Truth Out:The Really Big Lie About Autism-Could Substitute Mold Illness in Title

[Guest guest]

The Really Big Lie About Autism

By Anne McElroy Dachel

YubaNet

Tuesday 22 August 2006

This commentary is about something I've come to call, " the really big lie, "

which is surely based on the theory that the masses are more willing to

believe totally illogical, absurd propaganda, than a small little lie.

I'm talking about the claim by the medical community, health officials,

educators, and a vast parade of reporters, that the epidemic in kids with

autism

and related disorders overwhelming our schools, is the result of " greater

awareness " and " better diagnosing. "

I've been living with the really big lie for years but by now I am totally

dumbstruck by the fact that it's still believed. It's not a lie as far as

everyone who repeats it. To be fair, while it's a lie for many, it's a fallacy,

medical myth, or just wishful thinking for others.

It's a crazy way to rationalize a health care disaster, but it works! I see

it everyday in the press, usually backed up by quotes from a CDC official or

a doctor. I've rarely, if ever, heard anyone in the mainstream media

challenge people who make this pronouncement.

I'm constantly pointing out that the explosion in special needs kids in our

school can't be explained away so simply, but no one seems to notice.

Although I have no proof of my belief, I'm inclined to think that the really

big lie was started by some nameless individual deep within the recesses of

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, being CDC

officials never seem to tire of repeating the really big lie.

When faced with the skyrocketing increase in autism from one in 10,000

children, to one in every 166, including one in every 80 males, in just twenty

years, coupled with the knowledge that this happened at the very same time that

the CDC dramatically increased the number of mercury-containing vaccines on

the childhood immunization schedule, CDC officials had to be desperate.

They never thought to add up the cumulative mercury totals with each new

shot on the schedule and they had mandated each vaccine. The blame would fall

squarely on their shoulders.

The CDC's response has been complete denial; after all if there was no real

increase in disorders, everyone would be off the hook.

Thus was born the really big lie: There really aren't more children with

autism. They've always been out there, we just didn't identify the problem as

autism.

Like with all big lies, there must be proof to back it up and the CDC has

given us lots of experts, studies, and findings of their own to do just that. I

can't imagine the CDC getting away with the really big lie if it were used

in attempt to explain away an epidemic of any disease affecting children, but

because of the varied symptoms of the autism spectrum disorders, it seems to

have worked for autism.

Since my son is almost 20, I've lived with the really big lie almost since

its inception. In fact, I was probably among the first to hear it. This gives

me a unique perspective and likely caused me to be a bit more skeptical about

the really big lie than most people.

When was three, his talking and interacting with people began to

regress. It was so subtle that it's hard to remember when he first wasn't the

alert, energetic little toddler he once was. Nobody seemed all that alarmed

about

it but me.

I enrolled him in a speech therapy class at the university which helped a

little, but no one could explain why this was happening. I enrolled in

school at five and the next four years were one long struggle that I'd like to

not even think about. No one understood him and his autistic behaviors were

viewed as signs of immaturity, defiance, and anxiety.

In the second grade in 1993, was diagnosed as " possibly autistic " by a

psychologist from Minneapolis. I'll never forget how she made the statement

that autism was a " rare disorder. "

She said that it was doubtful that would ever be able to live

independently or hold a job. It was all rather hopeless and I was left pretty

much on

my own when it came to finding information on autism. So much was said back

then about the rareness of the disorder.

We live in a town of 14,000 people and when I read that the autism rate was

one in 10,000, I figured that it was unlikely that I would ever find another

parent with an autistic child.

Although I taught school for eight years before I was married, I had never

heard of a student with autism. This of course was all in the days before the

invention of the really big lie, when the truth was still discussed about

autism affecting only a small number of kids.

After what seemed a very long stay in grade school, where no professionals

had any training or experience with handling kids with autism, starting in the

fourth grade, I home schooled .

Those were the good years. He learned at his own pace. Being a teacher

myself, I designed a curriculum that he could work with. Some things he could

do

with no help, others were like a hopeless mystery.

took piano, and we were all in 4-H and belonged to a home school social

group. We took vacations and had a paper route, but he was still pretty

unresponsive when he was around strangers and he didn't like to go to public

places.

When was fifteen, everything changed. I found a doctor who specialized

in developmental disorders. I wanted to learn how to get to interact

more with people.

This was when I got the shock of my life. In the eight years since 's

original diagnosis at seven-years-old, the rates for kids with autism had

exploded. Suddenly, doctors and educators knew about autism. Kids with autism

were

everywhere. The doctor's assistant even had two autistic sons of her own.

In fact, I learned that now there was a whole spectrum of autistic disorders

and 's was called Asperger's Syndrome.

I'm pretty sure that this was when I was told the really big lie for the

first time--that all of the autistic kids were the result of " greater awareness

and better diagnosing, " and that autistic children used to just " fall through

the cracks " or were labeled with other disorders.

It didn't make much sense, but at least I had a lot of company now.

's doctor had us combing through our family tree trying to find our

" autistic relatives " that were labeled with something besides autism. This was

also when I first heard of the " autism gene " supposedly responsible for this

" inherited condition. "

When I was first told that had Asperger's Syndrome it was such a rush

of relief because I assumed that there would be people to help and school

programs for kids like that were not available when he was diagnosed

eight years earlier.

This is when I realized that the really big lie was just that, a really big

lie. There was a huge disconnect between the really big lie and the reality

of services. If these kids had been always been around, what had the schools

done with them?

I mean, it's impossible to ignore a child with autism, they must have had

something for them. I was one of the original members of an Asperger's Syndrome

parent group at a local hospital and I met so many people just like me

struggling with children and nowhere to turn to.

When I first started hearing about the rise in autism cases, I knew

immediately that and others like him were just the tip of a very large

iceberg

hidden underwater for the moment but not for long.

The one thing that scares me more than anything else in life is wondering

what will happen to these kids once they are adults if we can't even provide

for them in schools as kids.

My son is considered mildly affected with autism now. He is much improved

from the hopeless student in the second grade. He is fabulous on a computer, he

has his driver's license, he rides horseback and plays the organ and piano.

He is great at conversation at home now, but his social skills are still

limited in new situations and with strangers.

Once he finished school, became eligible for Social Security disability

payments. When my husband took to apply, the Social Security worker

filling out the forms asked, " Why are there all these young people with autism

going on disability? "

Evidently, she hadn't yet heard the really big lie, being she was so

surprised at all the people with autism. My husband told her to get used to it,

there were lots more coming, including many who were severely disabled in need

of

much more help than .

The reaction of the young Social Security worker could be a sign that we're

fast approaching a crisis with the really big lie that threatens to expose it

to all.

Right now, eighty percent of autistic Americans are under the age of 18.

This is another thing nobody seems to think about. What happens when one out of

every 166 eighteen-year-olds goes on disability for life with autism?

Years ago, I used to hear projections about the enormous cost to society

when the baby boomer generation retired. I don't hear anything about the

generation with autism. They won't have pension plans, IRA's, veteran's

benefits, or

home equity. They will never pay into Social Security, but they will need to

live on disability payments for life.

I don't know how much longer the really big lie is going to work. Throughout

history, there have been many plagues and diseases that have resulted in the

deaths of millions, but this will be the first time a society has been left

with a generation of disabled young people to care for.

When the American taxpayers realize that their bill for all this " greater

awareness and better diagnosing " will be in the trillions, I don't think

they're going to buy the really big lie.

I suppose government officials will then have to invent a new lie. Only this

time it will have to be a really, REALLY big lie and I can hardly wait to

see what they come up with.

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Anne McElroy Dachel, is the mother of a son with autism and a member of

A-CHAMP (Advocates for Children's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning).

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