April was Autism Awareness month. In 2020, roughly 1 out of every 36 eight-year-old children was on the spectrum for autism; a four-fold increase since the year 2000. Commissioner Doug Zylstra requested a resolution to bring awareness to treatments and resources for autism, and to encourage continued investigation into the causes of autism. During the April 23, 2024, Ottawa County Board of Commissioner (OCBOC) meeting (3:38:38), the autism resolution (p. 119) passed unanimously with the exception of Jacob Bonnema who was not present to vote on the resolution.
One Ottawa County resident, Rachel Atwood, who also happens to be running for Ottawa County commissioner in district 7, serves on the board of directors for the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Research and Education for Autistic Children’s Treatment Inc (REACT, Inc). The Mission of REACT “is to increase autism awareness, fund individual and family treatments, provide education, fund and support research, and help develop treatment protocols for autism and other neurological disorders, developmental disorders, and chronic illnesses.”
Rachel Atwood spoke about Autism awareness during the public comment portion of the meeting. (28:43)
“I would like to applaud you for calling it autism awareness rather than neurodiversity. I’m here on behalf of the REACT board of directors which I serve. REACT stands for Research and Education for Autistic Children’s Treatment. I travel around the United States representing that board, working with front line doctors and experts that are working to find solutions for children with autism, for healing, but also to find root causes.
There is a separate movement that is pushing towards saying it’s neurodiversity; celebrate autism. To me, as a parent of a child with autism, that is insulting. Saying that autism should be celebrated as something like neurodiversity is like telling somebody with the stomach flu that is puking their guts out to celebrate because it’s digestive diversity.
Disfunction is not something to be celebrated but something to bring awareness to; something to explore healing from. There are solutions for healing autism. There are solutions for early detection. [] As a parent of a son with autism, I have spent hours holding him, comforting him, when he is stimming, when he is overwhelmed. Parents of children with autism need support. They need the community to understand what we’re up against, but most of all, families of children with autism want answers. There is now research out there that directly links the levels of toxins in a child’s body directly correlating to the rates of autism. []
We need more support and awareness for the growing numbers of autistic children in our schools. If the rates continue to increase we’ll be facing an actual pandemic that our government system will be unable to support financially. [] Why are there not one-in-forty 80-year olds with profound autism? It is not genetic. It is environmental.”
Commissioner Allison Miedema commented on the resolution. (3:45:00)
“From my perspective, this is truly an epidemic. [] I have met many who shared how their child displayed no symptoms of autism until after receiving certain vaccines. Instead of discounting their stories, we should take them seriously and invest time and money into researching the causes. Children are suffering needlessly. []
Recently the CDC changed the wording from April being Autism Awareness month to being Autism Acceptance month. []
Not so many years ago we didn’t know the harms caused by nicotine in cigarettes. Cigarettes are still sold, but now they come with a warning. I believe a big reason why parent’s voices are not being heeded is due to power and money that stems from the big business of the pharmaceutical companies. []
Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986 removing all liability for vaccine injuries from manufacturers. Michigan for Vaccine Choice website and CDC share similar data. If you go and look at the year 1962, only 5 total doses of vaccines were given. In 1983, 22 doses were given. [] Now in 2024, 79 doses of vaccines are the recommended schedule for children.”
During public comment, Stephen Rockman, a local citizen and member of the Community Mental Health board shared his personal story. (4:09:26).
“Our son was born in 2001. As the resolution notes, ASD has increased four times since 2000. When Sam was born in 2001, the rate of autism was about 1 in 150. Now it is roughly 1 in 36. Many argue that it’s the vaccines. Our doctor thinks so. Our son got all the shots. I thought I was being a responsible father. Now I am not so sure.”
Autism is not normal and should not be celebrated under a banner of neurodiversity. Children are suffering, families are struggling, and autism has increased dramatically in the past two decades. We should work to identify the root causes and do what we can to help those affected by autism.