SchaferAutismReport: Today, The Specter Is Autism

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Vol. 12 No. 106p

In This Issue:

•

PUBLIC HEALTH

Today, The Specter Is Autismm

•

•

MEDIA

Radio's Savage Calls Children With Autism " Brats " and

Autism a " Scam "

- Take Action!

National Autism Group and Angry Parents Press Conference Over Savage

Insults

•

•

PEOPLE

Search To Continue For Autistic Man Missing In Park

Britney Spears Joins Generation Rescue

•

•

RESEARCH

Autism Parents

'Infection Risk'

Researchers Pulling Back The Veil On Adult Asperger Syndrome

•

•

•

FINANCE

Illinois Leading the Fight Against Autism

Province Not Providing Enough Funds For Child Autism Services, Agencies

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LETTERS

Celebrity Autism

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PUBLIC HEALTH

Today, The Specter Is Autism

Rise In Number Of Children Diagnosed With Autism Makes Parents Wary

" A

poll of parents of autistic children

showed 54 percent believe autism is caused

by

vaccination shots. "

By Kathleen O'Brien/The Star-Ledger. tinyurl.com/5h7wcy

Devlin of Denville said she

frequently checks for eye contact from her 4-month-old daughter, Delilah.

Devlin cradles her newborn daughter,

Delilah, with the same devotion she lavished on her four older children.

" De-li-lah, " she coos in a

singsong voice, holding the 4-month-old baby close to her face. As she did

with her other kids, she hopes to elicit a smile, a laugh or a gurgle of

recognition.

It's a time-honored mother's gesture -- but

one that now comes with a twist: This time, Devlin is also checking for

autism.

Every generation of parents has a worry

unique to its era. In the '40s, the specter of polio made mothers frantic

about any trip to the neighborhood swimming pool. The '80s brought the

sense that every child risked abduction, his photo ending up on the side of

a milk carton.

For today's parents, that fear is autism.

" In my office, that's the big elephant

in the room. They'll ask about something else, but what they're really

asking is, 'He doesn't have autism, does he?' It is the question for this

generation, " said Ari Brown, a Texas pediatrician and spokeswoman for

the American Academy of Pediatrics.

With autism spectrum disorders now diagnosed

in 1 out of 150 children nationally and 1 in 94 in New Jersey, rare is the

parent who isn't aware of autism. And with that awareness can come a new

wariness of vaccines, which a vocal minority of autism activists blame for

the jump in cases. Pediatricians report seeing more parents question, delay

or even shun altogether the traditional round of childhood immunizations.

Such worries never crossed the mind of

Devlin, of Denville, with her first two children, now 19 and 13. Autism

arrived on her radar screen for the next two kids, now 9 and 3. With

Delilah, born 11 weeks prematurely, that concern is front and center.

" I never did that with my older

kids, " she says of her new habit of checking for eye contact from

Delilah. " But now I'm looking specifically for autism. "

Pediatricians say this worry has its

benefits: Parents are more aware of crucial child-development milestones

and as a result, they are quicker to pick up on lags. That may mean some

cases of autism -- maddeningly difficult to catch in the youngest toddlers

-- are diagnosed earlier.

" If you have a child who doesn't talk,

I think in other generations they would've said, 'Oh, he's a late bloomer.'

It wasn't a big deal, " said Wick, another Denville mother of

five. " Now it's definitely a fear for this age of parent. "

However, it can make some parents see autism

behind every bush.

" Thirteen years ago, parents wouldn't

be able to answer the question, 'How does your child play?' " Brown

said of her early years in practice. " Now you hear, 'Oh my God, my

child lines up his trains. Does he have autism?' There are these extreme

parents who think every little thing is autism. I have to say to them,

'Sometimes kids can be quirky.' "

Singling Out A 'Symptom'

Autism spectrum disorders are developmental

disabilities marked by an impairment of social interaction combined with

communication problems and restricted or repetitive behaviors and

interests. The spectrum encompasses a wide variety of thinking and learning

abilities, from gifted to severely challenged. While its prevalence has

soared in recent years, experts are unsure whether more cases are occurring

or simply more cases are being diagnosed.

Some parents will single out one small trait

or habit of their children as a " symptom " of an autism spectrum

disorder, said Segarra, president of the New Jersey chapter of the

American Academy of Pediatrics, who practices in North Brunswick.

When a parent voices concern that a child

plays with only one toy, for instance, Segarra will ask a checklist of

questions about the child's social interaction. This helps the parent see

the big picture.

Some parents accept their pediatrician's

reassurances. Others don't -- leading to more referrals to specialists.

" New Jersey has the most pediatric

neurologists per capita, and even then, we're booking a year in

advance, " said Janice Prontnicki, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician at

Children's Specialized Hospital, Mountainside.

She sees that looming dread of autism when

she diagnoses a significant developmental delay that stems from some other

cause. " When I say, 'It's definitely not autism,' you can see how

relieved they are, " she said.

" A lot of referrals we make are so

parents can hear another person, a neurologist, say the kid's okay, "

said Carol Calabrese, with Skylands Pediatrics in Sparta. She finds that

parents who needn't worry about autism are still concerned about it, while

the parents who really should be concerned aren't.

In fact, parents are downright eager to have

their children evaluated for autism if there is the slightest delay in

developmental milestones, said Aradhana Rajkumar, of Pediatric Care

in Parsippany.

Suspecting Vaccines

Apprehension about autism shows up most

dramatically with the issue of child immunizations, which some parents view

as a culprit in the recent rise in autism.

A major study released last year in the New

England Journal of Medicine shows no association between long-term

neurological and psychological problems and early exposure to thimerasol --

which contains mercury -- in shots. (Use of thimerasol in routine vaccines

was stopped in 2001.)

However, that has not reassured everyone.

A poll of parents of autistic children

showed 54 percent believe autism is caused by vaccination shots, according

to Harvey , director of Child Neurology and Development Medicine at

Goryeb Children's Hospital in town. At a recent talk before a group

of family physicians, he called that finding worrisome and

" astounding. "

Pediatricians report more parents are either

delaying shots, asking they be spaced out or refusing them altogether.

" They don't listen to me. They don't

believe a word I say, " said Naomi Grobstein, a pediatrician with the

Family Health Center of Montclair. " They say, 'He's not ready!' or

'He's too young!' "

She reminds parents of the lethal risk posed

by diseases like measles, diphtheria and tetanus.

" It's easy to believe these shots

aren't necessary, because we don't see these diseases anymore, " she

said. " I ask them, 'What if your child is the one who spreads measles

around?' "

She reports more parents indicate they plan

to seek a religious exemption from the state law requiring immunizations to

enroll in public school. Medical exemptions require a doctor's note;

religious exemptions simply require a parent to state the shots conflict

with the student's " bona fide religious tenets or practices. "

Statewide, more parents sought a medical

exemption than a religious one until the 2006-07 school year, when the

numbers suddenly switched. By the next school year, religious exemptions

outnumbered medical ones, 2,105 to 645, according to figures provided by

the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. (All told,

however, both categories account for less than 1 percent of students.)

Complicating the picture are celebrities who

either blame or suspect vaccines, such as actress McCarthy and radio

talk show host Don Imus. Doctors complain they get an unquestioning ride in

the media.

" It infuriates me to no end, " said

pediatrician Calabrese. Her practice has a satellite office in

Pennsylvania, where she sees more parents who home-school their children.

More of them feel free to refuse or postpone shots because their children

don't attend public school.

Some of these fears come with the territory

for parents. Others may be generated by the information age, said

Campagnolo, past president of the New Jersey Association of Family

Physicians.

" I feel parents today are generally

more worried about things than they ever were, " she said.

Wick, the mother of five children ages 1 to

11, said she has worried about immunizations, but decided to get her kids

vaccinated. " I can see that there are people who just panic, " she

said. " But maybe that's something in the culture, that we just want to

control everything. "

It's important to address that anxiety, said

Brown, the Texas pediatrician who is also author of " Baby 411, "

an advice book. " If there is something that is keeping you up at night

with worry, then you need to go to the pediatrician to check it out, "

she said. " That peace of mind is worth the co-pay. "

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