Combating Visual Perceptual Disorders In Autism

                

 

Visual perceptions can affect a number of kids that have autism and you should not assume that all autistic children are affected in a certain way since autism can cause unique type of symptoms in different child.

Do your best to match the most accurate remedies according to the signs that is shown in your child.

With the case of visual perception, there are methods available out there for your child to use which can effectively improve their condition. Those approaches let them view the world in a new light thus making learning and understanding of situations smoother than before.

At the same time, utilizing those tactics can possibly control behavioral issues that are associated with autism.

People who have their sensory easily overwhelmed and distorted are also common among the population that are not suffering from autism. This characteristic have brought about many studies on it and over the years there are multiple treatment options that is being made available.

For autistic individuals, they usually discover that the sensory overload that are generated by lights, colors, contrast, shapes and patterns is simply too unbearable and this is the reason why you see them acting out or totally isolating themselves in general.

Complication of the sensory could be due to a genetic condition and what autism did is to naturally enhance it.

What this mean is that if the parents have problem with reading or been treated previously for visual perceptive issues, then the child would almost certainly need help too.

One practical way of treating visual-perceptual disorders is by using the Irlen Method. In a nutshell, this process takes color and then use it to achieve a better harmonized surrounding.

Helen Irlen had pioneered the studies of visual perception and is credited with the discovery of Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS) or also known as Irlen Syndrome.

Have you ever heard of suggestions that improve the speed and technique of your reading by placing a color filter over the page? If you do, then you will comprehend better what the Irlen Method can achieve.

Studies have shown that this method does work. The result can be seen exceptionally well if your autistic child's level of reading is at the intermediate stage.

The idea is to use the color filters and then evaluate whether there is any improvement in reading speed and comprehension. The wave length of lights that are causing discomfort must be eliminated.

Sensitivity to the wrong light or color can lead to fatigue, strain and an environment with higher distortion. Offending colors can be filtered by observing for any positive changes and then implementing the color that works with the individual at all time.

Please keep in mind that the technique require a bit of trial and error effort since you need to determine which color is the one that is is blocking the undesirable light.

Different child will respond differently to the various colors.

The usage of these color filters will usually take place throughout their life. Yearly evaluation is needed to determine the effectiveness of the colors because fading colors means fading benefit.

Other than reading, you may apply it to copying, handwriting or during usage of computer.

Another thing to take note is that your autistic child would probably appreciate the usage of the color filters during the entire day instead of only when reading. There are glasses designed especially for this purpose by having colored lenses.

Beside the filters and lenses, you can also consider using colored light bulbs within the surrounding of an autistic persons who have visual perception condition. A wonderful application to this is when your child is too young with limited language capability thus by observing for any difference in behavior could mean an indication of a problem.

An important aspect to remember here is that an individual with visual perception disorder will prefer and feel more comfortable with indirect natural lighting or incandescent lighting. Avoid fluorescent lightning and maintain a dimly lit room instead of bright.

There are 4 main criteria that the above approach will benefit your child namely depth perception, social integration, education and their physical wellness.

Depth perception is improved when the right colors assist the child to establish how near or far they are from a certain object. Their world will turn more three-dimensional.

In the area of social integration, the autistic child will feel more relaxed. This will give them a conducive environment to clearly interpret expressions on the faces of people around them.

Uncomfortable feeling like light-headedness and headaches can be greatly reduced while reading and the child will feel more motivated during learning session.

All this contribute to them being less stressed out so that their physical well being can develop properly.

There are clinics and professionals all around the world that have been certified in the Irlen Method. Help your child deal better with their autism by carefully testing this method or any other technique and minimize their visual processing problems.

Danial Dawood is involved with various companies and individuals in the area of information management and unique learning resources. If you are struggling to find out more about autism and all you get are those that seems to be written for doctors, outdated and contains only part of the information, then you need to take a look at this complete guide for autism.

Develop a workable plan and put your mind at ease, visit here for more info.

Five Strategies For Coping With Autism and Anxiety On Socialization

                

 

Though no parent wants to hear that their child has any of the five types of autism, it can be somewhat of a relief to put a name to what is going on. The best thing about a diagnosis is that the child can get treatments that are meant to help with both communication and socialization. These are both problems for those who have this condition, but with help, they can be overcome. There are some things that parents can do to help, and it begins with finding out how to cope with autism and anxiety on socialization. Early intervention often means good results can be expected for some children.

Before therapies can be started, a thorough examination must be done. The child should be evaluated in all areas they are struggling with due to autism to see what areas need the most immediate help, and what might not need to be addressed at all. Usually one or two behaviors will be singled out as the most pressing, and those are the ones that parents need to concentrate on first. These therapies should always be done with positive reinforcement, and with endless amounts of patience.

1. Speech Therapy: Though there are some children with autism that speak rather well, they can still have communication problems in one form or another. They may have a large vocabulary, but they don?t know how to use it. Some children with autism are very bad at forming relationships because of speech-related communication problems. Speech therapy can help them learn to communicate their feelings and thoughts in a more mainstream fashion.

2. Desensitization to New Environments: Therapy focused on this area is done when a child always acts out with screaming tantrums away from home. It can be used for tantrums in any situation. The idea behind is to take the child to an area that they struggle with, and when the tantrum ensues, they are removed and they go home. The next time they visit the spot, they only go in for a short amount of time, usually less than a minute. The time is slowly upped in duration and when paired with positive feedback and rewards, this form of desensitization can be a very useful tool. This can help a child cope with new places such as entering a classroom setting.

3. Self-Awareness: These skills will help children learn to relate to themselves and that in turn helps them relate with others. When they can learn to manage their emotions, they can learn more about the same emotions in others. That helps them in understanding what the other person may be saying or feeling, and once that is accomplished, communications are better managed.

4. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: This therapy also helps a child understand and manage their emotions, and can go a long way towards helping them express themselves rather than having no other way to express emotion except through a tantrum. It can help them relax in certain situations that are normally anxious, and can also help with obsessive behaviors of all types.

5. Medication: Some parents will refuse to put their children on medications to help anxiety during socialization, but there are times when it can greatly benefit the child so it is worth being open minded about this option.

Some children with autism can suffer from deep bouts of depression or may have ADHD. So, medication is something that can be discussed at length with your child?s physician or you may wish to investigate alternative forms of treatment, such as natural supplements or complimentary therapies to reduce autism and anxiety on socialization.

Grab your free copy of Rachel Evans' brand new Autism Newsletter - Overflowing with easy to implement methods to help you and your family find out about autism strategies and for information on high functioning autism please visit The Essential Guide To Autism.

Top 5 Common Symtoms Of Autism In Children

                

 

There are more and more children being diagnosed with autism today. There are new forms of higher functioning autistics being diagnosed, and that leads to higher numbers. Many times children were labeled as being shy or painfully introverted when they really had autism. Though the lower functioning and more common form of autism are easily spotted, those with Asperger?s were often missed or dismissed. Parents that know more about the different symtoms of autism in children will have an easier time recognizing if their child needs further evaluation.

Social Relating: There is a common thread that seems to connect all children with any form of autism. These children have problems relating with others, and in particular, have problems with their peers. They struggle to relate, and they have huge anxiety when trying to form or keep relationships. This causes large amounts of frustration, and many end up alone, avoiding those feelings. They can?t really relate to many things emotionally, though that is different for higher functioning children. In many cases, group activities are just too much for them.

Communication: Some with autism never develop any type of verbal communication. There are others who begin to talk, but then regress. Higher functioning children can have a great vocabulary, but are limited in how they choose to share it. Many of them choose to use gestures rather than talk at all. Those who have some skill might latch on to phrases that they hear and repeat them over and over.

Reaction to Stimulus: Another symptom of autism in children that parents often notice early is that they seem to have exaggerated reactions to many things, or that they have no reaction at all. Many respond to things in the most inappropriate manner. They may cover their ears at tiny sounds, or they may not even blink if a horn were to go off nearby. Some have problems with touch, and seem overly sensitive when touched by others. They may seem like they are in pain from a slight brush of the hand or a simple hug. Others can react violently to bright lights maintaining eye contact can be difficult.

Unusual Behavior: There are many different types of problems that appear in autism. Behaviors are often over-the-top and out of whack with others of the same age. They have a tendency to over-react to things and have tantrums at the slightest variation in schedule. They might be misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder before the proper diagnosis is found. Repetitive motions and actions are also quite common.

At Play: There is some play involved for some children with autism, but some do not play at all, at least, not in the traditional way. Many who do play will play on their own most of the time. They often feel great frustration and anxiety when they are expected to play in a group or with one other child. When they play on their own, it is marked by the repetition of the same motions or action. They appear to be in their own world while at play, and may ignore everything exclusive of the thing they are doing.

Many of the symtoms of autism in children are obvious right away, but they can remain hidden. Some function very well, and these things might not come to light until they are in school or pre-school. When a parent thinks there might be something wrong, they should look for evaluation. No matter what the diagnosis might be, it is smart to remember that some mistakes are made, and some children are said to have autism when they don?t, or that they don?t when they do. If the diagnosis seems wrong, consult with another doctor when there is a change in symptoms.

By Rachel Evans. Sign up for a free newsletter about aspergers and discover more on the signs and symptoms of autism.

Autism - What Causes Autism and How Can You Prevent It

                

 

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes delays in social interaction, language as used in social communication, and/or imaginative play, that orginates prior to 3 years of age, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

What causes Autism? This question is still answered with open-ended possibilities. Autism in laymen terms is an otherwise healthy person that cannot either speak in a given

Language format, interact with others in a social setting, or becomes emotionally triggered by very normal functions of others around them.

Autism studies have found a distinctive link with people diagnoised with autism and their unusually high heavy metal content in their blood. Mercury and lead seem to read high in their blood count. The body's ability to defuse or expunge certain metals causes a build up or high concentration of these metals and the link suggests that this build up of heavy metals seems to block certain social solving skills in the brain.

Retention of these heavy metals in the body creates a severe imbalance in the ratio of active to inactive glutathione, the body's most important tool for detoxifying and excreting metals. Glutathione works as an antioxidant, which regulates the potentially destructive process of oxidative stress caused both by normal metabolism and environmental contaminants. Autistic children showed a significant impairment in every one of five measurements of the body's ability to maintain a healthy glutathione defense.

Autism has increased 10-fold from 6 in 10,000 in the 1980s, to about 60 in 10,000 today. Boys are higher candidates than girls of having autism. Since the discovery link of heavy metals in autistic people, there are some studies that suggest that if you can reduce or aid in expunging metal content from the body through the skin's pores using a special cr?me, testing has shown to produce some very significant, almost immediate results.

So how does these heavy metals get into the body? One very elusive method that we seldom hear about is through vaccines. The preservatives that were placed in the vaccines were found to have adverse affects that could account for some of this metal build up. As of 2002 these preservatives have been removed.

Our food supply is also a big contributor of metals. Fish and shellfish can contain high levels of mercury. Women would are of child bearing age are warned to avoid these foods if they are anticipating pregnancy. Green leafy plants can retain levels of lead from the soil. So, basically you can come in contact with several ways of ingesting these offensive metals.

The intake is not as much the problem, as the releasing of these essential minerals. If a person cannot release these minerals, then the build-up appears to cause or at least contribute to the symptoms of autism. Autism is not something to be ashamed of, understand that your child is relying on you to get the help they need asap, for a more responsive life.

Bottom line is to have a child tested as soon as you notice certain behavioral problems that just aren't normal. For instance,

- autistic children will avoid eye to eye contact

- they don't interact with other children well, they like playing alone

- they don't form words, or mimic your coaching words

- they can be sensitive to normal sounds, like that of a vacuum cleaner

- they tend to want to line up there toys in straight lines and become upset if they are rearranged

- they can indicate they are hungry, yet when food is given, they reject it

- they may want an item but not accept it from you by hand, they prefer to pick it up themselves when they decide the time is right

While some of these symptoms, done separately, may not suggest autism, it's the collection of a larger group of items listed that tend to send signals that testing would be advised. When asking your doctor if they think your child is okay or normal, please alert the doctor to have your child tested for high levels of heavy metals and explain some of the child's odd mannerisms. Doctors don't have the same perceptions as you simply from a doctor's visit. Being more verbal with your concerns for your child as soon as you notice their different behaviors could greatly improve by treatments as early as possible.

Doctors in general do not consider testing for autism before the age of 3 years, but if you have seen some of the behaviors listed above, remember, you can suggest to the doctor to do some testing for autism earlier than your child's 3rd birthday.

President Bush recently signed the Combating Autism Act of 2006 bill on December 19, 2006. This bill, widely applauded by autism activists groups, authorizes nearly $1 billion over the next five years to combat autism through research, screening, early detection and early intervention. The new legislation will increase federal spending on autism by at least fifty percent. Please support their efforts whenever and wherever possible.

http://wealthsmith.com/autism-symptoms-autism-cure.htm

Jim has found a disorder that has touched him on a personal level and he is becoming a strong advocate for a cure of autism. To have so much knowledge available the cure is within our grasp. http://wealthsmith.com/autism-symptoms-autism-cure.htm

Choosing an Autism Treatment Center

                

 

I don't have experience with?using Autism treatment centers?for ABA programs; but, in our area, more clinics are opening, so these opportunities are present for parents now.? I can't speak to the structure or scenarios that are best to look for when choosing a clinic, if you go that direction, but I can tell you what you should look for in a consultant regardless of the setting.

Consultants, whether in a clinic or at home, should provide the following at minimum:

1. Ongoing analysis of your child, his programming and behavior.

2. Knowledge of multiple training procedures for training the same thing?( each child is different. One size does not fit all.)

3. A high prioritized systematic approach for data collection and it's use.

4. Training and honest critique of your child's therapists.

5. Regular team meetings (two to three times?a month) with therapists and parents present.

6. In home visits for training for the carry through of clinic principles in the home.

7. Ongoing training of parents in behavioral principles.

8. Regular (once to twice a month) meetings with the parents to address concerns.

9. An ear to listen and a heart to include parents as a major?partner in decision making for their child.

10. A positive outlook for the children and a determination to help each child reach his and her best outcome

Good luck in your pursuit of treatment for your child.

My heart is with you,

Katherine Lee

Katherine Lee is a highly regarded consultant in the areas of Applied Behavior Analysis and & Relationship Development Intervention. She is author to numerous columns on Autism, ABA and RDI. Join Kat for her popular WEBLOG- "'Reality ABA' - An Online Autism Diary" at http://www.autismtreatment.info/reality+aba.aspx

Thimerosal & Autism - David Kirby's Evidence Of Harm

                

 

Thimerosal & Autsim - David Kirby's Evidence of Harm

David Kirby new book, "Evidence of Harm" is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the connection between autism and childhood vaccines containing the mercury based preservative Thimerosal. The book examines the political and legal side of this travesty and presents information that cannot be disputed.

The book is a result of a thorough investigation and is by no means an anti-vaccine campaign. But most importantly, its obvious that Kirby has no ax to grind.

"I was 100% unfamiliar with this story right up until November of 2002," Kirby says, "I had never met a person with autism in my life and I had never heard of Thimerosal,"

"And I had certainly never heard of any connection between any form of mercury and autism," he adds, "although I did know mercury was not good for you. But I dont think I realized the extent to which it could do damage in your body."

"Growing up in school," Kirby said, "I have tried...I have searched my brain going back class by class, trying to think, Could that kid have been autistic?

"But, I have seen autistic kids and no," he said, "I dont believe I had ever met anybodycertainly no one who was diagnosed."

For people who insist that there is no epidemic and that it is just better reporting and better diagnostics, "I really would like to pose the question to them that Mark Blaxill, from Safe Minds, asks," Kirby said, "Where are all those people? Where are the 1 in 166 autistic adults? We cant find them."

The epidemic is real and politicians know it. On June 18, 2004, Representative Dave Weldon (R-FL) took to the floor of Congress and told members of congress, "I would like to take this time to address what I consider to be a very growing problem, the epidemic of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders that are plaguing our Nation."

"In January of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services sent out an autism alarm to the Nation's pediatricians. In this alarm, they stated that one in every 167 children is being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. I will repeat that. One in every 167 children being born in the United States today is being diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder. Furthermore, one in seven children is being diagnosed with either a learning disability or a behavioral disability."

"Mr. Speaker, something dreadful is happening to our youngest generation, and we must sound the alarm and figure out what is going on with our children," Weldon said.

According to Weldon, "autism was once in America a rare and infrequently seen condition. I went through 4 years of medical school, internship, residency, and years of private practice and practice within the military and had not seen one single case. I have seen case after case in my congressional district over the last 7 years, a disease that I had never seen before."

Weldon told the committee, "The number one question has been whether neurologic problems were caused in some children by the high levels of a mercury containing additive that was included in our vaccines in the 1990s. This mercury containing additive is called thimerosol, and in the 1990s, infants and unborn children were exposed to significant amounts of mercury at a most critical point in their development."

Ironically, Republican lawmakers are openly blaming Thimerosal and seeking to have it banned. In addition to Weldon, Senator Roy Holand (R-Missouri), also a physician by training, identified Thimerosal as the culprit and got Missouri legislators to prohibit its use in childhood vaccines in his state.

As a physician, Ive been concerned about the rising levels of autism, and the more Ive learned about thimerosal, the more convinced I am that it causes neurological damage, said Holand. Mercury has no place being injected into children.

Evidence of Harm examines the politics involved and reads like mystery. Kirby weaves together the determined efforts by parents to force attention upon autism; the conflicting scientific evidence regarding Thimerosal; and the behind-the-scenes maneuverings that led to an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services into allegations of malfeasance on the part of employees at the CDC and the FDA.

Kirby is no stranger to investigative journalism. He has been writing extensively for the New York Times for the past seven years and was a foreign correspondent in Mexico and Central America from 1986 -1990, where he covered the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and the politics, corruption and natural disasters in Mexico. From Latin America, he reported for UPI, the San Francisco Examiner, Newsday, Arizona Republic, Houston Chronicle and the NBC Radio Network.

Kirby keeps up with all the studies by independent scientists. "The most important ones among them are the work of Jeff Bradstreet, Jill James, and Dr. Richard Deth, and others looking into this: Boyd Haley, of course, from the University of Kentucky. Mark and David Geier have looked more into the epidemiology than the biology of this," he adds.

"The bottom line of what their studies are showing," Kirby says, "is that autistic kids retain heavy metals at a much greater rate than normal kids; that they seem unable, in fact, to actually excrete it."

There is a treatment known as "chelation" that is showing some success when used to draw mercury out of the bodies of autistic children.

"Following chelation," Kirby reports, "autistic children excrete far higher levels of mercury than normal kids. And yet, in their baby haircuts, were finding that normal kids have much higher levels of mercury in their hair," he said, "And that would then make sense, because they were excreting it properly; the autistic kids were holding onto it."

This theory is supported by research conducted by Mady Hornig which took different strains of miceone strain which was genetically predisposed to have auto-immune disordersand exposed them all to the same level of vaccines that children would have received.

In the sensitive group of mice, Hornig noticed autistic-like behavior and physiological development such as increased brain size that you see in autistic children. Of course as always happens to scientists who connect the dots on this issue, she has been attacked for the study.

According to Kirby, people said, "How can you tell if a mouse has autism or not?"

But he explains, "Im not quite sure that was the point of the study. I think the point of the study was to show that certain members of the same species, with a genetic difference, will react differently to the same level of mercury exposure due to a genetic variance."

Which makes perfect sense. Those children whose bodies cannot rid themselves of mercury become autistic. The August 2003 International Journal of Toxicology study revealed that healthy children excreted eight times more mercury via their hair than did autistic children. In fact, the more severe a child's autistic symptoms, the less mercury was excreted in her hair, indicating that mercury also could be retained in the child's tissue, including her brain.

Thimerosal began to be slowly removed from vaccines in late 1999. "That means new vaccines started to be produced without mercury in them," Kirby said, "But as we know, all the vaccines on the shelf with mercury stayed on the shelvesthere was never a recall."

According to Kirby, "We have no idea how long it took to use up all that mercury-containing vaccine, or even if it has all been used up," he said, "The OSC has said that there may be vaccine out there with an expiration date of 2005 that still contains the full amount of mercury."

"We dont know when those lots were released; we dont know where they were released; we dont know what kids in what part of the country were getting mercury and what kids were not post 2000," he warns.

The truth is there are still some vaccines out there that contain full doses of the Thimerosal with expiration dates in the fall of 2005. They include:

Meningococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine (Aventis Pasteur) 10-dose Vial, lot UB505AA - Expires 17 Jun 05 - 25 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal; Td Vaccine (Aventis Pasteur) 10-dose Vial, lot U1014AA - Expires 2 Sept 05 - 25 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal; Tetanus Toxoid Absorbed Vaccine (Aventis Pasteur) 10-dose Vial, lot U1048BA - Expires 8 Sept 05 - 25 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal; Tetanus Toxoid Vaccine (Aventis Pasteur) 15-dose Vial, lot U0775AA - Expires 10 Mar 05 - 25 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal; Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine (Je-Vax - Aventis Pasteur) 3 x 1 mL Vials, lot EJN*196B - 35.7 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal; Td Vaccine Mass. Department of Health, 7.5 mL Vial, lot Td-102 - Expires 21 May 2005 - 8.3 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal; Influenza Virus Vaccine (Fluzone - Aventis Pasteur) 5 mL Vial - 25 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal; Pediatric DT Vaccine (Aventis Pasteur) 5 mL Vial - 25 micrograms of mercury per dose from Thimerosal.

As late as 2003, a review of the Physician's Desk Reference showed that three childhood vaccines were still being made with full doses of Thimerosal. Diphtheria-Tetanus-acellular-Pertussis (DTaP) manufactured by Aventis-Pasteur in multi-dose vials contained 25 micrograms of mercury, Haemophilus-influenza-Type b (HibTITTER) in multi-dose vials manufactured by Wyeth contained 25 micrograms of mercury, and pediatric hepatitis B vaccine manufactured by Merck contained 12.5 micrograms of mercury. These vaccines represented about half of the childhood vaccines available for use in the US that year.

So we know that children may have been exposed to high levels of mercury in 2003. The total childhood mercury intake could have been more than 300 g, according to the report in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Spring 2003 issue.

The bottom line Kirby says, "We do know that kids were getting mercury right up through 2002, and perhaps later. We also know that it is in the flu shots," he adds.

On January 19, 2004 Mark Geier, the internationally renowned genetic researcher, discussed the flu vaccines with Kelley Omeara of Insight News, "There is something called the blood/brain barrier, which prevents some toxins from entering the brain. But ethyl mercury, which is what is in the influenza vaccine, crosses that barrier," he explained, "The influenza vaccine has 25 micrograms of mercury, which means that to be at the recommended level of safety, and assuming that you get no mercury from any other source, you'd have to weigh 550 pounds to be safe."

The independent scientific research behind this public health crisis is mounting and the public is beginning to sit up and take notice of the media stories coming out that discuss the information contained in Evidence of Harm.

For instance, an article titled, "Deadly Immunity," written by Robert Kennedy, Jr was co-published this month in Rolling Stone and Salon. It mentions Evidence of Harm and discusses many of the issues detailed in the book.

Kennedy's article, tells how in June 2000, the CDC held a conference at the Simpsonwood Conference Center in Norcross, Ga, where doctors and scientists gathered to discuss a preliminary study that indeed found a statistically significant link between Thimerosal and autism. From material obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, Kennedy cites quotes that leave no doubt that the meeting's purpose, ultimately, was to "whitewash the risks of Thimerosal, ordering researchers to 'rule out' the chemical's link to autism."

The American Prospect hailed the article as a "blockbuster piece," and on June 21, 2005, while discussing the article with Kennedy, Joe Scarborough, on his MSNBC TV show, said that "there's no doubt in my mind that Thimerosal causes, in my opinion, autism."

According to Dr Geier, "the current epidemic of autism may well be the greatest iatrogenic epidemic in history. The damage already done to our society is already in the trillions of dollars. The damage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and that of the AIDS epidemic pale when compared to the current epidemic of autism."

Or put another way, "To cling to a purely genetic explanation for autism is a desperate attempt to maintain the illusion that one lives in a comfortable and rational world where new chemicals and technologies always mean progress; experts are always objective and thorough; corporations are honest; and authorities can be trusted," says Harvard's Martha Herbert, "That human actions, rather than genes, might be responsible for compromising the health of a significant proportion of a whole generation is so painful as to be, for many, unthinkable."

The vaccine makers, along with their complicit government scientists and policy makers, have a lot to lose. If they don't find a way to keep the public from finding out that they knowingly allowed an entire generation of children to be damaged, the ensuing litigation will spread through the nation's court system like wild-fire and push tobacco and asbestos law suits down into small claims court.

The evidence presented in Kirby's book forces readers to face the unthinkable and leads to one conclusion: a generation of innocent and defenseless children were poisoned for profits by a greedy segment of society mistakenly entrusted to protect the common good of children all over the world.

Evelyn Pringle
epringle05@yahoo.com

(Evelyn Pringle is a columnist for Independent Media TV and an investigative journalist focused on exposing corruption in government)