's Interview with Kirby

[Guest guest]

Statement from the National Autism

Association (NAA) and SafeMinds regarding board member , her

recent interview with Kirby and subsequent statement from Autism

Speaks

The National

Autism Association (NAA) and SafeMinds compliment for her

thoughtful commentary in a recent video interview. We were surprised by

a subsequent announcement by Autism Speaks about , whose son Christian

was the driving force behind the creation of Autism Speaks by her parents,

Bob and Suzanne . The announcement stated that should not be

considered a spokesperson for Autism Speaks and her views do not represent

those of her parents or their organization.

In her interview

with Evidence of Harm author Kirby, speaks from her heart

with regard to her son's diagnosis of autism, the struggles and hardships she

and her family have endured as a result and what she feels should be the

direction of autism research. In the interview, makes clear she is

expressing her views as a parent and not as a representative of Autism

Speaks. It is odd that an organization would issue a statement

counteracting something that doesn’t exist. A more serious concern is

that 's substantive points on autism research and causation, which are

shared by so many families, are apparently being opposed by an organization

that has stated its commitment to pursuing all reasonable avenues of science.

NAA and SafeMinds

offer our support of , both as a parent and as a board member of our

respective organizations. When spoke to , she represented

the thoughts of thousands of parents who believe they delivered their healthy

infants to a doctor’s office for government mandated vaccines only to witness

their lapse into sickness and regression into autism.

Parents bring a

wealth of expertise to science and treatment discussions because they are the

ones confronted on a daily basis with the needs of their children and as

such, their opinions should be actively solicited and embraced. Parents

like add perspective and urgency. They play an essential role in

directing precious resources towards the most promising ways that will most

quickly improve the lives of those suffering with autism now and prevent its

occurrence in the future.

In keeping with

these principles, our organizations ask Autism Speaks to clarify the

rationale for issuing their announcement on . We ask them to assure the

community that meaningful autism research on the role of the environment,

including vaccines and their components, will assume dramatically greater and

expedited prominence in its scientific and treatment agendas.

To view the

interview between Kirby and go to www.autismmedia.org

To view the

recent statement from Autism Speaks regarding this interview see http://www.autismspeaks.org/wrights_statement.php

For

information regarding the National Autism Association or SafeMinds go to www.nationalautismassociation.org

or www.safeminds.org

Think Autism. Think Cure. TM

Click here to visit our website