Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Make no mistake, we are at war.  Those of us living with autism everyday, and those of us whohave to fight school districts, and insurance companies and govenrmental denials, careless bystanders and an apathetic public at large, every day is a struggle and the end is nowhere in sight.  Yet sometimes, hunkered down in your foxholes, you hear about other warrior’s courage and it inspires you to keep fighting.  This is one of those stories. (from Age of Autism)

How Long Must We Sing This Song?
Vicky Debold, PhD, RN

In 1983, the band U2 released an album titled War which includes Sunday Bloody Sunday, a song widely considered to be one of the most powerful political protest songs of all times.  For anyone who doesn’t know the song’s history, it captures the anguish of an observer who witnessed Northern Irish civil rights protesters being fired upon by the British army (lyrics below).

For those of us within the vaccine-injured communities who are fighting on behalf of our children for the basic human right to make voluntary, informed vaccination decisions that are based on sound science rather than ideology, it is a battle.  And it is personal.  Like the victims of the civil war described in Sunday Bloody Sunday, many lives have been lost, our families torn apart, and everyday there’s unbelievable news where indeed, “fact” is fiction and TV becomes reality.

For anyone fortunate enough to be able to attend this weekend’s outstanding Autism One conference and Saturday night’s dinner, they heard my 11 year-old son, Sam, sing Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Sunday Bloody Sunday
U2, 1983

I can’t believe the news today
Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away
How long…
How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long…

‘Cause tonight…we can be as one, tonight…

Broken bottles under children’s feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end streets
But I won’t heed the battle call
It puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

And the battle’s just begun
There’s many lost but tell me who has won?
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long? How long?
‘Cause tonight…we can be as one
Tonight, tonight…

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your blood shot eyes

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

And its true we are immune when fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die

The real battle yet begun to claim the victory Jesus won

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Sam’s story is a common one these days.  He was a healthy, happy, normally developing baby until 15 months-of-age when he experienced a significant physical and social regression after receiving seven vaccines during his well-baby visit.  The following day, he was unable to stand up in his crib, seemed “dazed”, was ataxic and lost interest in walking which lasted for two months, developed chronic diarrhea and progressively lost his ability to speak and all interest in socializing with his family.

In hindsight, I think he suffered from vaccine-induced ADEM (HERE) but it wasn’t diagnosed or treated.  In 2000, at 3 years-of-age Sam was profoundly autistic, non-verbal and mostly disconnected from the world and his developmental pediatrician told me that he would never be able to go to school and would probably be institutionalized.  Even so, he consistently would come running any time he heard the Jeopardy theme song.  As a result, we started music therapy and that’s how he learned to play piano.  If you’re interested, here’s Dr. Wakefield’s intro and Sam’s first two songs (Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and Hotel California):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQc-Wo6vJGk&feature=channel_page/

And here’s Sam’s closing, song, “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjry3fAzeuw&feature=channel_page/

Although I’m very proud of Sam’s courage and what he has achieved, I’m even prouder of the autism community and more broadly, the vaccine-injured communities.  Without the support, hard work and dedication of these communities, I doubt Sam would have delivered the amazing performance that he did.  I happen to think that there’s something rather poignant and ironic about an autistic child soulfully wailing, “I can’t close my eyes and make it go away.  How long must we sing this song? How long?”

In contrast to the song’s lyrics, the vaccine-injured community is heeding the battle call.  And it’s not just the autism community.  As a longtime volunteer for the National Vaccine Information Center (HERE) which has been fighting for vaccine risk awareness and informed consent for nearly three decades and answered thousands of calls from grief-stricken parents the world over including those of previously healthy teenaged girls who are devastated by Gardasil-induced injuries and death, I know that there are many more lining up to for fight for their rights.

And to all who either deny the existence of “broken bodies strewn across the dead end streets” or claim it is only a coincidence that individuals can be seriously harmed by vaccines — we know that this is not true.  These are people whom we love and their lives count.

If this issue is something you care about and would like to hear Sam sing Sunday Bloody Sunday, please come to Washington, DC on October 2–4, 2009 for the upcoming NVIC 4th International Public Conference on Vaccination (HERE).

Autism and the Philippines

My two favorite topics right now. I just discovered Ethan. What a great site his parents have put together.

www.autismpinoy.com

A Mothers Day Miracle

We took Ginger out Saturday to Skillin’s, the 133 year old family-owned nursery, loaded up the car and gardened all day.

But the highlight of the weekend was on Sunday when we were out for a drive and stopped in to see our new CSA farm in Wiscassett , Buckwheat Blossom Farm.  The first thing we noticed was that 4 chickens had gotten out beyond the fence and and were wandering around the other side of the street (talk about “free-range” chickens).  We pulled up beside them and told the boys “look at the chickens.”

Chandler stood up, leaned out the window and said:

Hewwo Chickens. How are you? My name is Chanwer. These are my friends, Webster, Mommy and Daddy.

Four sentences!  It was Chandler’s first single utterance of more than 10 words, and it’s also his first ever paragraph.

Mama couldn’t be prouder.   A true Mothers Day miracle.

Who will emerge as the best Autism candidate?

Check out what Obama said yesterday in Philadelphia:

“We’ve seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it’s connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it.”
–Barack Obama, April 21, 2008

It’s about time the government took it’s job seriously.  Their first job is to protect its people from threats both outside and within (even when the threat is the govt or the president himself, I’m talking to you Georgie).

And to be fair, McCain weighed in on vaccine safety earlier:

“It’s indisputable that (autism) is on the rise among children, the question is what’s causing it. And we go back and forth and there’s strong evidence that indicates it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.”
–John McCain, Texas town hall meeting, February 29, 2008.

We need to be pressing the candidates for change (that we can believe in).  And lets all hope HC loses today in PA so we can focus on how we’re going to change the tide and corruption in the halls of govt, the media and the narrow-minded medical community concerning the causes and treatments of autism.

Happy World Autism Day!

Lot’s of coverage on CNN today. Some of it good. But let’s not raise awareness, let’s raise compassion.

A lot of people are aware of the existence of starving kids in Africa, but who is moved with compassion to do something about it?

We don’t need people to be aware that 1 in 150 kids has autism, we need people to have the courage and compassion to move heaven and earth to help our kids. (preach it!)

Big Autism News

It’s like the damn has burst, damnit!  Too much coming too fast to post here, plus I was sick for 3 weeks.  So for the latest see Ginger’s blog:

Adventures in Autism 

Chandler Makes News

Ginger was profiled in yesterday’s Portland Press Herald for her autism blogging and advocacy on adventuresinautism.com. And there’s a picture of Chandler’s cute mug, right on the bottom of the front page.

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter and/or Maine Maple Sunday!

Government Admits: Vaccines Caused Child’s Autism

It should be no surprise that big media often overlooks or skews stories which may hurt their megaconglomco parent company’s bottom line. We saw it in Iraq, we saw it in their strike coverage, and we in the autism community see it every day in the co-dependant jerk off between the government, the media and big-Pharma.

As a father living with autism, I see every day how people, corporations and governments exploit those who don’t have the power or will to fight back. Even if you don’t know my son, you probably know someone else who is living with autism. One in 150 children in the U.S. have some form of autism. That’s half a million children and the number is growing. And yet the medical establishment, the CDC and every other “authority” on the subject have no idea why, and no plan what to do about it.

My wife, Ginger, who is a tireless advocate and blogger on Autism (www.adventuresinautism.com) has written a letter (below) about what is possibly THE STORY OF THE DECADE, THAT NO ONE IS REPORTING. We would be very grateful to all of you reading to consider the issues and forward this on to anyone you know who might be able to help get the word out. The more people who know, the harder it will be for the government and these corporations to hide their dirty little secrets.

Hello Friends,

As most of you know I write an autism blog that very often focuses on the role that vaccines play in the autism epidemic. I believe that my son’s autism was triggered by his vaccines.

I don’t often call many stories to the general attention of my friends, but this is probably this biggest news of the year if not the decade, and it is not being reported in the media, so I wanted to make sure you were aware of this development.

After four years of investigating, I am convinced that the increasingly aggressive vaccine schedule is not only ushering in the autism epidemic, but several other health problems that are on the rise in children. Children of my generation received 10 vaccines, our children now receive 36. Too many vaccines, too close together, not tested in combination, given to soon, to children who have no medical history and are not screened in advance to see if they have a healthy enough immune system to handle the vaccines, is adding up to tens of thousands of children with life long health problems and developmental disabilities.

Vaccines do cause autoimmune disorders, permanent brain damage, and even death in some people to whom they are administered. Although not widely discussed by health officials for obvious reasons, this is NOT a controversial idea, but accepted medical fact, and is printed right on the safety sheet in every box of vaccine. Because the claims against vaccine manufacturers were piling up, they began threatening not to make them any more, claiming that paying for the cases where damage occurred would cease to make vaccine production profitable.

To deal with this problem (instead of coming up with a way to determine in advance who could be safely administered vaccines and who was at risk, the ethical thing to do) the government decided to continue to vaccinate everyone and create a special ‘Vaccine Court’ where people who suffered ill effects could bring their claims of vaccine injury to be heard, and if it was determined that the cause was a vaccine, they would receive a settlement from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund (VCIP). You have contributed to this fund every time you buy a vaccine, as a part of the purchase price is deposited there.

What has become controversial in the last decade is the question of whether or not autism is a vaccine injury and one of the disorders that should be paid for out of this multi billion dollar fund. Autism families have been submitting their claims to this court for more than 10 years, and the first hearing took place last June in the case of Michelle Cedillo. A verdict on the Cedillo is not expected until the fall of 2008.

But last November another case was about to come to a hearing, but instead of taking the case to trial, the US Government (the Department of Justice, the defendant in the case) admitted that a young girl’s autism was brought on by her 18 month vaccinations of, DtaP, HiB, MMR, Varivax, and IPV and she is being paid a settlement from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund!!

The court then sealed the case, and only this week did reporter David Kirby, get a hold of court documents and report on the details. He has appropriately withheld the girl’s name, but we in the autism community are calling her Eve.

You would think that the first autism/VICP case ending in a mia culpa that vaccines brought on a Eve’s autism would be front page news. But No One has picked up the story. Two days ago ABC News sent out an email to several sources asking for their input in preparation for a story on the Government’s admission that was potentially to run Wednesday, Feb 27th, but they didn’t run it.

I have three pieces on the story of “Eve”, including the email from ABC, and I encourage you to read them and pass them along.

http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/search/label/Eve

I also encourage you to get a hold of your local (and national) news outlets and tell them you want this story investigated and aired. The government has admitted that Vaccines are a causal link to Eve’s autism, and every parent in the country deserves to know this. Print these stories out and take them to your pediatrician and ask him to get answers from the American Academy of Pediatrics, who have not been properly training the doctors that look to them for guidance on how to safely administer vaccines and how to care for your children.

Thank You,
Ginger Taylor

Post Script:
Much of the focus on the vaccine debate has been on Thimerosal, a mercury preservative that has largely (although not completely) removed from vaccines. For example most flu shots and all tetnus shots still contain a full dose of mercury that the EPA only says is safe for an adult that weighs 550lbs. But Mercury is not the only problem vaccine ingredient. They contain aluminum, formaldehyde, antibiotics, aborted fetal tissue, monosodium glutamate, eggs, peanut products, yeast, lactose, casein, soy, cow parts, chicken parts, pig parts, monkey parts, foreign DNA and on and on. Check the CDC’s list of vaccine ingredients, so that you can truly have informed consent before you vaccinate your child.

For more information on the government concession, please read David Kirby’s recent article in the Huffington Post.

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Walking in L.A.

On a very brief trip to L.A. I got to see what it’s like on the front lines. I met Bob Odenkirk on a picket at Paramount Thursday. There were only about 4 people at the Bronson gate so I got to bask in his funny for awhile. We talked about the strike and his kids, but mostly we talked about autism. The son of a friend of his has autism and Bob was very knowledgeable about the boy’s condition, regression and treatments. He almost sounded like an Autism dad, himself. What a great friend he is to that Autism dad and his son. God bless you Bob Odenkirk.