Southwest Florida Parent

Former Head Of NIH Says Time to Investigate Vaccines and Autism

Adventures in Autism — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:43:00 GMT

Vaccine Court Considers Autism Link CBS News Exclusive: Former Head Of NIH Says Government Too Quick To Dismiss Possible Link A second round of autism test cases begins Monday in federal vaccine court. Tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, Attkisson has exclusive interviews with the two families bringing the cases: two of nearly 5,000 autism cases that have been filed in this special court. The government and many scientists have consistently maintained for more than a decade that there...(read more)

More Good Information on How Bad CFLs Are

Adventures in Autism — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:43:00 GMT

So apparently one CFL light bulb contains 200 times the amount of mercury that is in the full dose mercury shots. It is astonishing to me that anyone thinks these are a good idea. From Barb Kaplan : Energy Efficient Light Bulbs “Consider removal of carpeting section where the breakage has occurred as a precaution when there are infants, small children and pregnant women present.” This unsettling quote comes from the Vermont Department of Health and Environmental Conservation website, and it is one...(read more)

What to do

The New Parent: Raising Excellent Kids in an Insane World — Mon, 12 May 2008 06:35:00 GMT

Whew ... feeling better now and I wanted to thank all those who dropped by to wish both my daughter and me well. That was really sweet of you all (smile). I truly appreciated it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ W hile I was recuperating, friends stopped by with their children. One of the kids was a bit noisy and was unaware how to be calm while walking through the house. As a matter of fact, this child was really overly energetic. The Mom would...(read more)

Happy Mother's Day!

Susan Heim on Parenting — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:36:00 GMT

I’d like to wish a very happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers who are reading this, although I find it kind of sad that we need a special day to tell mothers how much they are appreciated! Wouldn’t it be great if your kids told you every so often how grateful they are for all that you do? I have a feeling that most of us don’t hear these sentiments very often. What a wonderful (and surprising) gift that would be! Ironically, the woman who started Mother’s Day also became disenchanted with what she...(read more)

Best Mother's Day Present Ever

Adventures in Autism — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:12:00 GMT

This Mother's Day, from my boys, I got two hydrangea bushes to start a little garden on the side of my house. I named them Bessie and Myrtle. But my best mothers day present was being introduced to some chickens. Today after church we decided to drive around and explore Maine. We drove by a farm and noticed that three chickens had crossed the street and were hanging out next to the primary school. We pulled up to them to show them to the boys. Chandler rolled down his window to greet the hens. "Hewwo...(read more)

Mother's Day: Shannon Johnson is Un-invited

Adventures in Autism — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:39:00 GMT

Shannon Johnson is a Maine autism mom, founder of the autism social networking site FoggyRock.com , and daughter of Nancy Cale of Unlocking Autism. Her piece on her experience this Mother's Day really brought home to me the continuing quiet sacrifices that autism mom's make daily, hourly, for the children that they love so much. Happy Mother's Day to you mom's who have joined the club that none of us wanted to join, and earned the title "Loving Mother" in a way that few have. Happy Mother's Day Shannon....(read more)

David Kirby to Visit UK

Adventures in Autism — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:40:00 GMT

BESTSELLING AMERICAN AUTHOR DAVID KIRBY TO VISIT UK IN JUNE --Journalist Who Covers the Autism-Vaccine Debate to Speak About Political and Scientific Developments in the US and Updates to His Book “Evidence of Harm”— David Kirby, the New York based investigative journalist and author of the NY Times Bestseller, “Evidence of Harm, Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic – A Medical Controversy,” will visit the United Kingdom on the 4th - 6th of June to discuss recent developments in the vaccine-autism...(read more)

David Kirby: US Medicine: 97% of All Autism Cases Went Undected - Until Now?

Adventures in Autism — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:11:00 GMT

David Kirby explores the VERY Hidden Horde: US Medicine: 97% of All Autism Cases Went Undected - Until Now? May 9, 2008 Huffington Post If autism has always been with us in the same high numbers that we see today -- as some scientists and academics contend -- then we should be able to identify the 1 in 150 adults currently living with autism in places like the US and UK... But still, by any currently available measure, there appear to be many more people under the age of 18 with autism than there...(read more)

Monsanto GMOs: Arpad Pusztai Looks at the Potential Link to Autism

Adventures in Autism — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:34:00 GMT

After writing my last piece on the questions on the link between GMO's and Autism based on the comments of Dr. Arpad Pusztai in "The World According to Monsanto", I wrote to Dr. Pusztai and asked if he thought the ideas may be plausible ones. He has not read the post yet, as he is traveling, but after reading the summary of the ideas in my email to him, he thought that the idea that the adjuvant properties of GMO's setting our kids up for vaccine injury was a plausible one. Here is his response:...(read more)

Monsanto GMOs: One British Boy's Reaction

Adventures in Autism — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:08:00 GMT

Because GMO foods are not labeled in the US, we have no idea if our kids are reacting to them. Apple Mark of Something Beginning with A has the luxury of actually know what his child is eating as a resident of the UK and shares this with us about his autistic son's experience with GMO foods (FYI... in Europe, Soy is called Soya): Edward had been on gf cf diet for 6 months had made huge progress. We had also eliminated Soya on the advice of Paul Shattock as most Soya is gm and we have tried to go...(read more)

Stories Needed for Women’s Devotional Book

Susan Heim on Parenting — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:46:00 GMT

One of my current writing projects is putting together a book of devotionals with another busy mom like me. In fact, the book is full of devotionals for women like us, who are juggling families, friends, careers, friends, charitable activities, and more. Our biggest challenge is to write a story for every day of the year! Therefore, my coauthor Karen and I are looking for people to share their stories for the book. Here’s a sample of what we’re looking for: “Why do you want to save all these books?”...(read more)

Monsanto GMOs: My Questions about Monsanto’s GMOs and Autism

Adventures in Autism — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:52:00 GMT

Watching The World According to Monsanto, I was struck by the section of the film about Árpád Pusztai’s research that showed that rats fed GMO potatoes developed gut problems and an immune response. The section is as follows: Árpád Pusztai, world renowned scientist lost his job when he warned about GE (genetically engineered or genetically modified) foods. 1998 Aberdeen, Scotland Árpád Pusztai worked for the Rowett Institute in Scotland. At the Ministry of Agriculture’s request, he lead a study on...(read more)

Monsanto GMOs: The World According to Monsanto

Adventures in Autism — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:11:00 GMT

If you eat food, you need to watch this documentary: The World According to Monsanto wmode="transparent" data="http://www.arronsfootball.co.uk/flvplayer.swf?file=http://www.archive.org/download/tawtmonsanto/twatmonsanto.flv"> I have never understood what the big complaints about genetically modified foods were all about. If you can breed a plant to be resistant to bugs or more fruitful, if you can get a cow to give more milk, why would that be a bad thing? People have been cross breeding plans for...(read more)

Can a Woman's Diet Determine the Sex of Her Baby?

Susan Heim on Parenting — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:50:00 GMT

I’d always been taught in biology class that the sex of a baby is determined by the father. If he contributes an X chromosome, you’ve got a girl. If he gives a Y chromosome, it’s a bouncing baby boy. But at the same time, being the mother of four boys, I’ve always wondered if I played a part somehow in attracting all those Y chromosomes. Now a study released by British researchers says that I could be right. According to researcher Fiona Mathews at the University of Exeter, a woman’s diet may affect...(read more)

David Kirby On The Case that Replaced Hannah Poling

Adventures in Autism — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:15:00 GMT

The boy who replaced Hannah Poling as a test case in the Vaccine Omnibus Hearings has the same biomarkers for having the "rare" condition that Hannah has. If the first to thimerosal test cases both just happen to have the same "rare" mitochondrial disorder, then at what point do you have to retract your claim of "rare"? The Next Vaccine-Autism Newsmaker: Not Isolated, Not Unusual David Kirby Huffington Post April 27, 2008 In February, I leaked news of the Federal government's admission that vaccines...(read more)

Celebrate Mother’s Day and Win Braincandy DVDs!

Susan Heim on Parenting — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:18:00 GMT

I recently received a beautiful set of Braincandy DVDs. These award-winning DVDs are the brainchild of Sam Reich-Dagnen and her husband John, who created them for their twins, Blaise and Logan, when they had difficulty finding “developmentally appropriate content that truly engaged our children rather than just putting them to sleep.” Each DVD in this 5-disc series covers one of the 5 senses: See My World Hear My World Taste My World Touch My World Smell My World Through characters in the “Sense...(read more)

Looking for Mitochondrial Disorders In Your Autistic Child

Adventures in Autism — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:53:00 GMT

So there has been much, "How do i know if my child has a mitochondrial disorder" discussion these days. Here is a blurb from David Kirby on the biomarkers to look for that could point toward mito dysfunction. Discuss them with your doctor. "1) Mark Blaxill sent this to me. It is a sample list of some of the higher estimates of mitochondrial imbalances in autism samples. Most of these are elevated relative to a reference range. 1. 47% (elevated serum creatine kinase, Poling et al) 2. 38% (elevated...(read more)

Sickness

The New Parent: Raising Excellent Kids in an Insane World — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:09:00 GMT

Well, I'm sorry I haven't been posting as much recently, but my little one came down with pneumonia. Poor thing, a 105.6 fever had us concerned. She was so listless and not too hungry (which is amazing for her). We were on the verge of taking her to the emergency room when her fever broke. The last couple of days have been better, except for the deep cough she has. Her appetite is slowly returning and so is her energy level. I'll be back shortly with a new post (wink)!...(read more)

Nassau County NY First Municipality to Hold Vaccine Autism Hearings

Adventures in Autism — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:36:00 GMT

How great would it be if CDC's vaccine/autism judgments were just rendered irrelevant in each local area because everyone just decided to look into it themselves rather than just handing off their rights and responsibilities to some corrupt federal bureaucracy that is in bed with the pharmaceutical companies? This ladies and gents is why I am a republican. Act locally people. Oh... and David Kirby has been invited. NASSAU COUNTY LEGISLATURE 1550 FRANKLIN AVENUE MINEOLA, NEW YORK 11501 (516) 571-6214...(read more)

A Beautiful Bride

Adventures in Autism — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:21:00 GMT

When Miranda Hall sent out her wedding invitations, she asked that her guests, in lieu of sending gifts to her and her groom, send in donations to send an autistic child to camp. Miranda get's an Autism in God's Economy Award, because she clearly gets it....(read more)

Verstraeten Conference Call? What Verstraeten Conference Call?

Adventures in Autism — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:44:00 GMT

By now we are all familiar with the Verstraeten Study, the only government study into the safety of thimerosal containing vaccines. The study began in late 1999 and was supposed to be a simple study that looked at the amount of thimerosal a child got in their vaccines to see if it correlated to the onset of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. The four month study took four years to complete and cost the government in the ballpark of 25 million dollars. The sausage making that went into the...(read more)

Meet the New Boss, Totall Different As The Old Boss

Adventures in Autism — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:01:00 GMT

Mr. Obama has joined Mr. McCain in sharing that he suspects that vaccines trigger autism. "We've seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it's connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it." --Barack Obama, Pennsylvania Rally, April 21, 2008. "It's indisputable that (autism) is on the rise among children, the question is what's causing it. And we go back and forth and there's strong evidence that indicates...(read more)

Celebrate the International Day of the Book

Susan Heim on Parenting — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:31:00 GMT

In my previous post, I wrote about our family’s newfound love of the library. Coincidentally, I just found out that April 23 is an international celebration called World Book and Copyright Day. So, I can’t let this event pass without talking about reading one more time. First, here’s what the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) web site has to say about this special day: More than 100 countries will take part on 23 April in the 13th celebration of World Book...(read more)

Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Almost Specified

Adventures in Autism — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:50:00 GMT

So this week I got the best phone call ever. Chandler is currently going through reevaluation by the school psychologist Dr. Guy, as I will call him, as it had been three years since his last formal evaluation and the state believes it is time. Dr. Guy did the testing over a few days and in the middle, called me to check in and ask some questions and see what kind of things I wanted him to look for while he was at work on my boy. We talked for a while and he described what he had seen so far. (I...(read more)

Listen In on the IACC Meeting on April 21st Via Confrence Call

Adventures in Autism — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:07:00 GMT

From NAA: IACC Meeting on April 21st Listen in live via conference call There will be a meeting of the Strategic Planning Workgroup formed by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) on Monday, April 21st from 11 am to 6 pm EST. Workgroup members will review current funding for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research, proposed research initiatives and resources. They will then discuss and make recommendations on prioritization of research initiatives for the IACC strategic plan for ASD...(read more)