Mad Scientists

My first time was my freshman year with my Political Science teacher. I don't remember his name, but I'll never forget his face and the joy he brought me for years to come. He showed me the world....
the world wide web.

I thought I had hit the jackpot. No more late nights at the library, digging through the stacks. Here was everything I ever needed, right at my fingertips.

But before unleashing us for a lifetime of surfing, our professor taught us we couldn't just trust anything because it was online. Apparently a footnote wasn't good enough, it had to be a reputable web page. Those teachers, so picky. Unfortunately many people still don't realize this.

The web doesn't filter out the quacks, in fact it encourages them. When Jenny McCarthy claims on Oprah she has a Google degree, she doesn't mention that it's from an unaccredited community college.

I recently finished Dr. Offit's latest book Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure. It's written by the same doctor that wrote Vaccinated. It's no beach read, but my brain could use a workout and I enjoyed reading something before bed besides Goodnight Moon.

I'm already convined that things like MMR and thimerosol don't cause autism. Dr. Offit really reveals how these myths started and then spread. How the few physicians and researchers that were behind these myths were doing research in their basements (p. 135) not at accredited facilities, casting scientific method aside and falsifying data which would later be criticized by the AAP, IOM, CDC and academic institutions.

Who are these "experts" spreading inaccuracies? Most are paid witnesses, personal injury lawyers and even public relations firms hired to bring a big payout to families (!!!!). I am embarassed to admit, that until I read this book I hadn't even realized that the whole silicone breast implants cause cancer/illness/etc thing was a similar hoax promoted by lawyers that has since been disproven. Since I've never been in the market, I've never done any research on the matter. (Read all about it on page 74!) All I heard was the few sensational news stories of giant court payouts.

I guess it shouldn't surprise me when people still ask me, "Are you going to vaccinate your kid? Don't those things cause autism?" Unfortunately rational researchers and scientists aren't the showy types who reach millions through 10 minutes on Oprah. They see a passionate mom telling Oprah that her child was cured and that's all it takes.

Some of Autism's false prophets are parents who don't know any better. They want to see improvement in their children, and who wouldn't? But when valid medical studies are conducted on some alternative treatments such as secretin, we all learn just how strong the placebo effect can be. Kids treated with salt water "improved" just as much - if not more - than kids treated with secretin. The secretin myth is debunked by page 17 of this book.

What's wrong with a little alternative medicine? I'm a big fan of chiropratic medicine, music therapy and other things considered outside the mainstream. But many parents of autistic children are not only suckered in to expensive, needless therapies, but may end up inadvertently killing their child.

My daughter is deaf. She's been deaf since she was conceived. Ten years ago no one screened for hearing loss at birth. Kids were often 3 or 4 before their parents realized they were deaf, when they failed to start talking. That doesn't mean those kids became deaf at 3; most were deaf all along. Now we have newborn screenings which can identify it as early as the first day of life.

Many true experts can see signs of autism in children as soon as six months of age. Parents who thought their kids didn't show signs until after the MMR vaccine were later disproven when videos of their young children were reviewed. Unfortunately if you don't have a family history you aren't really looking for these signs in your child.

What does work? What should parents be doing?

Early intervention works. It won't cure your child of autism, but it can show amazing improvement. Watch for the signs. Do a quick online screening. If you have suspicions, see your Pediatrician. If there are even suspicions, get as much help for your child as soon as possible, while the brain is in it's most malleable state. Nobody ever says, "I wish I had done less for my child."

What is more important to your child - what caused their autism or what you can do to help them live with it? I focus my efforts and money on things like speech therapy for my deaf daughter, because as with autism, there's no "cure" but there is still plenty parents can do to help their children. The earlier, the better.

Some public school systems have free, specialized care for children with autism as early as 2 years of age. All school systems must provide free care by 3 years of age. They will probably provide care long before then. You may have to pay, but there should a sliding fee scale. I'm not saying it won't be a fight, but that is where you should put your energies, not unproven, harmful interventions. Get your child occupational therapy, speech therapy, music therapy - anything that is research based and medically proven to help.

If you're a parent of a child with autism and you're considering a controversial treatment approach, please, please, please read this book first. If you still think there's something to the vaccines cause autism link, please read this book. Check it out from your local library, buy it on Amazon or WIN IT! (If you’d like to win a copy, leave a comment here or on the upcoming Mid-Campaign post at Parent Bloggers.)