Post 5: Description Post

Upon being born a baby is given a shot within the first hours of its life. This shot will be the first of many to immunize the baby from harmful diseases. This particular shot is the hepatitis B vaccine, and it is given to the infant before it leaves the hospital, usually within the first two days of its life.

A month or 2 after birth, the baby is given another hepatitis B vaccine. Usually at that same appointment the rotavirus vaccine is given as well as the diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis vaccine, also so is haemophilus influenza type b, pneumococcal vaccine, and the inactivated poliovirus vaccine.

From there the baby is given another round of rotavirus vaccine, diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis vaccine, haemophilus influenza type b, pneumococcal vaccine, and the inactivated poliovirus vaccine are supposed to be given at 4 months of age.

6 months after birth, the hepatitis b vaccine is given again. As well as rotavirus vaccine, diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis vaccine, haemophilus influenza type b, pneumococcal vaccine, and the inactivated poliovirus vaccine. The influenza vaccine is given for the first time at this age.

At 1 year of age it is recommended that these vaccines be given from 12 months to about 18 months the hepatitis b, diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis vaccine, haemophilus influenza type b, pneumococcal vaccine, the inactivated poliovirus vaccine, influenza vaccine, as well as the new shots of measles, mumps, and rubella, varicella, and the hepatitis a vaccines.

19-23 months old the yearly influenza vaccine as well as the hepatitis a vaccine are given.

At 2-3 years of age the pneumococcal, hepatitis a, and meningococcal vaccines are given.

Finally at 4-6 years of age the diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis vaccines are given. Also pneumococcal vaccine, inactivated poliovirus vaccine, yearly influenza vaccine, mmr vaccine, varicella vaccine, hepatitis a vaccine, and the meningococcal vaccines are all given.

With this recommended schedule of vaccine injections, it seems that the immune system overload theory might have some weight behind it. Kids these days are recommended to get all these shots before the age of 6, and I don't disagree with that, but maybe spacing the shots out would help lower autism rates. Somethings gotta give, because with the increasing rates of autism every year, we are going to get to the point where the American public says "enough is enough", and demand better guidelines and procedures for giving vaccines, as well as recommending that parents space the shots out.

Post 4: The Economics of Vaccination

The costs of autism are tremendous. Not only does the family have to sacrifice much of their time, to accommodate to the special needs of the child, they also have to spend an enormous amount of money to treat the disorder. It's estimated that each family of an autistic child will spend almost three and a half million dollars over the course of their lifetime. With the price of healthcare constantly on the rise, these family's are financially strained, not to mention the emotional burden. Here is a link to an article in the New York Times on January 23, of this year, which talks about the costs of autism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/health/23patient.html

In the article, a man by the name of Jeff Sell has a set of twin boys with autism. When his twin sons were born 13 years ago, Mr. Sell had many worries about his sons, but one of the main problems he said, was how he was going to be able to pay for all of this. Many health insurance policies don't cover autism treatment, leaving the family's with enormous healthcare bills. The costs of treatment, should be covered by all policies, in my opinion. To leave a normal family to foot the bill for the extremely high costs of the treatment of autism, is basically asking them to file for bankruptcy. With the rise of healthcare, these family's of the autistic are constantly being squezzed for everything they have leaving them broke and not able to care for the rest of the family. Hopefully with the new obama care plan, these family's might see some financial relief.

Autism trends, treatments and therapies routinely make headlines. Often overlooked, though, is the financial burden for many families with autistic children.

Treatment is extremely expensive. Direct medical and nonmedical costs can add up to as much as $72,000 a year for someone with an extreme case of the disorder, and even $67,000 a year for those on the lower end of the spectrum, according to a study from the Harvard School of Public Health.

That figure includes medical costs like doctor visits, prescriptions and occupational and speech therapy, as well as expenses for things like special education, camps and child care, said Michael Ganz, the author of the study, who is now a health care consultant.

“It can cost $3.2 million to take care of an autistic person over the course of his or her lifetime,” the study said.

More families are grappling with the disorder than ever before. One of every 110 8-year-old children in the United States has been diagnosed with autism — and one of every 70 boys, according to the latest survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released last fall. That is up from one in 150 children in a comparable report released in 2007.

“The numbers are just amazing,” said Pat Kemp, executive vice president of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, “Unless we attack this like a national health crisis, we’re going to have a huge economic crisis on our hands.”

Certainly families feel the financial strain. Many health insurance policies do not cover autism treatments, while those that do often have severe limits. And there is very little government or private financial assistance available.

Post 3: The Debate

The debate is still raging today whether or not autism is linked to the preservatives in the vaccines given to children. So with that said, here are the pros and cons from each side.

The proponents of autism say that vaccines are good because they help the body increase it's immunity. And also the fact that it prevents these diseases from being able to spread around in the community and causing a mass epidemic. However the main opponents to this say that there is a huge link between autism spectral disorders and the vaccines that are given around the same time these ASD symptoms occur.

So now that we know what the main pros and cons are, I will try to decide what the most logical process would be to do if I was to have a kid today and the steps I would take to insure the OVERALL health of my hypothetical child. By OVERALL health I mean the whole picture, would it be worth it to have my kid develop these diseases from the immunizations or would it be worth it to not immunize and just hope that they don't come into contact with any of these diseases that are used for immunization? I think this is where most parents shrug their shoulders and just ask their healthcare provider for advice, but unfortunetly many healthcare providers see it how the big pharmaceatical companies see it. The more kids they can immunize the more money they make. And I know it isn't as sinister as it sounds like there is a big conspiracy to give these kids shots they don't need; Because I know that many of the vaccines are good for our community as a whole.

After watching the interview between Larry King, Jim Carrey, and Jenny McCarthy (who has an autistic son), I think they have a good view on how parents should give their kids these vaccines. They stated that they weren't against vaccinations, and talk about how in 1989 kids only received 10 shots, but now are required to have 36 shots. Then they basically ask what has changed since 1989?, there hasn't been any big outbreaks that warranted this influx of vaccinations. Also they stated that parents should educate themselves and pick and choose which vaccinations to give, space out the vaccines, delay the vaccinations until after one year of age.

I think that vaccines are just another part of the parents struggle to choose the lesser of two evils. After its all said and done I think that I would definitely research every shot before it was given to my child, and ask to see the package insert that describes the drug, ingredients, and side effects, before any immunization/vaccine is given. I feel that Its of course ultimately up to the parents to decide whether or not to do it, but they must educate themselves on both sides of the issue to see a solution. I wish vaccinations were easy as black or white, but there are many shades of grey in this debate.

The Dangers of Vaccines - Part 1 (MMR HPV Autism Gardasil Swine Flu H1N1...

Post 2: caring and accommodating the autistic

Wyndham Garden Austin Texas Offers Special Support For Guests with Autism

Posted on April 14, 2010 at 6:12 PM

Wyndham Garden Austin Hotel is opening a special wing Wednesday night. This special section of rooms is specially designed for children on the Autism spectrum.

The final touches were being put into a South Austin hotel room Wednesday.

"We wanted it to feel very much like a hotel room still, because we don't want people to come in and feel like, 'Oh, we've been tagged with this special needs label,'" said Conference Services Manager Anna Roberts.

Some of the changes are subtle: organic cleaning products, corner protectors and keeping most of the amenities just out of reach.

It's ideal for Ann Kaplan, who travels each year with her family, including her 9-year -old autistic son, Jon.

"He is what I consider low verbal, he has some speaking, he can request things," she said.

Jon is a pretty good traveler, but it's still not easy.

"We pack our own foods, we do a lot of prep before we go -- where's the Whole Foods or natural food markets," she said.

Many autistic children don't like being taken out of their comfort zone or routines. Kaplan has had scary moments while traveling.

"Our child has tried to escape a room -- it's very scary. He woke up in the middle of the night and he was disoriented and he tried to walk out," she recounted.

That is the type of scenario the Wyndham Austin Hotel is trying to avoid. Special alarms will wake parents if a child opens the door. No need to pack foods -- the hotel offers a gluten and casein free menu. The five special rooms are all in one section of the hotel, and the staff has been trained on what to expect.

"So to have a staff that's trained, that say 'oh, we know that's OK. We're not going to react to it or we're going to help you what ever the situation calls for,'" said Kaplan.

"I think that's the biggest part of making them feel comfortable," said Roberts.

That gives parents a sense of calm that they can have a vacation.

All five rooms are booked for the first night. The hotel offers those rooms at a discount.

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So this is obviously a cut and paste from another website, but I was trying to show how even hotel chains are stepping in and doing their part to help accommodate these familys. I think that it is comforting to know that businesses like this hotel are going out of their way to help the family's that have a loved one with autism. Most people don't realize how hard it can be for parents, brothers/sisters, etc. I admire these people for their patience, I know it must be tough at times. Especially when you are trying to go on a trip somewhere. That's why the autism awareness movement/organizations are trying to get their message across.

Also I just find it interesting how so many people don't even know exactly what autism is, I can honestly say that before I started this blog, yes I knew what autism was. But I didn't know the extent of the differences, or the broad range of symptoms that are classified as autism spectrum disorders. Good ole' wikipedia says:

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. The two other autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and PDD-NOS, diagnosed when full criteria for the other two disorders are not met.

I hope that in the future, we can find out why our autism rates have been increasing exponentially, and then figure out how to stop this from happening in so many children. I think that with the advances in technology and medicine in the coming years, we will have a better understanding of autism and have more successful treatment plans, and HOPEFULLY one day put an end to autism.