Autism Genetic Test Doesn’t Answer Most Parents’ Questions

'seems a challenge to get a 3rd 'objective' body to be involved to settle the 'Olmstead' controversy. One would think that Amish groups would be a good study group to compare with the general population. One would be tempted to have a special'census' taken

that has a Autism spectrum profile. This special 'census' would be used to compare Amish groups in different locations to each other as well as to the population in general. Would be difficult, though, to convince a relatively closed Amish society that this is not majorly intrusive and for the common good. Its a huge task enough to get U.S. census done with cooperation from the general population plus the over all expense.

James Mc Carten of OR 12:41PM July 17, 2010

In fact, in some areas they vaccinate at a higher rate than neighboring non-Amish populations. Some Old Order Amish have a somewhat lower than average vaccination rate. They do not reject modern medical care at all, with the exception of heart transplants. This is a myth.

There are also Amish children and adults with autism. Call any develomental disabilities service in an area with a large Amish population, and they'll tell you that.

They may have a different rate, as they do have a relatively "closed" population. They have a higher rate of schizophrenia than ome other groups for just this reason.

Dan Olmstead's article has been widely quoted, but that doesn't make it true. To quote from an article you can find at http://combatingautismfromwithin.blogspot.com/2008/01/guess-what-amish-vaccinate.html:

"Olmsted’s anecdotal evidence is cited ad nauseum as evidence that thimerosal causes autism. The case rests on twin assumptions: that the Amish don’t vaccinate, and that they don’t have autism. But Olmsted never visited the cryptically-named Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, where doctors treat of children who exhibit autistic behavior. It’s not even necessary to visit the clinic. A simple phone call to a staff physician, such as the one I made recently, is enough to debunk “the Amish anomaly”, as Olmsted calls it.

“The idea that the Amish do not vaccinate their children is untrue,” says Dr. Kevin Strauss, MD, a pediatrician at the CSC. “We run a weekly vaccination clinic and it’s very busy.” He says Amish vaccinations rates are lower than the general population’s, but younger Amish are more likely to be vaccinated than older generations.

Strauss also sees plenty of Amish children showing symptoms of autism. “Autism isn’t a diagnosis - it’s a description of behavior. We see autistic behaviors along with seizure disorders or mental retardation or a genetic disorder, where the autism is part of a more complicated clinical spectrum.” Fragile X syndrome and Retts is also common among the clinic’s patients.

Strauss, along with Dr. D. Holmes Morton, MD, authored a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which described a mysterious seizure disorder that resulted in mental retardation and autistic behavior in nine Amish children. The study was publish one year after Olmsted’s mythic voyage, so it would seem a story correction would be in order."

Adele of KY 3:05AM April 21, 2010

Autism Mom of NY you say "Stop the Fragile X research"? Why when one in 600 boys is affected by it (a lesser number of girls) and one in 260 women are carriers? Apart from autism symptoms FX causes epilepsy and various other medical and psychological problems that can be debilitating. Carriers also have symptoms including carrier women who may have anxiety and fertility problems (FXPOI) and a large proportion of older male carriers who suffer from FXTAS (similar in symptoms to Parkinsons). Diagnosis leads to appropriate interventions and therapies.

Research into Fragile X is showing excellent results with human trials of a medication going on now, with hopes that it will be also useful as a treatment for Autism symptoms in general.

Sue 4:35PM March 30, 2010

and why would I agree to something that I believe is incorrect. There is disagreement in the autism community because some believe something different from others. Why would one look for environmental causes and not study vaccines, which are full of toxins. Where is the vaccinated vs unvaccinated study we have been begging for for years now? Did you know that the only vaccine studied has been the MMR? And nobody ever studied the results of giving a child multiple vaccines at once. Did you know that the leader of the Danish studies is a wanted criminal who took off with 2 million dollars of the CDC's money? His study is the one generally cited to prove that vaccines are safe and injecting mercury into an infant is terrific. Trustworthy person??????? BTW, the Wakefield incident was a witch hunt from the get-go. The politicized autism community is still in full support of him and his studies-even more so now. Our kids were fine and normal until vaccinated. we saw regressive autism with our own eyes.

Maurine Meleck of SC 6:21PM March 16, 2010