Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Don't panic at CDC's new autism numbers

The CDC has released the new autism numbers (Reuters, full report pdf) and the new prevalence is 1 in 50, or as Seth Mnookin tweeted earlier "1 child per school bus". My first thought, just like Matt Carey's over at LBRB, was that the removal of thimerosal seems not to have stopped the "autism epidemic". This seems to have escaped Dr "vested interest" Bob who is asking why nobody (but him, of course) is alarmed (especially not the CDC).

Meanwhile, the fabulous Emily Willingham, PhD explains the reasons behind the apparent increase. Read her post. Understand. Don't panic. As Emily says:
...if you look at the numbers and the report itself, you’ll see that overall, the numbers of people born with autism aren’t necessarily increasing dramatically. It’s just that we’re getting better and better at counting them. The next step is getting better at accepting autistic people, seeing their potential, and ensuring the supports and resources they need to fulfill that potential.
^ That.

10 comments:

  1. This response to the increase is utter nonsense. We knew how to count when it was 1 in 10,000 in America. We also had no problem recognizing Autism. As for the removal of thimerosal, we don't know what is in every batch of vaccines, given there have been proven accounts of vaccines sent to other countries with the aids virus and estrogen, explained away as mistaken tainted batches. What an insult. Shame on you.

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    1. "We also had no problem recognizing Autism."

      Really?

      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15858952

      Delete
    2. @ Linda Turner:

      Surely, you have heard that the changing and broadening of Diagnostic Criteria between the DSM II, the DSM III and the DSM IV have resulted in a dramatic increase in the prevalence of ASDs. How about "diagnostic substitution", at both ends of the "Spectrum" to qualify for educational services in the school setting?

      Then there is this article about classifying early onset schizophrenia in the DSM II and the addition of the PDD diagnostic criteria in the DSM III:

      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2664646/

      J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2009 January; 48(1): 10–18.
      doi: 10.1097/CHI.0b013e31818b1c63

      PMCID: PMC2664646
      NIHMSID: NIHMS95008

      Autism-Spectrum Disorders and Childhood Onset Schizophrenia: Clinical and Biological Contributions to a Relationship Revisited

      Judith Rapoport, M.D., Alex Chavez, B.S., Deanna Greenstein, Ph.D., Anjene Addington, Ph.D., and Nitin Gogtay, M.D.

      “…When advances in psychiatry permitted the field to conceptualize psychotic disorders and developmental disorders as distinct, the phenomena of PDD and COS as comorbid disorders could be explored. In the DSM-II, autism was referred to as schizophrenia, childhood type, and was characterized by “atypical and withdrawn behavior,” “failure to develop identity separate from the mother’s,” and “general unevenness, gross immaturity and inadequacy in development.” However, important post DSM-II work conducted by Kolvin and others focused on the contrast between very early onset schizophrenia (with typical onset after age 7) 15 and earlier onset autism. This research was influential in making the distinction between childhood onset schizophrenia and autism in the DSM III.

      You made this statement....

      "As for the removal of thimerosal, we don't know what is in every batch of vaccines, given there have been proven accounts of vaccines sent to other countries with the aids virus and estrogen, explained away as mistaken tainted batches. What an insult. Shame on you."

      I presume that you have citations and links to those citations from reliable sources (hint Age of Autism, whale.to and rense.com are NOT reliable sources), to prove that vaccines were contaminated with the virus that causes AIDS and estrogen.

      Shame on you, Linda Turner.

      Delete
  2. Linda, where did you get the 1:10,000 figure? What is your basis for claiming that,"We also had no problem recognizing Autism?" You do realise that that autism is a spectrum disorder and that the DSM has changed considerably over the decades don't you?

    And yes we do know what's in every batch of vaccines as they have to be purity and potency tested. And no vaccines have been sent to other countries with "the aids[sic] virus and estrogen". If you have proof then show it. The only insult is you to our intelligence and the shame is on you for disseminating such ridiculous lies.

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  3. You just never know when you google a crank poster's name...what you will come up with. :-)

    I located Linda Turner's Twitter page and she's been "tweeting" all those silly comments...

    "This response to the increase is utter nonsense. We knew how to count when it was 1 in 10,000 in America. We also had no problem recognizing Autism".

    Go and view the other *howlers* on Turner's Twitter page...

    https://twitter.com/daehlin

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  4. She's quite the conspiracy theorist isn't she? Somehow I doubt she'll be back here. People like her hit and run.

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  5. PoliticalguineapigMarch 22, 2013 at 1:21 PM

    Estrogen's a virus now? I hope she comes back, I'd love for her to explain what she thinks estrogen is and what it's doing in a vaccine.

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  6. PGP, The nutter anti-vaxxers can't even keep their own lies straight. I believe Linda was trying to regurgitate this old trope: http://www.who.int/immunization_monitoring/milstien.pdf regarding the ludicrous accusation that the WHO and UNICEF were practising population control with HCG-tainted tetanus vaccines. Of course it's rot but what else is new when it comes to anti-vaxx bollocks.

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  7. Dr. Jay has returned to the Ho-Po after several years’ hiatus. He’s pimping his new book and has commented on the new 1 in 50 autism prevalence report. All the usual suspects from the anti-vaccine blogs are posting there. I’ve posted a bunch of comments (still in moderation) at the Ho-Po. Come and join me there.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-gordon/cdc-one-of-every-fifty-ch_b_2921256.html

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  8. Spammer above me (possibly?)

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