Moving Forward!!!

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Undoubtedly, my theory as to the possible explanations behind what we saw in autistic children, was just that – a theory.   But the simple fact that it explained so much in what we saw in autistic children certainly necessitated it be given a much, much closer look.   I had presented materials within this document that could certainly cause very emotional storms - on many fronts.

Especially important was the need for long term research into vaccination safety, something, that, in the opinion of many, including myself, seemed to have been virtually non-existent in the past.  With the government’s desire to possibly “force” smallpox vaccinations on the American public, issues of vaccination safety, both short term and long term were now more important than ever.  

Anyone with a weak or dysfunctional immune system – all 2 million plus children already diagnosed as having an autism spectrum disorder – all Alzheimer’s victims, all cancer patients - all AIDS victims - and so, so many more - could now be very much at risk of experiencing a negative reaction, including death, if they were unable to properly battle yet another assault on their immune system – like the smallpox virus!

Those with autism spectrum disorders were very much at risk if given the smallpox vaccine.  Many of these children, according to their parents and blood tests, had been unable to develop antibodies to past immunizations.   If the brain were unable to properly communicate with those parts of the body necessary for the development of antibodies to attack foreign substances (i.e., viruses), then, yes, the immune system would only be further compromised by the introduction of yet another virus.   The inability to develop antibodies in many of these children meant that to inject these children with vaccinations was basically worthless.

Should there be a smallpox outbreak, the ramifications for anyone with an already weak immune system, could be most detrimental indeed.   There would be no way possible to quarantine these children and care for them.   Many of these children were unable to leave their homes or familiar environments without going into intense fits of rage.  In addition, the special diets required for these children would make it virtually impossible to quarantine them.  In actuality, to quarantine these children and their families would almost ensure that diseases such as smallpox would be rampant within quarantine facilities since many of these children simply did not appear to be able to develop proper antibodies.  In my opinion, this would perhaps be true for anyone suffering from a weak immune system.  Could America quarantine all cancer patients?   All AIDS patients?  How many people would be required to care for such huge quarantine populations if indeed they were quarantined?   The logistics of that alone were overwhelming.     

Medication or sedation was also not the answer, in my opinion.  The fact that these children could not fight off yeast in their intestinal track meant the majority of them suffered from persistent yeast infections – further contributing to the condition known as “leaky gut” in so many of these children.   If the autistic mal-absorbed foods and supplements, it only stood to reason that they would mal-absorb medication too!

By failing to monitor mercury levels being injected into children, it appeared the government and the pharmaceuticals could now be the biggest contributors to deadly disease outbreaks, because in failing to monitor mercury levels, children and adults were exposed to up to 100 times safe levels of mercury according to government standards.   That - when combined with the known fact that mercury led to neural degeneration - made for a nasty situation indeed.  In its zeal to prevent disease our own government and pharmaceutical companies had perhaps, left many – extremely defenseless against the very diseases they were trying to eradicate! 

Indeed – autism – once the dismissed or forgotten illness of the masses - the illness of so many children with no voice, had now become an issue that touched absolutely all areas of life for all humans.  Those so often voiceless now provided the strongest message of all!  There were many difficult times ahead, but, there could also be very rewarding and exciting times ahead in what these children could accomplish themselves as well as what they could potentially teach the world.

We could spend a great deal of time denying these issues, or we could move forward on them quickly based on the information presented as it related to the structure and function of the brain.  The challenges for all societies were numerous indeed – but, certainly not impossible to achieve.  

Having come to understand my son – so completely – I, personally, was now more determined than ever in “Saving Zachary”.   Understanding the problem was the first step in overcoming the problem.  There was no time to be wasted!

I encouraged all those in research and science to review this information carefully, and, as I had done, to “keep the good, and throw out the rest”.   If something made sense given brain structures and functions, or existing research, obviously, that warranted further investigation.  Indeed, what I had once only understood to be issues with “order”, then with “partiality processing”, I now came to understand much more fully as issues with “sensory integration failure and relay failure between the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system”.   As such, what I had seen in the beginning of my book simply as issues with “partiality”, by the end of this document, I understood in terms of issues with “categorization” and the magnified need within the autistic child to have a world that made complete sense as the autistic child attempted to “break the code”.  As with everything in science, theories were put forth and either accepted or refuted.   I now encouraged all in science to tackle this next step.  I had given this document “my best shot” in terms of providing for all of you examples of what I had seen in my own son and how those issues related to brain structure and function.   As the parent of an autistic child and a member of society, I hoped those in science gave “their best shot” also in moving forward on so many issues – in everything from anesthesia, neural degeneration studies as a result of mercury damage, neural regeneration potential, to immune system and dietary implications and so on.  It was time to stop playing the denial game and to move forward on these issues because denial would only continue to make them worse.  It was time for the government and the pharmaceuticals to be held accountable for their role in this, too! 

There was now a push to make flu shots and other various “shots” mandatory, even in very young infants.   To keep adding to the list of “mandatory shots”, shots that included mercury, was putting society on a path of almost total destruction.  I think the great number of “epidemics” in terms of autism, Alzheimer’s, etc., clearly indicated we had some major problems on our hands.   To keep increasing the number of shots our children received – shots containing mercury – in my opinion, would only make matters much, much, much worse than they already were.   

In my opinion, the government and the pharmaceuticals had clearly shown their bad judgment in matters of mercury and public health.   How long would society fail to use its good judgment in demanding a stop to mercury laced vaccinations and accountability on these issues?   Certainly, many would argue that vaccines like the MMR had no mercury, and thus, mercury could not possibly be the only problem.   Well, to that I had but one reply.   By the time a child received the MMR (at anywhere from 12 months to 18 months), that child had already received numerous mercury-laced shots causing lesions in the brain… lesions that prevented the immune system functions within the brain from “talking” to other parts of the body necessary for battling foreign substances, such as viruses.   It was also becoming evident in the medical community that the “combo” of viruses in the MMR, in and of itself, seemed to be a problem… that perhaps, these viruses, when put together, interacted in a very negative way.

The simple fact was that countless parents had sounded many, many warning bells when it came to vaccinations.   There were a lot more parents sounding warning bells then there were government or pharmaceutical executives saying vaccinations were alright.   Indeed, the scales had tipped substantially.   Those sounding warning bells now greatly outnumbered those in government and the pharmaceutical industry saying mercury and the MMR were “non-issues”. 

It was now time the rest of society looked at the facts and took a stand.  The facts - the statistics, the neural degeneration as a result of mercury exposure video, the fact that there were so many “coincidences” among autism and Alzheimer’s (all 30+ of them listed in this document… and I was sure there were more), the fact that more and more in science and medicine were now also pointing the finger to vaccinations, the fact that mercury was also very much an issue with “warning bells” for those looking into issues of safety in the dental industry, and the fact that for the government or the pharmaceuticals to admit to these issues in vaccination safety meant that there had been either criminal acts or total incompetence and as such, the government and the pharmaceuticals were very much in a  “no win” situation in admitting these issues and as such, surely would never do so.    It was time those warning bells sounded so very loudly by parents and indeed, many scientists and doctors, were heard, by all of society – worldwide - including governments around the world and the pharmaceuticals!

Society had a great many issues to address in the forum of public safety.   But those issues could only be addressed once we truly acknowledged the problem.   If society planned on waiting for the government or the pharmaceuticals to acknowledge that problem we would be waiting a very, very long time and perhaps, would never get this admission of guilt in terms of having failed the public in such critical matters of public health.  In my opinion, society had to force the issue, and had to demand a change and politicians who would fail to take the proper stand in this issue had to be sent a very loud message that society would not stop investigating these matters and that those in government who failed to properly investigate this issue should face criminal prosecutions.

There could be no “nay” in this debate of investigating vaccination safety and recalling all mercury-laced vaccinations/shots.  All members of Congress had to provide a resounding “yes” in doing what was right.   The names of those in government voting “no” to Congressman Dan Burton’s bills for the immediate recall of mercury-laced vaccinations and the total banning of mercury (and possibly aluminum) in all vaccinations and in dental amalgams would be made public by the autism community – names listed publicly, in newspapers, as were so often the names of other criminals and at election time, this would surely be a huge issue in who was now elected!  The voting block of those impacted by autism and Alzheimer’s was growing rapidly, and with all the pain that brought, also came a political stronghold – make no mistake about it!    Parents of the autistic, and now, also, children of those with Alzheimer’s, would not rest until these issues were addressed and resolved – of that, I was certain!  Society had many challenges ahead of it, but we had no choice but to meet these challenges and the first step in doing that necessitated the problem be admitted! 

Although there were surely difficult times ahead, there were also very exciting times ahead because in understanding the problem came hope for the resolution of that problem.  Obviously, the immediate recall of all mercury-laced shots would go a long way in protecting the new generation from neural degeneration.  But, there was a great deal more that could be done.  The materials presented in this document indeed seemed to indicate entirely new areas of study for science.

Personally, I found issues of science as they related to the sense of smell, for example, to be absolutely fascinating.  The olfactory cortex was located in the frontal lobe along with functions relating to motor activity, motor planning and execution, activity in response to environment, memory as it related to habits and other motor activities, language production, higher functioning (imagination, concept of self, etc.), control of emotions and the meaning assigned to words (word associations).  This was indeed all very interesting from a scientific perspective.   The sense of smell was perhaps greatly misunderstood by those in science.   We knew the sense of smell helped somewhat in the control of emotions.  Indeed, entire industries had sprouted because of that.   Flowers always made a woman “feel better” or “special”.   Sure, there was the physical beauty of a flower, but, could it actually be the smell that “lifted emotions”?  I now tended to think smell had a great deal more to do with the control of emotions than had ever been thought… and that perhaps all “functions” located within one specific lobe were actually very much inter-related. 

It was a well-known fact that women loved to eat when depressed… chocolate and ice cream especially... :o)… both having to do with the sense of smell.    Of course, in trying to “feel better” by eating, pounds were usually gained.   As those extra pounds were reflected in the mirror (visual perception and emotion were in the temporal lobe, visual processing in the occipital lobe), depression could certainly set in (emotion in the temporal lobe) but the control of that emotion could be made more difficult by the fact that emotion control resided in the frontal lobe… not in the temporal lobe… where emotions seemed to be “felt”.  The concept of self also resided in the frontal lobe… so, to see oneself as “fat” (visual perception in the temporal lobe, visual processing in the occipital lobe) may be hard to counter emotionally (i.e., the depression), since concept of self, control of emotions, and motor functions (i.e., the act of eating) were together in the frontal lobe.     The battle of the bulge, when viewed in light of neural degeneration due to mercury exposure was perhaps more of a battle than anyone had ever thought possible! 

Control of emotions and the sense of smell… truly an interesting topic.  We had a lot of “sayings” in life that truly indicated smell played a role in the control of emotions.  For example, to express the emotion of relaxation or the need to enjoy life, we had the saying:  “Take the time to smell the roses”.   To express disappointment, we had the saying:  “That stinks!”… another “smell” related saying relating to emotions.  To express love or devotion, we had the saying: “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”… another “smell” saying relating to emotions (taste and smell go together).  To express vengeance we had the saying:  “I’ll give him a taste of his own medicine”.   Depending on tone used, we could also express excitement or disgust via the expression:  “That’s just peachy”… another  “smell” or “taste” expression for emotions.  To express suspicion, we had expressions like: “That’s fishy” or “I smell a rat”… again, emotion expressed via the sense of smell!  To express matters relating to one’s motivation or matters of corruption, we spoke of the “smell of money”.  Note that motivation and corruption had to do with one’s actions (motor functions and the concept of self – also in the frontal lobe).

 Truly the sense of smell and its possible role in our lives may be greatly misunderstood.  Likewise, I also believed that the “inter-relation” of functions within a specific lobe may be very misunderstood also.  Take for example the issue of alcohol.   When one drank alcohol – an activity having to do with the sense of taste and smell - all functions located within the frontal lobe were impacted.  Coincidence?  Alcohol impacted motor activity, motor planning and execution, activity in response to one’s environment, memory as it related to habits and other motor activities, language production, higher functioning (i.e., concept of self), control of emotions and the meaning we assigned to words.   It was a well-known fact that an intoxicated person had difficulty walking, reacting to his environment (i.e., properly reacting to oncoming headlights, avoiding a person walking on the road, etc.),  often could not remember what had happened while intoxicated, had difficulty with production of speech (slurred speech), had difficulty controlling emotions (more violent/aggressive), and had difficulty understanding words (as reflected in the fact that when spoken to, the intoxicated often responded with “what?…. what?…. what?”, clearly indicating that words were not understood).  Thus, absolutely all functions in the frontal lobe were impacted by alcohol.  

But, what of other functions… functions not so closely associated with the sense of smell.   If you looked at the functions not as closely associated with the sense of smell, functions residing in the parietal or occipital lobes, this was all rather interesting.  The temporal lobe had functions associated with olfactory processing, and as such the sense of smell would have an impact on functions within the temporal lobe also.   The parietal lobe, however, had no olfactory function… and neither did the occipital lobe.  In the parietal lobe, somatosensory processing still seemed to work fine.  An intoxicated person still knew when he had to go to the bathroom.  Touch perception also seemed to work fine.   An intoxicated person could still tell when someone was touching him.  Goal directed movement also seemed to work fine… in fact, when an intoxicated person decided to do something or go somewhere, it was often quite difficult to stop them.    Manipulation of objects also seemed to work fine.  An intoxicated person could still try to “play” at solving a Rubik’s cube, for example.  Visual attention and spatial processing were perhaps more difficult to address, but, it had to be remembered that visual perception and motor functions both resided in lobes impacted by the sense of smell (the frontal and temporal lobe) and as such, I could certainly understand why there may be some impact there.  As far as the occipital lobe, there was no doubt that an intoxicated person could still “see”… it was the response to that “sight” however, that was impaired… but that resided in another area of the brain… the fact remained that the intoxicated could still “see”. 

Therefore, all functions in the frontal lobe, the location of the olfactory cortex were clearly impacted… and likely, it appeared almost all functions in the temporal lobe, responsible for olfactory processing, were also impacted (auditory processing, memory, emotion, understanding of language, voice recognition, face recognition, visual perception) yet, functions in lobes not associated with the sense of smell at all, truly seemed to be much less impacted, if at all. 

If smell could actually trigger or impact all other functions within the frontal lobe in a negative way, could a “smell” actually trigger or impact all other functions in a positive way.   Could there be “another smell” to somewhat counter the effects of alcohol, or drugs, for example, or a smell that could help in the control of specific emotions?  For me, at least, this was all very interesting.

Again, I could not help but wonder “how inter-related” all the functions within one lobe truly were!    If you looked at the frontal lobe, the sense of self also resided there… along with motor activity and memory relating to motor activity.   It was often said that “Actions speak louder than words”… another interesting saying.    Let us take another example.   The example of a person in need.  If I helped that person – or failed to do so – that had an impact on my emotions (control of emotions), but that also had an impact on my concept of self.   Indeed, our actions very much defined us as “the type of person we were”.    Again, concept of self, control of emotions (i.e., I can not help but feel somewhat guilty if I do not help a person very much in need), and motor functions/actions… all in the same lobe.   Interesting! I knew some persons said they were allergic to certain smells... like perfumes.   That was all very interesting too.   How would their frontal and temporal lobe functions be impacted by those smells to which they were allergic?   How would their parietal and occipital lobe functions be impacted?  

And what of that substance that has no taste or smell – water.   Pure water… the source of life itself.   That one thing man can not live without.   Was it not interesting that this one thing, so vital to life, had no taste or smell?   Water had many interesting properties that made it a very unique substance.   It was the only substance found as a liquid, gas and solid.  Its solid form was less dense than its liquid form and as such, this explained why ice floats.  Water was also known as the “universal solvent”, able to dissolve more substances than anything else known to man.  As such, it was known that drinking a lot of water was necessary to cleanse the body.  Those who wanted to learn more about water could go to:  http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html.  Did water, a substance with no taste or smell, a substance with such unusual properties, somehow fit into this puzzle, too?   In my opinion, these were all very interesting topics of discussion.

Also very interesting was the fact that something else with a smell was now being investigated for its possible medical benefits – marijuana.  An Internet search on “medical marijuana” easily returned over 250,000 web pages.  The potential medical benefits of marijuana were now being looked into in areas of AIDS, cancer, bi-polar and perhaps countless other illnesses.   Of course, the FDA was quick to argue against the medical benefits of marijuana, but, then again, the government was also quick to say that mercury in vaccines was ok, too!   The Washington State Department of Health document entitled Questions And Answers, Medical Marijuana – Initiative 692 clearly indicated that marijuana had medical benefits… as did numerous other documents and indeed, a great deal of research.   Was marijuana without risk?  No… indeed many studies had also shown its potentially damaging effects.  Yet, mercury was not without risk either, was it?   How was it that the government could be so concerned with the proper regulation of marijuana, yet had failed to show the same concern for the regulation of mercury, the second most toxic substance in the world?   In my opinion, if marijuana was shown to have medical benefits, in controlled amounts, as a regulated substance, why not allow its use for medical purposes?   I knew this was a very controversial subject, but so was vaccination safety and the result of mercury poisoning.  I was not in any way advocating “free use” of marijuana but what I was saying was that if marijuana was scientifically shown to have medical benefits, as did appear to be the case, then, perhaps this was an area worth much more investigation.  Interestingly, “medical marijuana” use was now being shown to help not only with cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, bipolar, etc., it was also shown to help in the treatment of epilepsy and may help with autism given autistic children were often found to have abnormal dopamine levels and marijuana was a natural source of dopamine.   The American Alliance For Medical Cannabis indeed listed many disorders that could be help by medical use of cannabis.   This was not a group of “druggies” trying to simply legalize cannabis to get a legal “drug trip”… this organization appeared to be one dedicated to allowing marijuana for medical use where it had been shown there was scientific evidence of the medical benefits of marijuana.   Members of this organization included healthcare professionals, educators, patients, and scientists. 

The website for this organization, http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/cmu/index.htm, indeed listed the following illnesses/disorders as being helped by marijuana and provided scientific references for each of these conditions: anxiety disorders, memory disorders, cancer/chemo related nausea, multiple sclerosis, depression, migraine, chronic pain, diabetes, hepatitis C, lymphoma, musculoskeletal disorders, pancreastitis, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep apnea, Tourette syndrome .   Effects of long-term use would also surely need to be investigated.  As hotly debated as I was sure this issue would be, it was nonetheless all very interesting indeed! 

Carnosine was another topic that surfaced lately.   This was a natural protein.   A doctor in Illinois had just recently completed a preliminary study on the use of carnosine for the autistic.  He had used it with almost 1000 children and found carnosine impacted language, eye contact, communication, behavior and social interaction.  Carnosine was believed to impact the frontal lobe.    Obviously, that too was a very recent development in autism and as such, more investigation would surely be needed to evaluate the merits of this potential option.  Those wanting more information on the carnosine and autism were encouraged to contact Dr. Michael Chez via his website:  http://www.carn-aware.com/faq.html.

There were indeed many recent developments that were very interesting when viewed in light of autism.  For example, it was a known fact many autistic children developed epilepsy at puberty!  It was also a very recently known fact that at about age 11 (right around puberty), the brain underwent major reorganization.  This had been shown via MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) techniques and PET (positron emission tomography) showing significant changes in neural development/pathways at this stage of development in the human brain.  An article on this subject had been published in USA Today on Jan 2, 2002.  In this article, neuroscientist Fulton Crews of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill stated that neural growth, once believed to have stopped after childhood, was now known to occur well into the teen years.  The full text of this article could be read by going to:  http://www.usatoday.com/life/health/brain/lhbra080.htm.    Frontline also did a segment on this topic of brain reorganization. 

The segment, called Inside The Teenage Brain was available online at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/work/how.html#1.

In this segment, not only was reorganization of the brain discussed, but also the fact that just prior to puberty, children lost up to 50% of their deep motor nuclei brain tissue known to be responsible for motor function.  It was also stated, and I quote:

“This loss moved like wildfire into the frontal lobes in late teens.  We think it is a sign of rapid remodeling of brain tissue well into the teens and beyond”.

Could this be why autistic children were developing epilepsy at puberty?    If the brain was undergoing major reorganization and there were lesions in the brain, as that reorganization within the brain occurred and gaps were encountered in neural transmission, could that not lead to the “short circuiting of the brain” – epilepsy!  Why was it that epilepsy developed at puberty in the autistic – the very same time this “reorganization” within the brain was taking place!  Coincidence?   I truly wondered!

And how did gender differences fit into all of this.   It was also a well-known fact that more boys than girls were impacted by autism.  Indeed, there were many known differences between males and females in terms of brain function.   For example, there were two areas that appeared to be most important in language.   The frontal lobes and the area where the temporal and parietal lobes meet.   Females were thought to use primarily the frontal lobe area in language (both left and right sides) whereas males were believed to use both areas about equally… the frontal lobe (primarily the left) and the area where the temporal and parietal lobes meet.  If this were indeed true, gender differences in autism too, could perhaps be very much explained by brain structure and function. 

Of course for every study that seemed to show one thing, there appeared to be another that showed something else in matters of gender differences as they relate to the human brain.   Yet, the issue of gender differences certainly was an interesting one when thought of in terms of communication skills, sensitivity to smell, etc. 

There were many brilliant minds that could now take this information, decipher it and use it to “move forward” as warranted.  The information I had used in order to come to my understanding of the autistic brain had been information put together by many fields – behavior therapy, neurology, education, etc. – over decades.   Without this base of knowledge to work from, this wealth of knowledge provided by those in so many fields, I suspect the mystery to autism, at least as I had come to understand it, would have remained a mystery much, much longer.    Although I had been very skeptical of most “brain research” as it related to matters of the “at rest brain” especially, I now saw great potential in MRI and PET technologies in terms of identifying potential areas of neural degeneration, etc.  If I was correct in my thinking, the implications of this in terms of the recovery of autistic children and so many other issues, for mankind, could be exciting indeed once those with so much more knowledge than I had in areas of research, neurology, therapy, education, etc., could actually examine these issues.   Change in thought was always difficult to accept, but sometimes, it was necessary. 

The evidence that autism resulted from mercury poisoning appeared to be strong indeed.  The symptoms of autism were indeed, coincidently, very much parallel to those of mercury poisoning.  Symptoms of mercury poisoning and autism (close to 80) were compared in a  report entitled Autism:  A Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning, by Sallie Bernard*, Albert Enayati, B.S., Ch.E., M.S.M.E.**, Teresa Binstock, Heidi Roger, Lyn Redwood, R.N., M.S.N., C.R.N.P. and Woody McGinnis, M.D. (*Contact: sbernard@nac.net,  ARC Research, 14 Commerce Drive, Cranford, NJ 07016).   Indeed, to have close to 80 parallels between autism and mercury poisoning was a rather “big coincidence” for even the best in science to refute!     The full text of this report, along with the 4 page table comparing autism and mercury poisoning could be viewed via links to it on many autism related websites providing this valuable information for parents of the autistic, such as the site of the Autism Research Institute, http://www.autism.com/ari/mercurylong.html.

The answer to “autism” now seemed so simple to me – the failure of sensory information integration and relay between the central and peripheral nervous systems as a result of neural degeneration and the breakdown of proper communication between various areas of the body due to neural gaps resulting in improper neural transmissions.   The road ahead was still long, of that, I had no doubt, but I also had much more hope in many, many areas of life – so much hope for autistic children.   Perhaps now, “autism” could tremendously push science and therapy forward and with that, help many see autism, not as a dark and mysterious unknown but as a disorder that could provide – the light to shine on so much!

“Man’s mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

As I sat down to write this book, I understood “some” of the issues behind my son’s autism.  But, by the time this book was completed, as I wrote, I came to understand and piece together much, much more!   I had provided my thoughts on these issues and I understood their impact in presenting these materials.  Yet, I felt I had no choice but to provide these thoughts in the most honest way that I could – as difficult as so many of these issues had been for me, personally and as difficult I knew they would be for society overall.

My theory had now been presented.   It was now time for society to take a deep breath and a “step back” to now put all this in perspective.   Surely, within my theory were “some critical answers” to autism given this theory seemed to explain so much.   Did I understand autism completely?   No.   But, I suspected that several key factors had been put forth within this document and that with the many examples provided, those in science could now move forward in terms of deciphering what made sense – as well as what did not given the knowledge they had.   I had poured my heart and soul into providing my insights based on my experiences with my own autistic son and other autistic children, and I now hoped society poured its heart and soul into these issues also as it continued to move forward in finding all the pieces to the autism puzzle – and perhaps many other puzzles as well.   

My growth as I journeyed through life with autism had been a very difficult one.   Surely, many would have paid me well for not sharing these materials at all.  For me, however, as the parent of an autistic child, as I looked into the eyes of each and every child I saw, I could do nothing but share these materials with all parents and adults worldwide.  I now hoped that the world could finally unite behind parents of the autistic in addressing so many of these issues.  It would take the resources and strength of many to meet the challenges ahead, but, in all honesty I felt we had no choice but to meet these challenges!

I encouraged all men and women to call the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to speak to Congressmen working health issues in their state or to contact the Office of the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, at 202-225-0697, or Secretary of Health Tom Thompson at 202-690-7000, to let their views on this issue be known – and to ask that subpoenas be served on the CDC and independent audits be made of matters relating to vaccination safety.  Only by looking into these issues could we truly ensure the health and safety of all persons – worldwide.  Yes, we needed to control deadly diseases, but that had to be done with vaccinations that did not contain mercury and with the assurance that long-term studies had indeed been made to determine overall vaccination safety for all immunizations – including the very controversial, yet mercury free MMR!

Although the writing of this document had helped me, personally, in coming to terms with so many of these issues, there were still times, that, yes, my anger did surface.   There had been negligence on the part of the government as it failed to monitor how much mercury was being pumped into our children.   In spite of the fact that I wanted answers to “how this could have happened”, I suspected no answer would be sufficient.   In my view, horrible mistakes had simply been made.   It was time that was admitted.   It was time anyone who hid those mistakes and could have prevented this horrible injustice from continuing be brought before the courts of this nation to face the consequences of those actions.  Personally, I was not at this time involved in any lawsuit and certainly hoped to keep it that way.  For the government or the pharmaceuticals to come after me, personally, would not stop the facts from being known.   I had simply presented a theory that explained so much in my own son.   The burden was now on the pharmaceuticals and on those in government and research to prove me wrong and, unfortunately, I suspected that as more was investigated, as much as I wanted to be proved wrong, I suspected my theory was correct.    To be proven wrong – to be told my child’s brain did have appropriate “connectivity” among its various parts would indeed be a day of great joy for me.  Yet, I feared that day would not come and that my suspicions were correct.

Although my anger wanted to surface now and then, for my own sanity, I knew it was important to let go of this anger and to move on in a productive way – a way that could make a difference in the life of my son, and perhaps, in the life of other autistic children as well.   I understood the issues I now faced and with that, I could work from there.   I knew the road was still long, and the pain great, but, with every move forward in my son, there would be joy also.   I knew Zachary could indeed become a very productive member of society with some help and I was more determined than ever to provide that help for him. 

I understood all too well the anger other parents would also feel.   I could only encourage you in learning to let go of that anger.   Sure – investigations were necessary, but those investigations could not become the entire focus of one’s life – especially not for parents of the autistic who needed to focus on the recovery of their children.   There were plenty of researchers and lawyers to now fight these battles in court – as parents, we needed to focus on our children.   As societies, we needed to focus on stopping the autism epidemic and on providing safe vaccinations.   Deadly diseases were still a reality of life.   I was certain the government would continue – as it needed to - its vaccination programs, but, I truly hoped it would be in a much safer and cautious manner. 

As a parent there truly were no answers that could be given to me by either the pharmaceuticals or any government officials that could ever totally right the wrongs done to my son and to so many other children.  There had to be significant financial relief for all parents of the autistic – with no loopholes for the denying of that help – and there had to be intense therapy provided to all autistic children.   In my opinion, anything less than 40 hours a week, was unacceptable.   These children could be helped and made to be productive members of society, but the government and society that had so failed in the safeguarding of these children in the past, now had to accept the burden of making things better for these children in the future.

As difficult as I knew this message had been for so many parents, I encouraged all parents of the autistic and all parents of children who believed their children, although perhaps not diagnosed as autistic, had suffered a vaccine-related injury, to now unite in moving forward.   Anger would do nothing to change the workings of our children’s brains.   More than ever, our children now needed us to help them.   This document had not “changed” any child – it had simply changed one’s awareness of certain issues.  With that awareness, now had to come positive steps to help recover as many children as possible.   Denial or aggression toward another person would do nothing but add to the already great devastation.   It was truly a time to step back and evaluate what now needed to be done.   Together, parents could be a very powerful resource for their children.  Autistic children and their parents held the keys to so much in terms of man’s understanding of himself.  That key, not anger, had to be the key to recovery – the key to getting the help these children so desperately needed and deserved and the key to devising for them tools made specifically for teaching the autistic!      

Educating the public in these matters now had to be a very high priority for everyone.   Only with education could we then begin to truly do what was needed on all fronts.   How parents of the autistic responded to the message provided in this document could indeed set the tone for all of America.   We could be parents to cause further division, or we could be parents determined to move forward in a positive way to meet the needs of our children and help society address these very painful issues.  I, personally, had had enough pain to last me a lifetime.   I was ready to move on and make a difference in a positive way.

All parents of the autistic now had to make very serious choices for their own families.   For some, those decisions would undoubtedly involve legal action – and I understood that completely.   I wished all parents could be compensated for the damage done to their children without going to court, but I knew that would never happen.   To those who did end up in court battles, my heart went out to you.   I knew, this too, would be difficult on your families.  All autistic children and their families would continue to be in my prayers.   Legal battles, however, did not prevent one from also working somehow to more immediately benefit all autistic children.  As such, I truly did encourage all parents to work – united - to begin putting together the programs and training centers that would be necessary for these children and their families.

The journey ahead for all adults would be a long one.   Yet, in my view, it was critical all adults stand united in doing the right thing for all children.   How could any adult look a child in the face and yet not take steps to ensure that child’s safety?   How could any parent of an autistic child, despite his anger as a result of these emotionally charged issues, not determine to work with politicians, as difficult as that would be, to make things right for future generations?  How could any politician continue to kiss children and have pictures of themselves taken with children, yet, when difficult decisions had to be made, these very same politicians turned their back on protecting these very same children? 

These children and their families had suffered so much, emotionally, physically and financially, that a great deal had to be done to help ease their burden.   In my opinion, that also meant that all uninsured autistic children and their families should be provided with health insurance – under the federal health insurance programs used by our own legislators if necessary – with no ability to cancel coverage.   These children and their families had often lost health insurance due to autism – as my own son had.   A simple broken arm had cost us over $5,500.00.   For health insurance companies to be allowed to drop coverage of the autistic, after all this, was in my opinion, simply another slap in the face by a system that had already so failed these children!  In this odd twist of fate, what could be learned from autistic children and their parents could indeed help save societies around the world billions in research.   It was only fair that these children and their families be given something in return – and to me, that meant insurance coverage, paid for vitamins, supplements, tests – and most important of all, research and therapy facilities providing tools geared specifically to the autistic.

Surely, many parents of the autistic had felt intense anger in reading these materials.  Yet, anger, more than ever, had to be put aside in order for us to move forward as a society.   Horrible mistakes had been made – that was obvious.  But now, it was time to move forward as we also attempted to right past wrongs via criminal investigations into these matters.  I was not arguing that persons who knew of these serious issues and chose to hide them rather than make them public should pay no consequences.   What I was saying, however, was that, as a society, we could not let the anger consume us so that it did not allow us to move forward quickly in addressing these concerns for all children and adults – starting immediately.

According to a group dedicated to informing the public in matters of vaccination (http://vaccinationnews.com/), there were now over 200 vaccines in the “pipeline” … some of these vaccines in the pipelines were rather “questionable” to say the least.  Vaccines were now being developed for things like cholesterol, diabetes, ulcers, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, nicotine, anti-marijuana, anti-fertility, dental caries, diarrhea, bladder infection, Alzheimer’s, spinal cord injury.  What obviously “caught my eye” in all this was the vaccines for Alzheimer’s, for anti-marijuana, for dental caries, and spinal cord injury.   If science did not know what caused Alzheimer’s, how could it possibly “come up” with a vaccine to “immunize” against it?

Perhaps to “reverse” the incidence of Alzheimer’s and autism, starting with the removal of mercury from shots may be a good place to start!  Likewise the removal of aluminum may be a good way to start reversing the “gene mutation trend”.  And how exactly would that “spinal cord injury” vaccine work anyway? That was a rather “scary” one… given spinal fluid provided for direct access to the brain.  Given the time, it seemed the pharmaceutical industry could “come up” with an “inoculation” to just about everything – at least so they seemed to believe.   But, with all these vaccinations, would the pharmaceutical industry be doing more harm than good?   I could not help but wonder!   

Vaccinationnews.com was an excellent site for obtaining information relating to vaccination issues and “scandals”.    I encouraged all readers to spend some time on this site.  Truly another one of those “eye openers”.  In my opinion, before we allowed any “more” vaccines into our children and into the adults of this world, society had to mandate much greater research – research that lasted for much longer than just a few days to a few weeks!  

For the government to try to protect the pharmaceuticals from any liability for vaccine injury via the passage of the Frist Bill, and to then allow for the pharmaceutical industry to “run wild” in the production of more and more vaccines was a recipe for disaster!    And just how many of these vaccines would be made “mandatory”?  How many of these vaccines would become almost automatic “protocol” within the medical industry?   Would persons thought to be developing Alzheimer’s or just “at risk” be automatically injected with the Alzheimer’s vaccine?   That certainly would mean the entire adult population could potentially receive this vaccine.  Given the costs of such disorders to society, I could easily see the government using “costs to society” as a reason to vaccinate everyone for many of these things!

It appeared to me that if the vaccine industry was such a high risk industry, as was being put forth by the pharmaceutical industry and those attempting to past the Frist Bill (truly, the ultimate in “toilet paper legislationã”, at least in my opinion), how was it that the pharmaceuticals were working on “so many vaccines”.   If this were not a profitable product line, the pharmaceuticals would certainly not have so many “new vaccines”… they would stick to the basics… to life threatening issues!    But, clearly, that was not the case – was it?  We had to make sure deadly diseases were kept under control… no one was arguing that… but, we also had to make sure that vaccines were safe too!  Mercury was used because it was a cheap preservative.   Vaccines could be made without it and as such all mercury-laced vaccines had to be recalled.

The simple fact of the matter was that we had a few hundred politicians and a few hundred in the pharmaceutical industry telling the world that there was no vaccination and autism link… yet we also had several hundred thousand, perhaps even millions of parents who were saying there definitely was a vaccination and autism link?  I asked all readers “to picture” that in their minds… a few hundred or a few thousand on one side… and several hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions – worldwide – on the other.  Who would you believe?  The few who had everything to lose by admitting a link between autism and vaccinations… those who chose to hide behind bogus arguments of confidentiality in refusing to make relevant facts and documents public (society and parents were not interested in names… just data/statistics)… those who could be seen as either perpetrators of a great social injustice and perhaps even of criminal acts… or at the very least, seen as guilty of total incompetence in the regulation of the second most toxic substance in the world and its injection into our children – or the parents - parents who were now backed by numerous doctors and scientists in their beliefs, parents who had already lost so much and who were diligently looking for the answers – and finding them as they pieced together relevant pieces of the puzzle!   A few hundred or several hundreds of thousands…  a few thousand or a few million – who did it make more sense to believe?   Honestly!

Likewise, undoubtedly, there would be many who would want to deny involvement of the thalamus in autism because to say that the thalamus was involved would be admitting to MAJOR neurological damage and if that could be tied back to mercury exposure… well, let us just say that it would not be a “pleasant” discovery for those in the pharmaceutical industry.   Yet, in my heart I knew the thalamus had to be involved.  As I wrote this book, I came to understand the thalamus was involved in integrating CNS (central nervous system = brain +spinal cord) and PNS (everything else involved in nervous system) information.   I also knew that the integration of sensory information by the thalamus involved sensory input from all senses EXCEPT olfactory (sense of smell).   What I did not realize until nearing the completion of my book, however, was the fact that the thalamus was also involved in functions relating to conscious verses unconscious activity... and, interestingly, this fit right in line with my theory that the autistic child needed to consciously integrate everything so many of us did unconsciously... that to understand the whole the autistic child must first understand the parts to the whole and then integrate them consciously.  How very interesting that sensory integration functions as they relate to the CNS and PNS were located in the same area of the brain associated with conscious/unconscious activity!  This also supported my belief that functions within the brain that were "co-located"- in any section of the brain - may be much more associated with one another than once believed (i.e., smell impacting control of emotions, motion and smell possibly impacting language production, etc.)!   Also very interesting was the fact that the thalamus was also linked to epilepsy!  Note that it is a well-documented fact that epileptics often "sense" a seizure coming... stating they "smell something"... an aura.   The ONE sense not integrated by the thalamus is the one sense that "warns" of an epileptic seizure.  Note that many epileptics lose consciousness (possible thalamus role) during seizures.  For more on that, see http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/news.asp?Id=5677). How very interesting indeed! 

Because the thalamus was involved in sensory integration of CNS and PNS, it was also involved in the sensation of PAIN (i.e., natural opiates) and possibly “textures... other areas of "abnormality in the autistic".    See http://thalamus.wustl.edu/course/body.html for more on this issue.  Also interesting was the fact that damage to the thalamus can result in insomnia... another area of concern for the autistic! But, the role of the thalamus was greater still... I quote from this site, http://www.nbia.nf.ca/brain_injury_rating_scales.htm:

 "Thalamus: The thalamus is a kind of communications relay station for all sensory information being transmitted to the cerebral cortex. Damage to the thalamus may result in altered states of arousal, memory defects, speech deficits, apathy and disorientation."

In my view, there was absolutely no denying that damage to the thalamus had to exist in autistic children and that communication among many parts of the brain appeared to be very limited.    I hoped science could prove me wrong – but I doubted that!  

This document had raised many issues parents would now be asking answers to – and quite honestly, they were owed these answers by society, government and science.   The issues of vaccination safety, disease prevention, and recovery of the autistic – persons so failed by those entrusted to protect them - would truly be our greatest test as a nation, and society, worldwide, and how we responded to that trial would be indicative of our true moral fiber in addressing these very painful and difficult issues.

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