye contact and speech, and includes other symptoms, such as repetitive, obsessive behaviours,'' said Prof Aravinda Chakravarti of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who conducted one of the studies. ''The symptoms sometimes cause profound disability, and they persist throughout life. Treatments may relieve some symptoms, but no treatment is fully effective in treating the core social deficits. Although the cause of autism is not yet clear, studies of twins have shown that genes play a major role,'' the Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying.
Intriguingly the variants identified mostly affect boys, especially when inherited from mothers. However, they are present in more than one third of the population, underlining how many genes contribute to the disorder and inheriting these gene variants does not mean that a boy will inevitably develop autism but will be more vulnerable to language-related problems, the research informed.The gene is most active in brain regions involved with thought and language, which suggests why affected children can have speech delayed, and the link with the developmental disorder is convincing because it has been confirmed by three teams of scientists.
The American Journal of Human Genetics published findings of a team led by Prof Daniel Geschwind at the University of California, Los Angeles, along with one by Prof Aravinda Chakravarti and Prof Dan Arking from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and a team at Yale led by Prof Matthew State.Confirmation by three groups, using different methods, suggested that several variants in the gene, called contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2), may play a key role in the development of autism. The gene makes a protein that enables brain cells to communicate with each other through chemical signals and appears to play a role in brain cell development. ''This gene not only may predispose children to autism,'' said Prof Geschwind, who searched for the gene in 500 affected families, ''but we think that it also may influence the development of brain structures involved in language, providing a tangible link between genes, the brain and behaviour.''
The UCLA team examined CNTNAP2's presence in early brain tissue and discovered that the gene was most active in developing brain structures involved in language and thought, especially the frontal lobe. ''Finding genes is a first step in trying to better understand the disorder, and that many genes are likely to contribute,'' Prof Geschwind said.The Hopkins team studied almost 1,500 affected children and found that children with autism were about 20 per cent more likely to have inherited the one gene variant from their mothers than from their fathers. ''For males, individuals who get the version of the gene linked with autism from mom have around 36 per cent increase in risk related to someone with no risk versions of the gene, and if the male child get the riskier version from both mom and dad, the risk increased by about 59 per cent,'' Prof Arking said.''Autism is highly heritable. Identifying the genes involved is crucial to our ability to map out the pathology of this isolating and sometimes terribly disabling disease, which currently has no cure,'' the director of the US National Institute of Mental Health, Dr Thomas Insel said.
Variants in this gene could help to diagnose the condition and, in the long run, provide valuable insights into how to develop more effective treatments, the study said. ''Autism is a developmental brain disorder that impairs basic behaviours needed for social interactions, such as eye contact and speech, and includes other symptoms, such as repetitive, obsessive behaviours,'' said Prof Aravinda Chakravarti of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who conducted one of the studies. ''The symptoms sometimes cause profound disability, and they persist throughout life. Treatments may relieve some symptoms, but no treatment is fully effective in treating the core social deficits. Although the cause of autism is not yet clear, studies of twins have shown that genes play a major role,'' the Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying.
Intriguingly the variants identified mostly affect boys, especially when inherited from mothers. However, they are present in more than one third of the population, underlining how many genes contribute to the disorder and inheriting these gene variants does not mean that a boy will inevitably develop autism but will be more vulnerable to language-related problems, the research informed.The gene is most active in brain regions involved with thought and language, which suggests why affected children can have speech delayed, and the link with the developmental disorder is convincing because it has been confirmed by three teams of scientists.
The American Journal of Human Genetics published findings of a team led by Prof Daniel Geschwind at the University of California, Los Angeles, along with one by Prof Aravinda Chakravarti and Prof Dan Arking from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and a team at Yale led by Prof Matthew State.Confirmation by three groups, using different methods, suggested that several variants in the gene, called contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2), may play a key role in the development of autism. The gene makes a protein that enables brain cells to communicate with each other through chemical signals and appears to play a role in brain cell development. ''This gene not only may predispose children to autism,'' said Prof Geschwind, who searched for the gene in 500 affected families, ''but we think that it also may influence the development of brain structures involved in language, providing a tangible link between genes, the brain and behaviour.''
The UCLA team examined CNTNAP2's presence in early brain tissue and discovered that the gene was most active in developing brain structures involved in language and thought, especially the frontal lobe. ''Finding genes is a first step in trying to better understand the disorder, and that many genes are likely to contribute,'' Prof Geschwind said.The Hopkins team studied almost 1,500 affected children and found that children with autism were about 20 per cent more likely to have inherited the one gene variant from their mothers than from their fathers. ''For males, individuals who get the version of the gene linked with autism from mom have around 36 per cent increase in risk related to someone with no risk versions of the gene, and if the male child get the riskier version from both mom and dad, the risk increased by about 59 per cent,'' Prof Arking said.''Autism is highly heritable. Identifying the genes involved is crucial to our ability to map out the pathology of this isolating and sometimes terribly disabling disease, which currently has no cure,'' the director of the US National Institute of Mental Health, Dr Thomas Insel said.
Friday, January 11, 2008
MIND Institute gets $15 million to study Autism
A researcher at the UC Davis MIND Institute has received a $15.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to test the effect of intensive intervention on toddlers with autism.
Sally Rogers, a leading researcher on autism treatment, will use play- and relationship-based approaches to see if intervention earlier than 24 months of age is effective in reducing -- or circumventing altogether -- the language and social problems associated with the serious developmental disorder.
She will be joined in the five-year study by researchers at the University of Washington and University of Michigan.
Researchers will also attempt to identify the behavioral factors that help predict whether or not a child will respond well to treatment.
"There is very little published about the effectiveness of any intervention model for children in treatment earlier than two," Rogers said in a press statement.
Sally Rogers, a leading researcher on autism treatment, will use play- and relationship-based approaches to see if intervention earlier than 24 months of age is effective in reducing -- or circumventing altogether -- the language and social problems associated with the serious developmental disorder.
She will be joined in the five-year study by researchers at the University of Washington and University of Michigan.
Researchers will also attempt to identify the behavioral factors that help predict whether or not a child will respond well to treatment.
"There is very little published about the effectiveness of any intervention model for children in treatment earlier than two," Rogers said in a press statement.
Grandmother believes MMR vaccine brought on grandson's autism
By Kevin Canessa Jr.Observer Editor
Debbie Wertalik is confident about a lot of things in her life. Perhaps the most stark and surreal notion she’s confident in surrounds a time in her young grandson Tyler’s life.
It was about six years ago. He was just 1 year old at the time. And it forever changed the way she looks at vaccine shots.“I was talking to an expert who suggested we go back to look at videos of Tyler from his first birthday,” she said. “So we looked at the video. He was running very well for a 1 year old. Then, we looked at a video from around Easter that same year. He was playing and having a good time. Next, we looked at a video from the June after that Easter. We had gone down the shore and he was going on rides.“Tyler was totally different. He had a blank stare on his face. He wasn’t the same grandson of just a couple of weeks earlier.”Wertalik says a month before she went down the shore with Tyler, her daughter Debbie, and other members of the family, her grandson got his first dose of the MMR vaccine — against measles, mumps and rubella.That one vaccine, she’s completely sure, triggered something in Tyler that had previously been unknown to her and the family: autism.It wouldn’t be until three or so years later that Wertalik and the family learned Tyler was an autistic child. Yet looking back, she believes the vaccine, which contained Mercury in it as a preservative, triggered the autism.“I firmly believe there is a predisposition in certain children for autism,” she said. “But in Tyler’s early years, there were absolutely no signs. Then, we looked at the videos. It couldn’t be clearer. At first, we couldn’t understand how it was possible. But then we realized there was an overload of Mercury. It was an obvious catalyst.”
A few years after Debbie’s daughter Tara had Tyler, she had another child, Bella. Like her brother, Bella, too, had a predisposition to being autistic. But there was one thing all involved were certain of this time around — there was no way on earth Bella was getting an MMR vaccine.“If she had gotten the shot, we might have lost her,” Debbie said. “That was the critical factor. There was no way it was going to happen.”Wertalik has, for years, been the director of an autism support group called Putting the Pieces Together. You’ve likely seen photos from her events in this newspapers — and press releases for the group’s athletic wing, the Special Angels. In a real way, she’s the greatest advocate in our readership area on autism-related issues. So it should come as no shock that she’s not overly thrilled with a recent decision by the state Health Commission to mandate flu shots — in addition to other vaccines — for school-age children.She says she’s tried, with no response, to speak directly with Gov. Jon S. Corzine, about this and other issues. The governor’s office has told her that even though Corzine is “her governor, he is not going to take” her phone calls.“He allows this proposal to be introduced, and it will cost a lot of money,” she said. “Yet he won’t talk about it. It’s infuriating.”Like Debbie, perhaps the nation’s most noted autism spokeswoman is Deirdre Imus, the wife of radio host Don Imus.Last week, when word of the flu-shot mandate came down, Mrs. Imus took to the airwaves and lambasted the governor numerous times — and she announced his office’s telephone number, encouraging outraged listeners to call him.“I spoke with Gov. Corzine, and he pledged he’d do what he could to make sure this didn’t happened,” Mrs. Imus said on the air. “And now this? Are you kidding me? What is he thinking? These shots contain Mercury and I don’t care what dissenting expert says — Mercury causes autism. This is just outrageous.”Wertalik and Mrs. Imus’ outrage stems from another simple notion, one the pharmaceutical companies don’t want the public to know apparently: that is, that the vaccines, whether for the flu, MMR or other diseases, can be packaged, singularly, without using Mercury as a preservative.It would cost more to obtain the doses — and it would cost the companies more because the doses have a shorter shelf life and have to be individually prepared.
Still, it is possible. Yet it’s not happening.“There are families fighting this who don’t realize the shots can be obtained without the harmful elements,” Wertalik said. “They can split up the dosages preservative free.”What’s worse, she says, is that even if a child is harmed by Mercury-laden immunizations, parents and families have little recourse.“In a homeland security bill a couple of years ago, they used what they call an ‘Omnibus Bill,’ where they take an issue that would never get passed otherwise, and package them into other bills to get them through,” she said. “In this case, a homeland security bill that Congress passed mandated the drug companies can’t be sued if there’s a bad reaction to vaccines containing Mercury and other harmful materials. It’s just senseless.”The specific bill she references could not be verified.Still, Wertalik advises new parents to be very careful about what vaccines they get for their children.“It may seem like you’re being a pain, but parents should definitely ask to look at the labels on the bottles of the vaccines,” she said. “While I’m in no position to recommend what any other parent should do, I do believe parents need to use strong judgment. In other words, if there are harmful materials in the bottles, back away. Wait until they’re older if you have to. I just say that if you’re dealing with an infant — no way they should be getting this much Mercury in their tiny bodies. They’re just not prepared and ready to be able to handle it.”What others are sayingIn addition to Wertalik, we also asked a sampling of local residents what they thought of the mandatory shots.
Here’s a sampling of what we found.
June Radamski lives in Belleville. She says she doesn’t like the mandatory flu-shot idea.“When I first heard of this, I was mortified,” she said. “I have two young children not in school yet. But there is no way I am allowing them to get flu shots before they go into pre-K. If it means I claim religious reasons to avoid it, that’s what I guess I’ll have to do.”Robert Spangler, of North Arlington, is on the same page as Radamski.“I don’t have kids, but even I don’t feel comfortable getting flu shots,” Spangler said. “Injecting Mercury into a human body — think of what I just said — would it make any sense to put any amount of a harmful substance into your body needlessly?”Raul Salazar, of Kearny, also agrees with Radamski and Spangler — to an extent.“I wouldn’t mind doing it for my kids if the shots didn’t have any substances in them,” Salazar said. “But I don’t think they’re mak ing them without.”Meanwhile, Sarah J. Attanasio, of Nutley, says she thinks the Mercury amounts are too small to be concerned.“From what I’ve heard, the Mercury has not too much danger,” Attanasio said. “I’d take the risk if I had kids. Thankfully, right now I don’t.”Miguel Reynoso, of Belleville, agrees.“I know my mother gets a flu shot every year, and it seems like they have worked. No flu for her,” Reynoso said. “So I don’t see why my sons can’t get the shots. No harm, no foul, right?”
Wertalik and Mrs. Imus’ outrage stems from another simple notion, one the pharmaceutical companies don’t want the public to know apparently: that is, that the vaccines, whether for the flu, MMR or other diseases, can be packaged, singularly, without using Mercury as a preservative.It would cost more to obtain the doses — and it would cost the companies more because the doses have a shorter shelf life and have to be individually prepared.Still, it is possible. Yet it’s not happening.“There are families fighting this who don’t realize the shots can be obtained without the harmful elements,” Wertalik said. “They can split up the dosages preservative free.”What’s worse, she says, is that even if a child is harmed by Mercury-laden immunizations, parents and families have little recourse.“In a homeland security bill a couple of years ago, they used what they call an ‘Omnibus Bill,’ where they take an issue that would never get passed otherwise, and package them into other bills to get them through,” she said. “In this case, a homeland security bill that Congress passed mandated the drug companies can’t be sued if there’s a bad reaction to vaccines containing Mercury and other harmful materials. It’s just senseless.”
The specific bill she references could not be verified.Still, Wertalik advises new parents to be very careful about what vaccines they get for their children.“It may seem like you’re being a pain, but parents should definitely ask to look at the labels on the bottles of the vaccines,” she said. “While I’m in no position to recommend what any other parent should do, I do believe parents need to use strong judgment. In other words, if there are harmful materials in the bottles, back away. Wait until they’re older if you have to. I just say that if you’re dealing with an infant — no way they should be getting this much Mercury in their tiny bodies. They’re just not prepared and ready to be able to handle it.”
What others are saying
In addition to Wertalik, we also asked a sampling of local residents what they thought of the mandatory shots. Here’s a sampling of what we found.June Radamski lives in Belleville. She says she doesn’t like the mandatory flu-shot idea.“When I first heard of this, I was mortified,” she said. “I have two young children not in school yet. But there is no way I am allowing them to get flu shots before they go into pre-K. If it means I claim religious reasons to avoid it, that’s what I guess I’ll have to do.”Robert Spangler, of North Arlington, is on the same page as Radamski.“I don’t have kids, but even I don’t feel comfortable getting flu shots,” Spangler said.
“Injecting Mercury into a human body — think of what I just said — would it make any sense to put any amount of a harmful substance into your body needlessly?”Raul Salazar, of Kearny, also agrees with Radamski and Spangler — to an extent.“I wouldn’t mind doing it for my kids if the shots didn’t have any substances in them,” Salazar said. “But I don’t think they’re mak ing them without.”Meanwhile, Sarah J. Attanasio, of Nutley, says she thinks the Mercury amounts are too small to be concerned.“From what I’ve heard, the Mercury has not too much danger,” Attanasio said. “I’d take the risk if I had kids. Thankfully, right now I don’t.”Miguel Reynoso, of Belleville, agrees.“I know my mother gets a flu shot every year, and it seems like they have worked. No flu for her,” Reynoso said. “So I don’t see why my sons can’t get the shots. No harm, no foul, right?”
Debbie Wertalik is confident about a lot of things in her life. Perhaps the most stark and surreal notion she’s confident in surrounds a time in her young grandson Tyler’s life.
It was about six years ago. He was just 1 year old at the time. And it forever changed the way she looks at vaccine shots.“I was talking to an expert who suggested we go back to look at videos of Tyler from his first birthday,” she said. “So we looked at the video. He was running very well for a 1 year old. Then, we looked at a video from around Easter that same year. He was playing and having a good time. Next, we looked at a video from the June after that Easter. We had gone down the shore and he was going on rides.“Tyler was totally different. He had a blank stare on his face. He wasn’t the same grandson of just a couple of weeks earlier.”Wertalik says a month before she went down the shore with Tyler, her daughter Debbie, and other members of the family, her grandson got his first dose of the MMR vaccine — against measles, mumps and rubella.That one vaccine, she’s completely sure, triggered something in Tyler that had previously been unknown to her and the family: autism.It wouldn’t be until three or so years later that Wertalik and the family learned Tyler was an autistic child. Yet looking back, she believes the vaccine, which contained Mercury in it as a preservative, triggered the autism.“I firmly believe there is a predisposition in certain children for autism,” she said. “But in Tyler’s early years, there were absolutely no signs. Then, we looked at the videos. It couldn’t be clearer. At first, we couldn’t understand how it was possible. But then we realized there was an overload of Mercury. It was an obvious catalyst.”
A few years after Debbie’s daughter Tara had Tyler, she had another child, Bella. Like her brother, Bella, too, had a predisposition to being autistic. But there was one thing all involved were certain of this time around — there was no way on earth Bella was getting an MMR vaccine.“If she had gotten the shot, we might have lost her,” Debbie said. “That was the critical factor. There was no way it was going to happen.”Wertalik has, for years, been the director of an autism support group called Putting the Pieces Together. You’ve likely seen photos from her events in this newspapers — and press releases for the group’s athletic wing, the Special Angels. In a real way, she’s the greatest advocate in our readership area on autism-related issues. So it should come as no shock that she’s not overly thrilled with a recent decision by the state Health Commission to mandate flu shots — in addition to other vaccines — for school-age children.She says she’s tried, with no response, to speak directly with Gov. Jon S. Corzine, about this and other issues. The governor’s office has told her that even though Corzine is “her governor, he is not going to take” her phone calls.“He allows this proposal to be introduced, and it will cost a lot of money,” she said. “Yet he won’t talk about it. It’s infuriating.”Like Debbie, perhaps the nation’s most noted autism spokeswoman is Deirdre Imus, the wife of radio host Don Imus.Last week, when word of the flu-shot mandate came down, Mrs. Imus took to the airwaves and lambasted the governor numerous times — and she announced his office’s telephone number, encouraging outraged listeners to call him.“I spoke with Gov. Corzine, and he pledged he’d do what he could to make sure this didn’t happened,” Mrs. Imus said on the air. “And now this? Are you kidding me? What is he thinking? These shots contain Mercury and I don’t care what dissenting expert says — Mercury causes autism. This is just outrageous.”Wertalik and Mrs. Imus’ outrage stems from another simple notion, one the pharmaceutical companies don’t want the public to know apparently: that is, that the vaccines, whether for the flu, MMR or other diseases, can be packaged, singularly, without using Mercury as a preservative.It would cost more to obtain the doses — and it would cost the companies more because the doses have a shorter shelf life and have to be individually prepared.
Still, it is possible. Yet it’s not happening.“There are families fighting this who don’t realize the shots can be obtained without the harmful elements,” Wertalik said. “They can split up the dosages preservative free.”What’s worse, she says, is that even if a child is harmed by Mercury-laden immunizations, parents and families have little recourse.“In a homeland security bill a couple of years ago, they used what they call an ‘Omnibus Bill,’ where they take an issue that would never get passed otherwise, and package them into other bills to get them through,” she said. “In this case, a homeland security bill that Congress passed mandated the drug companies can’t be sued if there’s a bad reaction to vaccines containing Mercury and other harmful materials. It’s just senseless.”The specific bill she references could not be verified.Still, Wertalik advises new parents to be very careful about what vaccines they get for their children.“It may seem like you’re being a pain, but parents should definitely ask to look at the labels on the bottles of the vaccines,” she said. “While I’m in no position to recommend what any other parent should do, I do believe parents need to use strong judgment. In other words, if there are harmful materials in the bottles, back away. Wait until they’re older if you have to. I just say that if you’re dealing with an infant — no way they should be getting this much Mercury in their tiny bodies. They’re just not prepared and ready to be able to handle it.”What others are sayingIn addition to Wertalik, we also asked a sampling of local residents what they thought of the mandatory shots.
Here’s a sampling of what we found.
June Radamski lives in Belleville. She says she doesn’t like the mandatory flu-shot idea.“When I first heard of this, I was mortified,” she said. “I have two young children not in school yet. But there is no way I am allowing them to get flu shots before they go into pre-K. If it means I claim religious reasons to avoid it, that’s what I guess I’ll have to do.”Robert Spangler, of North Arlington, is on the same page as Radamski.“I don’t have kids, but even I don’t feel comfortable getting flu shots,” Spangler said. “Injecting Mercury into a human body — think of what I just said — would it make any sense to put any amount of a harmful substance into your body needlessly?”Raul Salazar, of Kearny, also agrees with Radamski and Spangler — to an extent.“I wouldn’t mind doing it for my kids if the shots didn’t have any substances in them,” Salazar said. “But I don’t think they’re mak ing them without.”Meanwhile, Sarah J. Attanasio, of Nutley, says she thinks the Mercury amounts are too small to be concerned.“From what I’ve heard, the Mercury has not too much danger,” Attanasio said. “I’d take the risk if I had kids. Thankfully, right now I don’t.”Miguel Reynoso, of Belleville, agrees.“I know my mother gets a flu shot every year, and it seems like they have worked. No flu for her,” Reynoso said. “So I don’t see why my sons can’t get the shots. No harm, no foul, right?”
Wertalik and Mrs. Imus’ outrage stems from another simple notion, one the pharmaceutical companies don’t want the public to know apparently: that is, that the vaccines, whether for the flu, MMR or other diseases, can be packaged, singularly, without using Mercury as a preservative.It would cost more to obtain the doses — and it would cost the companies more because the doses have a shorter shelf life and have to be individually prepared.Still, it is possible. Yet it’s not happening.“There are families fighting this who don’t realize the shots can be obtained without the harmful elements,” Wertalik said. “They can split up the dosages preservative free.”What’s worse, she says, is that even if a child is harmed by Mercury-laden immunizations, parents and families have little recourse.“In a homeland security bill a couple of years ago, they used what they call an ‘Omnibus Bill,’ where they take an issue that would never get passed otherwise, and package them into other bills to get them through,” she said. “In this case, a homeland security bill that Congress passed mandated the drug companies can’t be sued if there’s a bad reaction to vaccines containing Mercury and other harmful materials. It’s just senseless.”
The specific bill she references could not be verified.Still, Wertalik advises new parents to be very careful about what vaccines they get for their children.“It may seem like you’re being a pain, but parents should definitely ask to look at the labels on the bottles of the vaccines,” she said. “While I’m in no position to recommend what any other parent should do, I do believe parents need to use strong judgment. In other words, if there are harmful materials in the bottles, back away. Wait until they’re older if you have to. I just say that if you’re dealing with an infant — no way they should be getting this much Mercury in their tiny bodies. They’re just not prepared and ready to be able to handle it.”
What others are saying
In addition to Wertalik, we also asked a sampling of local residents what they thought of the mandatory shots. Here’s a sampling of what we found.June Radamski lives in Belleville. She says she doesn’t like the mandatory flu-shot idea.“When I first heard of this, I was mortified,” she said. “I have two young children not in school yet. But there is no way I am allowing them to get flu shots before they go into pre-K. If it means I claim religious reasons to avoid it, that’s what I guess I’ll have to do.”Robert Spangler, of North Arlington, is on the same page as Radamski.“I don’t have kids, but even I don’t feel comfortable getting flu shots,” Spangler said.
“Injecting Mercury into a human body — think of what I just said — would it make any sense to put any amount of a harmful substance into your body needlessly?”Raul Salazar, of Kearny, also agrees with Radamski and Spangler — to an extent.“I wouldn’t mind doing it for my kids if the shots didn’t have any substances in them,” Salazar said. “But I don’t think they’re mak ing them without.”Meanwhile, Sarah J. Attanasio, of Nutley, says she thinks the Mercury amounts are too small to be concerned.“From what I’ve heard, the Mercury has not too much danger,” Attanasio said. “I’d take the risk if I had kids. Thankfully, right now I don’t.”Miguel Reynoso, of Belleville, agrees.“I know my mother gets a flu shot every year, and it seems like they have worked. No flu for her,” Reynoso said. “So I don’t see why my sons can’t get the shots. No harm, no foul, right?”
Growing Adult Autism Population Focuses on Higher Education
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- As early detection and treatments improve, a growing number of young adults with High-Functioning Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are considering higher education.
While some colleges scramble to meet the needs of an aging population with autism, others have turned to third-party programs, such as Achieving in Higher Education with Autism and Developmental Disabilities (AHEADD), to enhance their level of support. Originally developed in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University's department of Equal Opportunity Services, AHEADD provides mentoring and personal advocacy services for students with Asperger's Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder, High-Functioning Autism, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. The program is quickly expanding to higher-education environments in the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.
For students on the Autism Spectrum, programs such as AHEADD greatly influence their college application decisions. "These students are often served really well in the K-12 public school system, and then they're cut off," says Carolyn Komich Hare, AHEADD's founder and director. "College poses a whole new set of communication, organization, and social challenges, and it is important to have a plan in place to make the transition as seamless as possible. I have students who apply to colleges in Pittsburgh just because of the level of support they can receive here."
As accommodations improve, students, as well as their universities, are feeling the effects. One hundred percent of college students who participated in AHEADD for one semester improved their GPA by at least .5, and sometimes by as much as two, points. Ninety percent of students who were on academic probation were able to successfully continue their college careers with the program's support. "The Asperger's population is much bigger than we think it is," says Larry Powell, manager of Disability Resources at Carnegie Mellon University. "If we could put together systems that would adequately support these students, word would get around and more students would disclose it and would come."
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