Catastrophic Autism Rate Now 1 in 88, 1 in 54 Boys; Advocacy Groups ask What Will it Take for the Feds to Act?

“When will the federal health authorities wake up? Will it be 1 in 25? 1 in 10? How many children have to suffer from autism to call this an emergency?”

(NEW YORK) - The Focus Autism Foundation joins a Coalition of Autism Groups call press conference on World Autism Day - Blast HHS ongoing failures.

Grassroots autism advocacy organizations representing over 100,000 autism families will hold a press conference Monday, April 2, 2012, World Autism Day, at 11:00 at Hilton Manhattan East, 304 East 42nd St., to push for official recognition of autism as a national public health emergency and to analyze the federal health authorities’ ongoing failure to respond.

Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new prevalence rates among 8-year-olds from 2008 as 1 in 88 children and 1 in 54 boys. “These numbers are staggering,” said Katie Wright, daughter of Autism Speaks co-founders Bob and Suzanne Wright and board member of the National Autism Association. “When will the federal health authorities wake up? Will it be 1 in 25? 1 in 10? How many children have to suffer from autism to call this an emergency?”

Recent research from Stanford University conclusively shows that environmental triggers account for most cases of autism, not genetic predisposition. “Parents have been calling on the NIH to study environmental factors for decades, but almost all the money has gone into genetic studies. No matter how high the autism rate soars, the CDC’s continued denial of an autism epidemic is certitude comparable to death and taxes,” said Mark Blaxill, Editor-at-Large of Age of Autism web-based newspaper.

These advocacy groups believe that ongoing government research appears to be driven by corporations that fear being implicated in any environmental relationship with the autism epidemic, and believe that these apparent conflicts of interest must be exposed.

Grassroots organizations represented at the press conference: Age of Autism, AutismOne, Autism Action Network, Autism File, The Canary Party, Center for Personal Rights, The Coalition for Safe Minds, Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy, Focus Autism, National Autism Association, Talk About Curing Autism.

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Cori P April 1, 2012 9:18 am (Pacific time)

I have two children under the age of 6 and sadly my son received vaccines up until he was scheduled to have the MMR shot. It was brought to my attention that there could be a link between this vaccine and autism, so I did a lot of research about it and learned a lot of scary things about vaccines. My son is pretty healthy and mostly unaffected by the vaccines however I do notice that he picks up illnesses easily and it takes longer for him to fight them off. My daughter on the other hand, had only her first round of shots at two months old and then no more. She screamed for three days straight and had a bowel issue that they could not or would not diagnose as a reaction to the vaccines, but I found it too much of a coincidence that my child was having blood laced bowel movements shortly after her shots. Call me a cinic but I believe that $$$$ makes the world go round and that these shots actually cause us to need the medical system in the long run. How else could anyone explain the rise in cancers, mental illnesses, autism, etc. Sure some of it is environment, some is diet... but if we weren't assaulting the human body by pumping it full of foreign entities, putting it under major stress, would we have half the illnesses we currently are fighting (or as many fatalities because of these illnesses?)

Becky April 1, 2012 7:19 am (Pacific time)

There is no 1 cause of Autism. To say that vaccines are the only cause is ignorance. I have a totally non vaccinated child with Autism and I have many friends who have never vaccinated their children and they still have Autism. Stop fighting each other and stop the tunnel vision.

Robin April 1, 2012 7:18 am (Pacific time)

Until we stop POLLUTING OUR WORLD< EATING preservatives and artifical foods, spraying pesticides, and lathering our bodies with chemicals..while eating animals raised in horrific conditions laced with chemicals..as well as injecting our children with poison...will this epidemic stop...oh did I mention the toxic WIFI we all walk around in on a daily basis...and radiation directly to our heads from our cell phones...many other cultures do not have autism...do you ever ask why? We have become a culture of convenience forgetting about our health, the health of our children, and the earth...our children pay the price

anonymous March 31, 2012 11:25 pm (Pacific time)

Nice try. I have a kid on the sptectrum. How exactly does magical thinking help children?

Anne McElroy Dachel March 31, 2012 8:43 pm (Pacific time)

It's time to take autism away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a conference call on Thurs, March 29, CDC director, Dr. Thomas Frieden announced the stunning new numbers, not at a well-publicized press conference, but during a hastily announced conference call. Rather than face the cameras and advise the nation that we're in the grip of yet another dramatic increase in autism, he chose this low-key way to give us the news.

In 2005, the autism rate reached one in 166 children after years of steadily worsening numbers.
In 2007, the rate became one in 150 children.
In 2009, it reached one in 110.
Now in 2012, it's one in 88.

(Keep in mind that for each of these statistics, the rate for boys alone is four times as bad.)

Each and every time, CDC officials were quick to announce that they didn't know if more more kids actually had autism. With each new number we were told that that no one should be concerned because it was probably due to "better diagnosing" and no real increase at all. At the same time, no one at the CDC has ever had a clue what the cause or cure for autism might be. They can't even give us a projected date when they might actually know something about the disorder that is crippling a generation of children. The agency that gets billions to run health care in the U.S. is paralyzed when it comes to autism. Maybe it's time to turn this emergency over to people who can give us answers. It's clear to the public that the CDC is never going to make autism a priority. No CDC official has ever called autism a crisis. The strongest language anyone there has ever used when talking about autism is "serious public heath care concern." That speaks volumes.

Anne Dachel, Media editor: Age of Autism

Anonymous March 31, 2012 1:45 pm (Pacific time)

It IS vaccines that are causing this.. Lombard, please do your research, I am tired of people getting sick and such from the mercury filled vaccines..Lombard, a question for you...Have you read the insert on the vaccines? No you did not, I guarantee it. Vitamin D3, 5000 IU works much better. For people who trust the FDA and the USDA, I feel sorry for you. By the way Editor, thanks for your comment..I did not give my kids ANY vaccines, and they are in prefect health...Slender, muscles, great skin. This comes from researching and not trusting the corporate owned institutions, INCLUDING the ADA...How about this Lombard? I started 3 years ago saying flouride in our water was bad for us, especially for kids 4-13...Well, after years of advocating, the government FINALLY had to give in, admit they were wrong, and they reduced the flouride in the water 40%, you can call Salem-Keizer water if you dont believe me. I do not trust the FDA and the USDA, nor the ADA etc...They are ALL bought and paid for by the pharma industry...People best wake up now..They are NOT here to take care of us, they are here to make a buck. If you dont do the research on your own, you will be a slave to their poisons. Vaccines cause autism.. And, why are they forcing vaccines on people? If you want to believe in vaccines, thats fine, but doesnt that mean you are protected? Why force it on ME??? BPA and GMO are poison also, but the FDA and USDA are fine with it...Oh, and pink slime meat is good for ya too! wake up, they dont care about us, we have to care about ourselves. They are bought and paid for...all of them.

Lombard44 March 31, 2012 12:52 pm (Pacific time)

Thank you for publishing anti-vaccine propaganda. Real science makes my head hurt.

Editor: Uh huh, well how are your kids doing? You obviously care so much about the problems of others... not.

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