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This is the scariest part about the CDC Whistleblower story by far

By on August 28, 2014 in Autism
CDC

CDC

As I watched the news unfold on August 22, 2014 about a CDC “whistle blower” coming forth to speak out about the CDC concealing results from the general public about any potential links between autism and the MMR vaccine, I couldn’t help but notice some very disturbing trends.

  • Panic – This is pretty normal. Having been in the autism community for a few years now, I see this every single time anyone says the “V” word. But this time it was on an unprecedented scale the likes of which haven’t been seen since 1998.
  • Confusion – People throw their hands in the air proclaiming all that they know was wrong and they no longer know what to believe. Who to believe? What to do?
  • Paranoia – “The CDC is intentionally harming our children” is just one of the statements I’ve seen. Many of the others that I’ve seen are similar.
  • Anger – What is the response for people who believe it? Anger. What is the response for people who don’t? Anger. And so the fighting begins.

All this aside, people took to Twitter (other social media sites as well but the worst I saw was on Twitter) and began a long and relentless stream of #CDCWhistleblower tweets. Days later, it was still picking up steam as celebrities such as Rob Schneider and Donald Trump got in on it.


What scared me most though, above all else, was watching all of these people demand that CNN and other media agencies answer immediately. That the very day that this came out, the very day that anyone became aware of it, people were outraged that the mainstream media was “ignoring” this story.

This defines the autism-vaccine movement in my eyes. This is why and very much how it’s gotten to this point.

People, in their fear and their panic and their confusion have decided that waiting for a proper investigation, fact checking, source checking or anything that looked like thinking about it… was a waste of time. People immediately came to the conclusion that the mainstream media was covering this up because it didn’t show up on the 6 o’clock news that evening.

And this really sums up the anti-vaccine in a nutshell. The raw emotion that bubbles up through the mixture of fear, hate, panic and confusion has no time for facts or verification. People want immediate answers and they don’t care where those answers come from.

Now, I know, you may be reading that and are getting upset but honestly, truthfully consider this. If you really do want the truth, please just consider these few points:

  • The video comes from Andrew Wakefield, the guy who’s whole career was destroyed due to his false claims. Of course he wants to salvage that.
  • The “study” is based on a smaller, hand picked bunch of numbers from a larger study that already had it’s own margin of error.

To break down the study, let’s consider this… if you take all the people in the US and figure out how many people are born with Albinism (albino), it’s about 1 in 17,000. But if I wanted to, I could figure out whether it’s more common in men or women and then pick that one. More common in one state than the rest and pick that one. More common in people of a certain age group and pick that one. More common when parents drink coffee or not and pick that one. More common when the baby is born on a certain day of the week and pick that one.

What I’m getting at is, to a researcher, given enough time and effort, you can take any study and work the numbers until eventually you have 1 in 6 people being albino.

If the people that pay you to work those numbers happen to have an invested interest in making sure that those numbers say that??? Well, then you take that a whole other level higher.

And for the record, the doctor that did the study, Dr. Hooker, was just such a doctor that had an invested interest in proving vaccines caused autism. More so, he was funded by Focus Autism, who by the way, have a huge investment in making those numbers tell their own story.

Once they did, who told that story? Andrew Wakefield. The guy with his own vaccine patents.

But back to my original point, no one wanted to hear any of this. No one wanted it checked, or verified or questioned or investigated or… well, anything. They wanted none of that because that took time and they wanted answers that day. That, to me, is scary as hell. That’s a huge disappointment to me. I really thought that people would want better. I really thought that people would want real answers, not fast “what I want to hear” answers.

If you aren’t one of those “just tell me what I want to be told” types of people and actually do want the real truth, please please please stop and consider the sources, the facts, the time it takes to be absolutely certain and please, don’t just believe the first thing you hear. If it’s the first thing you hear, chances are no one took the time to check to see if it’s true. Please read the below links as they take the time to explain all that I’ve said here and more in very in depth detail and accuracy.

If you truly want the truth, you owe it to yourself to give it the time it deserves.

As do your children, who by the way, hold their very lives in your hands and are depending on you to understand this, not just get the quickest answer.

For more info:

Time –Whistleblower Claims CDC Covered Up Data Showing Vaccine-Autism Link

CNN –Journal questions validity of autism and vaccine study

Left Brain/Right Brain – Autism, Atlanta, MMR: serious questions and also how Brian Hooker and Andrew Wakefield are causing damage to the autism communities

IFLScience – No, The CDC Is Not Covering Up Evidence That Vaccines Cause Autism

Whistle Blower’s Statement – Statement of William W. Thompson

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Autism Numbers – Just how many people are being diagnosed with autism anyway?

By on March 20, 2013 in Autism

surveyA recent survey just came out (March 19, 2013), although the news is calling it a “study” which gives it more importance. That survey is abuzz around the world as people are now telling each other that the autism prevalence numbers are at 1 in 50 school children.

Very quickly, people took to social media in shock and dismay at these new alarming numbers. Some were even more scared than before of their environment, some were mad that the numbers were so high and yet being ignored and others shouted out “I am not a number!”

Still though, it’s just a survey. A phone survey.

A margin of error

In this survey, they phoned some 95,000 parents and of those, only 25% actually participated. And even then, chances are that only those with children that were diagnosed were inclined to take the survey seriously. Oh and let’s not forget, not all parents have photographic memories or even know as much about autism as they may claim to, so there’s that.

The big thing to take away here is, it’s just a phone call to some parents. They didn’t ask for nor look at any medical records or talk to any doctors or officials. They didn’t compare what a parent said to actual facts or reports. It was all based on the honesty system.

Now, that’s not to say that the numbers aren’t still alarming or even worth taking note of but for the media to make a big deal out of it… not so much. The truth is, the CDC probably should never have released such an unscientific piece of info as this in the first place.

This places into question the other studies, such as the one that found that 1 in 88 children are on the autism spectrum.

This one was done using medical records and in talking to professionals. But still, how accurate is it? Certainly more accurate than a phone survey but still, it still has a rather large margin for error itself.

Consider this, many people (children and adults alike) still go undiagnosed or even misdiagnosed. I’ve had two people, just this month, message me asking about getting assessments. One person, an adult, said that they are trying to charge her $1400 to do it. She can’t afford that and will likely go undiagnosed.

Another person, a parent of a child, said something similar. Because of where she is, they want “thousands” to do an assessment on her child. Again, that’s just not feasible.

Where I live, very remote, it’s actually quite difficult to get an assessment and even harder to get services simply because of geography. There are no major centers nearby.

Then you have the, all too familiar, doctors that seemingly either diagnose every child they get with autism to help them get access to services or never diagnose any children because they don’t want to contribute to the mass hysteria and hype.

There’s also the issue of getting the referrals for the assessment in the first place. I vividly recall telling my family doctor not once but twice that I wanted an assessment for my son and both times he insisted that my son did not have autism. After I returned with the official diagnosis, I gave him a book on what autism is. He is a good man, he read it.

But these cases are quite common. And should be considered.

Yes, it’s far easier to get a diagnosis now than it was 20 years ago and yes, some doctors are all too happy to hand out diagnoses like they’re Aspirins but the fact remains that as much as it is easier, it’s still not easy.

Many people still face a multitude of hurdles and even if those are met, there’s no guarantee that the diagnosis is a correct one.

And so the CDC sends out a team to pour through the paperwork of this whole mess and make some sense of the numbers.

The result, as I said, is far more accurate than a survey with random parents but it still has it’s own margin of error.

On the plus side

So what good can come of wrong or even inflated (maybe even under-estimated) numbers?

Well, services for one.

Many times these alarming numbers can spur a person into action, giving them the drive and motivation needed to start a new program and provide a new service that was lacking before. They see this large number of children that need help and they decide that something has to be done.

Sometimes, rarely but sometimes, these numbers can even push autism up as a priority during government meetings and help in funneling a little extra funding towards the autism community.

One thing it most definitely does is raise autism awareness. Even if it’s very negative, in the form of fear, it still prompts new parents to find out more. And that can lead to an earlier diagnosis for their child and as we all know, early intervention is key.

A grain of salt

So keep in mind that when you read these news stories or “studies” that there is always a margin of error. There is always a certain portion of it that is inaccurate and that there is always a positive and negative side to these things being out there.

Shutting them down may prevent some services or information from ever being out there but promoting these things may also perpetuate unnecessary fear and maybe even harm, if it pushes more people to stop vaccinating or even from having children at all.

Think of it this way… it’s just a bunch of egg heads fiddling with numbers and proving… nothing.

And the media is doing its best to turn it into a news story that will get you tuning in.

When you see it for what it is, it doesn’t seem so bad.

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From the CDC: 1 in 88 have autism. Will there be rioting in the streets?

By on March 29, 2012 in Autism

As much fun as rioting in the streets can be, what with the free tvs and tear gas… let’s just all just agree to riot on our blogs instead, where there is less pepper spray.

Besides, is 1 in 88 really worth rioting over? I guess to some, it is. To others, it’s not really a surprise.

By the way, if you want to read, direct from the CDC, as to what all of their numbers were and how they got to this total, check out their report here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6103a1.htm?s_cid=ss6103a1_e

cdc logoReasons

So how did we get from 1 in several thousand down to 1 in 110 and now…. 1 in 88? Well, let me recap for you a bit of my history in the world of autism.

My son was diagnosed at 2.5 years of age… which was about a LONG time after I had requested it. Why so long?

At 1.5 years of age, I asked my family doctor if he thought that my son could be autistic. He knew my son rather well, I went over all the signs and concerns I had… everything I knew about my child, I put out there for him to hear.

He told me that Cameron was fine, he’s really bright, he doesn’t seem to have anything obviously wrong with him…. just give it time. And so we did.

Shortly before he turned 2, I asked again. This time, said that he felt that I didn’t need to bring him in for an assessment and that it’s perfectly normal for boys to not talk at 2.. and to be “quirky.” I insisted. He said that they don’t do assessments for children until they’re 2 years of age so I’ll have to wait either which way…  he’ll put in a request then.

So he puts in the request, we finally hear back from the hospital… his appointment is made for February. He turned 2 in July. Sheesh!

He was diagnosed “moderate to severe PDD-NOS”.

Why am I telling you this story?

Think about it… if my doctor can miss it, even advise against me getting the assessment done… how many other doctors are doing the same? Forget doctors… how many parents are out there missing it? I bet a parent insisting so much is far more rare than we’d like to think it is.

As awareness and information continues to grow, doctors and parents are becoming far more able to recognize the signs. MUCH better! But remember, my story was only from a few years ago.

So even though we’ve come a long way in the last 50 years, we’re not there yet!

As we continue to reach everyone though, the more children will get assessed. You have to understand, if more doctors can recognize it, if more parents can insist on it…. more children will be assessed… and therefore, diagnosed!

The numbers go up!

On top of that, how many children have been and still are being misdiagnosed? Sure there are a lot of children going without a diagnosis but there’s also a lot of children being misdiagnosed. Some children are being diagnosed with ADHD or OCD or SPD…. when in reality it’s a bit of all those things, which may add up to autism (might not too, but you get the point).

So again, as doctors and parents learn…. those wrongly diagnosed people are being reassessed and given the proper diagnosis… and the people that have yet to be assessed might be given the right diagnosis.

To make matters worse, we have the ever changing definitions put forth by the DSM. It was just the last one that first introduced PDD-NOS and Asperger’s into the Autism Spectrum umbrella to begin with. You just know that’s going to increase the numbers.

Then you have geography. Some areas are simply different than others. Some states have educators making the diagnosis, others have neurologists while others go to a pediatrician. And again, some places have more money than others, more resources, better understanding and more differences that can increase or decrease their ability to make proper assessments.

But what about toxins?

I know what you’re thinking… this is all about genetics and avoiding the issue of environmental toxins. Well, no. All of what I just explained *could* maybe explain all of the increases in numbers, but then it might not either.

The truth is that environmental toxins have most definitely increased over time… especially in the last 150-200 years or so… with industrial and technological ages moving faster and faster.

Do I think it’s vaccines? No. Do I think it could be *something* or a combination of a lot of somethings? Fact is, I just don’t know but it certainly could be.

We’re all living life a little differently than our ancestors did… inside and out. We eat, drink and breathe differently than they did.

However, I do know that our environment most certainly does not account for the entire increase. It does not make the numbers go up all by itself.

If our environment does have an effect on the numbers, then I believe that it’s all of the other stuff I’ve mentioned in combination with it.

Ready to riot?

Now the fun part, let’s riot!!

No, not in the streets and no, not in fear.

The truth is, new numbers or not… nothing has changed. The world is what it is whether or not we crunch some numbers.

What we need to do, together, is use the numbers to further educate and further make aware… if it means increasing the numbers even more, so be it! Let no little autistic go undiagnosed! Parents and doctors should NOT be missing it.

Actually, if you think about it, it’s a bit ironic. We raise awareness because the numbers continue to rise and in so doing, we cause the numbers to rise even more! And then when they do, we freak out and raise more awareness! 

The point is, if ever there was a reason to riot, this is it. We need services. We need help.

Not just us parents but the entire community. Autistics need more help in school, more help in the workforce, more help in life. Not to do everything for them but to be there for them when they need it!

My son is growing up. One day he’ll outgrow the services available to him. I would love to know that he can find work that won’t judge him or treat him unfairly, I would love to know that he’ll have services he can take advantage of if he needs to… whether he’s living on his own or not.

I would love to know that if my son wants to and is able to, he can do any job he wants to do, be anywhere he wants to be and do anything he wants to do, because he can, rather than being told that he can’t because of the label that others use to hold against him.

Riot.
Not to stop the numbers from going up.
To help the people that those numbers represent.

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