I Speak of Dreams

The Unethical Treatments that "Autism is Vaccine Injury" (And Other False Premises) Give Rise To

On October 19, 2009, Wired Magazine published Amy Wallace's article An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All, which explored the origins and consequences of the myth that vaccines are somehow causal in autism.

Proponents of the vaccine-injury myth responded with...well, vituperation and character assassination.  I covered both the negative and positive responses to Wallace's article in Amy Wallace's Pro-Vaccination, Pro-Science Article in Wired & Reactions to It.

Stand by for another round.The Chicago Tribune has published two articles, Autism treatments: Risky alternative therapies have little basis in science. Alternative therapies amount to uncontrolled experimentation on children, investigation finds (Saturday, November 21 2009) and Autism treatment: Science hijacked to support alternative therapies. Researchers' fears about misuse of their work come true (November 23 2009).  Both articles were written by Trine Tsouderos and Patricia Callahan.

These are both well-researched and well-written articles.

Note: As I have done in the past, I'll be compiling responses to the article.  At the moment, there are posts critical of what Tsouderos and Callahan have written, and posts generally positive in response.  I'll be continuing to update these lists in the days to come, generally without indicating that it is an update.

Blog Posts Generally Critical of the Tsouderos-Callahan articles

• Nov 21 2009: The editors, writing at Age of Autism Autism Recovery Revisited: Tell the Chicago Tribune They Are Wrong 
• Nov 21 2009,  Harold Doherty writing at Facing Autism In New Brunswick Autism Rising in Chicago: Tribune Investigation Determines Autism Increase is Real
• Nov 22, Harold Doherty writing at Facing Autism in New Brunswick Chicago Tribune Says Autism Treatment Uneccessary, Just Let It Be
• Nov 22 2009, Kent Heckenlively, writing at Age of Autism When Journalists Play the Telephone Game
• Nov 23 2009 Teri Arranga, writing at Age of Autism Cherry Picking Science: Chicago Tribune's Shotgun Journalism Strikes with Another Shoddy Hit Piece
• Nov 23 2009 Autism Jabberwocky Alternative Autism Treatments and Mad Cow
• Nov 23 2009 Curt Linderman, writing at Autism Today Online Chicago Tribune Once Again Affirms Reason for Financial Trouble By Alienating Parents of Autistic Children
• Nov 23 2009 Kim Stagliano, writing at Age of Autism, Mainstream Media to Autism Families: Let Your Children Burn
• Nov 23 2009 Ashley Morgan, writing at Hidden Recovery Blog Age of Autism Blog
• Nov 24 2009 Kim Stagliano writing at Kim Stagliano's Blog Your Pretty Red House
• Nov 24 2009 Kim Stagliano, writing at Age of Autism, Last Place NFL Team to Host "Autism Isn't Treatable" Night To Boost Ticket Sales
• Nov 24 2009 Harold Doherty writing at Facing Autism in New Brunswick Autism Research, Treatment and Cure
• Nov 25 2009 Teresa Conrick writing at Age of Autism Trine Tsouderos Responds to Autism Article Email
• Nov 26 2009 Age of Autism Boy Doomed to Institution Now Yearns to be President
• Nov 27 2009 Kent Heckenlively writing at Age of Autism When Journalists Play the Telephone Game - 2
• Nov 29 2009 Jacey Capurso writing at the Age of Autism An Autism Mom's Video Response to the Chicago Tribune Story

Blog Posts Generally Supportive of, Or Expanding on Points in the Tsoudoros-Callahan articles

• Nov 21 2009, John Wills Lloyd writing at EBD Blog Baseless, risky therapies for Autism
• Nov 21 2009, Haddayr's Blog Autism Treatments: Risky Alternatives Have Little Basis in Science
• Nov 21 2009, Patricia E. Bauer at Disability Scoop Many 'Treatments' for Autism Risky, Unproven
• Nov 22 2009 Depleted Cranium Excellent News Article on "Alternative" Autism Treatments
• Nov 22 2009 Ken Reibel writing at Countering Age of Autism Age of Autism Panics over Chicago Tribune Investigation
• Nov 23 2009, David Gorski, writing at Science-Based Medicine The autism “biomed” movement: Uncontrolled and unethical experimentation on autistic children
• Nov 23 2009 Orac, writing at Respectful Insolence The Chicago Tribune: Telling it like it is about the antivaccine autism "biomed" movement
• Nov 23 2009 Sullivan, writing at Left Brain/Right Brain Autism Treatment: Science Hijacked To Support Alternative Therapies
• Nov 23 2009 Steven Novella, writing at NeuroLogica blog, Some Good Autism Reporting
• Nov 23 2009 KWombles, writing at Countering the Age of Autism Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
• Nov 23 3009 Tildeb writing at Questionable Motives An Article on Autism that Gets It Right
• Nov 23 2009 The Daily Parker Misuse of Science in Autism
• Nov 23 2009 Grammar, Medical Editing, Randomness Newspaper Series Explores Sham Autism Claims
• Nov 23 2009 Autism News Beat  Chicago Tribune Leads the Way on Autism Coverage
• Nov 23 2009 Natural Variation Chicago Tribune Articles
• Nov 23 2009 MetaFilter Inflammatory
• Nov 23 2009 Planet Nora The Chicago Tribune on Autism
• Nov 24 2009 PZ Myers writing at Pharyngula Researchers' Nightmares
• Nov 24 2009 Kev writing at LeftBrain / RightBrain Age of Autism to Autism Families: Make Your Children Suffer
• Nov 24 2009 Orac writing at Respectful InsolenceThe anti-vaccine "biomed"movement:Highjacking Legitimate Research
• Nov 24 2009 Club 166 Wow! The Chicago Tribune Gets it Right!
• Nov 24 2009 KWombles, Writing at Countering Age of Autism Desperation Drives Parents into Woo
• Nov 24 2009 Digital Sextant A Great Article About Autism
• Nov 24 2009 The Secular Dentist Dangers of Medical Quackery
• Nov 24 2009 MindHacks Autism, Desperation, and Untested Treatments
• Nov 24 2009 Atheist in a (Metaphorical) Foxhole -- More Quackery
• Nov 24 2009 Peter Trzeciak writing at Pete's Wicked Blog: Anti-Vaccination Propaganda Comes in Many Shapes
• Nov 24 2009 C. S. Wyatt, writing at The Autistic Me That's Snake Oil For You
• Nov 25 2009 K & J Investigations Hijacking Autism Science in the Name of Tratment
• Nov 25 2009  Stephanie Allen Crist, writing at Embracing Chaos Kudos to the Chicago Tribune
• Nov 26 2009 The Quixotic Autistic Dangerous Attempts To Cure Are Heartbreaking
• Nov 27 2009 Kwombles writing at Countering Age of Autism Kent Heckenlively Researchers Lie To The Press But Tell Me The Truth

Blog Posts Noting the Chicago Tribune Articles, Neither Positive Nor Negative

• Lisa Jo Rudy writing at About.com's Autism Blog The Chicago Tribune Takes On Alternative Autism Treatments
• Dadof6AutisticKids writing at Autism Bites The Chicago Tribune Takes on Alternative Autism Treatments

Update March 8, 2010. Following a vile attack on Shannon, her son, and the rest of her family at a blog I will not name or link to, Shannon has given me permission to post this. 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

Joe Elliott and The Myth of Dyslexia, Revisited

Julian (Joe) Elliott of Durham University (UK) was at the center of a row in 2005 the UK when he claimed that "dyslexia is a myth", specifically: "Contrary to claims of ‘miracle cures’, there is no sound, widely-accepted body of scientific work that has shown that there exists any particular teaching approach more appropriate for ‘dyslexic’ children than for other poor readers."

The BBC's Channel 4 aired a program on Professor Elliot's views.  It's now available online as The Dyslexia Myth (current link http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6031033294208468907#).  Watch it to see what passes for reading remediation in some circles -- exercise programs, non-prescription but colored lenses, and so on.

One of Elliot's points is UK-specific.  The supports provided to students beyond the equivalent of high school are excessive.  As he was quoted in the May, 2007 Times Online article

Still, Elliott says, there is no greater abuse of the current diagnostic system than in the establishments of further and higher education, where the guidelines are much more open. “The disability lobby is so strong and the advantages, financial and otherwise, so great that they are diagnosing dyslexics all over the place,” he says. “At universities students can get laptops, extra books and other equipment, sometimes to the value of almost £10,000 each. It’s a very problematic area.”

I wonder what Professor Elliot would have to say about Response to Intervention for struggling readers.

Backstory

• September 2 2005 Is Dyslexia a Myth
• January 15 2007 Dyslexia A Big Expensive Myth
• May 29 2007 Julian Elliot Again on "The Myth of Dyslexia"

The 124th Meeting Of The Skeptics’ Circle « Beyond the Short Coat

The 124th Meeting Of The Skeptics’ Circle « Beyond the Short Coat.

If you want to play, instructions are at Respectful Insolence.

Happy Birthday, Honey.

Yesterday would have been Jacques Littlefield's 60th birthday.  It was a scheduled run day for one of his enthusiasms,  the Portola Valley and Alpine Railway, so a party was declared.   A plaque in Jacques' memory was dedicated and stories were told.  The staff from the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation were also on hand, and the redesign of the displays were applauded. 

I made a fully Jacques-compliant recipe:

Jacques Littlefield Memorial Chili Cheese Dog Doritos Layered Casserole

The ADHD Medication Bias | ADDitude - Attention Deficit Disorder Blogs

Read this post by a mother who agonized over the decision to add medication to her daughter's regimen.The ADHD Medication Bias | ADDitude - Attention Deficit Disorder Blogs.

I don’t think there’s a parent alive who wouldn’t struggle with the decision of whether or not their ADD child should take medication. I know that when I took that leap and decided to start my daughter, Natalie, on Ritalin, I cried off and on for a week! This decision is not something parents take lightly.

Fascinating Interview With Stanislas Dehaene and the neuroscience of reading

On the shapes of letters:

In the case of reading, the shapes of our writing systems have evolved towards a progressive simplification while remaining compatible with the visual coding scheme that is present in all primate brains. A fascinating discovery, made by the American researcher Marc Changizi, is that all of the world's writing systems use the same set of basic shapes, and that these shapes are already a part of the visual system in all primates, because they are also useful for coding natural visual scenes. The monkey brain already contains neurons that preferentially respond to an “alphabet” of shapes including T, L, Y. We merely “recycle” these shapes (and the corresponding part of cortex) and turn them into a cultural code for language.

How literacy changes the brain.

We are starting to do brain-imaging experiments in illiterates, and we find that this region, before it responds to words, has a preference for pictures of objects and faces. We are also finding that this region is especially attuned to small features present in the contours of natural shapes, such as the “Y” shape in the branches of trees. My hypothesis is our letters emerged from a recycling of those shapes at the cultural level. The brain didn't have enough time to evolve “for” reading – so writing systems evolved “for” the brain!

On the scientific bankruptcy of whole-language (and balanced literacy)

In the case of reading, very concretely, as I explain in the book, we now have plenty of evidence that the whole-language approach has nothing to do with how our visual system recognizes written words – our brain never relies on the overall contours of words, rather it decomposes all of its letters and graphemes in parallel, subliminally and at a high speed, thus giving us an illusion of whole-word reading. Experiments even suggest that the whole-language method may orient learning towards the wrong brain region, symmetrical to the visual word form area in the right hemisphere! We need to inform our teaching with the best brain science – and we also need to develop evidence-based education research, using classroom experiments to verify that our deductions about teaching methods actually work in practice.

On dyslexia

This isn't fully known, but I was intrigued by recent research which indicates that dyslexic children and adults can be better on tasks of symmetry detection – they have a greater ability to notice the presence of symmetrical patterns, and the evidence even suggests that this was helpful in a group of astrophysicists to detect the symmetrical spectrum of black holes!

My theory is that mirror recognition is one of the functions that we have to partially “un-learn” when we learn to read – it is a universal feature of the primate brain that is, unfortunately, inappropriate in our alphabet where letters p, q, d and b abound. By somehow managing to maintain this ability, dyslexics might be at some advantage in visual, spatial or even mathematical tasks.

Learning Disabilites --The Myth of “Waiting to Fail”

The Myth of “Waiting to Fail” « UVA Reading – Richmond.

How many times have we heard, “just give it some time, he/she will catch up”; or “there is not enough of a discrepancy between potential and achievement, so they won’t qualify for anything”; or how about this one, “we don’t really do anything until third grade, then we will begin to intervene”. Huh?

There is a paradigm shift happening in education, and we all need to get on board. It is not enough to wait until our students “catch-up” with their peers. We do not want to wait until failure is the only option. In fact, just the opposite is the ideal. As was mentioned in an earlier post, the best policy is to screen early and intervene when necessary, as soon as possible.

The movement that addresses this issue is entitled “Response to Intervention” or RtI. The basic premise behind RtI is simple. Students are given a basic screening early in the school year, to identify strengths and weaknesses. This allows school-based teams to craft an approach to address the issues.

For more on "Response to Intervention" (RtI) go to

• Wrightslaw -- RtI Resources for Parents
• National Center on Response to Intervention
• Jim Wright's Intervention Central

Home News

Spent most of the day with Jumper Girl.

Her 21st birthday is a little more than 14 days ahead.  We had  planned a celebratory dinner at Restaurant A, which was undergoing renovations.  However, said restaurant was rather unresponsive to emails about their planned opening, when they would be open for lunch so we could sample some menu items, and so on.

So we made a site visit and peered through the windows.  No change from 14 days ago.  Scratch that venue.  Found another promising one.  With possibly even more charm.

I Am So Making This Meat Hand Next October

It's called "Meat Hand" and full instructions are at Not Martha, at http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2009/10/27/meat-hand/

Of course I could make it before next October....if I had some ghoulish little boys on hand.

Bill Maher, Your Views on Vaccination Reek of Woo

The comedian Bill Maher received the Atheist Alliance's 2009 Richard Dawkins Award.  Many skeptics were not pleased because of Maher's unskeptical, unscientific and irrational views on vaccines and science-based medicine in general. 

On Sunday, The Huffington Post futher tarnished its reputation by publishing Maher's latest anti-vaccine rant.

The skeptical physicians speak: Orac at Respectful Insolence criticizes Maher's season finale and returned to the subject this morning, refuting Maher at length.  Steven Novella observed that Maher's screed "presents what we call a target rich environment for skepticism"

Others critical of Maher's latest (I will be updating these silently as I find them)

• Larry Moran (a biochemist)  at Sandwalk: "In addition to falling for quackery, Bill Maher is making an elementary error in logic."
• One Good Move: "My estimate of Bill goes down every time he opens his mouth about vaccines."
• Mike's Weekly Skeptic Rant "Bill Maher=Medical Fail"
• William K. Wulfrum helpfully condenses Maher's point of view.
• Grant Jacobs at Code for Life considers the illogicality of Maher's article
• Good Grief, Linus "Maher Snubs Shermer"
• Way of the Woo "Bill Maher Was Only Joking"
• KWombles at Countering Age of Autism "Scientifically Incorrect: Bill Maher Explains His Woo Stance"
• Barbara Drescher at ICBS Everwhere Bill Maher is clearly skinning the cat in a unique fashion and telling some whopping lies
• Page at The Gotham Skeptics "Hyped Health Risks, Vaccines and Bill Maher"
• PZ Myers at Pharyngula "Bill Maher Makes a Not-Pology" (note -- short post,  the real meat  is in the comments)