OT: 150 Parents of Autistic Children Launch Organization

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150 Parents of Autistic Children Launch Organization, Ad Campaign

with Stunning Message: Removing Mercury Reverses Autism in

KidsSAN FRANCISCO, May 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- More

than 150 parents of autistic children launched a new nonprofit

organization, Generation Rescue, today with a full-page advertisement in

USA Today bearing a stunning message: autism is preventable and

reversible. Generation Rescue parents are successfully treating their

children biomedically and removing mercury from their bodies through a

safe and proven detoxification treatment known as chelation

therapy.

The organization's Web site,

http://www.GenerationRescue.org,

provides treatment information and connects parents with more than 150

" Rescue Angels, " parents who are successfully treating their

own autistic children using a variety of biomedical interventions

individualized for each child. Also announced was the availability of

1,000 parents around the country to talk to media about the reversal of

autism in their children.

" Our message for parents is very simple: autism is reversible, "

said J.B. Handley, one of the organization's founding parents and father

of a son diagnosed with autism. " I see every day with my own eyes

how my son is recovering from what was previously perceived as an

untreatable disorder. With the removal of mercury, 's autistic

symptoms go away. He got a second chance at life, and we want to let

other parents who are struggling out there know it's possible to get

their children back. "

Charlie Hoover's 7-year-old son Lenny of Royal Palm, Florida, suffered

the classic symptoms of autism - spinning in circles, repetitive

behaviors and tantrums. " After Lenny's diagnosis, the more I read,

the more the knot in my stomach tightened, " said Hoover. " It

was as if our son had died. "

But after chelation therapy rid Lenny's body of mercury, his symptoms

disappeared. Lenny, who loves to play T-ball, is now enrolled in regular

kindergarten. " If your child got lead poisoning from eating paint

chips, you would certainly do something about that, " Hoover said.

" What's the difference between mercury and lead? "

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that more than 1 in 166

children are diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in 2,500 since the 1970s.

According to the CDC, autism is a life-long disorder that is not

treatable.

" For years we have heard the experts say that autism is a lifelong

disability. This simply is not true anymore, thanks to effective

biomedical treatments that can restore many, if not a majority, of

autistic children to full recovery, " said Bernard Rimland, Ph.D.,

Director of the Autism Research Institute and co- founder of Defeat

Autism Now! (DAN!), a network of doctors throughout the country who treat

autistic patients.

" Thousands of formerly autistic patients have shed their autistic

symptoms. They now relate normally to their families and to other

children. The hand-flapping is gone. The tantrums are gone. Most of these

children who used to be lost in their own worlds are now

indistinguishable from other children. "

The Autism Research Institute has nearly 1,000 parents nationwide who are

available for media interviews about their successful biomedical

treatment of their autistic children with DAN! doctors (contact

media@...).

" Our DAN! doctors determine what each individual child needs, then

use safe biomedical interventions to heal that child. Many DAN! Doctors

report excellent results from using chelation to rid the body of mercury

and other toxic metals, " said Dr. Rimland.

Recent studies and investigations have indicated that mercury may be

behind the autism epidemic. Mercury, the second most toxic element after

plutonium, is estimated to be 500 to 1,000 times more toxic than lead.

The heavy metal burrows deep into the cells of the brain and other organs

and can lead to serious central nervous system damage and crippling

neurological disorders. Scientific evidence pointing to mercury poisoning

as the cause behind rising autism rates has led many medical doctors to

remove the toxin from the bodies of autistic children through

chelation.

" The symptoms of early infant mercury poisoning and autism are

virtually identical, " said Dr. Boyd Haley, chairman of the chemistry

department at the University of Kentucky. " Furthermore, research

indicates that autistic children genetically have a harder time excreting

mercury from their bodies. This is why chelation has become such a

powerful key for unlocking and undoing the disorders associated with

autism. "

Chelation has been used for decades to detoxify people of dangerous

levels of heavy metals, due to industrial accidents or other causes.

According to the CDC, 60,000 Americans underwent some form of chelation

last year, and the therapy is currently under clinical trial with heart

disease patients. In autism treatments, chelating " agents " may

be administered orally or transdermally (through the skin). Once in the

bloodstream, the chelating agent binds to heavy metals and helps remove

them from the body.

" Chelation is one of the most effective ways to rid autistic

children of the mercury poisoning which is at the root of their

disorder, " said Lynne Mielke, M.D., a Pleasanton, California

physician, who is part of the DAN! network. " The medical

establishment already endorses chelation for acute metal toxicity

disorders, and the number of doctors who realize chelation's benefits for

the chronic metal toxicity found in autism is rapidly

growing. "

Parents are also eager to help fellow parents navigate the road to

treatment for their autistic children. The Generation Rescue Web site,

http://www.GenerationRescue.org,

offers contacts for more than 150 volunteer " Rescue Angels, "

who Handley calls the " heart and soul " of Generation Rescue.

" We're parents who want to help other parents caught in the

nightmare of autism find hope and recovery for their kids, " said

Handley, who added that the organization is completely founded, funded

and run by parents. " Too often parents believe the outdated myth

that autism is not treatable or reversible. We're here to tell them

otherwise. "

Biomedical treatments for autism require the support of a specialized

healthcare provider who can tailor treatment to the individual needs of a

child. While chelation therapy shows great promise, there are many

biomedical treatments being used to heal autistic children.

To view the ad, visit:

http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/052505.pdf

About Generation Rescue

Generation Rescue is a nonprofit organization formed by parents of

children diagnosed with autism and other development disorders. Through

thorough research, medical consultation and the use of pioneering new

medical treatments, the founding parents of Generation Rescue have seen

tremendous improvements in their autistic children-including complete

recoveries. Generation Rescue's mission is to provide parents the

information and support to understand the cause of autism and treatment

options. The Web site,

www.GenerationRescue.org,

gives parents the background to make informed decisions about treatment

and connects them with " Rescue Angels, " parents of autistic

children who voluntarily provide support and guidance on treatment

options and providers. Generation Rescue is a 501© (3) nonprofit

founded in 2005.

About the Autism Research Institute (ARI)

Established in 1967 by Dr. Bernard Rimland, the San Diego- based

nonprofit is world headquarters for research and information on autism

and related disorders, and the center of a rapidly growing movement that

holds that autism can be treated effectively through intensive behavior

modification and a variety of individualized biomedical treatments. ARI

maintains the world's largest databank of autistic individuals with over

37,000 detailed case histories of autistic children from 60 countries,

and is a major source of information on the epidemic and its causes. ARI

also helped develop the Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) project to train

physicians and healthcare professionals on successful treatment of

autism. ARI is a 501 © (3). For more information, contact 619-281-7165

or visit

http://www.AutismResearchInstitute.com.

Click here for a link to a one hour press conference (audio), and a

full-page ad in the Wednesday, May 25th, 2005 edition of USA

Today:

http://www.generationrescue.org/mediacenter.html