A friend has a daughter with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Vijay and her husband are so honest and open about their challenges with their younger daughter, and their intelligent perspectives have helped me understand a bit more about these families. She recently posted a note about acceptance and autism, and I thought it was important to share with you.

Vijay: I was asked by a friend,

Are you telling me that you would NOT be interested in a cure for autism?

And here is my answer:

Certainly dealing with Violet has been harder than dealing with a “regular” kid, but sometimes challenges are good for people to kind of push us to open our minds. It’s humbling to be faced with someone who is difficult to figure out. But that there is a lot to be learned from the experience. There’s no way to find out if Violet understands that she’s different, or if she would change that if she could. Yet.

These kids are different. So what should change? The kids? Or society?

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She was confronted by store staff, who said that Abercrombie policy didn’t allow more than one person in a dressing room at a time in an attempt combat shoplifting. The girls had encountered the same policy at another store, but they allowed the sisters in the dressing room at that store after they understood the situation.

At Abercrombie & Fitch, Brittney explained her sister’s special needs, but was still refused. Their mom, Beth, tried to talk to management and the girls were still refused. Beth even called a customer service hotline while at the store and the request was still ignored.

Four years later, the clothing store has been ordered to pay $115,264 for discriminating against a disabled person.

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Now the Washington Post confirms that most of the swine flu vaccines that will be available in the fall, probably in October, will contain thimerosal.

Considering that children are among the first ones pushed to get the vax, this is worrisome.

Thimerosal is about half mercury. It is an antibacterial additive allowing caregivers to administer shots in multi doses. Really, the main benefit is that it’s more cost effective than single dose shots. But mercury is a known neurotoxin, one that pregnant women and children carefully steer clear from when choosing fish meals.

So why should we trust that thimerosal in vaccines is any safer?

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But a new article on the University of California, San Francisco site claims that neuroscientist Michael Merzenich has performed research that may make some leaning toward formula fulling tip over the edge.

Merzenich tested newborn rats by dosing them with the proportionally even amount that newborn humans get from human breastmilk of the chemicals PCBs and PBDEs. The outcome, he said, was

brains that were more degraded in their organization developmentally in these rats than we have ever seen before

So it’s as simple as that, eh? Breastmilk causes autism. Not so fast, there, Nestle.

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The first wave of shots is to be tested on healthy adults, but once safety is assured, they’ll look to try them new vax on babies as young as 6 months.

However, it seems that the government is simultaneously rushing the vaccine while protecting the pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits.

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The first two have been linked in earlier research. But the surprise might be the last disorder, which is more commonly recognized as an intolerance to gluten. (Not “intolerance” as in: “I don’t want you in my club,” but as in “My body gets crampy and nasty and sick when I eat you.”)

Coincidentally, perhaps, there has been a four-fold increase in the incidence of celiac disease over the past 50 years.

Researcher William W. Eaton, chairman of the Department of Mental Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, said of the study,

This finding reinforces the suggestion that autoimmune processes are connected somehow with the cause of autism and autism spectrum disorder. This finding is on the pathway of finding the cause of autism.

There may be an overlap in the genetics of some of the autoimmune diseases and autism that would not be trivial. Autism is strongly inherited, but we don’t have the faintest idea where. But this may point a flashlight to areas of the genome that connect to autism.

He pointed out that these sensitivities might be factored in with environmental triggers.

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Up to 250,000 children have autism or a related condition on the autistic spectrum, but have not been diagnosed, researchers say. They are in addition to the 500,000 children who are known to be affected.

The study, conducted by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University, found that the increase was due to better detection and intervention.

This is disputed by a U.S. study at UC Davis, which said that California’s 7- to 8-fold increase was due only in small part by better detection, and stressed that environmental factors must be studied as a possible cause.

So now the opposite sides of the pond, and coasts for that matter, are in dispute.

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In the quest to learn why autism rates in this country are rising dramatically, we have to look at the environmental health of our communties and chemical load that is being placed on our children. I recently wrote over at Non-Toxic Kids about the new link between PVC flooring and autism. Cate Nelson also wrote about this issue for Eco-Child’s Play last week.

Today, I came across this article in posted on Environmental Health News, about the link between autism and toxic waste sites.

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Infants and toddlers who had vinyl floors in their rooms were twice as likely to develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than those with wood or aluminum floors.

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Around age two, we begin to suspect that we weren’t just dealing with a more difficult or strong willed child.  At that time, I had no idea what we were dealing with and I kept telling myself “this is just a phase, it’ll pass”.  But the phase never passed.  Behaviors became more pronounced, social interactions and transition became exceptionally difficult.

Our “Little Critter” as she is dubbed in the online community is exceptionally bright, active and speaks beautifully so Autism Disorders were not considered in our early well child checks.  She walked at 7 1/2 months unassisted and has never stopped since, she wasn’t a cuddly baby from birth… rolling and scooting around on her belly by 2 1/2 months.  This was a baby who wanted to go.  I figured she was eager to play with her big sisters and therefore had no desire to be a baby.  She hit all the milestones on time or early and boy was she messy!  Always touching, feeling, running, jumping, twirling.  Now we know that she has sensory processing disorders which cause her to seek stimulation in some situations and over-react to stimuli (lights/noise) in others. We began to learn about Aspergers Disorder and Sensory Perception Disorder and saw our child.

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[Creative Commons photo by Arria Belli]

In the past, vaccinations were a suspected link to increased autism due to the mercury-derived preservative thimerosal, but that chemical has not been used in vaccines since 1999. Autism rates are still on the rise. Better diagnosis has also been discussed as a reason for the increase, but researchers say that a jump this large can’t be attributed to diagnosis alone. California has seen autism diagnosis jump by 700%, and researchers are now saying that environmental factors are likely the culprits.

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As a former teacher of students with autism, a current and lifelong fear-er of cancer, and an avid environmentalist, I always saw a link between these three “interests” of mine. Many types of cancer can be/have been linked to the various environmental toxins introduced into our environment by major polluting industries (plastics, chemical, coal, oil, to name a few major offenders).

Yet, with autism, the link has long been mentioned, studied, and brushed aside due to lack of evidence. I’d imagine that if you had a line chart with three lines, one for the rate of environmental toxins 1900 to present, and the other two with the rate of cancer and autism cases during that same time, the three lines would ride the same “hockey stick curve”.

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The dramatic increase in autism rates in California has been attributed to several factors, including increases in families bringing autistic children into California and changes in how autistic children are diagnosed.  To address the first issue, the study only looked at California natives. The second issue, accounting practices, played a small part in the increase, but no more than 20% of the overall increase.

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There’s been a seven- to eight-fold increase of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) cases in California since 1990.

I’ve suspected that the rise in diagnoses of ASD is linked to many factors, one of them better detection. You, too? Not so, says a new study.

“It’s time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California…We’re looking at the possible effects of metals, pesticides and infectious agents on neurodevelopment,” said researcher Irva Hertz-Piccoto.

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Though Jenny McCarthy may have hit it big originally for her bad girl image, now she wants to go good. Too Good.

McCarthy signed with Brand Sense Partners to launch a children’s lifestyle line, Too Good by Jenny, next Spring. The line will be focused on providing children with safe, non-toxic surroundings.

Ever since McCarthy’s son, Evan, was diagnosed with autism in 2005, the star has taken a very holistic, earth-friendly approach towards raising him. She wants her line to reflect these beliefs with non-toxic linens, toys, cleaning products and gluten-free food and drinks.

While organic and non-toxic children’s wear has been finding a market in high-end boutiques, McCarthy’s line will be sold primarily at mid-tier stores with an emphasis on affordability for all parents.

Read More on Non-Toxic Care for Children:

FairyTales Organic Hair Care for Children
A Safe Non-Toxic Bug Repellent for the Little Ones
Green Family Values: Natural, Wooden, Toys by Plan Toys

AJ: We’ve all heard doctors explain how breast milk protects newborns via antibodies, proteins and immune cells, but rather than deep dive into the science of secretory IgA molecules, I’m going to ask a simple ‘Earth mom’ question…Is breastfeeding enough of a ‘human vaccine?’

R: ‘Breast is best’ to boost immunity from infections, reduce respiratory illnesses…But breastfeeding ONLY offers limited protection from serious diseases like measles, pneumonia, and whooping cough.

Breastfeeding works synergistically with immunizations, boosting the levels of protection against disease to actually increase the protection your baby gets. ALL ingredients in vaccines serve a purpose, whether it’s triggering a child’s immune response, or keeping them germ free. Even though we’ve eradicated some diseases in this country before, our mobile society makes it easy to have them come right back over on a plane…‘Herd protection’ only goes so far.

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On June 4, 2008, the Green Vaccines rally will be held in Washington, D.C. The rally cry is:

• We are not anti-vaccine, we are anti-toxins.

• Green our Vaccines!!

• Change the schedule, babies are getting too much too soon.

• We support informed consent for all families

• To give the moms and dads around the world a day to be heard. This is their day. This will be their moment.

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