Anonymous wrote:Mom with the two kids with autism here. I think environmental factors certainly play a role in autism, but I don't believe they cause autism. In our case there were family members who either had autistic traits or would have been diagnosed with autism if they had been children now. I ate extremely healthy, non-processed, organic food when I was pregnant, so whatever damage was there had to have happened before conception.

Both of my kids showed signs of autism long before they got vaccinated.

Btw, I think another contributing factor to the rise of ASD is technology and/or factors that overwhelm the sensory system. Everything is much more fast paced for my kids now than it was when I grew up. I was able to handle my anxieties because my world seemed predictable. My ASD daughter could not handle her anxieties because she was constantly facing a sensory overload from all the noise, the lights and everything else around her.

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Anonymous wrote:Every doctor in the world will agree that you cannot have a genetic childhood epidemic...it simply cannot exist. There are environmental triggers involved.

There is no epidemic. Studies have shown that current rates of autism are the same as in adults and the older populations - they just weren't diagnosed. So the actual number of cases hasn't increased but the number of kids being diagnosed has.

I agree with this. I have been teaching for 35 years. Yes, more children have ASD than 35 years ago, but the behaviors haven't changed, just the ability to accurately diagnose what these behaviors indicate.

You are talking in circles. Even the CDC acknowledges the rate change. I am 39...when I was growing up, we had ZERO non-verbal children in the entire school. Now, you're hardpressed NOT to find an entire rooms of autistic nonverbal boys in each and every city. And you're going to tell me that this was just as much of a problem back in the 70s and 80s? That's total bullshit and you know it.

Even an article on WebMD, referring to the CDC, written way back in 2002, acknowledges the increase in prevalence. And, it's gone up since then.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20021231/cdc-autism-rates-higher-than-thought

May of this year...."Rates of autism, ADHD, other disabilities on the rise, CDC says":
http://www.mlive.com/health/index.ssf/2011/05/rates_of_autism_adhd_other_dis.html

October, 2011..."Autism rate triples among K-12 students"
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/autism-rate-triples-among-k-12-students-8488

I could keep going......

ZERO non-verbal kids?

Excuse me? Are you saying there were no children with cerebral palsy thirty-nine years ago?

No children with traumatic brain injury?

No children with speech and language disorders?

I think you need to look past your own bullshit.

You need to read more carefully. This poster said she didn't know anyone nonverbal personally. She didn't say there were no nonverbal people in the entire universe, only that she didn't know anyone when she was growing up who was nonverbal. Today, there are lots of nonverbal kids. We all know them and see them. I don't see how anyone can argue that there has not been a dramatic increase in the number of kids with ASD, asthma, life-threatening allergies, ADHD in the last 30 or more years. Yes, in the old days, some kids were labeled "weird" or stuffed into special ed classes, but these kids were not kept in cages! They would have been in the community where we could see them when they weren't in school. They were not there, nor were the kids with peanut allergies, etc. They didn't exist 30 or 40 years ago. Or if they did, they were in miniscule numbers.

Everyone has a crutch to lean upon. I know some people who refuse to even consider vaccines as a culprit, a trigger perhaps, in some ASD cases. Others don't want to rip up their wall-to-wall carpeting or move out of their brand new homes filled with products made with formaldehyde and other toxins, so they turn a blind eye to the possibility that these chemicals may be contributing to their child's condition.

A PP stated it best: There are no genetic epidemics. The current epidemic of ASD is caused by environmental factors triggering a genetic predisposition.

In another thread, a parent posted that her ASD kid is better after getting rid of electronic stimuli (tv, computers, etc.) changing her child's diet and adding omega 3s. Surely this is one case where environment (food, electronic stimuli) was contributing to this child's issues.

Posters who wish to keep their heads buried deep in the sand may stay there, but meanwhile their ASD kids won't get better if their parents don't look around and find the problems in their child's environment and body that lead to or contribute to ASD.

It's tough having an ASD child, but it's not God's will, or fate, or heredity alone. There are environmental factors that have created this epidemic. Once we all accept that, we can move forward and figure out the many causes of ASD and find out how to reverse these numbers and end this epidemic. ASD may never end completely, but the epidemic must.


Where will we hide all these ASD kids when they reach their 30s and 40s?

Anonymous wrote:Nonverbal kids were institutionalized. They no longer are. There were no nonverbal kids in any of our schools -- they didn't go to school. That is what changed. Its ridiculous for you to say because you didn't see them, they didn't exist. I personally know of several adults who have been nonverbal autistic their entire lives. They do not live at home.

You can say there are no genetic epidemics but its pretty meaningless. ASDs have a large genetic component. Call it an epidemic if you'd like, or not. Its always been with us.

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Anonymous wrote:Nonverbal kids were institutionalized. They no longer are. There were no nonverbal kids in any of our schools -- they didn't go to school. That is what changed. Its ridiculous for you to say because you didn't see them, they didn't exist. I personally know of several adults who have been nonverbal autistic their entire lives. They do not live at home.

You can say there are no genetic epidemics but its pretty meaningless. ASDs have a large genetic component. Call it an epidemic if you'd like, or not. Its always been with us.

It doesn't matter how many times you say the same thing....it doesn't make it true!!

Anonymous wrote:There has to be some genetic predisposition, but 1 in 100, is that what it is now? Those numbers didn't exist 30 years ago. This is an epidemic. It's man-made. This planet is being ruined and our children are suffering.

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It's not that ASD didn't exist before 1980 or 1994, it's that it was diagnosed.

That should say "wasn't diagnosed."

Anonymous wrote:Not every child with ASD is nonverbal. With intensive therapy, a lot can change. My kid was nonverbal up to age 3. Now she speaks read and comprehends very well. It took a looootttt of therapy but I wouldn't o it any different.

XTroll wrote: Autism is an epidemic right now. I don't see how anyone can be blind to this.