Monday, January 24, 2011

A Bitter Victory?

Many of you have probably seen the recent media attention regarding the fraudulent evidence linking the MMR vaccine to autism. After reading the recent editorials as well as Paul Offit's book, Autism's False Profits, I can't help but think, what took so long? It took over 12 years to uncover the truth buried beneath a single 12 subject case series study. The key author in said paper being, Andrew Wakefield MD, aka the poster child of the MMR theory. What might seem like a drop in the bucket, as is the case with many case series papers, this one had major implications on public health. How could this happen? How could a poorly designed study have such an impact? Of course, there are other factors, one of the largest being the mystery of autism. As the rates of autism increased, parents were frantic to find answers and Wakefield et al. capitalized on this by offering an explanation. They blamed big pharma for turning a profit at the cost of children's developmental status. However, big pharma was not to blame in this case, it turned out to be Wakefield who was profiting. The recent series of editorials published in the British Medical Journal by Brian Deer, investigates Andrew Wakefield and his "monumental" study. It's disconcerting how the checks and balances that dictate medical practice and public awareness severely failed in this case and caused the tragic loss of 4 children's lives.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Monday, January 3, 2011

Children with Special Health Care Needs From Traditionally Underserved Communities

The December issue of Pediatrics included a supplement of 15 articles that address health disparities among children with disabilities in minority and marginalized populations. There are some very interesting articles that would be worthwhile to read before the February 24th didactic session on this topic.

Monday, December 13, 2010

New Feature!

The blog now features a section (to the right of this post) where new and exciting research related to autism and disability will be posted. This will also include articles written by some of LEND's very own trainees and faculty!

Yay for podcasts!

Podcasts are a great way to learn something while you walk, ride public transportation, or clean the house. I'm always looking for new shows related to disabilty, autism, science, nutrition, and medicine. I was delighted to find these informative podcasts produced by American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. You can download to your ipod or listen from your computer. Enjoy!

Monday, November 22, 2010

What's in it for the kids?

I wanted to share some resources I've recently come across that have helped me grasp what the health reform means for us and those we serve.

The AUCD developed the "Health Reform Hub", which is a great "go-to" guide for all things disability-related in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It is updated frequently and provides a number of additional quality resources. (As a whole, the AUCD website is rich with information and deserves a couple hours of exploring.)

I also found these Fact sheets created by the Association of MCH programs to be very helpful in regards to the Medical Home Model and children with special health care needs.

Take a look and feel free to leave comments!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Meet Donald Gray Triplett

A must-read article from last month's issue of The Atlantic about one of Dr. Leo Kanner's first patients-- autism's "patient zero". Please read and feel free to comment! http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/10/autismand8217s-first-child/8227