10-17-02
RESPONSE BY RICK ROLLENS TO M.I.N.D. INSTITUTE STUDY "EPIDEMIOLOGY
OF AUTISM IN CALIFORNIA"
(916-499-7707 or rrollens@aol.com)
"The take away message today from the M.I.N.D. Institute's groundbreaking and
comprehensive three year $1 million study is that California's rapidly growing
autism epidemic is REAL, and that this epidemic cannot be explained away by
increased awareness, better diagnosis or having missed these children in the
past, or by confusing autism with other disorders, or by families moving to
California for services for their autistic children.
It is clear that a purely genetic basis for autism cannot explain the rapidly
increasing numbers of new cases of autism in California; in fact, as we all
know...you cannot have a purely genetic disease epidemic. We now know that
environmental factors are at play.
As a result of this study, those who have simply refused to believe that we are
in the midst of a real autism epidemic no longer can put forth their simplistic
explanations and denials that the epidemic exsist, indeed those explanations and
denials have now been scientifically removed from the debate.
We now know that more parents then ever are reporting cases of regressive autism
and gastrointestinal problems that plague their autistic children. We also know
that over 1/3 of parents of young children with autism believe that vaccines
caused their child's condition.
This study sustains what many in the autism community believe, that is, that the
autism epidemic is real and growing and that a major commitment of hundreds of
millions of dollars to support research and treatments for this national health
emergency is urgently needed. That efforts such as those that are underway at
the M.I.N.D. Institute to examine the role of environmental factors such as
toxic and viral exposures, as well as autoimmune issues, and childhood
vaccinations in the development of autism should be immediately accelerated to
the top of the autism research agenda."