Autism Post Follow-up
April 14th, 2008-8:00 am by sub2changeI promised to explain myself after giving readers a chance to comment on my previous post. The answers I was looking for were summed up perfectly in one comment:
The link between vaccines and autism has been pretty much debunked. Good studies (here’s a WebMD page with some good links) recently have shown that the autism rate keeps going up, even when thimerisol had been removed from vaccines, and even in places where the vaccination rate has dropped.
Others jumped in and commented on the varying degrees of autism. It’s all good information, and I hope it helps someone. That was the ultimate purpose of asking the question.
I guess I knew about high functioning autistics, too. I know that I never made the connection between some of the social dysfunction I may witness and the 1 in 150 statistic. That makes me feel better, actually, knowing that many autistics can function without anyone ever being the wiser. It’s a silver lining, at least.
So, why was I so insensitive? Well, that’s just how the text came across to some people. I can’t say I blame them, especially if they’re close to someone with autism. What you were actually reading, though, was frustration. I don’t think that I’m the only one who reads about autism and wonders why it doesn’t seem to get the appropriate level of attention. I wrote that post hoping to generate comments. There are a few ways to do that on a blog:
By having lots of readers, which I don’t.
By telling a personal story that makes people want to reach out to you. I don’t have that in this case, either.
By touching a nerve or engaging the reader emotionally.
Simply stating a question and waiting for a response seldom works. Most readers don’t want to take the time to comment unless you make it personal. It’s partly fear of exposure and partly laziness. I do it all the time when I read blogs, too. So, when I had a chance to sensor myself I made a conscious decision not to. The quality and quantity of the responses seem to indicate that I made the right choice. Still, I apologize if anyone was truly offended.
Posted in medical | 2 Comments »
April 14th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Actually Aaron, a good friend of mine recently sent me this link about Autism rates among a diverse unvaccinated population in Illinois.
Previous to this, the only group that had been found where studies could be done was among the Amish in PA. But many people dismissed their low autism rates because they are not very genetically diverse. This new sample in Illinois doesn’t have that issue apparently.
This doesn’t necessarily mean there is a link between vaccines and autism, but its an important study group. Another interesting possibility with the Amish population is that they tend to live far away from Coal Burning power plants and don’t eat much fish, both of which are high environmental causes of mercury.
Just like everything, there is probably just too much politics surrounding this issue, and not enough science.
April 14th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Most readers don’t want to take the time to comment unless you make it personal
Or if you just have a group of nut cases who flock to your blog because so-n-so told her friend, who told her friend and they all ganged up on you. *LOL*
Believe it or not Jenny Macarthy’s book about her son and their trek through the world of Autism is an interesting read. She’s not too medically techno but she did a good job at speaking about some of the various programs and public assistance out there that many people know nothing about.
What’s scary is that although they may just now be reporting more and more cases than they have before but to go from I think I read 1 in 2000 to 1 in 500 that can’t all be just because its being reported more often. That seems like too much of a difference between the too.
More testing really needs to be done and honestly the tests need to be government funded and not back financially by the pill makers as they often are. And the focus doesnt need to be only on the vaxes but also on some of the other factors that seem to have an effect such as environment, the crap we eat and the immune system.
*cough* I read waay to much, sorry.