Let’s start off with a basic assumption.
You love your kids. I love mine.
A lot of you don’t understand where Kathleen Seidel is coming from, whereas I sometimes can’t understand where you’re coming from. I read posts on the EoH list that say you want to test Kathleen’s kids and I wonder at how you could possibly be so insensitive. I’m sure you often wonder how I, or Kathleen or anyone else on our side of the debate can be so insensitive. I visit other websites where you have all descended en masse and wonder at your behaviour – anyone who disagrees with you is attacked in highly personal ways. And to what end? How does that advance your position?
I’ve received hate mail from some of you which is both highly personal and highly inaccurate. Some of you have stooped so low as to personally attack my daughter, a five year old autistic girl, in words so personal I can’t bear to repeat them. According to some of you, I flit around various websites under a variety of assumed names for reasons that are left unexplained and on evidence that to anyone who makes their living on the web, is naive and technically incompetent. I have also heard descriptions of some of the people I think of as cohorts that verge on the libelous. I really, truly wonder what exactly you get out of this behaviour?
Now, I can’t speak for Kathleen or anyone else but for myself I think you really need to take a long hard look at your behaviour as a group. As individuals I’m sure most of you are decent people – indeed, I have received approaching 20 emails from various members of the EoH lists that apologise for the way I, or Kathleen, or Camille, or anyone else has been portrayed. Some of these people say they can see my/our position and respect me/us for it. However, it seems that the mob still holds sway on EoH itself.
I don’t believe that autism is mercury poisoning. Generation Rescue and the few people who stick to that error both in the book and on the EoH list are simply wrong. This is my main gripe with the book and with a lot of you.
I believe that some of your kids have been mercury poisoned – you say you have tests that prove it and I have no particular reason to disbelieve what you say – and that is a bad thing. I also think that the CDC in your country should release their data. Further I think there needs to be an internationally funded, independent body set up to look at rates of prevalence across the entire world. It would take time but it is badly needed in my opinion. I don’t agree with the opinion that autism is an epidemic and I object strenuously to my daughter and people like her, who have definitely not been metal poisoned being characterised in this way.
I think (sadly) that the majority of your kids who are metal poisoned have been misdiagnosed as autistic. I think that if there is an increase in prevalence then this will be one of the reasons. I also think that there will come a time when you, as a group, will have to face the fact that your kids are either not autistic and are metal poisoned, or autistic and therefore almost certainly won’t react well to treatments such as Chelation. I don’t know any of you and you don’t know me but what I do know is that autistic kids need early intervention and that the best type of intervention you can give them is love, acceptance and encouragement. Your autistic kids won’t always be kids. They will grow into teenagers and then adults. And they will still be autistic. Do you really want them to grow up feeling guilty and ashamed of who they are? Look at the examples of Temple Grandin and Donna Williams who were both diagnosed as low functioning autistics. See what they are now. Strong, independent, forthright people. Read some of the library articles at autistics.org. A lot of the contributors there were also diagnosed as low functioning as kids. But kids grow up and develop. Can you say you were intellectually at your best as a 3 year old? Did you communicate as well as a 20 year old?
I don’t want to go on being angry with a group of people I don’t really know but neither do I want my daughter to grow up characterised only by negative assumptions about who she is and how she got that way. Please, buy as many copies of Evidence of Harm as you like, but don’t let one book that only tells one side of the story distract you from the truth that autism is not solely mercury poisoning. Don’t let your zeal to find personal answers obstruct autistics who were never metal poisoned from the legitimacy of their condition, or their well meaning parents efforts to support their needs as they see them.
Left Brain Right Brain 
I cannot understand the emotion and the zealous tones of David Kirby and EOH. The link between vaccines (both Thimerosal and MMR) was something I looked at closely after two of my sons were diagnosed on the spectrum 2-3 years ago. At the time, the links seemed plausible, but unverified. I relied heavily on the US National Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) publication from 2001. The summary, in my words, was there is no good evidence of a link, but there are not enough studies to draw conclusions. Just enough information to make my decision on whether to give the MR booster at age 6 a very agonizing choice.
The 2004 report from IOM put the issues at rest for me. The summary, in my words, is that there are enough studies, no indications of causal evidence, and we should spend our autism research money an other areas that will provide more benefit. The analysis was very scientific, yet summarized in a way that was very sensitive to the controversy surrounding it.
For me, it was enough to let this issue go, without any emotion, and to direct my quest for learning about autism into other directions.
Amen Shawn – I completely agree. We also researched thoroughly and actually put off giving Meg her MMR for awhile but as the scale of Wakefield’s catastrophic errors became clearer we realised we were putting Meg (and other kids) at more of a risk but not vaccinating her.
Here, Here.
I am from the US and I dont believe my boy is “Autistic” at all. I believe he was poisioned and a very young age by the mercury. Horrible.
Kevin – so you claim your son is not autistic (you don’t need the quotes) and yet you feel its OK for you to use phrases like ‘dodging the bullet of autism’ in other comments on my blog?
Free advice – its not. Also, the phrase isn’t ‘here here’, its ‘hear hear’.
I think I know why they say that autism=mercury poisoning. In order to sue the vaccine manufacturers, they must prove their child was harmed by the vaccines. If autism=mercury poisoning, then a diagnosis of autism proves that harm. If it doesn’t, they have to find actual proof, which is much harder to find.
PS: include the word nkalamo in the subject line of any email you send me, so it’ll get past my spam filter.
PPS: Some of the major organizations involved in testing autistic kids for mercury poisoning appear to have faulty testing procedures that artificially elevate the mercury levels in the sample, such as using containers that leach mercury into the testing sample.
Ettina
“Some of the major organizations involved in testing autistic kids for mercury poisoning appear to have faulty testing procedures that artificially elevate the mercury levels in the sample, such as using containers that leach mercury into the testing sample.”
Thats pretty worrying.
I know my son is vaccine injured for sure i am a nurse and also worked in psych for 20 years. I feel autism is caused for many reasons but also am sure vaccines are certaintly one of them. I respect peoples opinions but i also respect my opinion. I watched a normal child get very sick after each and every vaccine. I also know that hundred of parents cant be saying the same thing across the world its like they lived with my son and i so i want people to know yes this is a real thing and mercuy posioning is real so please be informed. thank you Kathy
Andys mom
You have not given the age of your child. If he is under 11 or 12 years old and had a reaction to the HepB at birth vaccine what was it?
If he THEN had a reaction at the next set of vaccinations at 2 months… perhaps you should have mentioned this to your doctor?
Or did he wait and react with the first administration of the MMR?… a live vaccine with NO thimerosal.
But then I wouldn’t know. My oldest had seizures when he was 48 hours old (still in the hospital… he is that old!). So he has NEVER been vaccinated against pertussis. My youngest child is 11, she is the only only who had the newborn HepB vaccine — she is the brightest of all three kids. Perhaps it was the HepB?
From my experience the full course of vaccines seems to be the best way to ensure the healthiest and most intelligent kid (My youngest has been on TWO winning local library reading teams! She is also an accomplished violinist.. and is soon going to show me how to use free internet photo site — where she posts her anime art).
Ettina said: “Some of the major organizations involved in testing autistic kids for mercury poisoning appear to have faulty testing procedures that artificially elevate the mercury levels in the sample, such as using containers that leach mercury into the testing sample.â€
Kev said: “Thats pretty worrying.”
Yes, and it’s also pretty wrong.
Please cite your sources.
Jayden: http://www.kevinleitch.co.uk/wp/?p=250#comment-1916
After you’ve read that, go to http://www.autism-watch.org for Dr Jim Laidler’s website.
Besides Camille Clark.
There is nothing on Jim Laidler’s website that states he did a false urine experiment with Doctor’s Data. Until I see lab reports posted to his site I say she is a liar.
And on quackwatch:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/mercurytests.html
apparently they believe there a NO tests that are appropriate for testing mercury levels.
How utterly ridiculous.
That is not really what the Quackwatch paper actually says. It goes through each type, showing the pros and cons of each. The biggest caveat is that the testing has to be done with a reliable lab, most likely NOT one you mail the samples too (like the urine samples needed to be done with a challenge, getting the first urine sample of the day).
The literature shows lots of different tests being done in hospitals for real mercury poisoning. Just plug into http://www.pubmed.gov the search terms for “mercury poisoning” and there are several case studies where patients have been exposed to mercury and treated (though often the neurological damage is not repaired). Also there is this:
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts46.html
And this lists the tests and the problems associated with each one (note that one main thing is the problems with contamination during sampling). This is a very large file:
Click to access tp46-c6.pdf
I guess that this is “my bad”, as my son would say. I did the testing, but never bothered to try to get the results published – it just didn’t seem important at the time.
However, the fact remains that when I split samples and sent them under different ID numbers, I got back significantly different results. At about the same time, other doctors who were doing the “DAN! Protocol” were reporting the same problems. I resolved the issue by switching to a large clinical lab at a local hospital and thought that was the end of it.
There are at least two studies underway at present looking more in depth at the problem. One is testing the various mail-order labs used by parents and the other is testing the containers from these labs to see if they are a source of contamination.
If Jayden wants to call me a liar, that is fine – but please don’t heap my shortcomings on the heads of Kevin and Camille, who simply repeat what I have said.
I have hesitated to post something on the Internet stating that the mail-order labs are inaccurate because it is only in my experience (anecdotal evidence) that they are not accurate. I suppose that puts me on equal footing with many people who makes claims about autism and its therapies based on their experience.
I emphasize that this is only my experience, based on a small number of split samples. A larger study will be needed to support that claim. But it is still a valuable piece of information for parents who are (or who are contemplating) testing their children for mercury.
Caveat emptor.
Jim Laidler
I have a 3 year old autistic son and i have just found out about the possibility of mercury poisoning and although i am quite skeptical at the moment i do believe that it is a strong possibility as the symptoms of both autism and mercury poisoning are the same and as a parent who loves there child you would do anything to try make them better. I think that no stone should be left unturned and every avenue should be explored to find out the reasons for autism and ADHD and other labels that children get. In the UK the government have tried so hard to hide the fact that there maybe a link between the vaccines that our children get and autism that it only makes you wonder what is really going on. If there was nothing to hide and these vaccines were totally safe then why do they lie and try to cover up any proof that they are presented with. I think that all children with any signs of developmental and physical traits associated with autism should be tested for any kind of metal poisoning to rule this possibility out. and if there was no chance that these children have got poisoned from these vaccines then the government would gladly put our minds at rest.
This is only my opinion, not intended to offend.
_In the UK the government have tried so hard to hide the fact that there maybe a link between the vaccines that our children get and autism that it only makes you wonder what is really going on. If there was nothing to hide and these vaccines were totally safe then why do they lie and try to cover up any proof that they are presented with. _
Is this the same UK that has had a resurgence in mumps over the past year, plus an increase of measles because someone got a paper published in the Lancet where the results were paid for by a lawyer? (recent editorial, read the second part, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1598614,00.html )
There have been many studies in MANY countries that have all come up with the same conclusion: vaccines have absolutely nothing to do with autism. (the list of the papers can be found with a quick search using http://www.pubmed.gov, just put in the appropriate search words. But remember to not put much weight on any paper written in “Medical Hypothesis”).
If the word “lie” is to be bandied about, check out many of the comments in this blog, especially the one dealing with a certain “Dr. Buttar” (Dr. Buttar can cure aging, don’t you know?). Also, check out the commentaries on the methods of the Geiers. Plus the changing of the pictures by one person of kids affected by “Pinks disease”. They are easy to find, just look down the left side of the “Archive” page which is accessible with a link at the top of this page.
You are not offending… but it seems that you have walked into the middle of the conversation. Here are some places to start: Even though the MMR has never had thimerosal, it seems to be of particular concern to those in the UK, http://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm …. AND now everything you should ever want to know about thimerosal, http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimerosal.htm (not a UK agency, but it seems to cover everything).