Story from KOMU News at 10 - December 9, 2007

This story is now on http://www.komu.com/ on the series page.

This is part two of the Weinmaster family. We show you what Linda is doing to help Adam with his autism by alternative and natural treatments...

You can watch the story here

You will find video, script, and web extras...in the meantime... comment here about it!

For our Bloggers

Comment-Thimerosal (49.55% Hg) causes Hg Poisoning

This item was emailed to this blog.-AR

Please consider the following realities about Thimerosal:

THIMESOSAL CAUSES MERCURY POISONING: AN OVERVIEW

Sub-acute mercury poisoning by Thimerosal manifests as clinical symptoms that include the set of symptoms used to diagnose autism. Thimerosal toxicity is a matter of the specific dose and Thimerosal's persistence in the parts of the body in a form that is toxic to thoseorgans, tissues, and/or fluids in which it ispresent at a level high enough to exert its toxic effects.

Moreover, because: · Thimerosal (49.55% mercury by weight), Thimerosal's initial mercury-containing solvolys is products (ethylmercury chloride [75.66 % mercury by weight] and ethylmercury hydroxide [81.28% mercury by weight]), and its final metabolites (tissue- incorporated "inorganic" mercury ("complexed" Hg2+") have all been proven to be highly toxic in short term.

Recent peer-reviewed published research studies [1] have clear established that some young children with a diagnosis in the autism spectrum ARE mercury poisoned and that their principal mercury exposure was from the Thimerosal-preserved vaccines they and, in some cases, their mothers' received and passed to them during pregnancy and breast feeding, and · Apparently, in Hanna Poling v. Sec. HHS (vaccine court case: 02-1466V), a "Thimerosal as a causal factor" test case in the vaccine court's Autism Omnibus, the federal government has conceded that the Thimerosal in the vaccines Hannah Poling received was a causal factor in the neuroencephalopathy-generated autism spectrum disorder symptoms that characterize Hannah Poling's vaccine injuries, there is no question that Thimerosal can causesub-acute mercury poisoning in some children injected with Thimerosal-containing vaccines to the point that the mercury-poisoned child will exhibit mercury-poisoning symptoms that include that set of symptoms used to diagnose an autism spectrum disorder.

Thus, the real question is when are vaccine apologists going to stop raising questions that have been answered and start admitting that Thimerosal-containing vaccines have mercury poisoned and are mercury-poisoning our children and ourselves to the point that some children and adults are sub-acutely mercury poisoned, and exhibit those symptoms that are used to in the diagnosis of a wide variety of neurodevelopmental (e.g., autistic disorder, pervasive developmentaldisorder - not otherwise specified [PDD-NOS],Asperger's, attention deficit disorder [ADD] andattention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD])and other disorders (asthma, diabetes, obesity, multiple sclerosis (MS), and food allergies) inour children, and, for those old enough to missthe prenatal and early childhood Thimerosal-poisoning, "dementias" (e.g., Alzheimer's) inourselves.

References:
1. a. Nataf R, et al. Poryphyrinuria in childhood autistic disorder: implications for environmental toxicity. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 2006; 214: 99-108.

b. Geier DA, Geier MR. A prospective assessment of porphyrins in autistic disorders: a potential marker for heavy metal exposure. Neurotox Res 2006; 10: 57-64.

c. Geier DA, Geier MR. A case series of children with apparent mercury toxic encephalopathies manifesting with clinical symptoms of regressive autistic disorders. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2007; 70: 837-851.

Hopefully, the preceding realities have settled the issue of whether Thimerosal is a major causal factor in most children who have adiagnosis in the autism spectrum.

Respectfully,
Dr. King

Science Advisor for CoMeD, the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs:

http://www.mercury-freedrugs.org/

Comment-Autism and Journalistic Integrity

This item was emailed to this blog. -AR


To Ashley Reynolds and KOMU,

Thank you for delving into one of the most controversial areas of medicine and pediatrics with an open mind and a fair voice for individuals to share their stories. Autism is probably the most
complex neurobehavioral developmental disorder we will ever know on such a grand scale in our society. Dysfunction in the immune system, the gut and within critical hepato-renal detoxification enzyme pathways are making this an enigma for medicine and science. Focusing on one variable in such a multi-variate problem is in large part why its understanding is so elusive.

In a small but ever growing population of people, vaccines can have deleterious effects. There are small populations for which many seemingly innocuous insults to others are, in these individuals, quite deleterious. An average medical student can name one of the classic examples of such subpopulation susceptibility; xeroderma pigmentosa, in which individuals who have a genetic impairment that prevents correction of DNA damage suffered by ultraviolet light.
Miniscule amounts of UV light in these individuals leads to skin cancer. So too it is with autism, miniscule amounts of heavy metals are in many instances creating the initial havoc that leads to this derailment of development. Global intra-body increased half-life of heavy metals appears to exist in these children because one or a couple of a many genes involved in methylation and/or sulfation are poorly functioning.

Mercury and aluminum in vaccines are implicated in potentiating the derangement in this subpopulation, in addition to ambient heavy metals and other toxins in the environment. Its the heavy metals that medical science controls that are really the most important, simply be the fact that they are controllable exposures. Those who have the funds and research capabilites to prove this association definitively have yet to investigate the connection thoroughly in the
susceptible population for obvious legal and ethical ramifications of ignoring mothers for 20 years on this issue. Recall that for the first 20 years of autism being a named syndrome, the mothers were blamed for being the causative factor, that was when medical students were lucky to ever see an autistic child during their training.

Now that the epidemic is upon us, medical professionals need to pull our collective head out of the sand that keeps getting piled up by the last great American industry (pharmaceuticals) and start doing the brave science that will help these children. In many ways this could re-instill confidence by pursuing safer vaccinations and in particular safer vaccination protocols. The current protocols have NEVER be tested against lighter schedules even using the same vaccines (decreased boosters, more age appropriate timing of vaccines, etc). This comparison will lead to saving money in healthcare as a direct result of decreased vaccine purchasing and administration as well as indirectly through decreased incidence of side effects, speech delay being the most obvious and easiest to test as a safety indicator against the current ever burgeoning protocols.

Last month the New England Journal of Medicine published a paper by Amanna, Carlson and Slifka that indicates the duration of coverage of many vaccines exceeds the life span of the study population, by centuries in a longitudinal regression analysis of titer decay rates. This is good science to say we need to cut back on early life vaccinations. One shot may be all many children may need for coverage until much later in life on many of these childhood diseases. Boosters are likely causing much more harm than good for the profit of vaccine corporations.

The hypothesis that there really is a connection between vaccines and speech delays as well as an acceleration of autistic behaviors in a subpopulation that is susceptible to immunodysfunction and high heavy metal half-lives is a valid one that needs urgent study. The CDC and the FDA will be the last "watchdogs" to protect that science, for it is the very hypothesis that will prove a connection once the appropriate at risk population is selected. Thank you for protecting
the collective conversation and thought that can lead to such a hypothesis through investigating the stories of those like the Weinmasters who have legitimate concerns that this hypothesis may be correct, as do I.

Edward F. Fogarty, M.D.
Chairman of Radiology at the University of North Dakota School of
Medicine

Promo

Weinmaster Story Airs

The portion of the series about the Weinmaster family aired. I'm so excited to finally share this with you all.
They are a big football family trying to recover their son from autism. The family believes autism caused by mercury in vaccines.





I did a behind the scenes story and slide show of the family.
You can see it here.

Adam

Be sure to watch Sunday night for part 2 of Adam's story!

Please comment and tell us what you think of Adam's story.

Will Meets Snow

Many of you met our son Tuesday evening when KOMU aired a story on him. Yesterday, here in Columbia, Will met snow for the first time. During Ashley's interview, I mentioned how we celebrate the fact he looks at the world a little differently.

Yesterday, we were reminded not to take something as downright cool as snow for granted. Interestingly, Will's aversion to wearing something on his head gave way to this fantastic lid when he understood: "First hat. Then outside." (thanks to the deliberative skills of mama).



Please enjoy your weekend. We will, too.

Jeremy Airs

I started searching for an adult with autism at the end of September. I had a couple names of local adults with autism who were interested in the series but they were not interested in sharing their story with us on camera. It was a long process to find an adult with autism...but we did it!

Jeremy was willing to help us. It's now December and I'm thrilled that our viewers will finally see Ashley's interview with Jeremy. This past week, our viewers, who have followed this series from the blog's launch in September, saw all different types of families. Now you will have the opportunity to see someone on the other end of the spectrum, someone with aspergers syndrome.

Watch Jeremy

Please view links about aspergers syndrome and adults with autism at http://www.komu.com/. I also did a behind the scenes story and slide shows for Jeremy's story.

Comment-Questions to make people think

This item was emailed to this blog.-AR

I love that you are doing a story on this. I have just a few comments, and a few questions. I'll also post some of my information and resources.

There are a lot of people that criticize what is said on the internet about this subject. In all fairness, there are a lot of kooks lurking around the net. However, say you had information of upmost importance to get out to people, and mainstream media wouldn't touch it. This is the case here, where most media is funded highly by drug companies that make money on vaccination, and therefore they have the upper hand. Where would you turn to get the word out? Certainly the internet is a great place to start. There are other ways to get information out to people, and you will certainly find those groups that are more involved and vocal. But you can't assume every piece of information on the net is false. The internet connects us in ways we never knew of before, and we can get information faster now than even 5 years ago.

Certainly if one is going to do their research and scrutinize everything they read, they should do so online AND with other resources. Which I have done. I am no expert, just a parent that is seeking the truth, and wanting the best for my child.

I started researching vaccines when I was pregnant. My mother in law told me that she had heard that autism might be linked to them since they are giving so many now. When I found out that they were trying to convince me that the chicken pox was a "deadly" disease that we had to vaccinate against, red flags went up... you're SUPPOSED to get chicken pox as a kid! I was also astounded that we needed to give a hepatitis B shot at birth. I don't claim to be a professional in the medical field, but I am certainly no dummy. I know a thing or two about a few diseases, and I know that hepatitis B is a blood infection that is transmitted by IV-sharing individuals, prostitutes and homosexuals. NOT newborns in sterile hospital nurseries. I thought the medical community had lost their minds when they said they NEEDED to vaccinate at birth for hepatitis B. That seemed OUTRAGEOUS to me! So my slight distrust for the medical community began. And it only escalated. (I should probably point out too, that my mom is a nurse, so I have always trusted my doctors.)

I researched enough to know I didnt want to do anything I wasn't comfortable with. Then came my son's two month checkup. I checked in that day and everything was fine. The nurse was bright and friendly and the pediatrician was gentle and sweet. Then I told her I was opting out of shots for that day. Suddenly the whole office seemed to turn on me. She filled my arms with paperwork from the CDC saying the risks of the diseases were great and that he was sure to die if I didnt vaccinate him. I told her I was uncomfortable with it based on what I have researched. Her response was something very similar to this: "The whole mercury in vaccine fiasco came about after a couple of doctors were sitting around at the CDC one day. One happened to mention as an afterthought that thimerosal had mercury in it and that might be harmful. Once that hit the media, it exploded into this nonsense about autism."

I was stunned. I didnt know if she actually believed that load or if she was trying to make something up on the spot. Anyone who has done 5 minutes of research into this knows that the medical community has fought this from the beginning. Besides, how can THOUSANDS of people have the EXACT SAME STORY about their kids regressing into autism after their 18 month MMR, and have it be a coincedence? I think not. So, my distrust for the medical community grew further.

I looked at her and said thanks. I'll keep that in mind as we're making our final decisions. She sighed heavily and walked out. Signing my paperwork as I was leaving was not so cheery as my check in. I haven't been back, and I don't intend to.

Our chiropractor is now our expert on health and wellness... our doctor, so to speak. But we now have a different idea of what health care should be. Doctors deal with sickness, not health. We'd rather take care of ourselves naturally and promote health rather than try and run from feeling sick. Health means your body is functioning properly - not that you arent feeling sick. Often times when you are sick, that means your body is functioning properly to rid your body of a disease. So we see health as an overall lifestyle, and take the good with the bad; not just "there's a pill for everything."

So thats a bit of my story... my son is 7 months old, unvaccinated and completely healthy. He has yet to contract something "deadly" like chicken pox. We are promoting health in our family by eating in a way that strengthens our immune systems, we dont use toxic anything in our home, we use homeopathic remedies, my son is breastfed and we take care of each other emotionally. Thats just a sliver of what we do to stay healthy.

_________________________________________________________________

What follows is a little bit of my research, accompanied by a few questions that should make people think. I hope this helps!

From www.nvic.org - if you vaccinate, ask the following questions:

1. Is my child sick right now?
   
2. Has my child had a bad reaction to a vaccination before?
   
3. Does my child have a personal or family history of:

• vaccine reactions
• convulsions or neurological disorders
• severe allergies
• immune system disorders

1. Do I know if my child is at high risk of reacting?
   
2. Do I know how to identify a vaccine reaction?
   
3. Do I know how to report a vaccine reaction?
   
4. Do I know the vaccine manufacturer's name and lot number?
   
5. Do I know I have a choice?
   
   

More questions and information:

In regards to the theory that autism could be caused by genetics, how can you have an epidemic of a genetic disease? Why are genetics suddenly turning on us?

How can you justify injecting formaldeheyde into your baby? Aluminum? Antifreeze? Ether? Bovine serum? MSG? Polysorbate 80? Gelatin? Have you researched these ingredients to know if they are safe? Do you know that your digestive system is equipped to break down animal matter like chick eggs, and that your bloodstream is not equipped to handle it at all?

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol11no01/04-0632.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/surv-manual/downloads/chpt07_mumps.pdf

Do you trust a company that conducts studies on its own product? Of course not. So why do you trust pharmaceutical companies that test their own product? Do you know how their tests are conducted? Are you 100% sure that they are conducted with integrity? Espcially with so much money at stake?

Do you trust your parenting decisions enough to promote health and strengthen your child's imune system? Why would you need a vaccine to do that for you?

At age 2 months, do you know if your child is allergic to soy, yeast, or three seperate antibiotics? Did you know that they are being injected with them?

Would you feed your child genetically modified food products? Why would you inject them with genetically modified virus and bacteria products?

Would you let your child breathe the deadly mercury gas emitted from a broken spiral florescent lightbulb, or play with the mercury in an old thermometer? Why would you let your doctor inject it into them, especially prior to age 1 when their liver and gall bladders are not fully functioning to detoxify the body of heavy metals such as mercury, causing it to be stored in vulnerable brain tissue?

Did you know that if a vial of vaccine with thimerosal, a mercury based preservative, falls on the floor and breaks, it is hazardous waste and needs to be cleaned up by haz-mat certified professionals so nobody gets exposed to it. (Vaccines can be called "mercury free" if they have less than 3 mcg in them, although the standard limit is 1mcg)

Did you know that the Rotovirus vaccine was pulled from the market the first time it was added to the CDC Schedule for causing bowel obstructions and killing several children? This was discovered after it was on the market because of the rush through safety tests funded and run by the manufacturer.

IF you trust vaccines so much, why do you discourage unvaxed kids from being in public school with vaxed kids? If they worked it would only harm the kids whose parents knew there was a risk. Where did we get this idea that children are born disease ridden?

Who gets rich off the vaccines? Is it safe to accept the opinion of members of the FDA and CDC advisory commitees when they own stock or have worked for the pharm companies?

IF the flu vaccine worked why, when there are years that the vaccines are for strains that are in the US, then years when the vaccines are for strains that never made it to the US, are the death and fatality rate not drasticaly different?

$75,000 Offered For MD to Publicly Drink Vaccine Additives

Jock Doubleday, director of the California non-profit corporation Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc., has offered $75,000 to the first medical doctor or pharmaceutical company CEO who publicly drinks a mixture of standard vaccine additives. The additives would be the same as those contained in the vaccines recommended for a 6-year-old according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, and the dose would be body-weight calibrated.

It would include, but not be limited to:
• Thimerosal (a mercury derivative)
• Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
• Phenol (a disinfectant dye)
• Aluminum
• Benzethonium chloride (a disinfectant)
• Formaldehyde (a preservative and disinfectant)

On August 1, 2007, if no one has taken the challenge, the offer will be increased to $90,000 and will increase at a rate of $5,000 per month until someone accepts.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/07/19/75-000-offered-for-md-to-publicly-drink-vaccine-additives.aspx

Do the research for yourself!
http://www.whale.to/vaccines.html
www.nvic.org
www.vaclib.org
www.drtenpenny.com
www.thinktwice.com
www.mercola.com

_____________________________________________________________

Vaccine ingredients: (see above CDC vaccine ingredient posting for more information)

Ammonium Sulfate
Suspected gastrointestinal, liver, nerve and respiratory system poison.

Beta-propilactone
Known to cause cancer, suspected gastrointestinal, liver, respiratory, skin and sense organ poison

Genetically modified yeast, animal, bacterial and viral DNA
Can be incorporated into the recipient's DNA and cause genetic mutations.

Latex Rubber
Can cause life-threatening allergic reactions

Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
Being studdied for mutagenic, teratogenic (developmental malformation and monstrosities) and reproductive effects. A neurotoxinAllergic reactions range from mild to severe.

Aluminum
Implicated as a cause of brain damage, suspected factor in alzeheimers, dementia, seizures and comas. Allergic reactions can occur on skin.

Formaldehyde
Major constituent of embalming fluid; poisonous if ingested. Probable carcinogen; suspected gastrointestinal, liver, immune system, nerve, reproductive system and respiratory poison. Linked to lukemia, brain, colon and lymphatic cancers. (So toxic that when working with it, you must have your face covered so you dont breathe in too many of the fumes... and we're injecting ourselves with it.)

Micro-Organisms
Live and killed viri and bacteria or their toxins. The polio vaccine was contaminated with a monkey virus now turning up in human bone, lung lining, brain tumors and lymphomas.

Polysorbate 80
Known to cause cancer in animals

Tri(n)butylphosphate
Suspected nerve and kidney poison

Glutaraldehyde
Poisonous if injected. Causes birth defects in experimental animals

Gelatin
Produced from pieces of calf and cattle skins, de-minerialized cattle bones and pork skin. Allergic reactions have been reported.

Gentamicin sulfate and polymyxin B
Allergic reactions can range from mild to life threatening.

Mercury (Thimerosal)
One of the most poisonous substances known. Has an affinity for the brain, gut, liver, bone-marrow and kidneys. Minute amounts can cause nerve damage. Symptoms of mercury toxocity are similar to those of autism.

Neomycin Sulfate
Interferes with Vitamin B6 absorption. An error in the update of B6 can cause a form of epilepsy and mental retardation. Allergic reactions can be mild to life-threatening.

Phenol / phenoxyethanol (2-pe)
Used as an antifreeze. Toxic to all cells and cabable of disabling the immune system's primary response mechanism.

Human and animal cells
Human cells from aborted fetal tissue and human albumin. Pig blood, horse blood, rabbit brain, guinea pig, dog kidney, cow heart, monkey kidney, chick embryo, chicken egg, duck egg, calf serum, sheep blood and others.

" A major cause of the roman empire's decline after 6 centuries of world dominance was its replacement of stone aqueducts by lead pipes for the transport and supply of drinking water. Roman engineers, the best in the world, turned their fellow citizens into neurological cripples. Today, our own "best and brightest" with the best of intentions, achieve the same end through childhood vaccination programs yeilding the modern scourges of hyperactivity, learning disabilities, autism, appetite disorders, and impulsive violence."
-Harris L. Coulter, Ph. D
_________________________________________

Okay, everyone. We know all about the toxic ingredients in vaccines. We have all heard about the mercury / autism debate. What we havent covered is what a vaccine actually DOES to your body.

This is not just speculation from my limited high school biology background. This information comes from a chiropractor here in Colorado Springs who periodically does information sessions for the community on the effects of vaccines. If anyone is near Colorado Springs and would like to know when the next session is, please message me and let me know. It is great information.

In laymans terms, the immune system has two facets. There is the cellular response to viruses and disease, and there is the antibody response. The cellular response recieves diseases naturally, has time to recognize, process and weaken the diseases before passing the information off to the antibody response. Then the antibody response kicks in and creates memory cells that recognize the disease and remembers how to fight it for next time. These two facets MUST be in balance or the immune system becomes damaged permanently.

Here's the thing. Were you to get a disease or virus NATURALLY, your body would use all its natural defenses to receive it, weaken it and fight it off before the antibody response starts. It'd have to pass your skin, your stomach lining, your sinuses, your lungs, etc - all the natural defenses our bodies have BEFORE showing up in the blood stream. But when you inject a vaccine into your system, you are bypassing ALL your body's natural defenses and forcing your body's antibody response to shoot through the roof.

This causes the cellular response to weaken.

The more you vaccinate, the weaker your cellular response becomes.

Eventually it will shut down and make you more suseptible to diseases because your body wont recognize a disease or fight it off until its too late - the antibody response is trained to be in supermode. The cellular response goes, "what we were doing before obviuosly didnt work since it made it into the blood stream without us knowing about it, so there's no point in trying anymore." ESPECIALLY in newborn babies and infants, we are training their immune systems FROM THE BEGINNING to operate un-naturally.

A few more things to keep in mind. Vaccines have to be cultured on live tissue. They are cultured on monkeys, dogs, cows, pigs, etc. There are also 13 vaccines currently on the market that are cultured on aborted human fetal tissue. For me as a christian, that was a huge deal. Now, for those that are cultured on a foreign agent such as a monkey kidney, the virus's RNA will take the form of the monkey's DNA which morphs the original virus into an entirely new disease. The thing is this: a monkey's DNA and a human's DNA are 99.9% alike. BUT that .1% is the difference between a monkey and a human!!! So to get a vaccine that is 99.9% like the original means the difference between two completely diametrically different things. When you inject something into yourself that has taken the form of a monkey, your body can not process it the same that a naturally occuring human disease would.

He also said this: a "long term study" is defined by the CDC and the FDA...

as 14 days.

Not years. Not decades, not even months! 14 days. Which, by the way, is less time than the flu incubates in your body before showing symptoms. Imagine the effects that a convoluted monkey / human disease will take - decades later!!! Back in the 60's and 70s the polio vaccine was made a certain way on monkey tissue which created a by-product disease called SV40. SV40 is now known to cause ALL KINDS of cancer. Breast cancer, bone cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, etc. And the scary thing: it crossed the plancental barrier and is causing cancer and diabetes in kids now. They are saying it will take up to 5 GENERATIONS to get all that thing out of our systems.

Who is to say that they "fixed" that with modern vaccines? They are still using monkeys, cows, etc. for culturing diseases.

Several of the CDC and the FDA members that vote on the vaccines being given on the market today own patents for them. The CDC allows members THREE conflict of interest WAIVERS every year. No questions asked. Is public health REALLY their only concern?

One more thing and I'll be done. Therer is NO LONGER independent medical research firms. They are all dummy companies for the big pharmaceutical corporations. AND, anyone in a scientific field will tell you that if you have an agenda, you can twist "results" to your liking. If a dummy company does "research" on a vaccine or pill and comes up with results that the big company didnt like, they FIRE the head researcher and replace him with someone that will give them the results they want.

Lets not be dummies for the medical industry - which is exactly what this is. Your pediatrician gets PAID to give vaccines - thats a HUGE part of their paycheck!!! Of COURSE they are going to promote and push them! Follow the money trail and you will almost always find that its good for someone's checkbook to give you some drug, pill or vaccine. Doctors arent bad people - they are just doing what they are told and taught. And its scary.

Thats all - I hope this helps!

Rachel

--
Success is never ending; failure is never final

Michael's story aired

I'm so thrilled that the series has officially started and Michael's story has aired! As many of you returning visitors know, this series has been in the making for quite a while now and it's incredible that the air dates have FINALLY arrived after so many trips, interviews, phone calls, and Ashley's countless hours spent in the edit bays at KOMU.

We've been working hard to bring you the best coverage we can of this disorder that affects so many individuals and their families. We sincerely hope you enjoy the series and learn something new from the people we feature. I know that visiting Michael and his family about a month ago taught me so much about this disorder; I realize that each family truly has its own method and tools for coping with autism.

I also hope that all of our viewers realize the lengths Ashley has gone to in order to provide KOMU's audience with a balanced series. Over the course of this month, we will feature families, doctors and researchers of all types and with all kind of opinions to make sure we provide all sides of the story.

I'd like to stress to everyone again just how much we want to hear from you - please use this blog as an open forum for commenting and visit KOMU.com for special extras and added information. We've used your comments and posts to guide us in reporting, now it's your turn to tell us how we did!

Watch Michael

Comment on Series-Educate

This item was emailed to this blog.-AR

I love the series your station is highlighting on Combating Autism. It is so important to educate everyone on autism and how differently it affects people. I only have 2 small comments. Please refer to it as a Disorder and not a disease and I feel it is important to use people first language and say a person with autism instead of autistic. This type of labeling makes it seem the person with autism is not a real person. In fact they are a real person who happens to have autism. Once again, great work and thanks for all you do.

Response to Will

Today Will's story aired, and again I must say that I am really enjoying watching this series unfold. Today we focused on a family that was from our own neck of the woods, (Columbia).

When watching the story I was really touched by what I saw. The mother and father of this young boy say they love him so much and are willing to do anything to help him.

This kid is so cute and it is really inspiring to see that even through all the obstacles that he faces on a daily basis the ones around him love him unconditionally. Also, it was interesting to see just how much he has therapy and to kind of get a look at the therapy and what is involved in that process.

It is really great to have been working on this for the past six months and now for it to be actually airing is an awesome feeling!


I love all the behind the scenes extras available on our web site KOMU.com
It gives us a look into this new way of doing an investigation and also gives the viewer a better understanding of the process of putting together a series like this. You can view things like slideshows, behind the scenes interviews, as well as related documents.
Well done Ashley and Meredith.
I would love to hear from you please comment!
Be sure to visit our web site at KOMU.com for more information.

Will's Story aired

I'm so excited to see the story about Will Miles air on KOMU.

On the station website www.KOMU.com, we have extras such as a behind the scenes package, a slideshow of pictures from the shoots that we went on for Will and the Miles family, as well as extended interview clips and links to the websites of some of the resources that Will has used.

It was so great to finally see this all come together and I encourage everyone to keep checking the blog and post your comments as well as visit KOMU.com to see everything that we have done for this series.

Please Comment here on this post about Will.
See his story here Will

Everhart Week One

My portion of the series aired! I worked with the Everhart family and was able to accompany Ashley to an interview and make an online package that gave a behind the scenes look at the Everharts.


I added pictures to our website that will help you understand what goes on in an interview.

Everhart

I was really excited to see all the work that we have put into this project is really coming together! I must say that fifteen thousand hits is very impressive.

I would love to hear from you. Please tell me your comments on the Everharts!

Going Through College with Autism

Hi, Everyone!

I hope all is well! Just in case you're interested, I was a source for an article on About.com. The link is http://autism.about.com/od/transitioncollegejobs/a/mjohnsontips.htm. Hopefully this will be helpful for those of you with teens who have ASD's. By the way, I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS rather than Asperger's. Oh well...they're all ASD's :)

All the best! Maureen