Authism credentials

DamaNegra said:

Do I have the credentials I need to publish a book like this (not now, of course, I want to do the proper research)

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I think you've anwered your own question here. You aren't writing a medical journal, you're writing about how to live with autism. Do the research, know what you're talking about.

You could always find a sympathetic professional who could help you. Perhaps a grad student who is looking for publishing credit.

Or you could offer them a monetary deal based on royalties.

Doing proper research is likely to be a good enough qualification on its own. Having practical experience will make the book more attractive to a publisher, but research will be the most important thing. See if you can sell a couple magazine articles on autism first.

DamaNegra, I'm a veteran special ed teacher with a degree in psychology and many years' experience dealing with autistic students aged 5 through 20. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

I'd suggest you go to www.dogpile.com and do a search on autism to see what has been published lately. There's a site, PubMed, that offers abstracts of the latest medical studies for free (a subscription permitting downloading of the entire study costs money). I wouldn't be surprised to find some work on autism there. It's very much a current topic as recent research has found signs of autism where other learning disabilities were originally diagnosed.

Joanne

The vaccine link has been pretty thoroughly discredited--the debate has been all over the media. there are no reliable predictors although there is a genetic companent and cases are on the increase in developed nations, for unknown reasons.


However if you have no beein following the scientific debate might it no make more sense to take a more personal perspective--perhaps telling concrete stories about the challenges of living with autism or with loved ones with autism, and how to overcome them.

I have written several articles on vaccination, am currently exploring the possibility of a book about the subject and have done lots and lots of research about this issue.

There is no link between vaccination and autism. None whatsoever. Any other assertion is false.

Those who believe that vaccination is linked to autism essentially make two arguments:

1. minute amounts of thimerosol, a mercury based preservative used in vaccination, have caused autism in their children.

2. the Measles Mumps and Rubella vaccine (which never had any thimerosol in it) caused autism.

These are inaccurate assertions. Massive studies have been conducted all around the world. Such studies have NEVER found a link between autism and thimerosol. Indeed once the presevative was removed, autism rates did not go down.

The alleged MMR link comes primarily from one notorious study of twelve children by Doctor Andrew Wakefield. His results require one to believe six separate hypothesis and have never been replicated since.

The current thinking about autism is that it is a genetic disease that is being diagnosed more often today because the criteria for diagnosis have been expanded. For instance in the 1970's, one could not have a diagnosis of autism unless a patient had hand flapping. This is no longer true.

There is also the fact that more funding has been directed towards the education of children with this diagnosis. A parent might prefer this label rather than say emotionally disturbed because more resources are available to treat it.

For more information, here are some very good links:
http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/thimfaq.htm
http://www.immunize.org/mmrautism/index.htm
http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/00000006D970.htm
http://www.immunizationinfo.org/immunization_issues_detail.cfv?id=17
http://www.immunizationinfo.org/thimerosal_mercury_detail.cfv?id=42