Re: Kirby article - There is NO autism epidemic!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Thank you for posting this.

-- In Autism Treatment , " nm44714 "

wrote:

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> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/there-is-no-autism-

> epidem_b_37647.html

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>

> There is No Autism Epidemic

> Kirby.

>

> It's been nearly two years since the release of my book, " Evidence

> of Harm, Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic - A Medical

> Controversy, " and I continue to be vilified by critics who insist

> that mercury does not cause autism, that autism is a stable genetic

> condition, and that it cannot be an " epidemic. "

>

> I am going to declare a New Year's truce, and announce that my

> critics are 100 percent correct.

>

> This year, I hope we can ALL agree on one thing: There is no autism

> epidemic.

>

> Among my most spirited and articulate detractors is a group of

> adults with autism who belong to a movement that refers to itself as

> the " neurodiversity " community.

>

> These adults argue passionately that autism is neither a disease nor

> a disorder, but rather a natural and special variation of the chance

> genetic imprint left upon human behavior. Most of them, I believe,

> have what science calls " Asperger's Syndrome, " or very high

> functioning

> autism.

>

> From their eloquent and well reasoned point of view, autism has

> no " cause, " and it certainly requires no " cure. " To suggest

> otherwise is to brand these adults with the stigma of disease and

> disability, which is patently absurd given their educational and

> intellectual achievements.

>

> It's like saying that left-handers or gays are deviant and need

> treatment - something that reasonable people stopped doing years

> ago.

> So maybe autism really is just an odd genetic peculiarity that

> yields atypical people whose own set of talents and gifts can lead

> to perfectly happy and fulfilled lives, with little or no dependence

> on others for their survival.

>

> If that's the case, then autism has always been with us at some

> steady, but largely overlooked rate. Growing awareness and better

> diagnostics have certainly helped us identify and count more people

> with the condition, who might have been mislabeled as " quirky "

> or " nerdy " a decade ago.

>

> But if that's autism, then the kids that I have met suffer from some

> other condition entirely. When I talk about " curing " autism, I am

> not talking about curing the " neurodiverse. "

>

> I am talking about kids who begin talking and then, suddenly, never

> say another word.

>

> I'm talking about kids who may never learn to read, write, tie their

> shoes or fall in love.

>

> I'm talking about kids who sometimes wail in torture at three in the

> morning because something inside them hurts like a burning coal, but

> they can't say what or where it is.

>

> I'm talking about kids who can barely keep food in their inflamed,

> distressed guts, and when they do, it winds up in rivers of diarrhea

> or swirls of feces spread on a favorite carpet or pet (no one said

> this kind of " autism " was pretty).

>

> I'm talking about kids who escape from their home in a blaze of

> alarms, only to be found hours later, freezing, alone and wandering

> the Interstate.

>

> I'm talking about kids who have bitten their mother so hard and so

> often, they are on a first name basis at the emergency room.

> I'm talking about kids who spin like fireworks until they fall and

> crack their heads, kids who will play with a pencil but not with

> their sister, kids who stare at nothing and scream at everything and

> don't even realize it when their dad comes home from work.

>

> These are the kids I want to see cured. And I don't believe they

> have " autism. "

>

> Scientists tell us that 1-in-104 American boys are currently

> diagnosed with some form of autism spectrum disorder. But the

> mildest, " high functioning " forms of autism have seemingly little in

> common with the most severe or even moderate cases.

>

> My hunch (and yes, that is all it is) is that most of these kids do

> not have " autism " at all, and it's probably time we started calling

> it something else.

>

> American kids are in huge trouble. One in six has a learning

> disability. Asthma, diabetes, allergies and arthritis are ravaging

> their bodies in growing numbers. And little of this is due

> to " better diagnostics " or " greater awareness. "

>

> It can only be attributed to radical changes in our environment over

> the last 10-20 years. There is something, or more likely some things

> in our modern air, water, food and drugs that are making genetically

> susceptible children sick, and we need to find out what they are.

> Mercury remains a logical candidate for contributing to " autism

> spectrum disorders, " either alone or in combination with other

> environmental insults. Mercury exposure can kill brain cells. It can

> cause loss of speech and eye contact, digestive and immune

> dysfunction,

> social withdrawal and anxiety, and repetitive and self-injurious

> behaviors.

>

> So maybe we should leave the autistics in peace and focus on these

> environmentally toxic kids and what it is that ails them.

> Maybe what these kids have is not autism, but something like,

> say, " Environmentally-acquired Neuroimmune Disorder, " which we could

> call E.N.D. (Great slogan: " Let's End E.N.D.).

>

> Maybe that would explain why a recent CDC-funded study of the San

> Francisco Bay Area showed that kids with " autism " were 50% more

> likely to be born in neighborhoods with high levels of airborne

> toxins, especially mercury. If a second study underway in Baltimore

> yields

> similar data, it will be that much harder to defend the " better

> diagnosis " argument, (other studies have shown an association

> between autism rates and proximity to coal-fired power plants).

>

> So maybe what we have here is just a semantic failure to

> communicate. Columbus thought he had met " Indians, " and we only

> recently began to use the term " Native American. "

>

> Columbus was not in the Indies, mercury doesn't cause autism, and

> there is no autism epidemic

>

> " We have allowed (the drugs) industry to subvert the rules of

> science. We have watched quietly as governments and academics have

> colluded with industry to hide information critical to our patients.

> We have remained silent as our medical schools have churned out

> graduates who have no knowledge of the dilemmas and scandals of

> medicine. We have allowed many of our medical journals to become

> corrupted and timid, " - Dr Aubrey Blumsohn

>