Advocate in Writing

Contact the Academy of Pediatrics

Our children need a radical change in medical focus and priorities, so first we must contact the American Academy of Pediatrics in order to advocate for our children. This is one of the most important steps you can take as a parent or advocate for a child classified with “autism.”

The following is a fax number to write to Dr. Errol Alden, Office of the Executive Director of the Academy of Pediatrics, (847) 434-8000. You are welcome to cut and paste all of parts of this letter. We recommend that you fax this information so that key points are not lost during the transmission of their website commentary form. http://www.aap.org/advocacy/stgov.htm

Office of Executive Director
Dr. Errol Alden
Academy of Pediatrics
141 Northwest Point Blvd.
Elk Grove, IL 60007-1098

Dear Dr. Errol Alden,

I am writing because my family has been devastated by my (insert, son, daughter, niece, nephew’s) diagnosis of autism and the world’s lack of response to this disorder over the last 15 to 20 years.

Initially, after the devastating diagnosis of autism, we were basically given a consoling pat on the back, told to obtain speech and occupational therapy, and cautioned not to get our hopes up. With a final “good luck,” we were sent out the door to wade through the various therapeutic approaches on our own. This leaves many desperate parents in a vulnerable position, and as a result, they have been taken advantage of by practitioners of non-medically approved therapies, such as chelation, HBOT, excessive vitamin therapies, etc., that have actually left many of these children in a more precarious medical condition than before.

We are asking for your help NOW to put a stop to what can only be classified as a national crisis. For the last 15 to 20 years, autism has been classified as a genetic disorder. According to recent statistics, diagnoses of autism have increased from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 150 and even 1 in 91 in some areas of the country. Science says that an epidemic cannot be due to a developmental, genetic disorder, but is in reality a disease process. How can we continue to ignore the fact that many of these children are medically ill when most have a range of chronic symptoms, including food intolerances, gastrointestinal issues, viral activation, frequent ear infections, sensory and auditory processing difficulties, often fine and gross motor abnormalities (unheard of in literature describing autism in the 40s and 50s), and seizures (previously nonexistent but now seen in 35-40% of these children)—all accompanied by their “autistic” symptoms? How can it be anything other than a disease process when most of these children reach all of their milestones until approximately 15-20 months of age and then they regress? How can we let the exponential increases in diagnoses continue? How does our society survive that? These children are supposed to be the future doctors, scientists and teachers of their generation.

I have a right to expect the medical world to help my child, especially when all the evidence points to the fact that our children do not have a developmental disorder, but are medically ill. It is imperative that we act now because, when these children are adults, our society will not have the resources to take care of them. More importantly, this is my child and I expect the medical world to direct appropriate, medically sound resources to this issue so that (he, she) has the opportunity to reach (his, her) full potential, and hopefully, a normal life. I fail to understand how the world can ignore that these are children who deserve these efforts from a medical community that to date has made no important, meaningful strides to try to help them—all because autism is classified as genetic in nature, and to date, studying genetics has not derived a cure.

This is why we are asking for your help so that the medical community and pharmaceutical industry can team up to develop safe, appropriate medicines and proactive practices to change the course of this overwhelming disorder. We also need your leadership and direction to put a stop to the unscrupulous practices that have left many children more ill than they were before they started such treatments.

I am part of a group of parents called the NIDS Parent Group headed by Dr. Michael Goldberg who recently wrote the book The Myth of Autism. In his book, he eloquently explains certain fallacies associated with autism, such as how vaccines have been incorrectly linked to autism and the treatment protocol he uses for his patients. His protocol has resulted in a high success rate in which many children are able to be rehabilitated.

Despite his impressive successes in treating these children, Dr. Goldberg understands that we need to continue to develop better, safe medicines because not all children will respond the same to his protocol. We as a group are no longer content to blindly accept the diagnosis of autism and to resign our precious children to a life of disability. We are engaging in a substantial lobbying effort in order to fight to change the course of this devastating illness and give our children the future they deserve.

Sincerely,

Name:

You can also find your US Representatives and Senators by going to http://www.contactingthecongress.org. You are also welcome to borrow key points from our website or cut and paste the above letter to your representatives and senators. In order to successfully advocate for our children in a world of competing demands for valuable financial resources, we must also lobby our representatives.