THEY ARE NOT COMBATING AUTISM UNLESS THEY SHOW HOW INCREASING PATERNAL AGE AND AUTISM GO HAND IN HAND

NO ONE AT THE CDC IS INTERESTED IN COMBATING/PREVENTING AUTISM


FATHERING BABIES BEFORE 35 WOULD CUT THE RATE OF SPORADIC AUTISM WAY DOWN WHY DOESN'T THE CDC MENTION PATERNAL AGE?

THE MEETING IS FOR THOSE WHO PROFIT FROM AUTISM - NO ONE IS TRYING TO PREVENT AUTISM



Surprise Senate Hearing on Combating Autism - Community Not Notified

We learned for the first time Thursday that the Senate has scheduled a hearing Tuesday, April 17, 2007 entitled "Combating Autism: Undertaking a Coordinated Response". There was no notice of this hearing to the many autism organizations other than Autism Speaks and possibly ASA. We learned of it only because one of our CAA Watch A-CHAMP District Leaders inadvertently heard of the hearing from a highly placed source.

Many of us have placed calls to Subcommittee Chair Sen. Harkin's staff, including members of our strong Iowa contingent. None of us have had the courtesy of a return phone call.

The list of witnesses is pasted below.

On the second panel are two representatives of Autism Speaks and Dr. Judy Favell, former President of the American Psychological Association, Division 33. Dr. Favell is a behaviorist who received a large Dept of Education grant to research the provision of services to children with autism by interactive video. The program, called "telehealth" involves installing a video camera in one's home so that families may engage in therapy sessions at long distrance by video.

Dr. Favell appears to be closely associated with three for-profit ventures. One is Advoserv (www.advoserv.com), a Florida corporation that provides residential and other services in Florida, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. The second is Cnow, billed as committed to being the "nation's premier telehealth solutions provider." (http://www.cnowinc.com/) The third venture is the National Institute of Telehealth, which develops the behavioral treatment plan that is implemented via video. Telehealth and telemedicine research is being funded by NIMH, headed by Dr. Insel, one of the witnesses at the hearing. (http://tinyurl.com/2uzyje)



No stakeholders are participating in this hearing.
Welcome to the BRAVE NEW WORLD of autism.

Senate Committee on Appropriations
Hearing Schedule for the Week of April 13, 2007

For more information, media should contact (202) 224-3904.

Tuesday April 17, 2007
2:00 p.m. Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education SD-124
Agenda: Combating Autism: Undertaking a Coordinated Response

Witnesses: Panel I:
Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Georgia
Dr. Thomas R. Insel, Director
National Institute of Mental Health
Bethesda, Maryland

Panel II:
Robert C. Wright
Vice Chairman and Executive Officer
General Electric Foundation
Fairfield, Connecticut
Dr. Judith E. Favell
Chief Executive Officer, AdvoServ
Executive Director, The Celeste Foundation
Mount Dora, Florida
Bradley Whitford
Volunteer Spokesperson
for Autism Speaks Organization
New York, New York



Is Thomas Insel serious that he doesn't know that advancing paternal age causes autism and so does a mother with an older father at her birth? Thomas Insel doesn't know that a family history of autoimmume disorders such as type 1 diabetes and Hashimoto's thyroiditis is a major risk factor for having a child with autism. Does Thomas Insel not know that childhood schizophrenia and autism are associated with older and especially older fathers? This is not credible. Does Thomas Insel not know that a public health warning on paternal age over 33 would greatly reduce sporadic autism? I am sure he knows.




Keynote Address #1
Autism: What do we know? What do we need?
Thomas Insel, NIMH/NIH
Since the first IMFAR meeting in 2001, autism has received increased commitment from the
research community, increased cooperation among advocacy groups, and increased awareness in
the public. Nevertheless, we still know very little about the pathophysiology of this illness. Autism
is a developmental brain disease, but we do not know what the ‘lesion’ looks like. Autism is a
genetic disorder, but we have not identified genes of major effect nor have we found many of the
associated alleles. Recent reports document increased prevalence (not incidence) for autism, but
we have yet to identify a single environmental risk factor to explain this increase. And finally,
autism is considered by many experts to be a cluster of disorders, but we have no consistent
approach for sub-typing the various ‘autisms’ into valid syndromes.
While advances are being made on all of these fronts, to maximize progress we will need a
coordinated, strategic effort. In spite of flat budgets at NIH, the research community will need (a)
to expand to include developmental neurobiologists and others who can bring powerful new tools
to autism research, (b) to build cooperative research networks that can share protocols and data
across labs via a common database, and (c) to partner with advocacy groups and families to ensure
that research is relevant and results are disseminated. We There is also an urgent need for studies
to delineate the biological and behavioral subtypes of this complicated disorder so that we can
identify the genetic, environmental, and interactive etiologies of autism, and develop new
treatments and preventive strategies.