Autism Wars: NAA vs. LB/RB (Round 2)

The Contenders:

The NAA (National Autism Association) vs LB/RB (Left Brain / Right Brain). For more detailed information on the contenders, see Autism Wars: NAA vs. LB/RB Round 1.

Article vs Article

• The National Autism Association’s embarrassing spitefulness , which is rebuttal to the Age of Autism piece Offit’s Failure to Disclose Jeopardizes Swine Flu Vaccine Program (NAA Press Release). Another key article in this one is Age of Autism: Voting Himself Rich: CDC Vaccine Adviser Made $29 Million Or More After Using Role to Create Market.
  

I am not going to touch the underlying vaccine issue here (NBC Dateline: A Dose of Controversy) , but the claim made by LB/RB that the NAA has their facts wrong. So, did Ofitt make $29 to $50 million on the Rotateq vaccine as the NAA states (original source for thus number looks to be the AoA article) or closer to the $6 million estimated by LB/RB? It would certainly appear that the NAA based their number on the AofA blog, which does look to be a little confused on this issue.

LB/RB states ...

The real honorable thing to do is to not only correct their error, but to correct the error wherever it has propagated.

I do think the NAA has a good point about the level of disclosure by Mr. Ofitt that made it to the NBC broadcast. However, the point is lost by the fact that the NAA has the appearance of their own conflict in relying on the AoA numbers considering they sponsor the AoA site. If the numbers are wrong, issuing a correction is the honorable thing to do. Not doing so, just gives the opposition more ammunition.

Short of a rebuttal by the NAA, I am chalking this one up as a LB/RB win. That puts LB/RB leading this series at 1 win, 0 Loses, and 1 tie.

Autism Warrior: Congressman Dan Burton (R)

The Politics of Autism

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:

Autism Wars: Michael Crichton vs Consensus Science

Dr. Crichton was discussing Global Warming here, but this quote applies to a lot of happenings in the Autism Wars as well.

“I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had.

Let’s be clear: The work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.

There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period. . . .

I would remind you to notice where the claim of consensus is invoked. Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough. Nobody says the consensus of scientists agrees that E=mc2. Nobody says the consensus is that the sun is 93 million miles away. It would never occur to anyone to speak that way. . . .“

-Michael Crichton

Autism Wars: NAA vs. LB/RB

The Contenders:

The NAA vs the Left Brain / Right Brain blog. These two are pretty much polar opposites. Both of these think the other is fucking crazy. There is very little middle ground here for debate. While, I like and support the NAA, and do think the DTAP vaccine contributed to my daughter's autism, I am often just as confused on this issue. Everyone thinks they are right and if you don't agree with them, you're an evil prick. Don't hold your breath for any empathy or open mindedness between these two.

NAA (National Autism Association)

The mission of the National Autism Association is to educate and empower families affected by autism and other neurological disorders, while advocating on behalf of those who cannot fight for their own rights. We will educate society that autism is not a lifelong incurable genetic disorder but one that is biomedically definable and treatable. We will raise public and professional awareness of environmental toxins as causative factors in neurological damage that often results in an autism or related diagnosis. We will encourage those in the autism community to never give up in their search to help their loved ones reach their full potential, funding efforts toward this end through appropriate research for finding a cure for the neurological damage from which so many affected by autism suffer.

LB/RB (Left Brain / Right Brain)

First of all, this site has by far one of the coolest web designs. While I often disagree with a lot of the content, I am in awe of how great their site looks. The site owners describe their site's core content and interest as "always been autism and the news, science – and bad science – associated with it". More info at About LB/RB. LB/RB is based in the U.K. and pushes the "neurodiversity" concept. I have said before and will say again, I would love for my daughter to grow up, advocate for herself, and run a condescending smart ass autism blog.

Article vs Article

• LB/RB: How Much Longer? - LB/RB's style is on display in this piece. Basically, you are wrong, you are an idiot, shut the fuck up and act right. For example, "How much longer, NAA, before you act like a reasonable member of the autism communities? (substitute Generation Rescue or SafeMinds for NAA, they are all basically the same group)."
• NAA's How Much Longer Campaign discussed in a recent Autism Wars post, Autism Wars: How Much Longer: Parents vs Government and can be found on NAA's website here.

I am not going to declare a winner in this one, because there is clearly no winner when a civil debate is not possible. I like both of these organizations / blogs even though they are polar opposites. We should be able to disagree without World War III on a lot of these issues. My problem with the LB/RB is that they often have the Chris Mooney mentality that "scientists are smart, they must be right" (See: Autism Wars: Chris Mooney vs. Ginger Taylor). They often come across with the "we're smart, they're dumb asses" tone. Here's a few examples of their recent work. We're Right, your are a fucking idiot and/or brainwashed by "anti-vaxers".

• California schools with high vaccine exemption rates
• Is the rate of autism recovery going down with time?
• Dr. Bernadine Healy talks about vaccines and autism…or does she?

LB/RB once stated that "And, just as we need to respect each other even though we come from diverse gender, racial, ethnic, cultural, and other backgrounds, we need to respect each other even though we think in different ways. That’s not so hard a concept, is it?" and yet the whole site doesn't show any respect for people who don't agree with them. Just like Chris Mooney, LB/RB is guilty of the exact thing they despise and accuse others of doing. Their site has the potential to be great if they actually put their creed in their deed and showed a little respect to dissenters.

Related:

• Left Brain/Right Brain: tries again
• Autism Blog lbrb: Left Brain, Right Brain Maybe But Not an Ounce of Common Sense

Autism Wars: Parents vs Government (How Much Longer?)

The National Autism Association made 9/9/9 the official "How Much Longer" day and parents from all over the country have used the NAA's site to contact the President, their members of congress, and departments that need to be working harder on autism. This includes the CDC, FDA, and the NIH.

At this rate, go ahead and pencil in 10/10/10 , 11/11/11 and 12/12/12 for "What the F^ck, How Much Longer? Day" Maybe just "WTF Day for Autism!"

With All Eyes On Swine Flu, Thousands of Parents Ask President Obama �How Much Longer� Until Autism Gets Similar Attention

WASHINGTON, DC - Just since midnight, over 50,000 letters have gone to President Barack Obama and others as part of a new campaign to bring attention to the rising numbers of autism cases. The National Autism Association (NAA) declared today as National �How Much Longer� Day for Autism, a day of letter-writing to the media, health agencies, Department of Education, lawmakers and the Obama Administration asking for such things as health insurance coverage, federal laws to protect special-ed students from dangerous restraint and seclusion practices in schools, safer vaccines, and for autism to be declared a nation health crisis. Seeing how much attention is being paid to the H1N1 virus, many parents are wondering why autism is the fastest growing disorder, yet has received very little aid.

In a letter to its members, NAA stated, �We've asked for [help] politely, impolitely, loudly, softly, creatively, professionally, in small numbers and in large...we�ve asked and we�ve asked again. But as it stands today, we have more cases of abuse, wandering-related deaths, seizure-related deaths, bankruptcies and divorce in our community than ever before. With the fatigue that comes from constant uphill battles, along with a gross lack of resources, we live in a permanent state of asking one question: How Much Longer?�

Eight ads have gone out over the last six weeks promoting the �How Much Longer� campaign. When asking the public to participate, NAA says, �Say yes only if you don�t mind a little controversy. This campaign isn�t warm and fuzzy and it�s far from polite. It�s edgy, sarcastic and harsh at times, but when you live day to day seeing an increasing number of children suffer from vulgar abuse, impossible challenges, even death, you tend to put graceful asks aside for a message that people might actually notice.�

The group reports that out of all the autism campaigns they�ve done, this by far has received the highest amount of response.

�We�ve had an overwhelming amount of feedback, mostly positive, but this campaign isn�t for everyone,� says Ann Brasher, Vice President of NAA. �We essentially call the CDC out for labeling us as �anti-vaccine� every time we ask a question about vaccine safety. We call out the NIH for directing more dollars towards genetic research when environmental factors are playing a huge role in triggering autism, and we call out the Department of Education for their slow response in keeping more special-ed students from being abused and killed in our school systems. We�ve gone out on a limb here to say what needs to be said.�

The group�s letter to President Obama covers the daily challenges of living with autism. �Most days, we don�t know which issue to tackle first,� states Rita Shreffler, NAA Executive Director. �There are too many and we�re overwhelmed. We�ve asked President Obama to declare autism a national health crisis so that autism may receive the attention it needs and our children may receive the basic resources they deserve.�

According to a recently released survey by the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), which is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Autism Spectrum Disorders now affect 1 in 100 children.

�It�s time for answers,� says Brasher. �It�s long overdue.�

To learn more about NAA�s �How Much Longer� campaign, please visit http://www.nationalautismassociation.org.