Re: Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

[Guest guest]

This is excellent, Bob. I plan to publish it in the SAR and someone

ought to send it to Imus. With Autism Speaks so hell-bent on pouring

most of its money down the genetics research rat-hole, I don't think

we should expect them to eventually get around to finding those

incidental environmental triggers.

I know some will whince that I bring it up, but Autism Speaks/CAN lead

the charge to drop serious environmental research language out of the

Combating Autism Act. This was not hard to manage, them going to the

highest paid pharma-donation politician in the congress at the time,

Sen Santorum to get the job done.

The more money Autism Speaks raises from the community to then spend

on diversionary going-nowhere genetic research, the less money will

then be available for going after the environmental causes... while

the epidemic crunches on hurting ever growing numbers, day after day.

Autism Speaks is getting easier to figure out as time reveals their

strategies and Pharma-friendly goals. God help our children.

Lenny

>

> Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

>

> http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php

>

> At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic disorder

> with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important determinant in

> the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical twins, with

> carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but rather

> 85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow interact with

> genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental

> factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and thus we

> need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What we do

> know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching television or

> by bad parenting.

>

> If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it was

> only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest possible

> terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's autism

> (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such backwards

> thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is insulting to

> individuals with autism and their families. We must continually strive

> to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands the

> urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects one in

> every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly funding and

> fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced research

> into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better

> treatments and, hopefully, a cure.

>

> Alison Singer

> Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, I went to the Autism Speaks website in order to see if they made any 'official' statements about my bad genes, there. Lovely, that they've made themselves clear, there on their site. That being said, now, how many people will see this clarification, compared with the numbers of people who read Alison's statement in section A of the Wall Street Journal? I did, also, while I was there, have a look at how some of the money they get is being spent. And I did see some research money being spent on environmental causes, and I even saw the words vaccine and thimerosal mentioned a few times. Yet almost everyone involved with autism, either in the medical field or in the charity organizations, when I see them on my television or hear them on my radio, is insistent on ignoring that big huge stinking gorilla sitting there in the middle of the parlor. I'm probably getting my metaphors mixed up again--oh well that happens with me when I am angry..No,

if she really believed that autism was mercury poisoning and she really wanted to do something to help the children who've been poisoned and stop any further damage being done, she'd be speaking publicly, SHE WOULD BE MAKING HERSELF HEARD on the matter. She doesn't get the backing of her board if she never says a word to them to try to convince them, or anyone, just what it is that she needs backing for. And until somebody hears her speaking publicly I've no reason to believe she's speaking even to the Autism Speaks board or friends or family, about thimerosal. What she's done with her website clarification is a whisper, one that she is hoping not too many people will notice, this is what I think. She thinks it allows her to clear her name and her conscious. It might work on her conscious. But it's not fooling me.Why should I believe that any amount of money they might be receiving will ever be spent in any serious effort to change things for the better,

when I can clearly see how desperately they are trying to avoid making the truth known about how these soaring rates of autism have come about? How do you fix a problem, when you are in denial about it's cause?schaferatsprynet <schafer@...> wrote: Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic disorder

with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important determinant in the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical twins, with carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but rather 85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow interact with genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and thus we need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What we do know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching television or by bad parenting. If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it was only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest possible terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's autism (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such backwards thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is insulting to individuals with

autism and their families. We must continually strive to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands the urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects one in every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly funding and fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced research into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better treatments and, hopefully, a cure. Alison Singer Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks

[Guest guest]

Lenny,

You are right. But, it’s more than JUST environmental causes. Even if we find that autism is caused by mercury or vaccines or eating too many french fries from Mcs... There will be still be thousands of children and adults who need group homes, seizure meds, playgrounds in special needs schools, 30-40 hours of therapy a week, etc.

I felt this way about NAAR (alittle more so because they did nothing for awareness) and now about Autism Speaks. Every dollar given to them is not spent locally. I was talking to a Mom just yesterday and she illustrated this point perfectly. She works with a non-profit that helps kids with autism here on Long Island. There is this fundraising dinner coming up in April (by another group), where the money is given to 3 different groups. They usually get about $20,000-30,000 each. This year Autism Speaks is one of the groups they picked to give money. If they didn’t give the money to AS, then a local school or organization would benefit. (and before you ask this has nothing to do with my group and conference. We spend our time organizing, not fundraising. Our conference pays for itself. We were never considered for this fundraiser. I don’t even know who the group is honestly- lol) Anyway, money that goes to AS doesn’t go to a group home or preschool or whatever. That is just sad.

I think AS has done great work with awareness. But, we can’t let the bottom drop out. If one national group eats up all the other national groups- then takes all the local money- many groups will suffer. Remember when the Tsunami hit a few years ago? That REALLY hurt a local school who was trying to raise money to pay for assistants in the classroom. Everything has a cause and effect.

Now I see all these parents spending their time doing little fundraiser and saying the money goes to AS, or AS and another group. I think they are getting all excited because of the celebrity of NBC. Yes, fine, people are free to give to who they want. But, there are only so many dollars for autism.

I think in time AS will probably do more with their money then research. They just need a little time to get their organization organized.

But, this issue is more than genetics vs biomed. It’s big fish vs little fish. And right now a lot of little fish need help....

On 3/3/07 3:08 AM, " schaferatsprynet " <schafer@...> wrote:

This is excellent, Bob. I plan to publish it in the SAR and someone

ought to send it to Imus. With Autism Speaks so hell-bent on pouring

most of its money down the genetics research rat-hole, I don't think

we should expect them to eventually get around to finding those

incidental environmental triggers.

I know some will whince that I bring it up, but Autism Speaks/CAN lead

the charge to drop serious environmental research language out of the

Combating Autism Act. This was not hard to manage, them going to the

highest paid pharma-donation politician in the congress at the time,

Sen Santorum to get the job done.

The more money Autism Speaks raises from the community to then spend

on diversionary going-nowhere genetic research, the less money will

then be available for going after the environmental causes... while

the epidemic crunches on hurting ever growing numbers, day after day.

Autism Speaks is getting easier to figure out as time reveals their

strategies and Pharma-friendly goals. God help our children.

Lenny

>

> Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

>

> http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php

>

> At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic disorder

> with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important determinant in

> the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical twins, with

> carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but rather

> 85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow interact with

> genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental

> factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and thus we

> need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What we do

> know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching television or

> by bad parenting.

>

> If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it was

> only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest possible

> terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's autism

> (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such backwards

> thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is insulting to

> individuals with autism and their families. We must continually strive

> to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands the

> urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects one in

> every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly funding and

> fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced research

> into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better

> treatments and, hopefully, a cure.

>

> Alison Singer

> Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks

>

[Guest guest]

Robin,

You make an excellent point. There is some money being spend by Autism

Speaks on environmental research, even thimerosal. Some of it is very

important reseearch on low dose exposures to thimerosal. But the amount

of money is very small compared to the money spent on other areas. It

should be more. Also, the fuel added to the genetics propaganda machine

has allowed an ordinary American who reads the newspapers to think and

say " autism is genetic. " That is no accident. I would want a leading

organization with unfettered access to the media - essentially an

organization that is an autism awareness media machine - to do

everything it can to make sure that the average American knows from the

popular media that environmental factors play an important, and likely,

dominant role in autism etiology.

It is the responsibility of Autism Speaks to do this, but they are not

doing it. The dominant message is " autism is genetic " or autism is

primarily genetic. That is a false message. Why is it the message going

out?

Bob Krakow

On Mar 3, 2007, at 7:45 AM, robin nemeth wrote:

Yes, I went to the Autism Speaks website in order to see if they made

any 'official' statements about my bad genes, there. Lovely, that

they've made themselves clear, there on their site.

That being said, now, how many people will see this clarification,

compared with the numbers of people who read Alison's statement in

section A of the Wall Street Journal?

I did, also, while I was there, have a look at how some of the money

they get is being spent. And I did see some research money being spent

on environmental causes, and I even saw the words vaccine and

thimerosal mentioned a few times.

Yet almost everyone involved with autism, either in the medical field

or in the charity organizations, when I see them on my television or

hear them on my radio, is insistent on ignoring that big huge stinking

gorilla sitting there in the middle of the parlor. I'm probably getting

my metaphors mixed up again--oh well that happens with me when I am

angry..

No, if she really believed that autism was mercury poisoning and she

really wanted to do something to help the children who've been poisoned

and stop any further damage being done, she'd be speaking publicly, SHE

WOULD BE MAKING HERSELF HEARD on the matter. She doesn't get the

backing of her board if she never says a word to them to try to

convince them, or anyone, just what it is that she needs backing for.

And until somebody hears her speaking publicly I've no reason to

believe she's speaking even to the Autism Speaks board or friends or

family, about thimerosal.

What she's done with her website clarification is a whisper, one that

she is hoping not too many people will notice, this is what I think.

She thinks it allows her to clear her name and her conscious. It might

work on her conscious. But it's not fooling me.

Why should I believe that any amount of money they might be receiving

will ever be spent in any serious effort to change things for the

better, when I can clearly see how desperately they are trying to

avoid making the truth known about how these soaring rates of autism

have come about?

How do you fix a problem, when you are in denial about it's cause?

schaferatsprynet <schafer@...> wrote:Autism Speaks'

Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

>

> http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php

>

> At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic disorder

> with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important determinant in

> the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical twins, with

> carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but rather

> 85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow interact with

> genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental

> factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and thus we

> need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What we do

> know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching television or

> by bad parenting.

>

> If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it was

> only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest possible

> terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's autism

> (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such backwards

> thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is insulting to

> individuals with autism and their families. We must continually

> strive

> to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands the

> urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects one in

> every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly funding and

> fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced research

> into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better

> treatments and, hopefully, a cure.

>

> Alison Singer

> Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks

>

[Guest guest]

Excellent point, . Bleeding local autism efforts dry and

sending the money to a NYC bank account to fund genetic research is not

a good thing. The local parents and supporters should determine where

the money goes, and they should know that there are alternate places to

put their autism dollars than the AS conglomerate.

On Mar 3, 2007, at 8:59 AM, christine wrote:

Lenny,

You are right.  But, it’s more than JUST environmental causes.  Even

if we find that autism is caused by mercury or vaccines or eating too

many french fries from Mcs... There will be still be thousands of

children and adults who need group homes, seizure meds, playgrounds in

special needs schools, 30-40 hours of therapy a week, etc.

I felt this way about NAAR (alittle more so because they did nothing

for awareness) and now about Autism Speaks.  Every dollar given to them

is not spent locally.  I was talking to a Mom just yesterday and she

illustrated this point perfectly.  She works with a non-profit that

helps kids with autism here on Long Island.  There is this fundraising

dinner coming up in April (by another group), where the money is given

to 3 different groups.  They usually get about $20,000-30,000 each.

 This year Autism Speaks is one of the groups they picked to give

money.  If they didn’t give the money to AS, then a local school or

organization would benefit. (and before you ask this has nothing to do

with my group and conference.  We spend our time organizing, not

fundraising.  Our conference pays for itself.  We were never considered

for this fundraiser.  I don’t even know who the group is honestly- lol)

 Anyway, money that goes to AS doesn’t go to a group home or preschool

or whatever.  That is just sad.  

I think AS has done great work with awareness.  But, we can’t let the

bottom drop out.  If one national group eats up all the other national

groups- then takes all the local money- many groups will suffer.

 Remember when the Tsunami hit a few years ago?  That REALLY hurt a

local school who was trying to raise money to pay for assistants in the

classroom.  Everything has a cause and effect.

Now I see all these parents spending their time doing little

fundraiser and saying the money goes to AS, or AS and another group.  I

think they are getting all excited because of the celebrity of NBC.

 Yes, fine, people are free to give to who they want.  But, there are

only so many dollars for autism.

I think in time AS will probably do more with their money then

research.  They just need a little time to get their organization

organized.

But, this issue is more than genetics vs biomed.  It’s big fish vs

little fish.  And right now a lot of little fish need help....

On 3/3/07 3:08 AM, " schaferatsprynet " <schafer@...> wrote:

>

>  

>  

>

>

> This is excellent, Bob. I plan to publish it in the SAR and someone

> ought to send it to Imus. With Autism Speaks so hell-bent on pouring

> most of its money down the genetics research rat-hole, I don't think

> we should expect them to eventually get around to finding those

> incidental environmental triggers.

>

> I know some will whince that I bring it up, but Autism Speaks/CAN lead

> the charge to drop serious environmental research language out of the

> Combating Autism Act.  This was not hard to manage, them going to the

> highest paid pharma-donation politician in the congress at the time,

> Sen Santorum to get the job done.

>

> The more money Autism Speaks raises from the community to then spend

> on diversionary going-nowhere genetic research, the less money will

> then be available for going after the environmental causes... while

> the epidemic crunches on hurting ever growing numbers, day after day.

>  Autism Speaks is getting easier to figure out as time reveals their

> strategies and Pharma-friendly goals.  God help our children.

>

> Lenny

>

>

> >

> > Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

> >

> > http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php

> >

> >   At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic

> disorder

> >   with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important

> determinant in

> >   the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical twins,

> with

> >   carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but rather

> >   85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow interact

> with

> >   genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental

> >   factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and thus

> we

> >   need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What we do

> >   know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching

> television or

> >   by bad parenting.

> >

> >   If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it was

> >   only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest

> possible

> >   terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's autism

> >   (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such

> backwards

> >   thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is insulting

> to

> >   individuals with autism and their families. We must continually

> strive

> >   to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands the

> >   urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects one

> in

> >   every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly

> funding and

> >   fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced

> research

> >   into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better

> >   treatments and, hopefully, a cure.

> >

> >   Alison Singer

> >   Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks

> >

>

>  

>     

[Guest guest]

The Great, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan would cure/eliminate autism.

Everyone else (myself included) belongs to a debating society.

Re: Re: Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

Lenny,You are right. But, it’s more than JUST environmental causes. Even if we find that autism is caused by mercury or vaccines or eating too many french fries from Mcs... There will be still be thousands of children and adults who need group homes, seizure meds, playgrounds in special needs schools, 30-40 hours of therapy a week, etc.I felt this way about NAAR (alittle more so because they did nothing for awareness) and now about Autism Speaks. Every dollar given to them is not spent locally. I was talking to a Mom just yesterday and she illustrated this point perfectly. She works with a non-profit that helps kids with autism here on Long Island. There is this fundraising dinner coming up in April (by another group), where the money is given to 3 different groups. They usually get about $20,000-30,000 each. This year Autism Speaks is one of the groups they picked to give money. If they didn’t give the money to AS, then a local school or organization would benefit. (and before you ask this has nothing to do with my group and conference. We spend our time organizing, not fundraising. Our conference pays for itself. We were never considered for this fundraiser. I don’t even know who the group is honestly- lol) Anyway, money that goes to AS doesn’t go to a group home or preschool or whatever. That is just sad. I think AS has done great work with awareness. But, we can’t let the bottom drop out. If one national group eats up all the other national groups- then takes all the local money- many groups will suffer. Remember when the Tsunami hit a few years ago? That REALLY hurt a local school who was trying to raise money to pay for assistants in the classroom. Everything has a cause and effect.Now I see all these parents spending their time doing little fundraiser and saying the money goes to AS, or AS and another group. I think they are getting all excited because of the celebrity of NBC. Yes, fine, people are free to give to who they want. But, there are only so many dollars for autism.I think in time AS will probably do more with their money then research. They just need a little time to get their organization organized.But, this issue is more than genetics vs biomed. It’s big fish vs little fish. And right now a lot of little fish need help....On 3/3/07 3:08 AM, "schaferatsprynet" <schafersprynet> wrote:

This is excellent, Bob. I plan to publish it in the SAR and someoneought to send it to Imus. With Autism Speaks so hell-bent on pouringmost of its money down the genetics research rat-hole, I don't thinkwe should expect them to eventually get around to finding thoseincidental environmental triggers. I know some will whince that I bring it up, but Autism Speaks/CAN leadthe charge to drop serious environmental research language out of theCombating Autism Act. This was not hard to manage, them going to thehighest paid pharma-donation politician in the congress at the time,Sen Santorum to get the job done.The more money Autism Speaks raises from the community to then spendon diversionary going-nowhere genetic research, the less money willthen be available for going after the environmental causes... whilethe epidemic crunches on hurting ever growing numbers, day after day. Autism Speaks is getting easier to figure out as time reveals theirstrategies and Pharma-friendly goals. God help our children.Lenny > > Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal> > http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php> > At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic disorder> with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important determinant in> the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical twins, with> carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but rather> 85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow interact with> genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental> factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and thus we> need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What we do> know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching television or> by bad parenting.> > If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it was> only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest possible> terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's autism> (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such backwards> thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is insulting to> individuals with autism and their families. We must continually strive> to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands the> urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects one in> every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly funding and> fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced research> into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better> treatments and, hopefully, a cure.> > Alison Singer> Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks>

[Guest guest]

Geez....I read it too fast - wasn't paying attention. Kinda sneaky

how they worded that. Anyone could develop autism with enough

mercury exposure at a critical point in development.

> > >

> > > Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

> > >

> > > http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php

> > >

> > > At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic

disorder

> > > with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important

> > determinant in

> > > the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical

twins,

> > with

> > > carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but

rather

> > > 85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow

interact

> > with

> > > genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental

> > > factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and

thus we

> > > need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What

we do

> > > know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching

television

> > or

> > > by bad parenting.

> > >

> > > If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it

was

> > > only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest

> > possible

> > > terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's

autism

> > > (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such

> > backwards

> > > thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is

insulting to

> > > individuals with autism and their families. We must

continually

> > strive

> > > to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands

the

> > > urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects

one in

> > > every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly

funding

> > and

> > > fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced

> > research

> > > into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better

> > > treatments and, hopefully, a cure.

> > >

> > > Alison Singer

> > > Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

You said it right there . There was no predisposition in my family as my first son who is affected got less mercury than my second son. The difference is the fact that we were in an old apartment in Queens New York with our first child where we unknowingly at the time stripped lead paint and contaminated the place before I was even pregnant. Hair tests showed he was extremely high in lead, antimony and aluminum and various other metals including mercury. I surmise that by the time he got his vaccinations, his sulfur level was so depleted (his baby hair sample shows this by the way) that he didn't have enough to chelate the mercury out. The behaviors he displayed as a two year old were severe enough to earn him the "autistic" label in 1993.

Their "autism gene" theory does not fit my family and depending on what else is going on as far as heavy metals exposure and the depletion of sulfur compounds in the blood, mercury can do its damage at any time in a child's development even if they don't have a genetic predisposition to not being able to chelate heavy metals.

Beth

Re: Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal

Geez....I read it too fast - wasn't paying attention. Kinda sneaky how they worded that. Anyone could develop autism with enough mercury exposure at a critical point in development.> > >> > > Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re: Wall Street Journal> > > > > > http://www.autismspeaks.org/wsj_statement.php> > > > > > At Autism Speaks, our position is that autism is a genetic disorder> > > with an environmental trigger. Genetics is an important > > determinant in> > > the disorder, but not the sole factor. Even in identical twins, > > with> > > carbon copies of DNA, the concordance rate is not 100%, but rather> > > 85-90%. Thus we know that environmental factors somehow interact > > with> > > genes to cause autism. It is not clear what those environmental> > > factors are, or whether they occur pre or post-natally, and thus we> > > need to cast a wide net with regard to autism research. What we do> > > know, however, is that autism is not caused by watching television > > or> > > by bad parenting.> > > > > > If this view was misrepresented in the Wall Street Journal, it was> > > only done in the course of trying to rebut, in the strongest > > possible> > > terms, the return to blaming parents for their children's autism> > > (click here to read the article on the Journal's site). Such > > backwards> > > thinking is incredibly detrimental to our cause and is insulting to> > > individuals with autism and their families. We must continually > > strive> > > to increase awareness of autism so that everyone understands the> > > urgency of finding answers about a disorder that now affects one in> > > every 150 children. Autism Speaks is committed to directly funding > > and> > > fighting for government dollars to support the most advanced > > research> > > into a range of potential causes of autism, as well as better> > > treatments and, hopefully, a cure.> > > > > > Alison Singer> > > Senior Vice President, Autism Speaks> > >> >>

No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition.Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.6/709 - Release Date: 3/3/2007 8:12 AM

[Guest guest]

The only email address for I'm able to find is from the Generation Rescue website. If anyone has any more recent contact information for him, I would appreciate it.

[Guest guest]

I’ve searched the Autism Speaks website and can’t seem to find Ms. Singer’s

“clarification.’” Can someone

please point me in the right direction so that I may read it?

Thank you,

A. Weber

[Guest guest]

It's gone now.

--- Re: Autism Speaks' Clarification Statement re:

WallStreet JournalFrom: " Weber" <ajsangela@...>Date: Sun, March 11, 2007 8:39 pmEOHarm

..