As we leave April, which Autism Speaks promotes as World Autism Month and other organizations have labeled Autism Awareness Month, I want you to know that I do not appreciate the annual celebration.
Louis probably knows me, even with my pseudonym here. Our family lives are very parallel. I'm an "OG" as the kid say. Our son is 33. Non verbal, low functioning, severe autism.
My history goes back to PDD-NOS and wait "it's autism." Isn't that 'Rain Man."
I'm an attendee at the original House hearings and Dan Burton and "CAN." "Unlocking Autism", anyone."
We sued Phrma in 2002 v. Thimerosal. They escaped. Help from those they bribe in Congress.
Then onto USCFC and the "kangaroo" system with a 36 month statute of limitations for claims. Who the hell even knows of they have even heard the evidence of 1% of those injured by vaccines.
Who gives a fuck about "table injuries" or the nomenclature of diagnosis when your child is vaccinated, has 104 fever for days and then your entire family's lives are ruined forever?
At 74, I am resigned to the fact that there will never be justice for these crimes in my lifetime. Forget compensation. Forget research that identifies one or more causes. We know the obvious ones already. It's vaccines, stupid. Toxic metals and elements that create cytokine storms.
Americans writ large just don't give a shit. It didn't happen to them. Like Nazi victims they simply avoid the knowledge of how close they are to being "next."
As to Phrma, their strategy is very simple: "You can never find what you are not looking for."
“They were the mothers of children who believed their children had been intellectually disabled by vaccines” — vaccines are the number one contributor to autism. By far. So many studies show it and my article shows how autism is really “vaccine induced encephalopathy” : https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/stop-calling-it-autism-start-calling
Your paragraph is a perfect summation of how I feel: >> “I do not find the pretty blue lights or bright puzzle pieces charming in any way. To me it has all become signaling to accept the terms of surrender. In my opinion, Autism Awareness has mutated over the past 20 years into Autism Surrender.”<<
This April, I actually saw a puzzle piece ribbon with “Autism Acceptance Month” written on it. ACCEPTANCE? Really? … “Awareness” is bad enough. But “Acceptance”? Reminds me of the old saying “just deal with it.” And we certainly have. Every therapy, discovery about better health, treatments and more have come from parents and others who deeply loves a person with autism. Nothing substantial has come from the bureaucrats who are only in their position to collect a paycheck.
Thank you for your article. I choose not to surrender either. I will continue to fight for the truth, good science and data, my son’s rights and the rights of others, better treatments, therapy, housing and more.
I agree. We need to wipe the slate clean of “Months” to celebrate. Every day is an opportunity to care about things that really matter.
Men like you and RFK Jr are true examples of masculinity. It is both strong and compassionate. Thank you for fulfilling your purpose. Your sons are truly blessed.
Roughly 200 - 300 genes have strong, well-supported links to autism. If you include moderate and emerging evidence, the number rises to about 500 - 1,000 genes.
If you count all statistically associated variants from large genome studies, it’s effectively thousands of genes influencing risk in small ways.
Different evidence standards: Some genes (those repeatedly hit by rare mutations) have clear, high-confidence roles. Others show up only in large statistical analyses and have much smaller, less certain effects.
Polygenic architecture: Autism risk often comes from the combined effect of many variants across the genome - not a single “autism gene.” This is similar to traits like height or blood pressure.
Ongoing discovery: Studies like this one from Columbia keep adding genes, but usually at the margins - refining the picture rather than redefining it.
Core set (high confidence): a few hundred genes
Extended set (likely involved): up to ~1,000
Full genetic landscape (including tiny effects): thousands
So when you hear “60 new genes,” it’s not a jump from, say, 200 to 260 in a neat list. it’s more like filling in additional pieces of a very large, already complex puzzle.
My beautiful brother, now 64, requires 24/7 care. Scott was an infant. I went away to work a summer job. When I returned, the child he was, was gone. He had several vaccines while I was gone. When I returned, I told my parents that something was wrong with Scottie. My parents were angry, I was grounded. I watched them blame themselves for six years. My mother was in contact with Dr. Bernard Rimland, CA, Researcher, Scientist for years. Rimland was shunned by the Medical Community and Big Pharma. Doctor sent Mom drawers full of research... Kanner's Syndrome, early infantile autism. You're right. I will never celebrate Autism April again. Not all lives are stolen by Autism. His was. I know several young people on the spectrum. They are exceptional young people with parents who fought like hell for their children.
Thank you!! And You can add antibiotics to the causes list. My child had a partial regression from a double run of antibiotics that we never recovered from :-(
Yet Contr embraces Bobby's claims that one-third of people with autism are "profoundly disabled," requiring lifelong institutionalization.
"People with autism navigate their lives in quirky, often creative ways. They use everything from keypads to spelling boards to sign language to no language, but, somehow, carve out meaningful lives."
"People with autism are to be respected. Their lives are of value.... This is not to minimize the pain, the suffering, the isolation, the judgmental looks of others."
Mr. Conte: As an autistic person myself, I deeply appreciate this very excellent article you have written. I'm in my 70s now but back in 1960 when I was not yet 6 y.o. I was vaccinated. Back then it was VERY well-known that you NEVER vax any child under the age of 6, and hopefully not until the child is older than 6. This is because the child's brain was not developed well enough to protect against any harm vaxes may well do to the brain. At the time, my mother wanted to put me up for adoption. She truly never wanted me and wasn't a very nice person or a good mother. She left me alone for days on end when I was a baby in a crib. I would go for days with no food, no diaper changes, etc. This was told to me by my birth father who I later found when I was in my 30s. In order for me to be put up for adoption, I had to be vaccinated. My mother took me to the doctor's to be vaxed but he refused because I was too young to be jabbed. He knew it probably would cause harm. While there, my mother went on a very angry rampage and kept insisting I needed to be jabbed. I remember the doctor was very upset and concerned about this and got very quiet for a few moments. Finally, he turned to me and said "Young lady, I truly hope you will be able to remember this in the future. But I really think it's best that I give you the vaccine so you can hopefully be adopted by a loving family, because I think it's best that you get away from your mother." I'm very grateful to that doctor for making that very difficult decision. A couple months later I was adopted and shortly after I was adopted my mother thought I was autistic because I would rock back and forth a lot, which is one sign of autism. There were other things I did that was autistic as well and now late in life I realize those symptoms as autism. Vaccines cause autism, as well as other brain issues, too. I don't believe autism is genetic, I am suspicious of those "studies"; I am a researcher and do know that many "studies" are falsified.
When I was young, autism was not very well-known because kids weren't vaxed before age 6 and I never knew anyone with autism. Today, 1 in 33 kids are autistic. That number used to be 1 in 100,000 back in 1970. Just sharing my 2 cents worth of info.
"back in 1960 .. it was VERY well-known that you NEVER vax any child under the age of 6"
In 1960 the AAP consensus recommended;
DPT at; 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and at ~12 to 18 months and ~4 to 6 years
POLIO at 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months, and at ~4–6 years
SMALLPOX at around 1 year of age (earlier in high-risk settings) with periodic boosters (e.g., school entry or every 2 years, depending on local rules)
Sorry but no that isn't correct. Those are recommendations for the present, not from 1960. Nowhere did I find any recommendations in 1960 for the schedule you mentioned. I did find what you wrote but it is the schedule for the last few years, see this, which is from NIH etc:
I've never come across anyone in my generation who got jabbed before age 6, it was most definitely NOT recommended. I am not making this up, ask anyone born in 1950s. i know what I'm talking about, I was there & I remember it clearly. Looks like you didn't read the recommendations clearly.
Thanks for keeping the search for the causes of autism in the conversation. I haven’t been reading much about it lately, and wondered if this topic had become too unpopular for the administration. As the mother of a child diagnosed 25 year ago, I still want those answers. It is a tragedy that Dave Weldon wasn’t given the CDC role.
My upcoming book, The Sunlight Solution: Reclaiming Vitamin D, Reversing the Chronic Health Epidemic and Making America Healthy Again, published by Skyhorse, presents novel insights into the neurodevelopmental consequences of chronic vitamin D deficiency and neurotoxic sunscreens in the pathophysiology of autism.
Could not agree more about the "awareness" element, when what's been so badly needed for decades is actual ACTION that serves these incredible children and families with real answers!
In my opinion, if somebody is in the military, and they get hit by a bomb or shot in the head, and then they can’t talk that should be called autism, if you are in a car accident and hit your head and then you can’t walk or talk, that should be called autism, vaccine injured children are labeled as autistic, instead of being labeled as poisoned by a vaccine, if you would call it vaccine poisoning or vaccine injury then all the other parents and people around you would question are you sure there would be conversation about a vaccine injury when you call it autism they have no idea what you’re talking about. They just say it didn’t happen to them. It should be called” vaccine injury month”. I have an 11 year-old child that was vaccinated and he was injured by it. I have a four year-old child that has had zero vaccinations, at four years old. He is almost smarter than I am, that’s it. What other proof that you need?
Finding a solution to help mankind be and better health and mentally stable and psychologically safe. And anything that takes Mankind's life into a lot of difficulty to live with for the individual. That's a very good thing. What is the bad thing is is that people make a certain like diagnosis that they found and never know that the treatment never really works. And then they make the person feel or the individuals feel like they should be put in a special group with their dangerous to mankind or harmful to mankind. And these individuals didn't ask for what is making it very hard for them to live a normal life. Which normal is really not normal at all. We judge each other by the action and what we see from others. I don't find any value in putting this kind of people around here or anywhere around the world as they are supposed to be not treated with equal rights as humans. Anything with two feet on the ground. Or no feet. We have to find ways which makes a person's life a much more easier way without judgment. Without stigma. We've already passed one major war with this kind of psychology and thought. The reason why there's so many white crosses in Arlington Cemetery and in Normandy. That's my best description of this whole thing. And the best example I could give.
Louis probably knows me, even with my pseudonym here. Our family lives are very parallel. I'm an "OG" as the kid say. Our son is 33. Non verbal, low functioning, severe autism.
My history goes back to PDD-NOS and wait "it's autism." Isn't that 'Rain Man."
I'm an attendee at the original House hearings and Dan Burton and "CAN." "Unlocking Autism", anyone."
We sued Phrma in 2002 v. Thimerosal. They escaped. Help from those they bribe in Congress.
Then onto USCFC and the "kangaroo" system with a 36 month statute of limitations for claims. Who the hell even knows of they have even heard the evidence of 1% of those injured by vaccines.
Who gives a fuck about "table injuries" or the nomenclature of diagnosis when your child is vaccinated, has 104 fever for days and then your entire family's lives are ruined forever?
At 74, I am resigned to the fact that there will never be justice for these crimes in my lifetime. Forget compensation. Forget research that identifies one or more causes. We know the obvious ones already. It's vaccines, stupid. Toxic metals and elements that create cytokine storms.
Americans writ large just don't give a shit. It didn't happen to them. Like Nazi victims they simply avoid the knowledge of how close they are to being "next."
As to Phrma, their strategy is very simple: "You can never find what you are not looking for."
They party on. Louis and I do not care to dance.
“They were the mothers of children who believed their children had been intellectually disabled by vaccines” — vaccines are the number one contributor to autism. By far. So many studies show it and my article shows how autism is really “vaccine induced encephalopathy” : https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/stop-calling-it-autism-start-calling
And then to make it worse, the medical community covers the diagnosis as you described. Treating a physiological disease as psychological is dangerous: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/how-the-dsm-iii-and-tv-shows-rebranded
Your paragraph is a perfect summation of how I feel: >> “I do not find the pretty blue lights or bright puzzle pieces charming in any way. To me it has all become signaling to accept the terms of surrender. In my opinion, Autism Awareness has mutated over the past 20 years into Autism Surrender.”<<
This April, I actually saw a puzzle piece ribbon with “Autism Acceptance Month” written on it. ACCEPTANCE? Really? … “Awareness” is bad enough. But “Acceptance”? Reminds me of the old saying “just deal with it.” And we certainly have. Every therapy, discovery about better health, treatments and more have come from parents and others who deeply loves a person with autism. Nothing substantial has come from the bureaucrats who are only in their position to collect a paycheck.
Thank you for your article. I choose not to surrender either. I will continue to fight for the truth, good science and data, my son’s rights and the rights of others, better treatments, therapy, housing and more.
I agree. We need to wipe the slate clean of “Months” to celebrate. Every day is an opportunity to care about things that really matter.
Men like you and RFK Jr are true examples of masculinity. It is both strong and compassionate. Thank you for fulfilling your purpose. Your sons are truly blessed.
Roughly 200 - 300 genes have strong, well-supported links to autism. If you include moderate and emerging evidence, the number rises to about 500 - 1,000 genes.
If you count all statistically associated variants from large genome studies, it’s effectively thousands of genes influencing risk in small ways.
Different evidence standards: Some genes (those repeatedly hit by rare mutations) have clear, high-confidence roles. Others show up only in large statistical analyses and have much smaller, less certain effects.
Polygenic architecture: Autism risk often comes from the combined effect of many variants across the genome - not a single “autism gene.” This is similar to traits like height or blood pressure.
Ongoing discovery: Studies like this one from Columbia keep adding genes, but usually at the margins - refining the picture rather than redefining it.
Core set (high confidence): a few hundred genes
Extended set (likely involved): up to ~1,000
Full genetic landscape (including tiny effects): thousands
So when you hear “60 new genes,” it’s not a jump from, say, 200 to 260 in a neat list. it’s more like filling in additional pieces of a very large, already complex puzzle.
My beautiful brother, now 64, requires 24/7 care. Scott was an infant. I went away to work a summer job. When I returned, the child he was, was gone. He had several vaccines while I was gone. When I returned, I told my parents that something was wrong with Scottie. My parents were angry, I was grounded. I watched them blame themselves for six years. My mother was in contact with Dr. Bernard Rimland, CA, Researcher, Scientist for years. Rimland was shunned by the Medical Community and Big Pharma. Doctor sent Mom drawers full of research... Kanner's Syndrome, early infantile autism. You're right. I will never celebrate Autism April again. Not all lives are stolen by Autism. His was. I know several young people on the spectrum. They are exceptional young people with parents who fought like hell for their children.
Thank you!! And You can add antibiotics to the causes list. My child had a partial regression from a double run of antibiotics that we never recovered from :-(
Yet Contr embraces Bobby's claims that one-third of people with autism are "profoundly disabled," requiring lifelong institutionalization.
"People with autism navigate their lives in quirky, often creative ways. They use everything from keypads to spelling boards to sign language to no language, but, somehow, carve out meaningful lives."
"People with autism are to be respected. Their lives are of value.... This is not to minimize the pain, the suffering, the isolation, the judgmental looks of others."
Awareness of the causes of autism, with action to prevent it, is the appropriate focus, is it not?
Celebrating the injured, while continuing to injure more babies and children is perverse.
Who wants us to continue such perverse customs?
Mr. Conte: As an autistic person myself, I deeply appreciate this very excellent article you have written. I'm in my 70s now but back in 1960 when I was not yet 6 y.o. I was vaccinated. Back then it was VERY well-known that you NEVER vax any child under the age of 6, and hopefully not until the child is older than 6. This is because the child's brain was not developed well enough to protect against any harm vaxes may well do to the brain. At the time, my mother wanted to put me up for adoption. She truly never wanted me and wasn't a very nice person or a good mother. She left me alone for days on end when I was a baby in a crib. I would go for days with no food, no diaper changes, etc. This was told to me by my birth father who I later found when I was in my 30s. In order for me to be put up for adoption, I had to be vaccinated. My mother took me to the doctor's to be vaxed but he refused because I was too young to be jabbed. He knew it probably would cause harm. While there, my mother went on a very angry rampage and kept insisting I needed to be jabbed. I remember the doctor was very upset and concerned about this and got very quiet for a few moments. Finally, he turned to me and said "Young lady, I truly hope you will be able to remember this in the future. But I really think it's best that I give you the vaccine so you can hopefully be adopted by a loving family, because I think it's best that you get away from your mother." I'm very grateful to that doctor for making that very difficult decision. A couple months later I was adopted and shortly after I was adopted my mother thought I was autistic because I would rock back and forth a lot, which is one sign of autism. There were other things I did that was autistic as well and now late in life I realize those symptoms as autism. Vaccines cause autism, as well as other brain issues, too. I don't believe autism is genetic, I am suspicious of those "studies"; I am a researcher and do know that many "studies" are falsified.
When I was young, autism was not very well-known because kids weren't vaxed before age 6 and I never knew anyone with autism. Today, 1 in 33 kids are autistic. That number used to be 1 in 100,000 back in 1970. Just sharing my 2 cents worth of info.
"back in 1960 .. it was VERY well-known that you NEVER vax any child under the age of 6"
In 1960 the AAP consensus recommended;
DPT at; 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, and at ~12 to 18 months and ~4 to 6 years
POLIO at 2 months, 4 months, 6 to 18 months, and at ~4–6 years
SMALLPOX at around 1 year of age (earlier in high-risk settings) with periodic boosters (e.g., school entry or every 2 years, depending on local rules)
Sorry but no that isn't correct. Those are recommendations for the present, not from 1960. Nowhere did I find any recommendations in 1960 for the schedule you mentioned. I did find what you wrote but it is the schedule for the last few years, see this, which is from NIH etc:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6351022/
I've never come across anyone in my generation who got jabbed before age 6, it was most definitely NOT recommended. I am not making this up, ask anyone born in 1950s. i know what I'm talking about, I was there & I remember it clearly. Looks like you didn't read the recommendations clearly.
Thanks for keeping the search for the causes of autism in the conversation. I haven’t been reading much about it lately, and wondered if this topic had become too unpopular for the administration. As the mother of a child diagnosed 25 year ago, I still want those answers. It is a tragedy that Dave Weldon wasn’t given the CDC role.
https://ahsconference.com/
My upcoming book, The Sunlight Solution: Reclaiming Vitamin D, Reversing the Chronic Health Epidemic and Making America Healthy Again, published by Skyhorse, presents novel insights into the neurodevelopmental consequences of chronic vitamin D deficiency and neurotoxic sunscreens in the pathophysiology of autism.
That explains a lot.
Could not agree more about the "awareness" element, when what's been so badly needed for decades is actual ACTION that serves these incredible children and families with real answers!
Thanks, Lou!! These are the first-hand stories that not only Bobby, but every American must hear!
In my opinion, if somebody is in the military, and they get hit by a bomb or shot in the head, and then they can’t talk that should be called autism, if you are in a car accident and hit your head and then you can’t walk or talk, that should be called autism, vaccine injured children are labeled as autistic, instead of being labeled as poisoned by a vaccine, if you would call it vaccine poisoning or vaccine injury then all the other parents and people around you would question are you sure there would be conversation about a vaccine injury when you call it autism they have no idea what you’re talking about. They just say it didn’t happen to them. It should be called” vaccine injury month”. I have an 11 year-old child that was vaccinated and he was injured by it. I have a four year-old child that has had zero vaccinations, at four years old. He is almost smarter than I am, that’s it. What other proof that you need?
Finding a solution to help mankind be and better health and mentally stable and psychologically safe. And anything that takes Mankind's life into a lot of difficulty to live with for the individual. That's a very good thing. What is the bad thing is is that people make a certain like diagnosis that they found and never know that the treatment never really works. And then they make the person feel or the individuals feel like they should be put in a special group with their dangerous to mankind or harmful to mankind. And these individuals didn't ask for what is making it very hard for them to live a normal life. Which normal is really not normal at all. We judge each other by the action and what we see from others. I don't find any value in putting this kind of people around here or anywhere around the world as they are supposed to be not treated with equal rights as humans. Anything with two feet on the ground. Or no feet. We have to find ways which makes a person's life a much more easier way without judgment. Without stigma. We've already passed one major war with this kind of psychology and thought. The reason why there's so many white crosses in Arlington Cemetery and in Normandy. That's my best description of this whole thing. And the best example I could give.