"Our" Family's Autism Story

Following is a .pdf of an article I wrote in 2003 for an Oregon-based magazine, months after Sam's diagnosis. So much has changed since then in Sam's progress (all good) and our family's situation that I hesitated sharing it, but there is enough important information in it that eight years later is still is not mainstream(!) that I thought it would be worthwhile to include. In addition, many families wrote to me after reading this article thanking them for telling "their story." Sometimes it helps to hear: we are all in this together.

	.pdf of entire article (7 meg!)	Page 1	Page 2
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	What's changed? Secretin is (widely) no longer thought of as a viable treatment modality. Autism rates nationally are now 1:250 (not just in Oregon). And Sam, and his brother are 8 years older and both are doing awesome. In addition, thimerosol (49 percent mercury by weight) has been removed from most childhood vaccines. It is still present in many flu vaccines, however, so it is important to ask.