Monthly Archives: March 2009
World Autism Awareness Day – April 02, 2009
In December 2007, the United Nations General Assembly resolved to make April 2nd of every year, starting 2008, World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD). The aim of this special day is to raise awareness of autism and to encourage support for families affected by autism.
There are over 67 million people affected by autism around the world and World Autism Awareness Day is a great day to do your bit to stand up for autism. You can read more about WAAD on the World Autism Awareness Day website but here are just some of the ways you can get involved:-
- Walk with Wubbzy on the Web – Walk to raise autism awareness and to raise funds. You can start your own team, join an existing team in your area, register as an individual walker or as a family. Registering on the website will give you access to a variety of fundraising tips and tools, as well as a downloadable Wubbzy coloring book for your children.
- Send World Autism Awareness Day eCard – Spread the message by sending an eCard to friends, family and colleagues.
- Donate – Support Autism Speaks’ Walk Now for Autism by donating on the website.
- Purchase a World Autism Awareness Day Tee-shirt – A great way to spread the message and support the Autism Speaks charity.
- Attend a World Autism Awareness Day event – Click the link to find out about events in your country and area that you can get involved in or support.
- Join the Word Autism Awareness Day group on Facebook – Don’t forget to tell your Facebook friends and contacts too.
- Purchase a Lindt Gold Bunny – This Easter, Lindt are donating 10 cents to Autism Speaks for every chocolate gold
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Words Hurt!
We’re always told as children that “sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”, but it’s just not true is it? Sometimes, careless or deliberately hurtful words can hurt a person far more than a blow.
President Obama caused a stir on Friday with a careless comment that he made on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show”. When talking about his bowling ability, he likened it to the Special Olympics. This was a careless throw-away remark, which I’m sure was meant as a harmless joke and with no malice intended, but a president needs to be more careful, particularly when he’s on air! I bet he was kicking himself afterwards. See the YouTube video below if you missed the comment:-
This one comment has had many websites and blogs discussing it, and many people are hurt and upset by it. We teach our children about the power of words, yet here is the President of the United States being careless with his. Many parents on blogs that I’ve visited are upset that the President raised a laugh in this way. Judith from Autismville says that she is:
“Hurt that the leader of our country would make people with disabilities, people like my son, a punchline.”
However, President Obama has apologized for his comment. Before the show was even aired, and while flying home from his appearance on Leno, President Obama called the Head of Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to offer his apology for his remark. According to Mr Shriver:
“He [the President] expressed his disappointment and he apologized, in a way that was very moving”
Mr Shriver also commented that:
“It’s important to see that words hurt, and words do matter. And these words, that in some respect can be seen as humiliating or
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New Research Shows HBOT Success
Although we know, from anecdotal evidence and previous uncontrolled testing, that Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can successfully treat autism, there has been no controlled test to back up these claims…until now!
Finally, a controlled clinical trial has proved that HBOT leads to improvements in autism spectrum disorders – hurray!
The Trial
“Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism: a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial” a clinical trial carried out by Daniel A. Rossignol, Lanier W. Rossignol, Scott Smith, Cindy Schneider, Sally Logerquist, Anju Usman, Jim Neubrander, Eric M. Madren, Gregg Hintz, Barry Grushkin and Elizabeth A. Mumper, is the controlled trial that has got the autism world talking.
Rossignol, and his team from 6 different centers in the US, looked at a total of 62 children aged between 2 and 7 years, who were randomly split into two groups.
One group (the “treatment group”) underwent a program of 40 hours of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (1.3 atmosphere and 24% oxygen) and the second group (the “control group”) a program of 40 hours in a slightly pressurized room (1.03 atmosphere and 21% oxygen).
All of the children were assessed using various measures, including the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) and the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC).
The Results
At the end of the program of treatment, children in the treatment group, who had received HBOT, showed significantly improved CGI, ABC and ATEC scores, when compared to the control group.
The Vaccine Debate
On February 24th, on The Huffington Post site, Robert F. Kennedy Junior and David Kirby reported a ground-breaking court ruling concerning the MMR vaccine and autism.
Although the Washington federal Vaccine Court has recently ruled against three families who were claiming a link between the MMR vaccine, thimerosal and autism, the Court ruled differently in the case of Bailey Banks back in 2007, a case which has only just come to light.
The Bailey Banks Case
Back in June 2007, Special Master Richard Abell ruled that the parents of Bailey Banks, aged 10, had sufficiently demonstrated to the Vaccine Court that “the MMR vaccine at issue actually caused the conditions from which Bailey suffered and continues to suffer.”
The Vaccine Court awarded the Bailey family over $810,000 as a lump sum and between $30,000 and $40,000 per year for Bailey’s care, as compensation.
The Court ruled that the MMR vaccine had in fact caused the “acute brain damage” that was responsible for Bailey’s ASD. Special Master Abell ruled that the family had proven that the vaccine caused acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a brain inflammation illness, and that this led to PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified).
On hearing all of the facts of the case, the Court agreed that Bailey’s ADEM was caused by the MMR vaccine and this his ADEM was serious enough to cause permanent brain damage and developmental delays which are classed as PDD-NOS.
In Robert F. Kennedy’s words:
“The Court found that Bailey would not have suffered this delay but for the administration of the MMR vaccine, and that this chain of causation was… a proximate sequence of cause and effect leading inexorably from vaccination to Pervasive Developmental Delay.”
Kennedy also points out that this is not an isolated ruling and…
Amino Acids
Amino acids play a major part in metabolism and as building blocks of protein. They are so essential that they have become known as “the building blocks of life”. Amino acids cause reactions in the cells of the body and control cellular process.
There are 22 amino acids needed by the body to manufacture around 50,000 proteins to keep the body healthy. Out of these 22, there are 8 that the body cannot produce itself and these are referred to as “essential amino acids”. These essential amino acids must be obtained on a daily basis from the food that we eat because they cannot be stored for later use.
Amino Acids and Autistic Children
Children require more amino acids in their diet than adults because they are growing, developing and also use more energy.
Studies have shown that some autistic children are deficient in certain amino acids and that they have an increased need for amino acids, when compared to other children, because they have problems metabolizing amino acids. It is therefore essential that parents make sure that their children are receiving adequate amounts of amino acids (from protein foods), particularly if they are on a restrictive diet like the GFCF Diet or SCD.
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