If you missed the Dr. Oz autism show, simply watch part 7; it has value. The bottom line; and that is truly what parents of autism crave, is articulated by Mehmet Oz: I think we need to solve this national crisis!
Truth is more potent than fiction. Sadly, the pulse of Dr. Oz’s show is tantamount to a camp color war. Each team wears their moniker color and competes fiercely with their eyes on the prize. Oz’s circle of parent factions is flanked by white coats, doctors who should log in on their experiences with autism. However, the doctors don’t talk much, and if they do, nothing new is expressed.
It is the parents’ passions that take hold. Although Oz compliments them for “harnessing and harvesting” their emotions, the collective audience emits the bubbling lava that autism cultivates in families. Many mothers continue to cling on to the vaccine injury. “Every parent I spoke to, said their child changed after vaccines”, said one mom. The operative question is just how many parents did she speak to...10...20 ...100? There is a myth that circulated around the infertility community: Once couples adopt, they end up conceiving. There is no science in either adage.
Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation cut to the chase of where we are right now. She receives unanimous applause as she stresses that “early intervention makes a huge difference”.
Finally, if there are any skeptics out there, who dispute the devastation of autism, watch part 1, it is a chilling reminder that we need to take action now.
Comments
Why weren't there parents on this show who saw their normally progressing children suddenly and dramatically descend into autism after routine vaccinations?
Why wasn't Hannah Poling mentioned? She's the young GA girl who regressed into autism following routine vaccinations and whose case in federal Vaccine Court was conceded by HHS.
Why doesn't anyone ask Ari Brown why neither the CDC nor the AAP has ever called autism A CRISIS? Something affecting one percent of our children and almost two percent of boys is, at best,
only a "serious health care concern" by these health experts.
AND WHY HAS THERE NEVER BEEN A SIMPLE STUDY COMPARING THE AUTISM RATE IN FULLY VACCINATED AND UNVACCINATED CHILDREN?
We need to demand this research.
What are health officials afraid of?
Anne Dachel
Media editor: Age of Autism
@Anne Dachel: if, in your words, there has "NEVER BEEN A SIMPLE STUDY COMPARING THE AUTISM RATE IN FULLY VACCINATED AND UNVACCINATED CHILDREN?", then how can you regard them vaccines as complicit or a cause of autism?
Forgive me if I misunterstood your post, but that is what you seem to be implying.
And while Dr. Oz may call AUTISM A NATIONAL CRISIS, no U.S. health official or AAP leader has ever done so. One has to wonder how bad the numbers will have to get before either group takes any notice of the autism emergency.
Anne Dachel
Media editor: Age of Autism
The answer is easy, Anne. The show wasn't solely about vaccines as you had wanted it to be. It was actually really nice to see other possible causes addressed than the same worn out vaccine topic.
In part 7 on the Dr. Oz website version of the show, the lady with a sister with Autism asked about her twins and their risk, genetically. Dr. Oz, instead of answering her question by addressing the panel on genetic research and risk for family members, for some reason randomly sidesteps into the GFCF promotion mode, and NEVER answers her question. I don't get it. The whole show seemed entirely over-produced and engineered to gear toward only topics he wanted to support. There was more than one time that questions didn't get answered because somebody had to promote their own dogma. I was so disappointed. So many doctors in one room, such poor presentation of the research.
And I'm sorry, but Autism isn't my number one fear. My number one fear is my children dying of some horrible disease such as cancer, diabetes, or worse, a preventable virus. That was insulting.
Robin just because your children did not regress after multiple vaccines does not mean it happened in other families. Your children are adults and it sounds like you have a genetic predisposition to the disorder. I am guessing , you would know best. But Robin you cannot assume to know other children better than their parents.
Early intervention is great but guess what, it isn't working for enough kids. To stay stuck w/ the same interventions for 20 yrs and do nothing to address the it has children it has failed is terrible. Every child, even vaccine injured children deserve the help they need.
I am very surprised and disappointed that an ASD parent would be so dismissive and condescending towards other ASD families.
Thank you Alison Singer for lauding Early Intervention!
There has been little written about this Early Intervention in NYS and about how both families and providers have been in crisis for nearly a year. There has been little written about how the hope that we once had for disabled children is being swiftly and without forethought dismissed because of ill-conceived budget cuts. There has been little written about the fact that NYS Early Intervention has already been drastically cut and that additional cuts are being recommended in Governor Cuomo’s Budget Proposals. There has been little written about the fact that budget cuts to the areas of NYS DOH-run Early Intervention can have the same outcomes as reductions in areas mentioned in this article. Note according to the NYCLU, special education students represent 8.6% of public school students, but 32% of youth in juvenile detention nationwide.
President Obama has taken the high road and funded Early Intervention. It is our hope that Governor Cuomo will see the light and do the same.
Sincerely,
Leslie Grubler MA, CCC-SLP, TSHH
Founding Director, UNYEIP
http://UnitedNYEIProviders.weebly.com
Simply put: autism is a national crisis. We did not need a Dr. Oz show to enlighten us, as parents. However, it is the general public that must be informed.
Sadly, a lot gets packed into a 1 hour show. Some of what takes place may end up on the cutting room floor. Oz's show did seem disjointed, because of the magnitude of topics addressed.
Clearly, autism is not the only disease in need of scientific attention.... and I am not in anyway cavalier about the vaccine issue. Nevertheless, my hope is that further scientific studies will investigate the causes of autism.
I have created a petition online in the hopes of getting enough signatures to convince Dr. Oz and his producers to do a follow-up show. This time to talk about the ASD community, our fight, our love, our support for one another. To talk about early intervention, therapies and treatments. We shouldn’t be showing parents who think having autistic kids is a burden, instead we should show the good moments and how wonderful our kids are. We need to educate everyone of the real meaning of autism. Together I am confident that we can.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/giveautismachance/
Robin, nice summary of both the emotion & substance of the episode. I'm generally a fan of Dr. Oz's approach to making health science interesting, actionable & consumable with infographics, displaying actual organs, etc. I'm happy he took on autism at all, but disappointed in the outcome.
Got the bit about early intervention = important. Also appreciated hearing both sides about the benefits and risks of a delayed schedule for vaccinations.
But here you have maybe 100 or more parents with autistic kids, highly motivated to find answers. You invite them along with highly motivated pediatricians and autism experts, but hardly let anyone speak? Why not shoot 3-5 hours, let the emotion run its course and all the practical experience get some airtime, do qualitative research in house and quantitative among the viewing audience exploring all the causation theories, and air it in pieces?
Frustrating. Fanning the flames by calling it a "national crisis" but not advancing the discussion, nor pointing to exactly what is being done and what is needed to advance the discussion.
Simply poo-poo-ing parents who say "it's vaccines" without introducing what's being done to identify other causes is the worst kind of condescension. It turns the medical establishment into the enemy, as opposed to parents' best ally.
andrea
founder of http://parentsguild.com, a community of thinking parents
Andrea,
You are a smart lady.
There is too much of the same old same old.
I truly believe that the Oz show was just fraught with filler. That can be the result when there are so many people wanting to get their licks in. On the positive side.....there were no Oz shows when my son was diagnosed. Perhaps the dialog is part and parcel to enlightenment. Now what are they going to do with it all!
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