Raising Children With High Functioning Autism

                

 

If your child has been diagnosed with high functioning autism, parenting can be a challenge. The main reason is because autistics do not think and mentally develop the same way as the average child, and so must be taught individually and differently. Therefore, the challenge is finding out what parenting methods work for your autistic child. Essentially, it?s a lot of trial and error.

Raising a child with high functioning autism can be made easier by providing children with the necessary therapy they require. However, aside from therapy, the following are 5 basic parenting tips that may prove helpful along the way:

Tip 1 - Create Schedules ? Most autistics, including those with high functioning autism, resist change and insist on routine. Creating schedules helps autistic children to better comprehend situations and learn. You need to provide your child with a daily schedule that shows him/her the order of activities they will experience. If your child has difficulty reading, create a picture schedule.

Furthermore, telling a child in advance that an activity is about to change, helps to create an easier transition for them. For instance, tell your child ?In 5 minutes, we?re going to stop coloring and read a story?.

Tip 2 - Create understanding ? Make sure your child understands what you want him/her to do. Ensure that the task you are asking is achievable and you understand the specific way in which your child learns and reacts to information told to him/her.

For instance, you should refrain from using figures of speech as part of instruction. A figure of speech is when you use an expression that has a non-literal meaning (IE. metaphors, similes, etc.) This form of language will be lost on an autistic. Thus, a better choice would be to use a visual aid such as a picture or a demonstration, to clarify the task.

Tip 3 ? Create a personalized behavior plan ? You can?t rely on the parenting methods that work for parents with regular children, or even those who have a child with high functioning autism. You need to create a program that is specifically oriented around the interests and needs of your child. This means analyzing your child?s behavior and creating a personal program based on his/her behavioral patterns. This is how you will eventually get your child to learn, respond and interact with others.

Tip 4 ? Focus on improvement ? Instead of trying to explain to your child what you don?t like when they do something you deem inappropriate or unproductive, focus on improving their behavior. If you want to improve on past behaviors, teach new ?acceptable? ones to replace the old.

Teaching new behavioral skills will take plenty of time, patience and practice, but eventually the new acceptable behaviors will replace those you don?t approve of.

Tip 5 ? Sensitivity alert! ? Make sure you are aware of the triggers that will upset your child, so you can do your best to ensure they are avoided. Some issues that tend to upset those with high functioning autism include, but are not limited to:

? Sudden loud sounds (IE. alarms)
? Unusual smells in a particular room
? Discomfort when touched
? Being bumped

Although you can?t ensure your child will always be safe from sensitive issues, by knowing what they are helps you to have more control. Like any child, the less stress your autistic child has, the more productive they will be.

Remember, as a parent of a child with high functioning autism, you need to learn how to go with the flow, be creative, patient - and above all ? maintain a positive attitude.

By Rachel Evans. To find out more about high functioning autism and for information on adult autism please visit the links.

My Child with Autism

                

 

"Hi! My name is Gian Vincenzo. I am autistic. Don't worry. I'm happy."

....this hermitage has a great thing to do with my concerns and activities for my second son, Gian Vincenzo, who will turn 6 years old on January 10, 2007. He is diagnosed with autism.

Gian was born 6 summers ago, a robust, APGAR trouncing 7 pound baby. Up to his 18th month, he exhibited the progression of any normal kid - voracious appetite, geometric growth, rudimentary speech (dada, mama), facial recognition, in short, the works.

All of these went downhill and faded to oblivion when he went past 18 months. He withdrew, literally, from the world.

Words disappeared. He could not distinguish his parents from anybody else. He held his hands in his ears for the faintest of sounds, but totally ignored the Parokya ni Edgar ear-splitters blaring from his big brother's mini-compo. Instead of the bright eyes that we have known before, now he stares with empty glances at nowhere - not focusing on anything yet focusing on everything all at once. He would cry at the slightest touch of cotton buds on his ears. He would cry when he wants ice cream and he cannot, for the world, say these 2 words. He would be sickly- a regular patron of pediatricians and hospitals suites semi-annually.

At first, there was denial and rationalization. People we know, even doctors, gave Gian the benefit of the doubt that,because of his gender, he might have a slight delay in speech, and gave him 6 months. Then another 6 months. Then another 6 months. This slight delay is not getting slight anymore.

At 3 years of age, we could not wait any longer for Gian to speak "Mommy" and "Daddy". Off we went to a garden variety of specialists, you name them, Gian has gone through them. Pedia-neuros, Neuro developmentals, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Special Schools ( 3 of them), Occupational therapists, Speech therapists. Gian has gone through in 6 years what I haven 't gone through in my 39.

We then found "Intervention Partners", a Pasig based center led by experienced Sped specialists, on July 2006. At this point, Gian has still to say a single word - at 5 1/2 years old, and we were in "desperate" mode. The center is a practitioner in Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA).

In retrospect, "Intervention Partners" was God's gift from heaven.

From July to December, in a short span of child-time, Gian went from zero vocabulary, to single words, to identifying words with pictures, to constructing simple subject-predicate sentences. He can now verbalize what he wants, what he feels. He can listen and follow simple directions. He can sing the whole "Lupang Hinirang" and "Ave Maria" in his American accented diction. He can discern Caltex from Shell, spell all the colors of the rainbow, count from 1 to 10,000 (in increments of 1,000) forward and backward. On his own, he is now learning a few Tagalog words.

Truly an accomplishment. At this point in time.

The road ahead is still paved with gravel, thorns and IEDs. Gian has a life ahead of him, and though we did not let the dice of Fate get a chance in his first 6 years, we still wonder if they will play their cards in his next 6 and beyond.

Gian will turn from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. At some point out there, we will be called to meet our Maker, and the mere thought of leaving him behind to the Fates, the Elements, and God forbid, The Philippine Goverment and the BIR, makes us shudder.

As a continuing legacy, I have inaugurated as simple website for Gian, www.myautisticson.com. Contained in it is Gian's Weblog , which I would fill with his journals - from Gian's perspective.

Also included is Gian's Autism Forum , which I hope to be a source of online interaction for parents, teachers, practitioners, in their common quest to know and overcome this mystery called Autism.

Again, Merry Christmas and a blessed 2007!

Hi! My name is Gian Vincenzo. I am autistic. Don't worry. I'm happy.

About The Basics Of Autism Diagnosis

                

 

The earlier autism is diagnosed, the better facilitation of prognosis is done. Treatment and hopeful cure follow afterwards.

The problem though with autism is that it is often hard to diagnose. Not only that there is wide spectrum of autism-related diseases but mainly because most symptoms only manifest during certain phases of developmental stages.

One of the many essential features concerned with children of autistic disorder is their tendency to create odd interests and poor attention and focus. Additionally, they also deficit in social interaction. Most authorities in this subject affirm that these features clearly indicate autistic factors yet they admit that these are not enough to diagnose autism among children younger than 3 years old.

Moreover, the inconsistency of symptom manifestation often hampers the proper diagnosis of autism more than the abnormality itself. There are virtually lots of factors affecting this inconsistency.

Autism can also be correlated with other conditions such as mental retardation, childhood psychoses, Asperger disorder and a couple of other neurological disorders.

Often, diagnosis begins through these three determining factors. Keep in mind though that evaluation of these three stages would not suffice the data so as to conclude that a child truly has autistic features.

Physical and neurological examinations

Examination of medical history including those that manifest through relatives. This also consists of birth history and developmental conditions, and Medical tests to help rule out other diseases

Diagnostic criteria are used to formally determine if a child is truly subjected to autistic features. Comprehensive diagnosis can be done through routine developmental screening which concerns mostly all developmental features that are absent or deficient with autistic children.

Say, if a child fails to show the following features, he can be initially diagnosed as candidate for autism:

Babbling at his 1st year
Development of gestures on his 1st year
Ability to say single words at I year and 4 months of age
Spontaneous phrasing of 2 words at 2 years old

Any diagnosis should be done by experts and people who have a professional experience with autism and children development issues, do not be tempted to sign your own verdict on your child, or any other child, because of fears and bad thoughts that you may have. In many cases borderline symptoms of autism combined with extensive treatment resulted in a normally developed child

Autism is a major concern for parents and caregivers in the first few months of a baby?s development. The wide range of symptoms and the difference in the level of behavioral difficulties make autistic diagnosis something that is done only by experts in this field. Learn more about Autism Diagnose at http://autism.advice-tips.com

How To Identify Autism In Your Child

                

 

Let's start at the beginning with discussing what is Autism?

Autism is a disorder of the brain and one in every two and a half thousand children are born with it. Children who are Autistic will show signs of being withdrawn from their environment and will have problems communicating. Often it is confused with Asperger's Syndrome and, although similar in many ways, they are two different diagnoses.

Signs of Autism can be displayed in a child as young as twelve months and it is usually prominent by the age of three. Autism is also called spectrum disorder or autistic spectrum disorder, and statistics show more males than females have been diagnosed with the neurological abnormality. Often, a child can seem very normal until up to three years of age, then suddenly they begin to change as their speech and social development is impaired. They will exhibit strange behavior and movements, have trouble communicating, some even become deaf and mute and will not like being held. Some will move compulsively and prefer to occupy themselves rather than play with toys or people. Every case is individual, so each child has a different combination of symptoms.

With communication being so difficult for those with spectrum disorder, it is common for their IQ to be below average. About a quarter of these cases excel in certain areas like math, art or music and their IQs are well above average. It is much harder to diagnose Autism in adults from any physical symptoms, but they have problems with understanding other's feelings, forming friendships, recognizing fear and behaving appropriately in social situations. Often, they will be self-destructive in their habits and are unable to understand the consequences of their actions.

Asperger's Syndrome is a mild form of Autism, with most of the symptoms being the same. Where Autism is clearly diagnosed by about age three, Asperger's onset is usually much later. Children with Asperger's will prefer isolation, exhibit eccentricities, will have strange inflections in their way of speaking, can be uncoordinated and clumsy and single minded in their interests.

High functioning autism is where a person has been diagnosed with the disorder but is still able to continue with a relatively unaffected life. Asperger's disorder is considered milder than this type of Autism, so they can usually maintain a fairly uninterrupted existence. Someone with Asperger's may not be viewed any differently in society, but with Autism, they will be noticeably unique in their movements and speech and can have more trouble learning. This means they can experience more difficulty fitting in and possibly even discrimination.

There is no cure for Autism or Asperger's and no way to return their normal functions and abilities. However, much progress is always being made in ways to manage the disorders. Speech therapy, special diets, music therapy, sensory integration, art therapy, behavior modification and auditory training are all ways to assist in handling Autism so they can lead a life as close to normal as is possible. Since it is specific to the individual, treatments are tailored to each case. Some may need drug therapy for hyperactivity disorders or anger control.

Having a child with Autism can be very stressful and taxing on the family, so strategies for coping will be needed for all who are involved. Autistic children need extra attention and endless supplies of love and understanding. They never truly mature like most of us, but they will have a better chance of being independent if they receive the required training and support therapies.

Jon is a computer engineer who maintains many websites to pass along his knowledge, experience, information, and findings. You can read more about Autism, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and Asbergers Syndrome at his web site at http://www.autism-explained.com/

Autism and Asperger's Syndrome

                

 

It is every parent?s nightmare for a child to be born with some form of disability. In the case of most physical disabilities this can be obvious or at least quickly diagnosed by a doctor. However, less obvious are disabilities or abnormalities associated with the child?s brain. Autism is such an abnormality and asperger's syndrome is a particular type of autism. Autism and asperger's syndrome in particular cannot usually be detected until the child has reached 18 months to 3 years of age. Asperger's syndrome may not become apparent until much later and sometimes into adulthood.

Asperger's syndrome (AS) is one of five neurobiological pervasive disorders (PDD) which collectively cover deficiencies in social and communication skills. Asperger's syndrome specifically identifies a person with normal to above normal intelligence compared with classic autism. As with classic autism, the asperger's syndrome person will have difficulty communicating and interacting with other people but is more specifically characterised by limited interests other than a preoccupation with a particular topic to the exclusion of all other topics. Other characteristics include repetitive behaviours or rituals, peculiarities in speech and language, socially and emotionally inappropriate behaviour and interpersonal interaction, problems with non verbal communication and clumsy and uncoordinated physical movements.

More simply, the characteristics of asperger's syndrome can be divided into three main categories: social impairments, narrow but intense interests and peculiarities of speech and language.

Many asperger's syndrome sufferers will experience difficulty in life and the progress of treatment will depend on how early in their life the condition was diagnosed, development of language skills, access to suitable schooling and above all the love and support of parents and family. Usually, treatment can be provided alongside a normal life and mixing with normal people.

There is no specific cure for asperger's syndrome or any form of autism but it can be managed by using special behavioural management techniques, special education and medication. With the love and support of parents and family together with a good psychologist many autism and asperger's syndrome people are able to integrate into a normal life pattern.

For more information on Autism and Asperger's Syndrome visit http://www.aboutautismhealthsite.info/ for other Health Issues visit http://www.the-health-issues-directory.com/

Parenting Autism - Being Your Child's Primary Resource

                

 

Don't be Afraid of the Myths and Misconceptions about Autism.

Parents often feel sad, afraid and confused when they learn their child has an autism spectrum disorder, and It's no wonder -- autism is often portrayed as a grim, lifelong disability, from which there is no hope of recovery.

Of course, these expectations are based on outdated information about people who grew up a generation ago, when only the most severe cases were diagnosed, and treatment was practically nonexistent. Unfortunately, parents are still given this outdated information, presented as if it's still accurate and relevant in our present day.

These misconceptions lead to more fear, more sadness, limited expectations, and feelings of incompetence in parents about how to best help their child. As a result, some parents rely entirely on other people to work with their child and to make decisions for their child, instead of trusting their own instincts, knowledge, and abilities. Parents are their child's best resource, yet somehow that's not the message they're getting from the experts.

Don't be Afraid to Believe in Your Child's Potential.

Each child has their own unique, unknown potential. Everyone who works with your child must believe in his ability to learn, grow, and have a bright future.

With effective intervention, the vast majority of children experience improvement, ranging all the way from slight recovery to complete recovery, and everything in-between. The degree of recovery a child experiences depends primarily on his unique potential, combined with whatever learning opportunities he experiences.

Learning opportunities are not just teaching style and content alone. A child's overall environment and expectations are also an integral part of his learning experience.

Knowing these things, we can do three very powerful things for our child:

1. We can love our child as he is now, and provide a positive, nurturing environment.

2. We can keep a completely open mind as to how far our child can go.

3.We can present lots of positive opportunities for learning and growth.

If we do these things, our child will have the opportunity to truly fulfill his unique potential.

Don't Be Afraid to Ask Questions.

If your child has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, it's important to ask questions. Ask as many as you need in order to feel confident in your understanding of the disorder. Even if you get most of your initial questions answered, you may find there are still many questions that no one can answer conclusively, because in many ways autism research is still in its infancy. Researchers are still gathering information regarding cause, prognosis, and what interventions are most effective.

Don't Be Afraid to Explore Your Options.

Get to know all your options. It takes some time, but continue to seek opinions and advice from people with different backgrounds in autism. Even after your initial questions have been answered, it's still a good idea to consult with additional people with different types of knowledge and expertise.

For instance, you may want to ask a few different doctors, psychologists, teachers, therapists, and parents with contrasting approaches to autism about their opinions and experience. Our understanding of autism is continually evolving, and one person may have knowledge that another does not.

As you gather more and more relevant information, you will make better and better decisions for your child. Remember, no decision is carved in stone. In fact, you'll probably change direction and switch approaches a few times, and that's okay. It's all part of the process of learning what works best for your child, and adapting to your child's changing needs.

Don't Be Afraid to Work with Your Child.

Never believe that the experts have all the answers and that you should not get involved with your child's treatment program. Talk with the experts to learn more about what you can do at home with your child. Do further research by reading books and articles on autism, attending classes and conferences, and talking to other parents.

You know your child better than anyone else. In addition, you have an undeniable bond with your child that no one else could ever possibly have. Take advantage of your bond to teach your child, build his self-esteem, and explore treatment options you feel will work for your child.

Regardless of their potential, children will seldom go beyond the expectations of their parents. We can't know how far our children can go, but we can take the lid off the box of low expectations, by having faith in their ability to learn, and by providing the loving environment necessary for them to achieve their highest potential.

Sandra Sinclair is a parent of a child with PDD-NOS, and a life coach for parents of children on the autism spectrum. She is author of "Newly Diagnosed Autism Spectrum"- A free mini-course with 7 clear steps you can take to help your child. http://www.autismvoice.com/blog/7StepstoHelpChildrenwithAutism

Autism, ADD, ADHA - Vaccine Related

                

 

According to the most recent estimates by the CDC, about 1 in 150 children in the US suffers from an autistic disorder. Recent studies have shown that exposure to mercury in childhood vaccines, not only causes autism but can also result in immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions similar to traits associated with autism.

Thimerosal is a vaccine preservative that was developed in the 1930s by Eli Lilly, and has been regularly used in vaccines ever since. It contains 49.5% mercury. The amount of mercury considered safe for adults, by the EPA is 0.1 microgram per kilogram of weight.

As a neurotoxin, thimerosal, has been linked to the depletion of the protective anti-oxidant, glutathione, which helps rid the body of mercury. People with autism seem to be more susceptible to this effect and most have low levels of glutathione. Therefore, their bodies have difficulty excreting mercury.

In 1999, many drug companies claimed they were reducing the amount of thimerosal in vaccines. Some companies even provided product inserts that claimed that only a trace amount of mercury still existed in the final product. Others claimed to be producing vaccines that were completely mercury-free.

A few months ago the group, Health Advocacy in the Public Interest (HAPI), sent four separate vials of different vaccines to be tested for mercury content by Doctor's Data, an independent lab, which specializes in heavy metal testing.

The testing revealed that all four of the vials contained mercury, despite the claim by 2 companies that their vaccines were completely mercury-free. According to HAPI, all four vaccines also contained aluminum which greatly increases the toxicity of mercury in causing neuronal death in the brain.

In fact, during further investigation of the matter, HAPI discovered that mercury-based thimerosal was still being used to produce most vaccines. The drug makers claimed that after production, they use a process to filter the preservative out of the final vaccines.

However, Scientist, Boyd Haley, Phd, who is the Chemistry Department Chair at the University of Kentucky, told HAPI that its not possible to filter out all of the thimerosal because mercury binds to the antigenic protein in the vaccine and therefore, cannot be completely filtered out 100%.

We are not going to see a drastic decline in autism due to the fact that we have been misled about when thimerosal was actually eliminated from vaccines. Because the FDA has never ordered drug makers to recall all the vaccines previously manufactured and shipped to health care providers, to this very day, several different mercury-containing vaccines remain in the inventories of health care facilities, and some have an expiration date as late as September, 2005.

In addition, pregnant women and their unborn infants, are still being injected with thimerosal in flu vaccines, and a shot to combat the RH negative factor. The FDA and CDC have ignored the tremendous amount of scientific evidence of injury from these vaccines discovered by all the various studies, and have continued to recommend flu vaccines for pregnant women and certain children.

Most flu vaccines recommended for pregnant women contain 25 micrograms of mercury. Which means a fetus, through the vaccination of its mother, receives a dose of mercury that exceeds the Federal guidelines by several hundred-fold.

Experts Weigh In

To what degree of scientific certainty can the epidemic of autism be blamed on mercury in childhood vaccines? David Ayoub, MD, answered this question for Independent Media TV, I can state that the certainty of the science supporting mercury as a major cause of autism is probably more overpowering than the science behind any other disease process that I studied dating back to medical school, he said.

In 2002, the research team of David and Mark Geier, released a study based on tens of millions of doses of vaccines given to children in the US during the 1990s, that presented the first epidemiologic evidence that associated the increase in thimerosal from vaccines with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Specifically, the Geiers analysis of the Federal government's Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) database showed statistical increases in the incidence rate of autism, mental retardation, and speech disorders in children receiving thimerosal-containing diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines, when compared with those who received thimerosal-free DTaP vaccines. The VAERS database has only been maintained by the CDC since 1990.

According to the Geiers, the usual course of DTaP vaccine consists of primary immunizations administered at 2, 4, and 6 months, followed up by booster doses at 18 months and at 5 years.

Using the database, the Geiers determined that there were a total of 6575 adverse reaction reports after thimerosal-vaccines, compared to only 1516 adverse reactions reported after thimerosal-free vaccines.

Lisa Blakemore-Brown, a Psychologist in the UK, also maintains that thimerosal is the cause of autism, and suspects it is also the culprit involved in a wide variety of other health problems showing up in children these days.

"The epidemic of health and developmental problems in so called advanced countries is now undeniable," Blakemore reports, "1 in 10 children suffer from gastrointestinal disorders, 1 in 4 have asthma."

According to Blakemore, the current autism epidemic did not occur earlier because children "were given single vaccines with single amounts of mercury, she says, but with the introduction of triple vaccines the amount of mercury contained within the preservative was multiplied and the cumulative effects are only just now being discovered by the public," she adds.

Thimerosal is now also being blamed for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADHD), which affect millions of children and their families. Currently statistics suggest that as many as 10% of the school-aged children have ADD and another 20% exhibit symptoms of ADHD.

Since they believe vaccines may have caused these disorders, many parents have come to resent the fact that the pharmaceutical industry is now raking in huge profits from the sale of drugs to treat these disorders by the same drug companies that caused the injury in the first place.

Number Of Vaccines Too High

The number of vaccinations given to children before the age 2, has nearly tripled since 1988, according the CDC, which currently recommends vaccination against 12 diseases. Because some vaccines must be given more than once, children get as many as 23 shots by the age of 2.

Under the CDC immunization schedule, here are the vaccines recommended for children before two years of age.

Birth-6 months: Hepatitis B: 2 doses; Diphtheria, Pertussis (DPT), Tetanus: 3 doses; Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib): 3 doses; Inactivated poliovirus: 2 doses; Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): not recommended; Varicella: not recommended; Pneumococcal conjugate: 3 doses. Total 13 doses

12-24 months: Hepatitis B: 1 dose; Diphtheria, Pertussis (DPT), Tetanus: 1 dose; Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib): 1 dose; Inactivated poliovirus: 1 dose; Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): 1 dose; Varicella: 1 dose; Pneumococcal conjugate: 1 dose; Pneumococcal polysaccharide*: 1 dose; and Influenza: 1 dose

Hepatitis A*: 1 dose; Total 10 doses

* Vaccines recommended in selected states and regions and for certain high-risk groups.

The worst example of an unnecessary vaccine being sold to boost drug company profits, is the injection of Hepatitis B into newborns to an adult lifestyle disease contracted through sex and sharing needles with drug addicts. Plain and simple, the industory needed a market for a new vaccine so they got together with their cronies in the FDA and CDC and hatched a scheme to target nations infants using the Federal immunization program.

Prior to the introduction of the vaccine, Hepatitis B among children was almost unheard of. According to the Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, in 1986, there were only 279 cases reported in children under the age of 14.

Even in adults, the incidence rate of Hepatitis B has always been low. In 1991, for instance, there were only 18,003 cases within a total population of approximately 248 million people.

Dr Jay Gordon is a pediatrician who was named CBS TV's Medical Consultant for Children's programming and also worked for 5 years on ABC, as the on-air medical correspondent. He has appeared on "Good Morning America" to discuss vaccinations.

On his website, Gordon says, "I also don't like the financial ties that vaccine researchers have to the manufacturers because some of these same experts help make the official decisions about which shots will be approved and/or required."

He is concerned about the needless vaccines being given to children. The diseases against which we vaccinate used to be much more common, Gordon says, but we are now down to an average of one case of diphtheria (the "D" of the DPT) per year in the US, a few thousand cases of Pertussis ("P"), and 30 or so cases of Tetanus each year, he explains.

We have not had a case of "wild" polio in America since 1979 and the entire Western Hemisphere has been free of the disease for some years, Gordon adds. He claims it's highly unlikely that a young child would contract hepatitis B; there are only a few dozen cases of tetanus in this country each year.

"In my opinion, we vaccinate in an unscientific and potentially dangerous way," Gordon says. He believes it would be better to vaccinate children later and slower, The expedient and economically superior method, doesn't serve our babies well, he warns.

In my day, we got a few vaccines. And my children (now 33 & 36) got a few during their school years. Due to the fact that no one from those two generations ever got the 3 dozen vaccines currently mandated, one question keep rolling around in my mind. If three dozen vaccines are really necessary to fight off these highly-contagious diseases, in the 54 years that Ive been on this earth, why have I never met a single unvaccinated person who caught one?

Evelyn Pringle
e.pringle@sbcglobal.net
Miamisburg OH

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