http://www.informedvoice.com.au/

I'm writing this not as a doctor with a fancy degree from Harvard or
another school. I'm a parent who graduated from Queens College in 1975
with a B.A. degree in Economics and served in the U.S. Navy as a radioman
in 1966 to 1968. I was born on June 30, 1944 in St. Albans, Queens, New
York. I received the pertussis vaccine when I was six months old and in
the early 1950s I got a case of whooping cough despite getting the
vaccine. In the mid 1950s I got a case of measles and was out of school for
two weeks.

Before I tell my story about my son, Eric Gallup, I want to mention
some important facts. Autism is increasing at an alarming rate. Five years
ago, it was 1 in 500 that had autism spectrum disorders according to
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Recently, the CDC and the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said that 1 in 6 children are diagnosed
with a developmental disorder and/or behavioral problem. Also, the CDC and
AAP said that 1 in 166 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum
disorder.
See...http://www.taap.info/A.L.E.R.T.asp
I have been documenting the autism epidemic from the 1990s using the US
Department of Education figures. Here are the latest figures.
See...http://www.taap.info/epidemic.asp

I know that the autism epidemic can't be genetic in nature. There never
has been nor never will be a genetic epidemic. Like many parents who
know their children, I know that vaccines are responsible for my son's
autism disorder. In Washington, DC there is concern about Social
Security and Medicare/Medicaid running out of money. The politicians are only
thinking of the growing numbers of the elderly putting a strain on
system. They don't
realize that in 5 to 10 years from now, there will be a growing number
of children with autism that will reach adulthood and will be eligible
to collect SSI and Medicare benefits. What will happen then? Will the
Federal
government have unlimited resources to deal with this crisis. Will the
states have unlimited resources to deal with this crisis?

The vaccine link to autism goes beyond the thimerosal and
measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine as far as I'm concerned. Many in
the medical establishment and Federal government health agencies deny a
vaccine link to autism. Despite the denial, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)
keeps a record of adverse reactions to vaccines. It is called the
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).
See...http://vaers.hhs.gov

Eric Gallup was born normal on January 17, 1985. While Eric was in the
hospital with my wife, she was given the live virus rubella vaccine. He
was normal at birth but regressed into autism after receiving the
measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine on April 28, 1986. In an Internet
article by F. Edward Yazbak,MD (TLAutStudy@aol.com) titled, "Autism: Is
There A Vaccine Connection?" Part 1 (there is also Part 2 and 3), Case
3 is
about my wife, Helen and Eric.
See
Vaccination....http://www.garynull.com/Article.aspx...px&Head=Issues

In 1995, Vijendra Singh, PhD. of Utah State University did blood work
on Eric and found that he tested positive for myelin basic protein
antibodies indicating an autoimmune dysfunction. That same year James
Oleske, MD of UMDNJ, Newark, NJ who is a world famous pediatric immunologist
who
specializes in AIDS, found the following in blood tests done on Eric.
"His measles antibody titers were extremely high, in fact, the highest I
have ever encountered. This marked elevation of measles titers, despite
normal Ig
levels, further supports an immune dysregulatory disorder that has been
associated with either debilitating neurological disorders such as
sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis." Dr. Singh later tested Eric for the
measles antibody titers and came up with the same results. Looking back
at home video-tapes, I could see what happened before and after the MMR
vaccine was given to Eric. His speech was progressing and then after,
nothing.
See...http://www.avn.org.au/Children%27s%20Gallery/eric.htm


In April 1995, September 1997 and November 2001 I went to the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland and asked for
immunology funding for autism looking into the MMR vaccine link. To date
nothing has
been done. In October 1998, I started The Autism Autoimmunity Project
(TAAP)to fund independent research. To date we have raised over
$130,000.00 to fund such researchers as Dr. Vijendra Singh, Dr. James Oleske
and Dr. Andrew Wakefield. In 2002, we took Eric to see Dr. Arthur
Krigsman, a gastroenterologist. Dr. Krigsman found that Eric had colitis and a
very painful, quarter-size stomach tissue in Eric's throat.

In 2002, Eric started to develop aggressions where he would bite,
head-butt, kick, scratch and pull hair. Up to February 2004, we had to call
the police numerous times and Eric had to be taken to the hospital. He
was on various
anti-depressant medications over those two years and in February 2003,
Eric broke my left index finger with his teeth almost amputating it
off. Eric grew to be 6'2" tall and I am 5'10" so he was a handful. We
received no respite care from Eric's school or any state agency. We lived a
life of hell and we were under siege during that time. When Eric had an
aggression, we would have to go behind our bedroom or bathroom doors
and lock them so Eric
couldn't hurt us. Eric broke two bedroom doors by kicking on them and
we had to replace them with stronger doors that were kick-proof. At a
December 10, 2002 vaccine hearing by the Government Reform Committee in
Washington, DC, Congressman Dan Burton read my letter to the members at
the hearing.

Eric had aggressions at school and was suspended various times. In
February 2004, Eric was terminated from school and when I took Eric to the
store he had another aggression. The police were called and Eric was
taken to the hospital where he was born and put in their psychiatric
unit. After a couple of weeks, we were told by the hospital that he would
either have to be taken
home or put in Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital and if we didn't do
this we would be sued. So we took him to Greystone. The staff and
patients took good care of him and they said that Greystone wasn't the
appropriate place
for Eric. Eric had been on a waiting list for Kennedy Krieger Institute
in Baltimore, Maryland so they finally had an opening in March 2003.

He was released and taken to Kennedy Krieger Institute where they
treated him for his aggressions.

In August 2004 he was released from Kennedy Krieger Institute and was
placed in an out-of-state residential school. When we initially left him
there, he was running to the door to get out because he wanted to go
home with us. Since that time he has gotten better but he is on heavy
duty medication such as haldol and adivan. It takes us 2 and ½ hours to
drive one way to see Eric so we only see him every other weekend. In
January 2005, another patient punched Eric in the eye giving Eric a black
eye. Eric was on a couch and pushed the other patient and the patient
took exception and punched Eric. I worry about Eric constantly and at
times I wonder what his and our lives would be like if he wasn't damaged
by the MMR vaccine. Many a time, I shed a tear for him. In particular,
Helen and I had to make funeral arrangements
for Eric because the state said they had money for this. It was very
morbid and stressful for Helen and I to do this. One person asked me why
couldn't the state do this and not cause us more grief. I had no answer
for them.

Many times when we pick up Eric to go out for lunch he will ask us
about "home" in his picture/word book. It is difficult to respond to him
and we have to say not now. During the last year we have brought Eric
home for the
weekend but it is difficult for myself emotionally, the fact that Eric
is no longer living with us. I'm sure that we won't be the first family
dealing with this. Unfortunately, we won't be the last family dealing
with a
situation such as this.

Recently, I had a disagreement over Eric's medications at the school
that he attends. They have him on zyprexa, haldol, adivan and lithium. I
asked them to put Eric on extra doses of Vitamin B6 to reduce the
tremors he has from
the medications. Eric also has drooling problems and he stares off as
he is so heavily medicated. We now have to look for another facility
for Eric because of our
disagreement. Basically, the state, the education system and the
medical community want our children vaccinated. When something goes wrong
then none of these organizations are there to help. They leave it in the
parent's hands. It isn't their problem, it is the problem for the
families involved.

The most telling part of the vaccine/autism link controversy is how
three researchers who have looked into the autoimmune, MMR vaccine link to
autism have been dealt with. This is what has actually happened. Keep
in mind that
if these researchers were politicians and this happened to them it
would be reported all over the media.
Unfortunately because they are independent researchers who are trying
to help families and children with autism, their story is ignored by the
media.

Vijendra Singh, PhD of Utah State University has found it difficult to
get funding for any studies related to autoimmunity and autism after he
discovered and perfected tests that proved an MMR autism connection.
Prior to that, funding was easily available to him including from NIH
sources.

Famed researcher Andrew Wakefield, MD of London, England, the author of
over a hundred scientific articles (and his organization, Visceral
(http://www.visceral.org.uk) ) encountered worse persecution. His
research was closed down and he was told that he had to leave the Royal Free
Hospital in London, England because he found evidence of measles in the
gut of children with autism. His career came to a screeching halt in
the UK. His phone was electronically bugged and his attackers are still
after him, even now that he is in the US. Recently Dr. Wakefield has
reported evidence of vaccine-strain measles virus genomic RNA in the
cerebrospinal fluid of children with autism. This only accentuated his
enemies' attacks. Obviously all governmental funding had stopped years ago.

Arthur Krigsman, MD of Long Island, New York has replicated Dr.
Wakefield's research in the US. After doing some 250 ileal biopsies of
children with autism at Lenox Hill Hospital, he was not allowed to have them
further
tested for viral genomic RNA. Dr Krigsman was then so restricted that
he also had to leave his NY hospital base. The reason is obvious, he was
replicating Dr. Wakefield's clinical science and the powers that be
weren't happy with this. Congressman David Weldon (who is also an MD)
asked that the NIH fund Dr. Krigsman's research. To date, the NIH has not
honored Congressman's request.

Anybody looking at what happened to these researchers can see the
obvious. Why do this to these men if people were not afraid of the research
they were doing? It basically is a vaccine/autism Watergate cover-up
perpetrated by
the enemies of these excellent researchers. The sad part about this is
that families and children will never be helped and more and more
children will develop autism. Who will pay and care for these children when
they turn into adults like Eric? Especially when the parents get older
and can no longer care for them. Will they have enough group homes and
residential centers to care for the coming
adult epidemic of autism? It is a subject that should be addressed now,
but unfortunately only when something becomes a crisis is it addressed
in the US.

Ray Gallup, parent and Founder
The Autism Autoimmunity Project
http://www.taap.info/