I wrote this when it happened in early to mid October of this year (2007) and it was published on Age of Autism (then Rescue Post) shortly after October 15, 2007

What Comes After Us?

By Angela Warner

“Mom, what comes after us?” This question was asked of me at dinner by my six year old Nathan, who is recovering from autism. It was one of those moments where you can’t believe what you’re hearing, your world stops yet spins at the same time, and color perception changes. As luck would have it; I’d just taken a bite of my dinner so I had to figure out how to chew my food and swallow it even though my saliva had disappeared, and I’d instantly developed a huge lump in my throat.

Holy Moly! “Mom, what comes after us?” I about fell out of my chair! But that really doesn’t surprise me. I’ve had many of those moments lately.

I think back over the past three years of my family’s life. Three years ago was when Nathan received his last vaccine; the one that sent him over the edge. I think about and am so thankful for being able to help my children (three of my four children have been injured by vaccines). I am so thankful for the hours which number in the thousands that I have somehow devoted to reading, research, and connecting with parents of children who are vaccine injured. What would we all do without each other?

I think of the recent news. I think hard about Bush vetoing the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. I wonder how many of these 47 million “poor” people are children? I wonder how many of those children have autism? Any way I run the numbers on my beloved TI-86; what I come up with both disturbs and frightens me deeply. I guess the “poor” people of this country don’t deserve the same health care opportunities. It makes me think of the Titanic, and the “steerage” didn’t deserve the same opportunity at a life boat! Never mind… the poor will just go along. They have no voice. And they’ll “wait” for an explanation, as it was said they should do. Yet Bush says, “Poor kids first”.

I think of the outbreak of polio in Nigeria and how the CDC and WHO thought on any level that it would be good to keep this information from the public. They basically thought it was not a big deal! They were afraid that people would “seize on anything that could strengthen their position”. Well, well, well… They thought it was an issue for scientists. They didn’t think it would change the global vaccination policy – even though in 1999, Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) use was discontinued in the US due to the OPV causing actual polio in children and adults those children came into contact with. I reflect on a situation in 1998 in which my own nephew was vaccinated with OPV even though his grandfather was undergoing chemotherapy. The doctor told my nephew’s mother that he would need to avoid contact with his grandfather for a certain period of time. So they discontinue the OPV here in the US, yet they send the OPV to “poor” countries such as Nigeria and god only knows where else, as OPV is cheaper to make than IPV. No training is necessary to administer the OPV either! BONUS! Never mind how polio spreads. Never mind these countries do not have adequate sanitation! Never mind that they know OPV can cause the polio disease they claim they’re working so hard to eradicate! And now it’s mutating! We’re going to put those drops in their mouths anyway! They’re “poor”. They have no voice.

What chills me to the bone even further is receiving information from “professionals” practicing intervention and treatment strategies for children with autism spectrum disorders from the academic and medical based model, yet these “professionals” know there is (at least in their books and programmed minds) no known cause, nor any one specific treatment protocol to help our children. Hearing first hand, that these “professionals” are not open to the possibility that vaccines may be the trigger – is in my book – simply ignorant. And I quote; “This stuff about the vaccines is not anything I ascribe to and it is not backed by good scientific research. It is somewhat misleading, although if people want to find a "culprit" for their child's autism spectrum disorder, I suppose it is useful. All the frenzy about this doesn't contribute to treating our kids and helping them become functional in the world because even if it is substantiated, it does not change where we are...unless everyone is hoping to get $$$ from some class action lawsuit, which still won't help our kids…”

I responded and basically informed this entity that the studies done finding no association between vaccines and autism have been funded and conducted by (to keep it simple) the manufacturers and patent holders of said vaccines, which is a major conflict of interest. Finding the “culprit” can be helpful as it may determine which bio-medical treatment to start first. I also stated that it’s not a blame game. We just want honesty. No, it would not change where we are now and it will not heal all our children! And I quote myself “as the epidemic continues to grow - looking at what is in front of us I feel is necessary (and thousands of others do as well) to help prevent this from getting any worse - because unless we take action that is exactly what is going to happen.”

I didn’t and couldn’t, but soon will address the “$$$ from some class action lawsuit”. That statement was a punch in the gut I felt for each of the thousands of vaccine injured children world wide, especially those children in the Omnibus Proceeding.

In the closing paragraph of “Louder Than Words”, Jenny McCarthy asked; “What will it take for people to wake the hell up? One in five children will be autistic, and then what – we can’t procreate anymore?”

Again I hear my recovering son’s voice, “Mom, what comes after us?”