I Speak of Dreams

Paul Offit: Autism's False Prophets

In this YouTube video, Dr. Offit explains the theses of his book, Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure^{Amazon, Columbia}   to be released on Tuesday:

On August 29, 2008, Dr. Offit was interviewed by Ira Flatow on "Science Friday":

There was only one caller, a woman named Chantele, who insisted that vaccines were dangerous and nothing would change her mind.  As Peterme (an expectant father) wrote:

in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, [Chantele] insists that she will not let her children be vaccinated according to the recommended program. Her logic is twisted and inconsistent (she first sites governmental regulations about appropriate amounts of metals in the system, but then later says she doesn’t trust the CDC’s recommendations about vaccinations, because she doesn’t trust the government telling her what to do). Somehow, at some point, she got this notion into her, and no amount of reasoned discussion will dissuade her. What’s most upsetting is that this behavior doesn’t just affect the children of these ignorant parents, but of other children (particularly those children who cannot be vaccinated for certain medical reasons).

Bevan at Dubiousity observed that

Ira [Flatow] does a great job refereeing this conversation between the doctor/professor and the random nut {Chantele], and even points out the nut's obvious logical faults, like how she says that no amount of evidence would change her mind on the issue. But this person's mindset is typical of the anti-vaccination movement at large. They're true believers: nothing will sway them.

Chantele later popped up on the Mothering.Commune boards to say

I was sweating bullets and sitting at work while speaking on the subject no less!!! I wanted to say so much more..including only 63 children who had the measles virus were not vaccinated, but there was no time. AND they hung up on me..so unfortunately yes, my last remark was "I don't believe that!" I've done enough of my own research to know what I know...

Yes, Dr. Offit, you may not get paid to actually speak out on the vaccines (well, we just haven't found the paper trail yet) but regardless, you still get paid the big bucks by pharma!!

Sigh. " I 've done enough of my own research to know what I know". I suppose that Dr. Offit's  nine years of medical education, twenty-six years of faculty appointments, and seventy-nine published papers are trumped by the "research" of a medical-underwriting assistant.

Update: More discussion at Leftbrain/Rightbrain

Paul Offit's official website

Slow Down! I Can't Listen As Fast As You Talk!

Via the Dyslexia Tutor:

Ray Hull, Audiology professor at Wichita State University, tells new teachers that the trick to get children to listen is simple. Just slow down.

From the WSU newswire:

Some learning difficulties in children may be the result of too many adults talking too fast. Wichita State University audiologist Ray Hull says that adults generally speak at a rate of 160-170 words per minute, but a young child's central nervous system can only process speech at a rate of about 124 words per minute.

The Wichita Star online edition:

The gap between what a child hears and what he or she understands can appear to parents and teachers as inattention or outright defiance.

“If teachers would slow down, they would be less frustrated, the children would be less frustrated, and children would learn with greater ease,” Hull said.

An interview with Ray Hull.
Ray Hull's CV.

Sarah Palin, Mother of a Special-Needs Child, as VP Nominee

Whitney Hoffman, of the LDPodcast and Parent's Eye View, says what I'm thinking about Sarah Palin's decision to accept McCain's offer of the vice-presidency.

[snip]
While I will be one of the first people in line to be empathetic with Sarah Palin and the challenges she faces ahead of her with her son, I think she is deluding herself that she can be both a great mom to a child with a disability and the Vice President of the United States.  Heck, most moms I know have enough problems being a mom, holding a job, handling homework, and volunteering with the PTA.

Having a job like Vice President basically is a 24 x 7 type of position.  She will be required to sit in the Senate.  She will have meetings all over the world.  Yes, I have heard of nannies. But her son will require tons of care and attention, consistently, and especially during his early years, to ensure he develops to the maximum of his potential.  And I worry that being Vice President means she will miss all of that, or leave it to her other children and/or caretakers to take her place. [snip]

Go read Hoffman's whole post

Dusty Horwit: Make Information As Expensive As Possible to Save Democracy!

This has got to be one of the  more bone-headed ideas I've ever heard:

The challenge is to find ways to strengthen democracy in the era of TMI. It won't be easy, but the situation may not be irreversible, either.

Rather than call for government regulation of technology itself, perhaps the best way to limit the avalanche is to make the technologies that overproduce information more expensive and less widespread. It could be done via a progressive energy tax designed to keep energy prices at a consistently high level (while providing assistance to lower- and middle-income Americans).
[snip]
It's possible that over time, an energy tax, by making some computers, Web sites, blogs and perhaps cable TV channels too costly to maintain, could reduce the supply of information. If Americans are finally giving up SUVs because of high oil prices, might we not eventually do the same with some information technologies that only seem to fragment our society, not unite it? A reduced supply of information technology might at least gradually cause us to gravitate toward community-centered media such as local newspapers instead of the hyper-individualistic outlets we have now.

A more thorough slap-down is adminstered by Liz Henry.

The Answer Has Been Found!

via Making Light

An Open Letter To Parents Who Don't Vaccinate #2

Jane Seward is the deputy director of the division of viral diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  ScientificAmerican.com's David Biello interviewed Seward. (Emphasis adde)

SA: How dangerous is measles?

JS: Anyone with a rash illness that's compatible [with measles] needs to be isolated the minute they are seen. People have forgotten what measles looks like and have forgotten how infectious it is…

Back in the early part of the century, it killed thousands of people a year. The biggest year was 10,000. Over the years, those deaths declined but in the 1960s, right before the vaccine was developed, it killed 400 to 500 children every year out of 500,000 reported cases at that time. Three to four million cases actually occurred, because not all cases get reported.

Of those 500,000 reported cases, there were 4,000 cases of encephalitis a year. That's brain infection and can have some serious sequellae, like retardation and things like that. Measles can also cause pneumonia…

Some parents think that American medical care is such that it can treat any complication on measles. They're not right on that. Medical care is the same as the 1960s in terms of encephalitis. There's very little that can be done to alter that outcome. And there is no treatment for measles as such. There are no antivirals to use.

From my previous post, An Open Letter to Parents Who Don't Vaccinate:

UPI reported that up to 50 children are quarantined, including the Baldwin Academy students, the SDCC students, and unvaccinated students at the Murray Callan Swim School (which has classes for infants as young as three months).

You parents who were so afraid of vaccination -- how do you feel about the illnesses your fear caused?  How about the financial hardship for parents whose children are excluded from school?  If I were a parent in the infant program  at the Baldwin Academy, I'd be furious.  I am sure that the Baldwin Academy isn't rebating tuition for the weeks the infant program is closed -- the parents of those infants are either suffering financial loss by staying home from work, or paying double for child care.

Jennifer Margulis has not vaccinated her children against measles, mumps or rubella.  She exhibits the arrogance of ignorance of the promoters of vaccine-preventable diseases:

“I would love for my children to have measles,” Margulis said. “Please get me chicken pox and get me measles.” She rejects the idea that her decision endangers others. “People say, ‘You’re putting my kid at risk, but that doesn’t make any sense at all,’” she said. “If the vaccine works, I’m just putting my child at risk.”

I’d like to see the promoters of vaccine-preventable illness — Jenny McCarthy, Barbara Loe Fisher,  Talk About Curing Autism, Age of Autism, Generation Rescue;  their media stooges such as Julie Deardorff and Sharyl Attkisson;  the band of venal attorneys enriching themselves on "vaccine-injury litigation", like Clifford Shoemaker,  and non-vaccinating parents like Margulis-- be required to establish a fund to compensate families who suffered financial or health losses from others'  failure to vaccinate.

Raising Awareness of Infant Sleep Apnea

Parents of older children with behavioral issues should pay attention to the quality of their children's sleep.  Pediatric sleep apnea isn't like adult apnea.  For children,surgery is usually the first line of treatment, and can make a tremendous difference, as  Yonah's story illustrates.

But infants can also suffer from apnea.  Here's another story, from Terri Lynn Breary:

We too experienced sleep apnea with our son, but at a different level. When our son, Trenten, was 5 weeks old we noticed his breathing was irregular while sleeping. He would fall into a deep sleep and then wake himself up.

At first, being new parents, we weren't alarmed.  Within days these episodes became more frequent and more severe.   It was now obvious that this was not normal behavior, by any stretch of the imagination.  Trenten stopped breathing when he was asleep.

Our doctor admitted Trenten to the hospital for observation. The first night,  he had 300 episodes, which more than a half were over 20 seconds.  The second night in the hospital, he had approximately 200 episodes, with more then half being true apneas of 20 seconds or more.  He had at least five episodes of over 50 seconds without breathing.

Trenten had a very close call.  His doctor told us if that he hadn't had intervention, we would have lost him within days.

Because of Trenten's close call, our family decided to found an organization to raise public awareness of  infant and childhood apnea, and to raise money for research.

While Infant Sleep Apnea is rare in full-term newborns,  it is more common disorder than most parents think.   It is a potentially life-threatening condition if not diagnosed and treated. 

One lost life is one too many.

Trenten's Message: Awareness Can Save a Life.

Please share Trenten's message with your friends who are expecting a baby or have a newborn.  Consider a donation to the foundation, as well.

Main website:  Infant & Children Sleep Apnea Awareness Foundation.  Also see the  blog and the  discussion forum.

Following the DNC Convention at Momocrats

In addition to the TV, you can have wall-to-wall coverage from The MOMocrats.  Also see Bang the Drum  and Jack and Jill Politics:DNC08

AT & T at the old house is borken, Pt. 2

Well, it turns out it is the jack (or the line between the jack & the panel) that's borken.  Now blogging from the kitchen, which is probably a good idea anyway.

Squid to the World: If you think your child has autism

Squid writing at : the adventures of leelo and his potty-mouthed mom.

To Any Parent Who Thinks Their Child Might Have Autism

I hope you and your family are doing well despite your worries. Please know that even if your child does have autism, you are all going to be okay. The resources for and awareness of autism is general is much greater than it was in the past. You will not be alone. You should not have to make any decisions alone.

Go read the whole thing.  Squid is an amazing mom to Leelo, who has autism, and Iz and Mali, who don't.

It will raise your heart.

Update: It is hardly a secret that Squid is Shannon Rosa.  Shannon Rosa is an autism advocate not only for her son and her family, but for all parents of children with autism and all people with autism.  Read her blog at  BlogHer: Shannon Rosa's Blog