Vaccine / Autism Poll

[Michelle My Bell]

A friend posted this on Facebook today http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/08/courts-quietly-confirm-mmr-vaccine-causes-autism.html?m=1 . She has autistic children although I don't know if she vaccinated them when they were little. This led me to wonder if there were any families that did not vaccinate their children, but their children have been diagnosed with Autism. I have my own theories on all of this, but I would like to get some feedback. 

[Dory]

I have a theory that Autism is a lot more complicated than just the vaccine causing it. I think that there are some people though, who are very sensitive and might already have some characteristics of autism or who genetically might lean that way, and something like a vaccine is just enough to push their system over the edge. I wasn't sure how to vote on the poll above. I don't think a vaccine 'causes' autism, or else every child who was vaccinated would end up autistic and every child who wasn't vaccinated wouldn't be. I think there is a lot of genetics, perhaps diet of the mother, perhaps environment, and the vaccines are just one more thing getting thrown in there. Because my oldest leans that way, I wasn't willing to take the chance.

[gardenmom5]

I know of at least three genetic factors.  a placenta factor, virus, etc.  it is very complex. one dr who works with asd kids found they have an significantly elevated t-cell count. they responded to heavy-duty antihistamine therapy.  (and I think that is related to the increased inflammation that other practitioners have noticed among asd kids.)

causes vary.

[albeto.]

Oy, the persecution conspiracy is fantastic in that article! "courts, governments and vaccine manufacturers have quietly conceded the fact," "coordinated media black-out," and my favorite, "world-wide smear campaign by drug corporations, governments and media companies"! This is like something right out of a middle school Bias In The Media assignment!

 

 

:laugh:

 

[Kathryn]

I have a theory that Autism is a lot more complicated than just the vaccine causing it. I think that there are some people though, who are very sensitive and might already have some characteristics of autism or who genetically might lean that way, and something like a vaccine is just enough to push their system over the edge. I wasn't sure how to vote on the poll above. I don't think a vaccine 'causes' autism, or else every child who was vaccinated would end up autistic and every child who wasn't vaccinated wouldn't be. I think there is a lot of genetics, perhaps diet of the mother, perhaps environment, and the vaccines are just one more thing getting thrown in there. Because my oldest leans that way, I wasn't willing to take the chance.

I agree. I don't think vaccines "cause" autism. Perhaps in some predisposed individuals they may trigger something. DS has been how he is since birth (really since in the womb considering how he behaved himself in there; watching him throw a tantrum on ultrasound, we knew we were in for it). I and others suspect I'm on the spectrum. I have a half-sister who is diagnosed. I suspect my mother and her father. I believe DS's autism is genetic.

[Guest inoubliable]

No children with autism here so I didn't vote, but I did see this today. 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines
 

That study was retracted.

[pdalley]

Three with autism. I can trace autistic like traits in my family to the pre-Civil War era. DH has traits - I have traits. 

 

I fully believe that it is genetic in our family. The boys were delayed while I did research and youngest was spaced out. No reactions to any of them and they are now fully vaccinated.

[Crimson Wife]

1 neurotypical child who received all her vaccines on the CDC schedule except Gardasil (she was in a private daycare that did not allow for non-medical exemptions). 2 children who followed a selective/delayed schedule, one neurotypical and the other with autism. The one with autism never experienced any regression, only a slower-than-typical development. In retrospect, we can recognize the symptoms started VERY early on, way before she had gotten most of her shots. So in her case, I don't think it had anything to do with her autism.

 

I do have some major concerns about giving so many shots so close together to very young infants. There has never been a single well-designed, prospective (forward-looking), double-blind, controlled study done by researchers without any financial ties to vaccine makers comparing the CDC schedule with a more spread-out one. I've done my homework and the studies supposedly "proving" vaccine safety have serious methodological flaws and/or financial conflicts of interest on the part of the researchers. It's a case of the fox guarding the henhouse and we simply do not know the truth at this point.

[Desert Strawberry]

I agree. I don't think vaccines "cause" autism. Perhaps in some predisposed individuals they may trigger something. DS has been how he is since birth (really since in the womb considering how he behaved himself in there; watching him throw a tantrum on ultrasound, we knew we were in for it). I and others suspect I'm on the spectrum. I have a half-sister who is diagnosed. I suspect my mother and her father. I believe DS's autism is genetic.

This. 

My kid was different in utero, had signs at birth, his dad is on the spectrum. We did vaccinate him, but I saw no connection between his symptoms(which are all but gone now) and the vaccines.

I can't say there is no connection for other kids, but I don't see any connection for my child. 

We no longer do routine vaccines for reasons unrelated to autism.

[gardenmom5]

 . The one with autism never experienced any regression, only a slower-than-typical development. In retrospect, we can recognize the symptoms started VERY early on, way before she had gotten most of her shots. So in her case, I don't think it had anything to do with her autism.

I watched a seminar presentation by a yale asd specialist.  she runs their asd clinic - that's all she sees are the worst kids.  she said every single one displayed traits of asd before they really started getting shots.  even the ones with regression, showed other traits that were overlooked or ignored.

 

eta: dudeling was showing signs (that would have been easy to write-off as a one-off instead of being related) something was different from the beginning.

[Dory]

For all you moms saying you were seeing signs before your kids ever even had any shots, what signs were you seeing before 2 months old?

[Crimson Wife]

IDK, I've heard so many stories from fellow autism moms of kids who were totally fine until they got their vaccines, only to regress shortly afterward to discount their experience. And I am *VERY* skeptical of many so-called "experts" in the field who claim that ASD is purely genetic and who dismiss the role of nutrition and other environmental factors.

[Tangerine]

My daughter has Autism.  She was not vaccinated until she was 8 years old and I had gotten past the fear and paranoia about vaccines.  We were delaying when she was diagnosed.  She was 2.

[melmichigan]

I do not think there is a link.  With my other kids I do follow a delayed or divided schedule for vaccines just because of the shear number they are requesting they receive now compared to fourteen years ago.

[Dory]

IDK, I've heard so many stories from fellow autism moms of kids who were totally fine until they got their vaccines, only to regress shortly afterward to discount their experience. And I am *VERY* skeptical of many so-called "experts" in the field who claim that ASD is purely genetic and who dismiss the role of nutrition and other environmental factors.

 

I'm with ya there. When nutrition seems to help a lot of ASD (though not all) kids, why wouldn't things such as nutrition, environment, and yes even vaccines have an affect on the kid.

[Crimson Wife]

For all you moms saying you were seeing signs before your kids ever even had any shots, what signs were you seeing before 2 months old?

Unlike her older siblings, she was a very "chill" baby. Totally laid-back, never fussed much, content to just be held or sit in the bouncy seat or swing or playpen. She often had this "bored teenager" expression that we jokingly called her "too cool for school" look. Of course now in hindsight I can see she was lost in her own little world but at the time I was dealing with very active 6 and 3 y.o.'s so I was all, "It's so nice to have such an easy baby!"

[Desert Strawberry]

For all you moms saying you were seeing signs before your kids ever even had any shots, what signs were you seeing before 2 months old?

Most obvious, no eye contact. No facial expressions. He never smiled or laughed or cooed. He screamed if light, wind, or water touched him. He was very sensitive to sensation like footie pjs with seams, swaddling, seatbelts. He rubbed his face constantly, even on ultrasound. He would happily swing for hours without a peep. I think the longest I left him in the swing was 8 hours, and then I made him get out. He would have happily stayed in it forever.

[Desert Strawberry]

Fwiw, my son did show regressions, but he was off-schedule with his vaccines, so they didn't coincide. 

He did have food allergies, which I have heard is common in spectrum kids.

[Dory]

Unlike her older siblings, she was a very "chill" baby. Totally laid-back, never fussed much, content to just be held or sit in the bouncy seat or swing or playpen. She often had this "bored teenager" expression that we jokingly called her "too cool for school" look. Of course now in hindsight I can see she was lost in her own little world but at the time I was dealing with very active 6 and 3 y.o.'s so I was all, "It's so nice to have such an easy baby!"

 

 

Most obvious, no eye contact. No facial expressions. He never smiled or laughed or cooed. He screamed if light, wind, or water touched him. He was very sensitive to sensation like footie pjs with seams, swaddling, seatbelts. He rubbed his face constantly, even on ultrasound. He would happily swing for hours without a peep. I think the longest I left him in the swing was 8 hours, and then I made him get out. He would have happily stayed in it forever.

Thank you. I find it interesting the things a person can sometimes see in retrospect.

[albeto.]

For all you moms saying you were seeing signs before your kids ever even had any shots, what signs were you seeing before 2 months old?

 

Inability to be comforted when upset (arched back, scream o' death).

Lack of eye contact (I noticed that the day he was born - freaked me out).

I can't recall others. 

[Mommyof4ks]

I got off topic, sorry.

[LucyStoner]

I know more than a few unvaccinated children with autism.

 

I am convinced that there are multiple variables contributing to autism and that genetics is at play. There are people on the spectrum throughout my family. A number of my cousins have children with an ASD diagnosis. I can't help but think that some of my more quirky older relatives would be diagnosed with ASD if they were born now. My older son is autistic but that did not influence my decision on vaccines with my younger son. I am so convinced that the autism connection is bunk that we vaccinate our younger son. He is most certainly not autistic.

[Jann in TX]

We vaccinated. 

DD1 (my Aspie) showed symptoms before we vaccinated (I did delayed vaccination).

 

I have several friends with autistic children who did not vaccinate.  I do not belive that vaccinations 'cause' autism.  Possibly trigger-- perhaps.

 

My dd is a LOT like my mother and her mother...  I have a very high Tcell count (and take medications to lower it as symptoms warrant)  I dont think I'm on the spectrum but I do have ADD and my social skills are a little off-- so I could be.  I'm in the probably genetic group.

 

[LucyStoner]

For all you moms saying you were seeing signs before your kids ever even had any shots, what signs were you seeing before 2 months old?

Rigid in water. Hard to explain but even at days old he freaked out in any water and was inconsolable over it. Preference for being in own space vs. being held or cuddled except in certain situations. Very sensitive to sensory stuff. preferred a tighter swaddle than most babies and I mean TIGHT. He was self entertaining and overall "easy" but gery different from other children. Strong reactions to noise. Also not all vaccines have been tenuously tied to vaccines. Before the vaccine that is most mentioned as "causing autism", he was hyperlexic, among many other issues. Honestly because he was our oldest we never realized how much was different about him until we had sociable little brother and were like "whoa! Hold up?! Kids look at you?"

[Twilight Woods]

We followed the vaccine schedule. I do not think they had anything to do with my DD ASD. I believe thats just how her brain is and was born that way. 

[GoVanGogh]

Our pediatrician pushed for several years for our DS to get an autism diagnosis, as she was convinced his issues - regressions (speech, balance and coordination), sensory integration issues, muscle tone differences, repetitive behavior, odd hand movements, etc - put him on the spectrum. In the end, he was diagnosed with a mild form of one of the rarest types of cerebral  palsy.

One of my best friends at the time (now former friend) called my DS "Rain Man" because of his behaviors. At two, three years of age, he was very much like Dustin Hoffman in that movie.

I am amazed at the overlap between autism and CP and wonder how many other children are misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. I ran across a study out of (Britain?) that showed that preemies from the early 2000's didn't fare as well as first thought and are now dx at a much higher rate with learning issues. Thankfully an attentive occupational therapist keyed in on a few of DS's more subtle symptoms and we were finally directed to the correct specialists.

DS was preemie and we delayed vaccinations, as he had to have the RSV series that first winter and our ped wanted to push out his other vax.

[VeganCupcake]

A friend of mine with a severely autistic son posted this article earlier in the week: http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/11/babies-eyes-may-hold-early-clues-about-autism/

[GoVanGogh]

Rigid in water. Hard to explain but even at days old he freaked out in any water and was inconsolable over it. Preference for being in own space vs. being held or cuddled except in certain situations. Very sensitive to sensory stuff. preferred a tighter swaddle than most babies and I mean TIGHT. He was self entertaining and overall "easy" but gery different from other children. Strong reactions to noise. Also not all vaccines have been tenuously tied to vaccines. Before the vaccine that is most mentioned as "causing autism", he was hyperlexic, among many other issues. Honestly because he was our oldest we never realized how much was different about him until we had sociable little brother and were like "whoa! Hold up?! Kids look at you?"

 

The rigid in water issue is interesting, I think, in retrospect to my son's dx. (Not autistic)

I bought a sling when DS was a few months old but he never 'fit' in it. He was so rigid and didn't relax to lay in the sling.

I had totally forgotten about that until recently when I was talking with his physical therapist about his high muscle tone in shoulders, neck and hips. But I remember our pediatrician at the time attributing that rigidness to autism.

Re: Hyperlexic - DS stopped speaking entirely around 18 months of age and didn't speak again until age 3. He started reading outloud shortly after with no formal teaching. Really an amazing aspect of how the brain works. I am fascinaed with the neuroscience and brain image studies behind autism, dsylexia and such. (In my next life I am going to study neurology.)

 

[SKL]

I do believe there is a link, but it's part of a very complex picture and there are biases and personal interests involved in blowing off the evidence that does exist.

 

There are also other documented concerns with the MMR such as epilepsy.

 

I would recommend doing selective and delayed vaxes except for the few diseases that are extremely dangerous to babies and small children.  I don't think that's an extreme or sensationalist position.  I think it's more ridiculous to suggest that the human race will die out if we don't all do the MMR at 12mos.

[NorthwestMom]

Honestly, it offends me that people are STILL obsessing over this, because the vaccine-autism link has been completely discredited by multiple scientific studies and the *more* we focus on vaccines, the *less* we focus on finding the actual cause and ideally, what will prevent it.

[Mergath]

They've proven that autism is genetic for a lot of people.  Look up 16p11.2 Deletion Syndrome.  My dd has it.  She doesn't have autism, but she had a one in three chance of having it.  And many families vaxed their first kid, and when that kid developed autism, didn't vax their other kids, and those kids went on to to have autism, too.  It's pretty clear that it's primarily genetic.  I don't know many people who still believe the disproven autism/vaccine thing.

[Crimson Wife]

But the problem is that as much as the medical establishment likes to claim that a link has been "discredited", they are not willing to do the kind of well-designed, no conflicts of interest study that would actually settle the issue. Until that happens, the truth is that we do not know.

 

It would not be difficult to do a double-blind, randomized, prospective study where one group of babies got the combo shots on the CDC schedule and placebo shots the other visits while the other babies got the individual shots. Follow the two groups for several years and see what, if any, differences in autism or other disorders (ADD, epilepsy, etc.) there are. If none, then there is no reason to change the vaccine schedule. But if there is a higher risk of autism, then the CDC should modify the schedule to spread it out.

[MomtoCandJ]

I think it's genetic, but environmental factors also come into play. I think a lot of parents (not all) blame the vaccines because its after the majority of them that you really notice the signs.

[blondeviolin]

I don't have autistic kids. BUT, even though I KNOW that the vaccine/autism link is pretty well refuted, I still cringe and get paranoid when it's time for one of my kids to get the MMR.

[albeto.]

But the problem is that as much as the medical establishment likes to claim that a link has been "discredited", they are not willing to do the kind of well-designed, no conflicts of interest study that would actually settle the issue. Until that happens, the truth is that we do not know.

 

It would not be difficult to do a double-blind, randomized, prospective study where one group of babies got the combo shots on the CDC schedule and placebo shots the other visits while the other babies got the individual shots. Follow the two groups for several years and see what, if any, differences in autism or other disorders (ADD, epilepsy, etc.) there are. If none, then there is no reason to change the vaccine schedule. But if there is a higher risk of autism, then the CDC should modify the schedule to spread it out.

 

Are you suggesting that you have more knowledge about how to conduct the research needed to explore this hypothesis, and no one else has figured it out? Or are you saying all the molecular, cellular, genetic, physiology, neurology, microbiological, chemistry, physics, etc etc etc research that contributes to the overall database of information cannot be trusted to have provided any credible information because of conflicts of interest?

[Mergath]

But the problem is that as much as the medical establishment likes to claim that a link has been "discredited", they are not willing to do the kind of well-designed, no conflicts of interest study that would actually settle the issue. Until that happens, the truth is that we do not know.

 

It would not be difficult to do a double-blind, randomized, prospective study where one group of babies got the combo shots on the CDC schedule and placebo shots the other visits while the other babies got the individual shots. Follow the two groups for several years and see what, if any, differences in autism or other disorders (ADD, epilepsy, etc.) there are. If none, then there is no reason to change the vaccine schedule. But if there is a higher risk of autism, then the CDC should modify the schedule to spread it out.

 

The problem is that the people who say things like this find fault with every study, no matter how well-designed and free of conflicts.  We DO know, but people who want to blame the government choose not to listen.

 

I mean, compare this list of studies:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/00_pdf/CDCStudiesonVaccinesandAutism.pdf

 

to the list of studies that show there is a vaccine/autism link.

 

 

 

Oh, wait.  There aren't any.

 

ETA:  This study in the Journal of Pediatrics came out this year.  Looks pretty solid to me.  Tell me, what was wrong with this one?

[MeaganS]

For all you moms saying you were seeing signs before your kids ever even had any shots, what signs were you seeing before 2 months old?

 

We knew she wasn't normal from the time dd was weeks old.  We didn't suspect autism for a long time, but she had a lot of challenges that we worried about, although we wrote a lot of them off because she was our first child.  She screamed daily in a way that didn't fit colic, complete with back arching.  She had problems eating (only gained 2 oz in her first 2 months) and has always been weirdly picky.  She wouldn't let strangers hold her, or even most people besides me.  She didn't roll over until she was 9 mo old and talked (still somewhat) with fairly extreme echolalia.  And she has lots of social issues and other things too.  But she never regressed.  She only progressed slowly and in a different way from other kids.

 

Autism-like traits run in my family for several generations, although no actual autism diagnoses.  I'm fairly certain ours has a genetic factor.  I do not believe vaccines cause autism and think the cause of autism is incredibly complex and probably a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

 

ETA:  I remember my dh and I throwing around the word "autism" and researching "autism" when dd was around 8 months old.  She was diagnosed at 3, although she had been in various therapies from 2 months on.  Oh, and she wasn't a premie or anything and had a fairly normal birth.

[Michelle My Bell]

OK so a slight spin off question. Has anyone here not gotten shot for their kids as babies but decided to do so after they were 7+ years old? If so, how do you go about it? Would you have a blood draw to see what they are immune to before getting vaccines? What about a much older kid, say high school? Does anybody know how a doctor might handle something like this?

[gardenmom5]

one of the many things I saw (remember this was my fifth child) was when he was six weeks old he woke one night screaming bloody murder.  I've NEVER seen (or heard of) a six week old screaming like that without a serious injury. not even my then four year old daughter having a night terror screamed like he did.  even from when he was a tiny baby - he could only be calmed by being in a pitch black and silent room while I held him.  he couldn't handle the sensory input.  he also frequently acted "deaf".  over time, it became clear he couldn't distingush background sounds from what he was supposed to be listening to.  I had a tomatis provider evaluate his hearing - and it was totally reversed from what it was supposed to be.  he also had very heightened sensory input from auditory to olafactory to taste.

 

he was in the special care nursery for a week - and was hooked up to sensors.  his reactions to auditory stimuli would be all over the map, but looking at him you'd never know anything was wrong.  (it was the beginning of him displaying his anxiety.)  the perinatologist who was examining him, expressed concern over his lack of response.

 

high bili is considered one factor in ASD - his was 22 and climbing when he was admitted back into the hospital.

 

I take him to a DAN! naturopath, and his progress with her has been absolutely amazing.

 

eta: illness in the mother prenatally triggering a specific reaction in the placenta is also a factor.  I had pnemonia within a couple weeks of having conceived.  pregnancy suppresses your immune system.

another factor we have is a specific genetic mutation.

[gardenmom5]

OK so a slight spin off question. Has anyone here not gotten shot for their kids as babies but decided to do so after they were 7+ years old? If so, how do you go about it? Would you have a blood draw to see what they are immune to before getting vaccines? What about a much older kid, say high school? Does anybody know how a doctor might handle something like this?

 

absolutely get the titre's done to find out to what they are immune.  e.g. some kids have been exposed to chicken pox multiple times, but never get sick because their immune system did what it was supposed to do.  then they were vaxed- and they got very sick.

[sbgrace]

If people are interested, they do know some of the genetic factors contributing. You can do a pubmed search and find interesting stuff. I've never seen any that implicate vaccines (or any controllable environmental factor...one example http://www.molecularautism.com/content/4/1/6 )

 

FWIW, I vaxed my spectrum child between ages 8 and 9. He was autistic before and was no more autistic afterward. But I won't go so far as to say that it might not be a factor in some kid somewhere. A lot of genes interplay with environmental factors. I just don't think it's the most likely environmental piece for most based on studies that are ID'ing involved genes.

[WishboneDawn]

A friend posted this on Facebook today http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/08/courts-quietly-confirm-mmr-vaccine-causes-autism.html?m=1 . She has autistic children although I don't know if she vaccinated them when they were little. This led me to wonder if there were any families that did not vaccinate their children, but their children have been diagnosed with Autism. I have my own theories on all of this, but I would like to get some feedback.

It's a dumb article.

 

Courts don't settle matters of science and medicine, science and medicine settle matters of science and medicine. They do it and HAVE done it by looking for evidence.

 

Since there has been no evidence of a link and the only hint of a link came from an absolutely fraudulent study then it's not a matter of what I believe but rather of accepting the evidence. I do, there's no link.

[mom@shiloh]

I don't have a child with autism, but I know many families who do.  For those of you have done the research, is it correct to say that the incidence of autism is rising dramatically?  I grew up in a fairly small town where there were about 80 kids per grade and everyone knew everyone (and their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents....)  I do not remember ONE child with characteristics typical of autism.  Now in the same small town, I can count at least a dozen whose autism is very obvious.  I realize that there are better diagnostics now, but just based on my anecdotal evidence, it seems like an explosion.  Am I right?

[Wheres Toto]

I don't have a child with autism, but I know many families who do.  For those of you have done the research, is it correct to say that the incidence of autism is rising dramatically?  I grew up in a fairly small town where there were about 80 kids per grade and everyone knew everyone (and their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents....)  I do not remember ONE child with characteristics typical of autism.  Now in the same small town, I can count at least a dozen whose autism is very obvious.  I realize that there are better diagnostics now, but just based on my anecdotal evidence, it seems like an explosion.  Am I right?

 

I'm not sure.  I KNOW my brother (46 years old now) would be diagnosed with Autism these days.  Thinking back to his group of friends - most of them would have been.  But, they weren't in regular classrooms.  They were the kids taking the "special ed" classes, riding a different bus to school, not interacting as much with the other kids.  They were the "weirdos".

 

Back 40 or 50 years the more severe kids would have been institutionalized so you wouldn't have seem them either.

 

It also makes me think of something on the last episode of Elementary.  He talks about whether he would have been better off living when the world wasn't so loud and busy.  Before cell phones, tvs, cars, planes, more people, more noise everywhere, more stimulation everywhere, everyone rushing and expecting quick reactions, quick responses.  I wonder if that makes a difference.

[TracyP]

I don't have a child with autism, but I know many families who do.  For those of you have done the research, is it correct to say that the incidence of autism is rising dramatically?  I grew up in a fairly small town where there were about 80 kids per grade and everyone knew everyone (and their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents....)  I do not remember ONE child with characteristics typical of autism.  Now in the same small town, I can count at least a dozen whose autism is very obvious.  I realize that there are better diagnostics now, but just based on my anecdotal evidence, it seems like an explosion.  Am I right?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/health/rate-of-autism-diagnoses-has-climbed-study-finds.html?_r=0

 

This study at this link shows a 20% increase between 2006 and 2008. I know when the study came out one of the authors said something like the only thing we know for sure is that we can't blame the increase on better diagnosing any more.

 

I don't claim to have the slightest clue about the reason. Like others, I believe it is a combination of many factors.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

ds 10 is high functioning on the autism scale......that being said I could definitely remember there being a change in "something I couldn't put my finger on" after one vaccine.....

[Sara R]

 For those of you have done the research

 

Do we have any autism researchers on this board? If so, goody! If not, reading (likely pseudoscientific) stuff on the internet is not "doing research."

[Onceuponatime]

http://www.pnas.org/search?fulltext=bpa+autism&submit=yes&x=9&y=16

 

The first two research papers on this page are about the possible epigenetic affects of the mother's BPA absorption on the fetus, leading to autism, adhd and other "social dysfunction" disorders.

 

I heard about this last winter and thought it was very interesting. It might also explain the rapid rise of these disorders as the use of plastics to contain food and drink of all kinds has increased exponentially. When I was young almost every food container that is now plastic was made of glass.

 

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/chemicals-within-us/#page=1

 

Here is an article about environmental toxins. There are tens of thousands of substances that haven't been tested and more being invented/created every year. We are altering our environment and consequently our genes are responding in ways that cannot be predicted.

[Mergath]

I don't have a child with autism, but I know many families who do.  For those of you have done the research, is it correct to say that the incidence of autism is rising dramatically?  I grew up in a fairly small town where there were about 80 kids per grade and everyone knew everyone (and their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents....)  I do not remember ONE child with characteristics typical of autism.  Now in the same small town, I can count at least a dozen whose autism is very obvious.  I realize that there are better diagnostics now, but just based on my anecdotal evidence, it seems like an explosion.  Am I right?

 

I don't think it's as dramatic as people would think from the numbers.  I'm sure there has been an increase, but I think that's just one reason the numbers are going up so much.  A lot of borderline kids that may not even be on the spectrum have to get an ASD diagnosis now to get the services they need.

 

I also don't remember seeing any autistic kids when I was in school, but if I think about it, that's probably because they completely segregated the SN kids when I was growing up, and even some of the teachers referred to them all as the "mentally retarded" kids (which is terrible, and looking back I'm outraged at how they were treated).  So some of them may have been autistic, but none of us understood any of the differences back then because we weren't aware there was any diagnosis other than the one the teachers and students referred to them by.  Now they try to mainstream all but the most severely affected children, and there's much more public awareness besides.  Hopefully that made sense.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

I don't think it's as dramatic as people would think from the numbers.  I'm sure there has been an increase, but I think that's just one reason the numbers are going up so much.  A lot of borderline kids that may not even be on the spectrum have to get an ASD diagnosis now to get the services they need.

 

I also don't remember seeing any autistic kids when I was in school, but if I think about it, that's probably because they completely segregated the SN kids when I was growing up, and even some of the teachers referred to them all as the "mentally retarded" kids (which is terrible, and looking back I'm outraged at how they were treated).  So some of them may have been autistic, but none of us understood any of the differences back then because we weren't aware there was any diagnosis other than the one the teachers and students referred to them by.  Now they try to mainstream all but the most severely affected children, and there's much more public awareness besides.  Hopefully that made sense.

 

I have a BIL with CP and several other issues who was born in 1963.  He would definitely be diagnosed as on the spectrum now, but at the time was simply classified as "retarded".