Generation Rescue Redefine Autism
JB Handley’s Generation Rescue created quite a stir when they first launched. They went with a simple, clear, easy to understand message. The first part of that message was:
So, autism is a misdiagnosis for mercury poisoning as per Brad Handley in February 2005. You heard the guy – if you line up one hundred symptoms of mercury poisoning and one hundred symptoms of autism they are exactly the same.
Which is why its odd to find a post on the Evidence of Harm Yahoo Group from one Bradford Handley dated August 30th 2006 which reads1:
Guys, it ain’t ONLY the mercury.
So in Feb 2005, autism is mercury poisoning. By Aug 2006 its not. Now, its apparently more. Lets not forget that Brad is also quoted as ‘refusing to admit the possibility he might be wrong2.
What else can Brad inform the viewing public about autism?
So at least now we know where John Best Jr gets his ridiculous ideas from. But even that poster boy for truly spectacular idiocy can have his idiocy exposed3 as I did when I got John to admit that:
Your 19th century autistics had genetic autism not MP.
True, he couldn’t see how this invalidated his belief that autism didn’t exist in the 19th Century (apparently ‘genetic autism’ isn’t autism – I know, I know, try not to laugh) but wow, Brad took it even further than John. Going on national TV and now internationally on the Web to reveal that he’s _more dogmatic and less rational than John Best Junior_ ! Something I have to admit, I thought was an impossibility.
Is there anything else Brad can tell us about the nature of autism?
All are poisoned. So the kids who have Rett seem to have flown past the end of Brad’s nose when he wasn’t looking. Same goes for the kids who’s mothers caught wild strain Rubella4 – just….never made Brad’s list.
Isn’t it reassuring that Brad and Generation Rescue are so informed and factual about autism? Can you imagine how it would be if we couldn’t trust him on an even _more _ important point such as treatment for example?
Generation Rescue and JB Handley’s Issues With Time
Notably, how they seem to be running out if it.
This interview was broadcast in Feb 2005.
We can tell two things from that. First we can tell that Brad says chelation will work in one to two years. Secondly, we can tell that Jamie Handley started chelation in September 2004. Or to put it another way, exactly two years ago.
And how sure is Brad of this ‘one to two’ years thing?
Wow – so maybe not even two years – ‘probably less’. And what should the ‘end result’ be? What should we expect?
100% recovered. Neurotypical. No different than their peer group.
Does anybody else think that, seeing as Jamie has been chelated for two years now, we should’ve seen a neurotypical Jamie Handley emblazoned across every media outlet Brad’s chequebook could open for? That we haven’t tells us something about Generation Rescue and their reliability as good sources of information.
But something else doesn’t ring true here either. Jamie Handley’s list of meds5. This is *daily* by the way.
Before Breakfast
B12 shot
Probiotic
B12 x 2, Xylitol nasal spray 2 sprays
TD-GSH 1/2 ML
With Breakfast:
Super Digestive Enzyme 1 capsule
Ora Pancreas, Grapeseed 1 capsule each
FolaPro In Juice 1/4 capsule
Intrinsic B12 in juice 1/4 capsule
Nucleotides in juice 1/4 capsule
EDTA 1 capsule
Horsetail Grass 1 capsule
Transfer Factor 2 capsules
Vitamin C 1/4 tsp (375 mg)
GABA 1 capsule
Liver Support 1 capsule
Ora-Placenta 1/2 capsule
RNA in water, alone 0.5 ML
After Breakfast
BH4 1 tablet, Swiss
CCK, Strep Cocktail, GSE, Caprilyic
DMG 1 tablet
With Lunch:
Super Digestive Enzyme 1 capsule
Ora-Adrenal 1/4 capsule
HHC Multivitamin 1 scoop
B Complex Sprinkle
Citrulline Sprinkle
Niacinimide 1 capsule
Quercitin 1/4 scoop
Sam-e 1 scoop
Cell Food Sam-e, Oxygen 4 drops, 4 drops
Magnesium Citrate 1 capsule
Grapeseed Extract 1 capsule
Vitamin C 1/4 tsp (375 mg)
Sphingolin 1 capsule
Pycnogenol 1 capsule
Fenugreek 1 capsule
RNA in water, alone 5 drops
After Lunch
Vitamin K, Vitamin E, SP, CoQ10, Flax
Mag (1), Zn (1), Molyb (2), SE/1 drop, K
CCK, NADH, ATP, DMG 1 capsule each
Strep Cocktail 1/2 tsp
With Dinner
Super Digestive Enzyme 1 capsule
Ora Pancreas, Grapeseed 1 capsule
GABA 2 capsules
Transfer Factor 2 capsules
Vitamin C 1/4 tsp (375 mg)
Carnetine 1 capsule
Gymnema Sylvestre 1 capsule
Curcummin 1 capsule
Vitamin D 2 capsules
EDTA 1 capsule
Riboflavin Sprinkle
Malic Acid 1 capsule
Horsetail Grass 1/2 capsule
Zen 2 capsules
Idebenone 1 capsule
Ambrotose 1 scoop
RNA in water, alone 5 drops
Before Bed
IMF5 1 capsule
Strep Cocktail, Candex, GSE 1/2 tsp & 1 capsule
CCK, Lactoferrin, Caprylic 1 each
Charcoal, Magnesium Citrate
EDTA Suppository
This is what Jamie Handley is given every day. Quite apart from the jaw dropping size of the (daily!) list (a list Brad says: ‘we created it through all of our reading and correspondence with other parents’) is the fact that surely a neurotypical child (as Jamie should now be after undergoing the requisite two years – probably less – of treatment) wouldn’t need such a list. Especially a list that still seems to contain chelators – although interestingly not TD-DMPS I note.
Left Brain Right Brain 
I just got back from a day in the Ozarks with my daughters Girl Scout troop. Today she climbed and repelled down a wall, rode a horse and explored a cave. Her fellow girls cheered her on, and she clapped for them. Most observers would not have realized she was autistic. We treated her with Paxil for 18 months, and used a sleep med for about a year. No chelation. We tried diet (Feingold), but didn’t see any change.
How does this kid eat with the whole GNC store crammed down his throat (or worse, as a suppository) each day?
Mark this date on your calendars. I’m speechless.
Wow – that’s quite a list. Both lists, in fact. The list of completely wrongheaded statements is crazy enough on its own, but that list of “treatments” is making my head spin. Suppositories? Placenta? And what’s with all the grapeseed?
Jared, who is being mainstreamed this fall into kindergarten (yes, I keep telling everyone, but I’m so proud of his progress – sue me), takes 3 medications. Two with breakfast, one at bedtime. 1.5 pills and 8ml of liquids every day. And while he’ll never be “recovered,” (whatever that means) he’s doing wonderfully.
And to be honest with you, we were really nervous about giving him SOOOOO many drugs. 3! To a child! My wife and I had to come to grips with giving him each and every one of them! (We also give him some Claritin when his allergies are bad, but it makes us nervous.)
So, are any of those things on Jamie’s list actually medicines? A couple sound like they might be, but you can never tell anymore.
That’s amazing.
Why the ABA I wonder, if autism is a reversible biomedical problem only?
Mr Handley,
I know you are reading this. You are a man with in a very good financial position. I am sure that you can easily afford all the “treatments” to which you have subjected your child.
But, your support of Dr. Buttar has made him a very wealthy man. And that wealth has been earned off the back of many parents less able to afford his ineffective treatments than you are.
You are apparently no longer using TD-DMPS, which is the “safe and effective chelator” you touted two years ago. Could you at least have the decency to come out in public and admit that you’ve helped dupe many poor parents into paying those big bucks to Dr. Buttar? Could you at least take him off you list of heros?
Handley forgot “Eye of Newt” and “Toe of Frog…”
from that list. Truly, reading that made me think of how utterly made up and contrived and grasping it all seems.
So that’s what happens when arrogance and ignorance collide. I just love that “in two years, probably less”. Aren’t we so smart?
Is Brad still using his favorite line? Something like- It’s a beautiful thing…we can’t both be right….it’s a binary equation…blah, blah, blah
Come on Brad, how about a full page ad in all the papers with a single word: SORRY
Hey guys, don’t forget we’re the ones who have brainwashed according to the gen rescue crowd and their cohorts. Any of you gone bankrupt paying for hundreds of supplements, chelation sessions, lupron injections, and HBOT dives? Hmm…Can anyone say CULT? Maybe it’s time for generation rescue to rescue their own generation from themselves.
“Brainwashing”? I thought the problem with us ASD people is we don’t follow the group? Brainwashing is peer pressure and I don’t respond to peer pressure.
How much tox testing has been done on this stuff? The total dose of B vitamins isn’t given, so I can’t tell if it has the potential for peripheral nerve damage. That takes quite high doses, but some alties have done it to themselves.
Kev,
Around the time you and others stated that if you could, hypothetically, cure your child of autism you would choose not to I concluded that it was pointless to engage with you on your blog b/c we are too different to ever really see eye to eye on the topic of autism.
But curiousity, and a little free time, has gotten the better of me so I decided to check out some of your latest work. I’m really disgusted by what I’m reading here. Don’t you think it’s crossing the line to discuss JB’s treatment of his son? Did JB discuss that list of supplements on a public broadcast? Isn’t the CK2 list supposed to be limited to parents treating their children biomedically with the goal of curing their children? That doesn’t sound at all like a description of you or any of the other commenters. So you essentially lie to the CK2 moderator to gain access with the goal of snooping on parents when discussing personal aspects of their childs disability and treatment.
And you really should know better. Didn’t you stop discussing your autistic child’s progress publicly and limit that discussion to one that is priviate? How would you feel if someone lied to you to gain access to information about your daughter so it could be shared with people that disliked you? The picture with a gun down a duck’s throat is all class.
And still more hypocrisy. You’re giving JB a hard time b/c over time he apparently changed his view to believe that mercury is not the only dangerous vaccine ingredient. BIG DEAL! It’s not like he’s now saying mercury is good for you. You used to think vaccines caused your daughter’s autism. Apparently your view has changed as well.
And giving him a hard time b/c you think his son is not yet cured is ridiculous. Whether or not chelation or any other treatment cures or doesn’t cure autism doesn’t mean autism wasn’t caused by vaccines, doesn’t mean autism is strictly a genetic disorder, doesn’t mean his child hasn’t benefitted from his DAN treatments and doesn’t mean autism is this wonderful condition that we should be celebrating instead of attempting to cure. Because most people – whether or not they believe vaccines caused their childs autism – want their children cured. Most people can recognize that autism isn’t a good thing for their children.
_”Don’t you think it’s crossing the line to discuss JB’s treatment of his son?”_
No, I don’t. JB has invited reporters into his home and has been on television discussing his son’s treatment. What’s the difference?
_”Did JB discuss that list of supplements on a public broadcast?”_
Did he put it on the web? Yes.
_”Isn’t the CK2 list supposed to be limited to parents treating their children biomedically with the goal of curing their children? That doesn’t sound at all like a description of you or any of the other commenters. So you essentially lie to the CK2 moderator to gain access with the goal of snooping on parents when discussing personal aspects of their childs disability and treatment.”_
I’m not a member of CK2. The only Yahoo group ‘m signed up to is EoH.
_”And you really should know better. Didn’t you stop discussing your autistic child’s progress publicly and limit that discussion to one that is priviate?”_
Yes. I also never made my daughters treatment the subject of radio, TV and newspaper interviews. When I say private, I mean private. And the sole reason? The abuse directed towards _her_ from certain people on JB’s side of the fence.
_”How would you feel if someone lied to you to gain access to information about your daughter so it could be shared with people that disliked you? The picture with a gun down a duck’s throat is all class.”_
They’d have a job. And I don’t see any picture with a gun down a ducks throat.
_”And still more hypocrisy. You’re giving JB a hard time b/c over time he apparently changed his view to believe that mercury is not the only dangerous vaccine ingredient. BIG DEAL!”_
Thats the point David – he hasn’t. The GR site is the same as it was. And JB isn’t some random parent. He’s the head of an ‘advocacy’ group. It is his responsibility to put out accurate information. Why shouldn’t he be held to account like everyone else?
_”And giving him a hard time b/c you think his son is not yet cured is ridiculous.”_
I agree that the necessity of pointing it out is ridiculous. Again, thats kind of the point.
David H.,
Isn’t the CK2 list supposed to be limited to parents treating their children biomedically with the goal of curing their children? That doesn’t sound at all like a description of you or any of the other commenters. So you essentially lie to the CK2 moderator to gain access with the goal of snooping on parents when discussing personal aspects of their childs disability and treatment.
There’s an old saying about email that applies to message boards as well – don’t ever put anything on a message board you wouldn’t want the world to know. Posting messages on an internet board is not too far removed from posting that same message on the bulletin board at your local grocery store, just with a wider potential distribution.
Look, One or some of you misrepresented yourself on one or more Yahoo groups with the sole intention of gathering info on people like JB so that you can talk about them here on this site. I agree with some of your points about web content being free game. A group like EOH is one thing but CK2 is strictly about treating children. Kev, just because it would be harder to breech the security you setup when discussing your daughter is not the point. And the fact that you have a coordinated effort to spy on these groups… no offense but the word “loser” seems real appropriate. I mean, don’t you have anything better to do with your time?
“Thats the point David – he hasn’t. The GR site is the same as it was. And JB isn’t some random parent. He’s the head of an ‘advocacy’ group. It is his responsibility to put out accurate information. Why shouldn’t he be held to account like everyone else?”
so you want JB to make an official announcement that in addition to mercury, he feels that, for example, aluminum is also dangerous in vaccines. I’m still not seeing why it’s a big deal.
Ms. Clark, Thanks for clearing up my error regarding the duck. I’m always getting embarrassed for my lack of culture…. I’m pretty sure there aren’t specific VC schools but your dislike of JB’s wealth is noted. You can argue that what JB and others are doing to their children is unethical but it’s just an argument. I can argue that failing to treat an autistic child is unethical or that unnecessary vaccinations (such as Hep B at birth) are unethical or that including toxins in vaccinations is unethical. But what’s the point? We’ll never agree b/c your side believes that autism does not need to be treated and you wouldn’t “cure” it even if you could while my side would give anything to cure their autistic children to give them a normal life.
Goosey Goosey, I am treating my child as well although the supplements I am giving him pales in comparison to what JB gives. Given the right circumstances, yes, I would treat myself in a similar way. There is nothing dangerous about the treatments I give my son and I’m certain JB is doing nothing dangerous. I view my son’s condition as extremely serious and I will do everything I can to help him.
Hello David H
I’m happy to see you back posting again. I (personally) find you a reasonable, and polite person.
It’s not terrible that JB Handley has changed his mind, and now says that it’s not just the mercury. He’s certainly entitled to do that. But, then, for consistency, he should be modifying the Generation Rescue message as well. He knows a lot more about Buttar than he did before – and he should be removing Buttar from his list of heros. He may have unlimited money, but many parents don’t. They should be able to benefit from his experience, particularly with respect to two key points:
Chelation certainly does not guarantee a cure for autism, even if started early, and with the most “optimal” program available.
TD-DMPS is not all it was cracked up to be. JB Handley is not the ony parent to have stopped using it. The lists are full of parents who have given up on it after spending a lot of money. JB Handley is in a “leadership” position, and has a responsibility to set the record straight.
And for you – don’t you find that list of supplements just a bit excessive? Would you give all those to your child?
David H.
Jennifer: “I’m happy to see you back posting again. I (personally) find you a reasonable, and polite person.”
I agree with Jennifer’s statement and think the same.
And giving him a hard time b/c you think his son is not yet cured is ridiculous.
It looks more like calling JB on false very public claims along the lines of “it’s mercury poisoning” and “he’ll be cured in a couple of years, probably less”, rather than simply giving him a hard time.
Whether or not chelation or any other treatment cures or doesn’t cure autism doesn’t mean autism wasn’t caused by vaccines,
True, despite any lack of scientific evidence that this is the case, especially as previously presented (the mercury in vaccines).
doesn’t mean autism is strictly a genetic disorder,
Is anyone here claiming that it is?
doesn’t mean his child hasn’t benefitted from his DAN treatments
True, despite any lack of scientific evidence that this is the case.
and doesn’t mean autism is this wonderful condition that we should be celebrating instead of attempting to cure.
Black and white fallacy – either you attempt to cure or celebrate. Acceptance, to me, does not connote like or dislike, or celebration. It means agreeing to terms of a situation and not backing out on that agreement. It doesn’t mean rejoicing about certain societal challenges and handicaps.
Because most people – whether or not they believe vaccines caused their childs autism – want their children cured.
Can you provide a cite for this, or simply clarification of your personal beleifs?
Most people can recognize that autism isn’t a good thing for their children.
Are you implying another black and white fallacy and suggesting that it’s bad? Or are you open to the idea that it simply “is”, not necessarily good or bad, just a different set of life circumstance to work within to some people.
David H said “Look, One or some of you misrepresented yourself on one or more Yahoo groups with the sole intention of gathering info on people like JB so that you can talk about them here on this site.”
David, I don’t know how Kev got that quote, but I do know that there must be people on CK2 who joined (maybe years ago) and must be now fed up with the false claims of chelation. After all, we don’t have any evidence of cured kids yet, see here or here.
Maybe, just maybe, one of those parents is feeding this information to Kev. Kev has a very large readership, and only a tiny percentage ever comment.
_”Look, One or some of you misrepresented yourself on one or more Yahoo groups with the sole intention of gathering info on people like JB so that you can talk about them here on this site.”_
Maybe you remember something called ‘The Simpsonwood Conspiracy’ David? In case you don’t, that was the one where a bunch of people delved into the private emails of people who were just trying to help children. They did it because they felt that anyone who has taken it upon themselves to advocate for children’s health – people who claim to know what’s best – need a long and careful looking at.
Not only did they make a coordinated effort to spy on what these people were doing, they also used the full weight of their countries legal system to get it. Honestly, what were they thinking? All they needed was to realise what a bunch of losers they were being, right? Didn’t they have anything better to do?
_”Kev, just because it would be harder to breech the security you setup when discussing your daughter is not the point.”_
You miss my point David. I wasn’t saying my security is tough – its not. Its simply that I don’t really post much anymore. And when I do, I’m not posting medical secrets. Its just how she is, how she’s doing. The reason I started doing it that way was not to hide what I was doing from Brad Handley. It was because of the scumbags he associates with who think its OK to post messages of abuse *to* a five year old autistic girl. If you’d like a first hand example of the sort of thing originating from Brad’s side of the fence, then here’s a comment that was made _to you_ that was made by a Rescue Angel (I’m sure you won’t have to think too hard about who it was) that tripped my spam traps. Its sat in there since March 31st this year:
_”Hey David H, you little pussy, stop trying to ingratiate yourself with the pro-HG crowd before I track you down.”_
If you have any doubts at all about the veracity of that comment, I’d be happy to forward you the whole details – IP address, the lot. That’s why I don’t talk about Meg any more David. Nothing to hide, just a desire to protect my daughter from psychos.
_”so you want JB to make an official announcement that in addition to mercury, he feels that, for example, aluminum is also dangerous in vaccines. I’m still not seeing why it’s a big deal.”_
You’re not a stupid man David. You know perfectly well that Brad has campaigned long and hard on this message. You also know (I hope) that when someone assumes the air of someone who knows what they’re talking about – to the point they purchase full page ads in national newspapers and go and TV and radio then they need to be held accountable for what they say. People need to know that they are accurate. This isn’t something to screw about with. Brad treats it like a game to score points from. It isn’t.
The supplement list of JB looks strikingly like one from someone following a Yasko bio-med approach (i.e someone who’s wtahced her supplements video). In which case the total number of supplements is large but the amounts given per day are small (no megadosing). I’d estimate 2-3 teaspoons per day of dry powder total. More than zero, but less than a goose gets down its neck in France.
JB is like other parents on CK2 – he spelled out those specific supplements that his his child is taking – probably in response to a question from some other parent — it’s something that happens frequently on CK2 or Yasko’s boards.
The long list is also not some generic “potion” that you buy, they actually mix all the stuff by hand themselves (boring but true). If you want generic multi-ingredient capsules go to GNC or Boots and marvel at all their potions – they’re the masters of marketing “health” potions – it’s a multi-billion dollar industry
Also, I should point out that JB hasn’t given up on chelation entirely, as he’s clearly chelating for lead, since he’s using EDTA suppositories. He should explain why – but changing your mind in the blogsphere is an uncomfortable experience, and hence rare. It’d be nice to see a lot more people try it.
Extreme statements get attention, but complex topics by their nature require nuance and qualifed statements that simply are out of place in the shouting match that blog comment-land has become.
I’m sure JB dropped DMPS because Yasko told him it was inappropriate for his child. She’s not really on for DMSA or DMPS, in whatever form.
Kevin:
Congratulations on your mastery of web video.
Here’s what is actually important.
Statement #1:
There is an epidemic of autism.
JB: True
Kevin: False
Statement #2
The increase in the vaccine schedule beginning in 1989 is the primary reason for the epidemic. (Mercury first, live viruses second, other additives third.)
JB: True
Kevin: False
Note: Our website has always supported this expanded view of the role of vaccines. The fact that Kevin only read the home page is not my problem.
Statement #3
Biomedical intervention causes children to recover from autism.
JB: True
Kevin: False
Statement #4:
Autism is a set of criteria outlined in DSM-IV. If you meet the standards for the criteria, you are labeled autistic. If you do not meet the standards, you are not autistic. If you met the standards, but no longer do, you have lost your autism diagnosis.
JB: True
Kevin: False
We are incredibly happy with the progress of our son through biomedical intervention. We continue to receive reports from parents for whom TD-DMPS has been the #1 intervention for their children, and it greatly improved my son. We also hear about other chelators that also helped to recover children. Toxins, mercury in particular, are the root cause of autism.
Posing as a biomedical parent on CK2 and posting any private post on a public blog is deceitful. Comparing it to FOIA lawsuits to obtain emails regarding the business of the public at CDC is ridiculous. Diva dismisses all biomedical intervention as useless, but has never tried any of it.
There is no comparison between the thousands of parents who have expressed gratitude to GR for giving them information to help them treat their children and the handful of parents who happen to post on your blog who have the same misguided view of autism that you have.
A person with more common sense with my point of view would not waste their time on a blog where people have such a radically different view of the world. I continue to hope that some of you parents will let go of the delusion that there is no autism epidemic and that there is nothing medically wrong with your children (or at least that the things that are medically wrong and their autism are unrelated.)
We are inundated, on a daily basis, with stories of recovery. If you think they are “placebo stories”, my heart hurts for you and your kids.
Warmly,
Brad
Brad for goodness sake – when do you ever stop? You’ve contradicted _yourself_ so many times its painful to watch.
Your statements are interesting but not what you discussed in your interview. How about you address those points? You said treatment would take _a *maximum* of two years_ what do you say now? Do you plan on going back on TV and reporting more accurately?
Every so often you tell stories about the hundreds of mails you get from recovered kids and yet the success stories on your website show a 3% success rate using your criteria of losing diagnosis. That’s either 1% above or 2% below the assumed recovery rate by ‘natural’ methods (i.e. those kids who just seem to not be autistic any more) depending on which stat you think more accurate.
_”Posing as a biomedical parent on CK2 and posting any private post on a public blog is deceitful. Comparing it to FOIA lawsuits to obtain emails regarding the business of the public at CDC is ridiculous.”_
That’s fascinating – full of your usual indignant rage but short on content – _why_ is it any different? You placed yourself in a position of accountability and trust. As did they. Are you above scrutiny?
Stop playing fast and loose with peoples lives Brad.
Hey, let’s all try this Bradonomics thing. It’s simple black & white, right or wrong.
Here’s what is actually important.
Statement #1:
All autism is a misdiagnosis for mercury poisoning.
The Ghost of JB past: True
The Ghost of JB present: False
Statement #2
Chelation will make a child 100% recovered/neurotypical in 2 years or less.
The Ghost of JB past: True
The Ghost of JB present: False
Statement #3
Transdermal DMPS is all that’s necessary to remove the mercury from an autistic child
The Ghost of JB past: True
The Ghost of JB present: False
Statement #4
Vaccines aren’t a bad thing, per se.
It’s the ethyl-mercury they are loaded with
The Ghost of JB past: True
The Ghost of JB present: False
————————————–
There is significant clinical evidence now that shows mercury poisoned children show significant or complete recovery when the mercury is removed from their bodies. Many DAN! Doctors could produce a wide body of test and clinical data to support this. The new chelator, Transdermal DMPS, is known to have a significantly higher affinity for binding to Mercury, represents a revolutionary improvement over “old” chelating agents (chelation treatment for Autistic kids started in 2000), and is what is driving the clarity on the cause.
– JBH
“There is no controversy. The failure of others to recognize facts does not change the truth.”
– Dr. Rashid Buttar, Clinical Toxicologist, cured his son of “Autism” through Mercury removal
DoC,
Because most people – whether or not they believe vaccines caused their childs autism – want their children cured.
“Can you provide a cite for this, or simply clarification of your personal beleifs?”
It is my personal belief and what I believe to be common sense. Why would a parent not want to have a disabled child cured of that disability? The $5 billion Combatting Autism Act is a not so subtle sign that Americans want to find a cure for autism.
Most people can recognize that autism isn’t a good thing for their children.
“Are you implying another black and white fallacy and suggesting that it’s bad? Or are you open to the idea that it simply “isâ€, not necessarily good or bad, just a different set of life circumstance to work within to some people.”
Yes, I’m suggesting that autism is bad. Autistic people aren’t bad but the condition of autism is bad just like I would say the condition of dementia, blindness, deafness, cancer, etc are bad things. I don’t really know what you mean by it simply “is.” Is this a religious statement? Something like God created us this way and we should accept it rather than attempt to change it? What if your son was born blind and there was a surgery to give him his sight back? Autism isn’t blindness but it certainly limits ones ability to see the world.
Kev,
“Maybe you remember something called ‘The Simpsonwood Conspiracy’ David?”
I’m quite familiar with it.
“that was the one where a bunch of people delved into the private emails of people who were just trying to help children. They did it because they felt that anyone who has taken it upon themselves to advocate for children’s health – people who claim to know what’s best – need a long and careful looking at.”
“Not only did they make a coordinated effort to spy on what these people were doing, they also used the full weight of their countries legal system to get it. Honestly, what were they thinking? All they needed was to realise what a bunch of losers they were being, right? Didn’t they have anything better to do?”
You are so off base I’m not sure where to begin. First of all, Simpsonwood was a CDC sponsored meeting as I recall. The CDC are supposed to be working for the American people. As a paying customer I have EvERY right to see what these people are up to especially when it comes to setting policy for my children. We should be moving in a direction of more transparency by gov’t agencies, not less. You obviously are aware of this but I’ll say it as a reminder. GR is a privately funded organization making them very different than the CDC. Oh yea, GR is also slightly less powerful than the CDC.
Wow, John Best said that about me? Out of curiosity, what did I say to set him off? Oh well, can’t please everyone I suppose.
Zeus
My post was neither “slamming” or “praising” of Yasko – it’s a weird world where all things are reduced to a for/against viewpoint. I’m neutal and was adding facts to the discussion I thought – my mistake.
Apologies to everyone who keeps losing comments (David and Ms Clarke particularly) – if a comment is lost, send me a mail and I’ll go fetch it.
I’ve had to turn up the spam filters again – porn spam of a particularly unpleasant nature – and ‘good’ comments are going as well as bad. Sorry.
_”You are so off base I’m not sure where to begin. First of all, Simpsonwood was a CDC sponsored meeting as I recall. The CDC are supposed to be working for the American people. As a paying customer I have EvERY right to see what these people are up to especially when it comes to setting policy for my children. We should be moving in a direction of more transparency by gov’t agencies, not less. You obviously are aware of this but I’ll say it as a reminder. GR is a privately funded organization making them very different than the CDC. Oh yea, GR is also slightly less powerful than the CDC.”_
Sorry David, I don’t see it that way. To me, if _anyone_ is putting themselves out as an expert in child care then they need to be scrutinised carefully. Whether its a job or a hobby or a cause is irrelevant. Of _course_ you have every right to see what the CDC are up to, but by the same token, we (all of us in the autism community) have every right to see what JB is up to. He is touting himself as a good source of knowledge and treatment. His Angels go into peoples homes! Not even the CDC or the NHS can manage that one! If anything he requires _more_ scrutiny.
I’m sorry David you can’t have it both ways – either everyone involved in the medical treatment of children is subject to scrutiny or no one is.
Clearly it would be great to know why so many children who see DAN! docs wind up being “lead poisonedâ€.
That’s not entirely unlikely. Certain folk remedies thought to help “strengthen the brain” have sufficient lead to cause serious toxicity over time. This is particularly true of some remedies from India.
Brad says:
“Our website has always supported this expanded view of the role of vaccines. The fact that Kevin only read the home page is not my problem.”
GR website says:
“Generation Rescue believes that childhood neurological disorders such as autism, Asperger’s, ADHD/ADD, speech delay, sensory integration disorder, and many other developmental delays are all misdiagnoses for mercury poisoning.”
Seriously Brad, you don’t see the contradiction?
Yes, I’m suggesting that autism is bad. Autistic people aren’t bad but the condition of autism is bad just like I would say the condition of dementia, blindness, deafness, cancer, etc are bad things.
Dementia and cancer will kill you. Most blind, deaf and autistic people, on the other hand, are offended by what you just wrote, David.
Joseph:
You are typically the one reasonable poster here, despite our strong disagreement. This, as one simple example, has been on our website since day 1:
“Mercury alone is not the cause of all of these symptoms, but it is the spark that sets off a cascade of damage in the body. Mercury progressively kills neurons in the brain and damages the central nervous system leading to a wide range of neurological, cognitive, and sensory dysfunctions. Mercury displaces specific, essential vitamins and minerals, the loss of which go on to create their own damage in the brain, immune, hormonal, and virtually every other system in the body. Mercury impairs the detoxification system allowing all other toxins, which are ubiquitous in our environment, to accumulate and do damage in the body. Mercury damages the gastro-intestinal track creating dysbiosis (imbalance of good and bad bacteria) and yeast overgrowth.”
What’s most interesting to me about this thread is the passion with which people like Kevin want to see Generation Rescue and our message go away. We are a direct threat to what Kevin believes, and if we are right, his current decisions around how to treat his daughter are wrong. Kevin has made the ridiculous argument that we threaten how his daughter will be treated in the future. That gives us far too much credit, and belies the actual reasons he seems somewhat obsessive in writing about GR.
Kevin’s focus seems to be hair-splitting on GR’s message. Our message has always been the same: vaccines cause autism, biomedical treatment allows children to recover from autism. Very few people who post here believe that, and to believe it would threaten their very existence. We have more than 400 DAN! Doctors, more than 20,000 parents using DAN! Doctors, and yet this tiny cadre of parents and their adult autistic friends, bolstered by one pithy blog-aholic nestled in Britain, think they are right and all of us are wrong.
Kevin, I am glad you have such faith in the do-gooders at CDC, a study they sponsored just came out today. I’m sure you’ll be crapping on it soon enough, as it threatens your current existence far too much to consider its conslusions:
Autism spectrum disorders in relation to distribution of hazardous air pollutants in the san francisco bay area.
Objective: To explore possible associations between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and environmental exposures, we linked the California autism surveillance system to estimated hazardous air pollutant (HAP) concentrations compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Methods: Subjects included 284 children with ASD and 657 controls, born in
1994 in the San Francisco Bay area. We assigned exposure level by census tract of birth residence for 19 chemicals we identified as potential neurotoxicants, developmental toxicants, and/or endocrine disruptors from the 1996 HAPs database. Because concentrations of many of these were highly correlated, we combined the chemicals into mechanistic and structural groups, calculating summary index scores. We calculated ASD risk in the upper quartiles of these group scores or individual chemical concentrations compared with below the median, adjusting for demographic factors. Results: The adjusted odds ratios (AORs) were elevated by 50% in the top quartile of chlorinated solvents and heavy metals [95% confidence intervals (CIs) , 1.1-2.1], but not for aromatic solvents. Adjusting for these three groups simultaneously led to decreased risks for the solvents and increased risk for metals (AORs for metals: fourth quartile = 1.7 ; 95% CI, 1.0-3.0 ; third quartile = 1.95 ; 95% CI, 1.2-3.1) . The individual compounds that contributed most to these associations included mercury, cadmium, nickel, trichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride.
Conclusions: Our results suggest a potential association between autism and estimated metal concentrations, and possibly solvents, in ambient air around the birth residence, requiring confirmation and more refined exposure assessment in future studies. Key words: air toxics, autism, autism spectrum disorders, diesel, mercury, metals, neurodevelopment, neurotoxicants, solvents, vinyl chloride.
Diva, you are particularly anal about my math as it relates to 6000%. What’s 10,000 divided by 166? There’s your answer. Diva, your attempts to portray someone as being a lunatic if thet are anti-vaccine is laughable. Am I anti-vaccine? You bet. But to give me the label without understanding my position doesn’t move the debate forward. In the 80’s, we gave kids before 2 up to 10 vaccines, today it’s up to 27. We have NEVER tested the INTER-RELATIONSHIP between all of these vaccines. Never ever. I’d argue thatof the 27, many are unnecessary for most children. I also think giving vaccines to children under 12 months old is insane. And, using mercury as a preservative is remarkably stupid. So, I am very much against our current vaccine schedule. Does that make me a psycho “anti-vaxer” in your world? I could care less. You aren’t exactly the picture of good health, and you have no real answer for why you are autistic. Did you ever consider that your impaired folate cycle, that would limit your ability to both methylate and detoxify and produce a higher rate of neural tube defects, could have something to do with it all?
Clone3g, my money says you are Jim Laidler. You may want to look into DAN! again, they have made a lot of progress since you defected to the KGB.
As always, it has been a thrill. Keep the insults coming, they are very motivating.
Sincerely yours,
El Brad
“Dementia and cancer will kill you. Most blind, deaf and autistic people, on the other hand, are offended by what you just wrote, David.”
Really? I’m not trying to be offensive. Maybe “bad” is the wrong word. I used to work with someone who developed dystonia later on in life and he would certainly describe that neurological condition as something he would prefer not to have and would be ecstatic if a cure was found. A good friend of mine has a sister with CP and while they accept her and love her for what she is they would be thrilled if a cure was developed or even if they could improve her mobility. Are those beliefs offensive?
I’m still trying to understand how a parent of an autistic child would not choose to cure them if that opportunity presented itself. It’s just a hypothetical question but it highlights a HUGE difference between someone like Brad and someone like Kevin and because of it I don’t think they will ever see eye to eye.
David H: “I used to work with someone who developed dystonia later on in life and he would certainly describe that neurological condition as something he would prefer not to have and would be ecstatic if a cure was found. A good friend of mine has a sister with CP and while they accept her and love her for what she is they would be thrilled if a cure was developed or even if they could improve her mobility.”
Um… well, dystonia and CP (both of which I have worked with when I was in clinical engineering) are different indeed from autism. I would expect different attitude… Hell, I’d be fucked off to go dystonic. I’m not fucked off by being autistic though.
But Joseph’s right… I do (and, quite frankly, should) get fucked off by people suggesting that my natural state is bad…..
Your ‘autism is bad’ comment – *like it or not* – is offensive to those of us who have had to make the journey from being made to feel like shit to getting to understand who we are as autistic people.
Maybe if people could get beyond thinking ‘autism=bad’ and get to thinking about what they might be able to achieve with their autie kid, the autie kids might have a better time of it.
I’m 44, and autistic and about to graduate (no question, it is happening) with a Master of Education degree. If anyone had told my psychiatrist in 1966 that this was on the cards, he’d have told them to fuck off.
Go figure.
Autism… not necessarily bad: it all depends on what you do with it.
Diva:
2 questions:
1. You always cite Doctor’s Data Lab as some sort of Quack-lab. Can you please support this with evidence? I understand they are CLIA certified. If they are practicing quackery, why hasn’t HHS (who I believe runs CLIA) shut them down? Please support with evidence, and not a post from quackwatch.
2. A child receives an autism diagnosis because they meet the DSM-IV criteria. 2 years later, they are re-evaluated by the same people. They no longer meet the criteria for autism, and the label is removed. Has the child recovered from autism or not?
Thanks,
El Brado
A child receives an autism diagnosis because they meet the DSM-IV criteria. 2 years later, they are re-evaluated by the same people. They no longer meet the criteria for autism, and the label is removed. Has the child recovered from autism or not?
It would be the subjective opinion of the evaluators that the child has “recovered” from autism. There’s, of course, no independent objective/medical means to either diagnose or undiagnose a person with autism. Even the best diagnostic tools have a subjective aspect to them. The child could very well be Asperger’s or PDD-NOS and the evaluators label the child “recovered”. It could be the label is removed based on progress. Lynn Redwood’s teen is case in point. This kind of “recovery” is not uncommon in autism, with or without treatment. Many of the adult autistics discussing here, if labeled as children, might be deemed “recovered” now by at least some professionals.
A better question…
Suppose a child scores 3 points above threshold in a really good autism diagnostic tool. Two years later, the child scores 3 points below threshold. Is it wishful thinking to believe the child has recovered?
Why is Doctor’s Data a quack lab?
Well, because it has been known to do hair analysis, which is thoroughly debunked in several places… AND in their own press report they support chelation for blood flow:
http://www.doctorsdata.com/whats_new.asp?releaseid=59 with this quote “Chelation therapy is currently used as a treatment for blocked blood flow in arteries (atherosclerosis) by administering ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), a man-made amino acid, into the veins. While EDTA has been used in the past to treat lead toxicity, EDTA also “chelates†calcium, a component of atherosclerotic plaque. This therapy has been employed to improve blood flow through previously narrowed blood vessels, help restore lost bodily function and reduce pain. ”
Which is actually false. It does not unblock plaque… and removing calcium from the blood also tends to stop the heart from working!
And it perhaps uses the wrong tests. ALSO… why send a possibly contaminated sample to Chicago and spend lots of money when there are plenty of LOCAL labs with modern equipment and trained personnel who can take uncontaminated samples?
How exactly can you expect an untrained parent using a random container in their kitchen to get an uncontaminated sample? Plus, the sample is no longer “fresh” after it has been mailed to Chicago. I remember on a listserv one mom was freaked because Doctor’s Data had found bismuth in her child! She must have taken the sample in their bathroom, possibly after using Pepto Bismo for a family member’s tummy ache. Bismuth is the active ingredient in Pepto Bismo.
Most cities have hospitals, and if that hospital does not have a decent laboratory to check for heavy metal — there is usually a regional medical center nearby. In short, there is no real reason to use a lab that promotes quackery in its press releases when there are good facilities nearby:
http://www.autismstreet.org/weblog/?p=19
Autism spectrum disorders in relation to distribution of hazardous air pollutants in the san francisco bay area.
Brad: I actually had a talk with the author of that study, and she couldn’t address my criticism in any way that was satisfactory. See here.
_”What’s most interesting to me about this thread is the passion with which people like Kevin want to see Generation Rescue and our message go away.”_
You give yourself far too much credit Brad. I’m not bothered if you go away or not. What I *am* bothered about is the worrying ‘accuracy’ of your message. Its not accurate at all. Its dangerous. Our very first interaction was a request from me to maybe not be so dogmatic in referring to ‘mercury is autism’. You refused.
What I want is for you to stand up and be a man. You were wrong. Badly wrong. I’m not sure you were dishonest as you believed in what you were saying. But you were wrong. You should be accountable for that. Your reliability is in question.
_”We are a direct threat to what Kevin believes, and if we are right, his current decisions around how to treat his daughter are wrong.”_
Stop with the melodrama. You’re not a ‘direct threat’ for goodness sake. You are, however, someone who deals in inaccuracies. You now _know_ you were inaccurate. What are you going to do about it? Carry on pretending? Or man up and admit it? You are head of a (according to you) a large multi-national organisation. Act with a bit of responsibility for goodness sake.
_”Kevin has made the ridiculous argument that we threaten how his daughter will be treated in the future. That gives us far too much credit, and belies the actual reasons he seems somewhat obsessive in writing about GR.”_
Oddly Brad, that _is_ the actual reason. Already thanks to you and people like you over here spend on researched, established therapies has fallen to about 8% of the total autism budget. We have increasing quacks and decreasing speech therapists. Don’t presume to tell me why I oppose your organisation.
_”Kevin’s focus seems to be hair-splitting on GR’s message. Our message has always been the same: vaccines cause autism, biomedical treatment allows children to recover from autism. Very few people who post here believe that, and to believe it would threaten their very existence.”_
Uh no Brad, far from your message that ‘vaccines cause autism’ always being the same, what you actually say up there in that very first video snippet is ‘autism is a misdiagnosis for mercury poisoning’. Also in that whole video you make no reference to ‘biomedical treatment’ but say that chelation will offer a 100% cure in two years maximum, probably less. Unless you want to try and pretend that isn’t you in that video, or that you were speaking under duress you’re simply digging yourself in deeper.
This isn’t a game Brad. The vast majority of the 20,000 parents you mention don’t have the money of a venture capitalist to fall back on. They’re hurting. I wouldn’t say you lied to them Brad, but you definitely mislead them. You definitely made them promises you cannot keep. You made assertions you cannot back up.
_”We have more than 400 DAN! Doctors, more than 20,000 parents using DAN! Doctors, and yet this tiny cadre of parents and their adult autistic friends, bolstered by one pithy blog-aholic nestled in Britain, think they are right and all of us are wrong.”_
Yeah, this tiny cadre of parents, adult autistics and 99% of the scientific community. Not that an appeal to numbers is anything other than fallacious. As I pointed out above, by _your_ definition of ‘recovered’ and using your ‘success stories’ you currently have a success rate of about 3%.
_”Kevin, I am glad you have such faith in the do-gooders at CDC”_
?
I have no faith at all in the management of the CDC. They’ve lurched from catastrophe to catastrophe. Doesn’t mean the skilled and capable scientists who work(ed) for them are suddenly incompetent.
As I pointed out above, by your definition of ‘recovered’ and using your ‘success stories’ you currently have a success rate of about 3%.
The cure rate is obviously much less and unknown, because not all stories are posted, only “success” stories.
Brad’s argument about 20,000 parents is flawed, of course. Parents who do not buy the mercury causation hypothesis are not only those who post on blogs around here. Who knows how many there are? If that was a valid measure, I’d say there are only about 7 mercury parents.
BTW, how many children have lost their label out of the 20,000 who use DAN! doctors? Give me an estimate.
Kevin:
If GR heard from even one parent who wanted to cure their child of autism that felt we had somehow duped them, we would take that commentary seriously. We never have.
Hearing it from a blogaholic who thinks autism is some kind of gift from God is not a source of concern. I’ve expressed my position in response to your hair-splitting blog above. As usual, we find no common ground. And, as usual, none of this interaction has done anything to either make kids better or end this senseless epidemic. Except maybe the part where you posted Jamie’s protocol. That might help someone.
El Bradfordo
Brad: By your estimate there are about 580,000 parents in the U.S. who do not use DAN! doctors.
Every time I ask El Bradfordo to answer specific questions he disappears…. and doesn’t answer my questions…
ugh.
From the Diva blog:
“Interestingly, some parents who pay for Doctor’s Data Inc. lab results are begging DDI to give them accurate reference ranges for kids and adults who have been “provoked” with a chelator before the sample was taken (because it gives an artificially high reading).”
http://www.petitiononline.com/DDITESTS/petition.html
Man, I hate it when DAN! type biomed parents expose the quackery and theivery going on amongst the DAN! ites, don’t you, Bradford?
There’s the whole use of creatinine levels for the DDI urine tests, the fact that they aren’t using 24 hour urine collection derived samples…the fact that some parents know how to manipulate the levels of metals by waiting for a clearer sample to manipulate the level of creatinine in the urine… there’s the question as to whether DDI is using the right kind of sample containers (ones that DON”T have mercury in the plastic that contaminates the sample…)
HN covered the fact that there’s no need to send the urine off to DDI, unless there’s a need for badly inflated results to show up.
The gov’t doesn’t oversee the commercial labs like they should, they get checked, but not well enough. DDI is in business to keep a certain set of parents continually sending in more urine and blood samples. Your own Dr. Mielke built a special room for taking samples to be sent off, NOT to the local lab,, but to DDI! You can’t see the quackery in that? Too bad, Brad.
Figure out how to spell “permutation” yet?
The typical course of autism is to have progressions and regressions at random intervals or caused by stresses in the kid’s life. That’s what you are seeing with your son.
A child could appear to be below the threshold of autism one one day and two years later be well above the threshold, then two years later, seem better on a certain day, and worse the next…
“Recovered” is in the eyes of these parents, too. The doctor says, “Does Johnny have friends?” And mom fudges the truth and says, “Sure! Loads of friends!”
Teachers are willing to toss kids off the spectrum if it fits the schools budget goals, I know that from the experience of friends with 2 spectrum kids (now young adults) and still on the spectrum.
Sorry, I missed the other comment about someone Brad supposes to be like my ASD child. I’m guessing he’s having fun with that.
Brad your 6000% was a lie. A big fat lie printed in a big fat typeface in a full page USA Today ad. There has been nothing vaguely like a 6000% increase in autism, no matter how you slice it up. The oldest numbers are bad estimates and use a strict definition of autism. The new numbers use the whole spectrum, for instance they never would have counted Lyn Redwood’s child 30 years ago, as being anything like “autistic,” she points that out in the book “Evidence of the author being paid by SAFE MINDS to write the book.”
You are saying that there used to be 1 autistic kid in 10,000 and now there are 60. You are so funny when you fib. Why did your turn around and sign on to the ACHAMP press release that said there had been a 1500% increase?
Yeah, not too interested in facts are you? I guess that means you aren’t “anal.” Good for you Braddykins.
The psychotic antivaxers are the ones who see vaccines as part of USVICTMS, you know there’s that Illuminati thing where the descendants of a large white, reptilian alien whose name means, “phallus of the dragon” or something in the alien space language… you know this stuff by heart, don’t you Bradford? Your good friend David Icke’s must have told you all about the Illuminati plot, and there’s that whole “protocol of the elders of zion” thing that’s explained so well on whale.to… they all want to destroy children by means of vaccines… just ask Dr. David Ayoub, medical director of “Fair Autism Media,” that is if John Scudamore or David Ickes or Rebecca Carley aren’t available… though I’m sure you have a hotline to each of them. Since David Icke fans were a main body of visitors to your website advertised in the USA Today ad. See how nicely it all comes together.
You can have your opinions about the vaccine program, you are an obviously dumb person when it comes to science, and can’t see past your nose when it comes to being conned by doctors, your opinions about vaccines are worthless.
One of your opions, though, you expressed on a parent list, I liked.
It was about Buttar, you wrote:
“What the f— does he know?” only you didn’t bleep out the letters.
Oh, and you are Ashleigh Anderson the sock puppet lady. And cloneg3 isn’t Dr, Laidler. I know. Clone is Lenny Schafer, self hating and conflicted autistic. Not really. Just kidding about that part. Lenny’s not that smart.
Diva:
Your proof that DDI is a bogus lab is a touch unscientific and anecdotal, no?
Speaking of psychotic, you may want to re-read your own post. It reads like a lithium-induced rant.
Brad
Tidying up the rant for Brad:
——
Brad your 6000% was a lie.
A big fat lie printed in a big fat typeface in a full page USA Today ad.
There has been nothing vaguely like a 6000% increase in autism, no matter how you slice it up.
The oldest numbers are bad estimates and use a strict definition of autism. The new numbers use the whole spectrum. For instance they never would have counted Lyn Redwood’s child 30 years ago, as being anything like “autistic.” She points that out in the book “Evidence of the author being paid by SAFE MINDS to write the book.†(hint: looks like Kirby was paid several tens of thousands of dollars to write the book… follow the money, you know…)
You are saying that there used to be 1 autistic kid in 10,000 and now there are 60?
You are so funny when you fib.
Why, then did you turn around a few days later and sign on to the ACHAMP press release that said there had been a 1500% increase?
Yeah, not too interested in facts are you? I guess that means you aren’t “anal.†Good for you Braddykins.
The psychotic antivaxers are the ones who see vaccines as part of USVICTMS. You know there’s that Illuminati thing where the descendants of a large white, reptilian alien whose name means, “phallus of the dragon†or something in the alien space language…
You know this stuff by heart, don’t you Bradford? Your good friend David Icke must have told you all about the Illuminati plot, and there’s that whole “protocol of the elders of zion†thing that’s explained so well on whale.to… they all want to destroy children by means of vaccines… just ask Dr. David Ayoub, medical director of “Fair Autism Media,â€
that is if John Scudamore or David Icke or Rebecca Carley aren’t available… though I’m sure you have a hotline to each of them. Since David Icke fans were a main body of visitors to your website advertised in the USA Today ad. See how nicely it all comes together. (Note: Rebecca Carley, believer in a mass conspiracy by elders of zion used to be an advisor to Ray Gallup’s TAAP. He’s antivax, like you Brad.)
You can have your opinions about the vaccine program, you are an obviously dumb person when it comes to science, and can’t see past your nose when it comes to being conned by doctors, your opinions about vaccines are worthless.
One of your opions, though, you expressed on a parent list, I liked.
It was about Buttar, you wrote:
“What the f—- does he know?†only you didn’t bleep out the letters.
Oh, and you are Ashleigh Anderson the sock puppet lady.
And cloneg3 isn’t Dr, Laidler. I know.
Clone is Lenny Schafer, self hating and conflicted autistic. Not really. Just kidding about that part. Lenny’s not that smart.
—
Does that help? No? Oh, well, only so much can be done to teach people who don’t want to know.
Hi David H.
Thanks for clearing up your statement I asked about, as “personal belief”.
[…Yes, I’m suggesting that autism is bad. Autistic people aren’t bad but the condition of autism is bad just like I would say the condition of dementia, blindness, deafness, cancer, etc are bad things. I don’t really know what you mean by it simply “is.†Is this a religious statement? Something like God created us this way and we should accept it rather than attempt to change it?…]
Simply “is” is not a religious statement at all. It is intended to communicate that I don’t ascribe a values judgement (good or bad). In our family life, autism is simply part of it, not a defect, not a blessing.
Brad, you never came back to me on the original source of the 1 in 10,000 figure — still on your site. As I’ve noted, the earliest epidemiological study I know of is from the 1960s and it reported a prevalence of 4.5 in 10,000.
Kevin – Thank you for putting these contradictions out where people can judge them for what they are. The GR folks keep saying you are nothing but a fringe element but the reality is more and more parents are seeing the mercury only movement for what it really is. Many parents however get so far into these groups that emotionally it is difficult for them when they realize they have been sold a bill of goods and made merchandise out of. One father on our local group still does some of the bio-med but apparently his wife had invested so much emotionally into this that she became depressed when their son was still being very “autistic”. That is the real problem with making all these bold statements – like autism is caused by mercury and kids can be normal in two years by chelating them. Worse than the money that others are talking about being lost is the emotional toll that is taken on families that did not bother to learn about autism and the possibility of acceptance and instead invested in chelation and supplements.
JB Handley said “Your proof that DDI is a bogus lab is a touch unscientific and anecdotal, no?”
Okay, let me try again. To repeat:
http://www.doctorsdata.com/whats_new.asp?releaseid=59 with this quote “Chelation therapy is currently used as a treatment for blocked blood flow in arteries (atherosclerosis) by administering ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), a man-made amino acid, into the veins. While EDTA has been used in the past to treat lead toxicity, EDTA also “chelates†calcium, a component of atherosclerotic plaque. This therapy has been employed to improve blood flow through previously narrowed blood vessels, help restore lost bodily function and reduce pain. â€
1) Where is the science to show that EDTA helps remove atherosclerotic plaque? Find just one actual study that shows it works… and make sure it is indexed at PubMed.
2) What happens when calcium is removed in the blood stream? Think hard about that. If you need help try using Google with the search words ” tariq calcium”.
3) Name a major university hospital that uses EDTA in standard practice for atherosclerosis plaque.
Also, to further show that DDI is full of bovine excrement (and its testing would also fall into the scatological catagory)… see how chelation is really considered:
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3000843