If you haven’t purchased tickets yet for “Breaking the Silence,” the second annual Yates Foundation Gala coming up Saturday, you still have time.
“We’re not going to turn anybody away,” said Angela Hazlehurst, gala chair, of the black tie optional event. The gala is held in April, to commemorate Autism Awareness Month. It will begin at 7 p.m. with a meet and greet at the Jackson Country Club.
Hazlehurst said she’s been amazed at the response. “Last year we raised more than $22,000. It was designated to research, individual therapy, scholarships, educational symposiums and for parents. We’ve almost doubled our sponsorship this year,” she said. “We have five $1,000 sponsors and eight or nine $500 sponsors, plus people are donating their time so generously.”
I received the following via email and am posting in full, with Mr. Bruce’s permission.
is possible for the following conditions to contribute to retinal and subdural hemmoraging:
Medical Conditions of our child Cameron Bruce:
Born 8 weeks early for labor induced out of fear that he would pass if we waited any longer…..his heart rate was very low.
He was the smaller of two discordant twins. Cameron weighed 2lbs 13 oz and his larger brother born at weight of 4 lbs.
Cameron’s cord WAS NOT attached to the placenta….it was attached to a MEMBRANE that was attached to the placenta causing malnutrition and improper growth.
He developed sepsis in the stomach area and after bloody stools found his feedings we stopped and he was placed on IV fluids and HEPARIN flushes.
He was on several medications including Aminophylline, Synagis and Visad among many other medications. One such medication is not supposed to be used at the same time as the Aminophylline but it was anyway. It was another diuretic given to treat the same types of brochial issues.
Cameron became anemic in the NICU and received a blood transfusion.
Consistent Feeding problems and issues gaining weight.
Lost weight on 1-4-09 which was same day he was given a 2nd Hep B shot and one day before discharge
1-5-09 was discharge date from NICU and within minutes of him getting home he stopped breathing for a period of time. He started crying and breathing and seemed ok so because he seemed ok and the Dr advised that in premature babies it was normal to have periodic breathing as he has documented occured before realesed from the NICU
His records indicates one date in which his head is described as being Dolicephelic. Another date it indicates his sutures were overriding and within 24 hours it indicates he head cicumfrence increased by 1 CM…..it also indicates after the previous day of having his sutures overriding that the sutures were seperated the next day. How could one day they be overriding and the next day after a 1 cm growth of his head size the sutures were no longer overriding but now seperated?
Nurses advised his head was swelling and they were giving him diuretcis to remove the fluids/water that his body retained due to the IV (Heparin) treatments.
1-15-09 was given 5 vaccines including the DTAP which is known to be given in some places to increase swelling in the brain.
15 days after given this full series of vaccines that are recommended for 2 month old babies (Cameron was legally 5 days shy of 2 months old but his gestational age was only 5 days old). He was also given one dose of Synagis in the hospital but none after his realese. I read where the 2nd does needs to be administered within 30 days of the last dose.
He also developed Thrush but it didn’t go away after having the “purple toungue: treatment. He was given an oral prescription (when we went to pharmacy it was in the wrong twins name and I had to call and have it corrected).
He was also being fed Pregestamil which contains Iron, was given an oral vitamins that we put in his bottle feeds that contained vitamins including iron. He also was given an additonal Poly Sol Iron that we also placed in his bottle feeds as directed by the pedicatrician.
He was given Acetimenaphen which is known to cause a toxicity.
1-30-09 mother called 911 for Cameron stopped breathing 15 days after last vaccine and 5 days after taking him into urgent care at the pedicatric clinic for he continued to have poor feeding such as he had in the NICU.
He never seemd as alert of didn’t smile as much after the transfusin in December 2008 and when they stopped feeding him for a week. He smiled alot more before this. It took him almost a month to gain enough weight to get back to the weight he was at before they stopped feeding him.
1-30-09 medical records indicates he had Leukomalacia….had a cluster of cysts located behind the left ventrical and this is where the hemorraging was behind the left eye.
Mother had very small cervial birth canal and twins both born natural.
12-14-08 picture taken in the NICU had red mark on forehead more towards left side and this same mark appeared on 1-29-09 and was gone the next day on 1-30-09. The mark is identical to the one in picture in NICU.
Twin brother was 3 lbs heavier at time of 911 call on 1-30-09.
was given sodium bicarbonate and CPR on day of 911. CPR has been known to cause hemmorhging.
We also lived in older place that paint contains lead….older pipes and possibly containminated water?
There are more details to mentions but based on the above do you feel there is a possiblity that these issues in combination could cause retinal and subdural hemmorghing?
From what I gather since the mother was at home alone when this happened she is the primary suspect in hurting him when 100% she didn’t. I know 100% that I didn’t do anything and I certainly can’t imagine that in the one hour I was away from the home that the mother could have done anything like this and I also know she wouldn’t have. God in heaven knows that we didn’t contribute at all to this. Cameron stopped breathing due to something medical and/or as a result alone or in combination with the Vaccines. It seems very apparent in most of the Shaken Baby Syndromes cases there are alot of children that are around 2 months old—when they get their vaccines. A girl I work with said her child stopped breathing withn 24 hours of taking the Hep B vaccine this past October 2008 and fortunately for her her child is still alive and she was with her sister when this occured. She is willing to sign an Affidavit for us. If God could lead someone to help us–we certainly deserve it. Cameron’s larger and healthier twin brother is in custody of DSS right now. We deserve to get him back—we haven’t been able to mourn the loss of Cameron for now we have lost his twins brother. THEY (Police Department Coroner) REMOVED HIS EYES AND FROZE HIS BRAIN FOR IT WAS TOO SOFT FOR THEM TO EXAMINE. HE WAS BURIED WITHOUT ALL THAT GOD ALLOWED HIM TO BE BORN WITH. OUR BEST CASE SCENARIO IS THAT WE HAVE LOST A CHILD THAT CAN’T BE RETURNED AND WE HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH.
I WAS THE ONLY CHILD ALL BORN PREMATURE FROM MY MOTHER THAT LIVED….I KNOW GENETICS, MEDICAL ISSUES, POSSIBLE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE AND VACCINES ALONE OR IN COMBINATION CAUSED THIS TRAGEDY.MAYBE THRU DNA TESTING OF US, THE PARENTS OR HIS IDENTICAL TWIN CAN LEAD US TO INDICATIONS OF WHAT POSSIBLE METABOLIC OR PREDISPOSED CONDITIONS HE MAY HAVE HAD THAT LEAD TO THIS
ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2009) — Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have proposed a sweeping new theory of autism that suggests that the brains of people with autism are structurally normal but dysregulated, meaning symptoms of the disorder might be reversible.
The central tenet of the theory, published in the March issue of Brain Research Reviews, is that autism is a developmental disorder caused by impaired regulation of the locus coeruleus, a bundle of neurons in the brain stem that processes sensory signals from all areas of the body.
The new theory stems from decades of anecdotal observations that some autistic children seem to improve when they have a fever, only to regress when the fever ebbs. A 2007 study in the journal Pediatrics took a more rigorous look at fever and autism, observing autistic children during and after fever episodes and comparing their behavior with autistic children who didn’t have fevers. This study documented that autistic children experience behavior changes during fever.
“On a positive note, we are talking about a brain region that is not irrevocably altered. It gives us hope that, with novel therapies, we will eventually be able to help people with autism,” says theory co-author Mark F. Mehler, M.D., chairman of neurology and director of the Institute for Brain Disorders and Neural Regeneration at Einstein.
BANGKOK (AFP) – A Thai fireman turned superhero when he dressed up as comic-book character Spider-Man to coax a frightened eight-year-old from a balcony, police said Tuesday.
Teachers at a special needs school in Bangkok alerted authorities on Monday when an autistic pupil, scared of attending his first day at school, sat out on the third-floor ledge and refused to come inside, a police sergeant told AFP.
Despite teachers’ efforts to beckon the boy inside, he refused to budge until his mother mentioned her son’s love of superheroes, prompting fireman Sonchai Yoosabai to take a novel approach to the problem.
The rescuer dashed back to his fire station and made a quick change into a Spider-Man costume before returning to the boy, he said.
While this turned out good, anyone who has a child with autism knows that it could have just a likely been a disaster. I’m glad that this story has a happy ending. I’m also happy that my daughter attends a single story school. It would take a Strawberry Shortcake or Wonder Pets costume in her case.
“I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you and I told him to walk slowly towards me as running could be dangerous,” Somchai told local television.
The young boy immediately stood up and walked into his rescuer’s arms, police said.
What are they smoking atThe Washington Times editorial board and where can I get some? They recently defended President Obama’s joke about the Special Olympics, stating that although his comment was in bad taste, he clearly meant no harm and shouldn’t be judged so harshly. I am no fan of either political party, but this goes above and beyond taking up for your side. They chalk it up to the PC Police run a muck. I am so sure they would have cut President Bush this much slack had he made such a crack.?
Even after Mr. Obama’s apology, Shriver told ABC’s Good Morning America, “It’s important to see that words hurt, and words do matter and these words can in some way be seen as humiliating or [a] put-down to people with special needs.” But Mr. Obama showed no clear pejorative intent. Context matters in speech, and the offended in society often fail to recognize that.
Furthermore, none of this ginned-up controversy is really the point. The fundamental right of freedom of speech in this country applies to presidents as much as anyone. Obama is allowed as to say impolitic things as long as they don’t hurt the country. It also lent humanity to Mr. Obama, something rarely displayed by presidents in public and that certainly would not have been on display had he stuck with the canned responses he surely discussed with his White House handlers in advance.
Sadly, I think Zach Finken is right on the money with the following article. President Obama just doesn’t get it when it comes to the whole Special Olympics flap.
My son is a joke to the president of the United States.
That’s how it feels after President Obama told Jay Leno his woeful bowling skills are “like Special Olympics, or something.” The most powerful man in the world scored some cheap laughs on “The Tonight Show” by mocking people like my autistic 8-year-old.
Many will tell me that I’m taking Obama’s screw-up too hard, that I should get over it. It was a throw-away line, a momentary lapse from a man whose every word is recorded and broadcast around the world. But how many racial or gender or homosexual slurs are shrugged off as “throw-away lines”? Words hurt. Words like these from the most powerful man in the world are devastating.
Yes, Obama has said he’s sorry. He called the chairman of the Special Olympics to apologize. That’s not good enough. When Obama made that crack, he showed where his heart really is. If this was just an “unguarded moment,” then that means this is how he talks when the cameras are off. Jokes like this aren’t a big deal to him.
I am not much on either political party or the government, but I do like the title “Autism Czar”.
Obama on Autism …
“Many insurance companies have failed to assume their responsibilities. Individuals with autism are routinely denied insurance benefits for their treatments. As President, I will appoint a Federal ASD Coordinator, an “Autism Czar” to oversee and coordinate a nationwide effort to deal proactively with ASD. This effort will include diverse but credible research, treatment, personal care/assistance and family support and will work with existing national and state organizations and taskforces. We need to ensure that combating autism, once and for all, receives the recognition and priority it deserves at the highest level of government. This appointee will also have a mandate to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles that may be delaying implementation of important measures and will ensure that all federal funds are being spent in a manner that prioritizes results. We need to build effective communication and collaboration among federal, state and local agencies. Right now, our government is just trying to keep up and, as any family who faces autism will tell you, we are not even doing that. What we know and what we have seen is that America can and must do more.”
[Excerpts from Senator Obama's World Autism Awareness Day Speech]
During his visit to “The Tonight Show,” Thursday, President Obama attempted a joke on himself that appeared to make fun of people with disabilities.
Obama told host Jay Leno that his bowling score, with practice, had risen to 129.
“That’s very good, Mr. President,” Leno deadpanned.
It’s “like the Special Olympics or something,” the president replied.
A White House spokesman said the remark was not intended to disparage Special Olympics athletes, who have intellectual disabilities.
The president “thinks the special Olympics is a wonderful program that gives an opportunity for people with disabilities from around the world,” said White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton.
This list includes all variety of autism related blogs contain all kinds of opinions. A few are defunct, but have still have some good stuff. If you know of a good autism blog not on this list, drop me a comment or email. This post falls under the “too much information” or “information overload” category.
