AUTISM: MADE IN THE USA: a "must" for prospective parents

Opening for very brief runs in Los Angeles (in May) and New York City (in June), AUTISM: MADE IN THE U.S.A., from filmmaker Manette Loudon and health guru Gary Null (shown below), should be required viewing for any about-to-be parents. It'll scare the hell out of them unless they've done their own deep investigative homework

regarding at-birth and/or early vaccinations of newborns. There has been a lot of media pro-and-con over the past few years regarding these vaccinations and what they contain (mercury, among other things), and while the medical establishment has come down clearly on the side of early vaccination of newborns, as anybody who follows the medical establishment (and its far too "palsy-walsy" connec- tions with the pharmaceutical industry) should know by now, this establishment is much like every other (banking anyone?): It must be carefully overseen and kept honest, free from conflict-of-interest, and on-track with regard to the Hippocratic Oath.

Roughly half of the documentary's 101 minutes are devoted to showing us austistic children and their parents, and much of these minutes are spent questioning the legitimacy of the vaccinations and especially what is included in them. We see the struggles of both those who are flattened by autism and their care-givers. As you might expect, this is not what passes for entertainment in these escapist times. If the consequences of the clear increase in those affected by this malady were only the burden of the specific parents and children, it would be bad enough. But society as a whole will pay a steep price for this increase in autism -- which, again, the medical establishment manages to claim is not an increase at all: We simply didn't know how to diagnose autism in decades past, they posit. Fine, but where then are all those aging autistic that should be with us -- but aren't? Enough already.

If the first half of this film is depressing, the second half opens up into something approaching joy, as family after family tells of -- and shows -- the progress made in helping these autistic children by way of a change in, primarily, the child's diet. Giving up dairy and gluten often proves helpful, as well as sugar (of course) and even fruit. It's not easy, as one parent tells us, but if the result is improvement, then how can we not at least attempt it? Chelation therapy is another possibility, although it, too, is considered alternative and possibly risky. Seeing these kids in their improved state (see photo at bottom) certainly appears a blessing.

Austism: Made in the U.S.A. is anecdotal in its evidence and I think should not be taken as gospel. It appears as gospel so far as the parents and children shown are concerned, and they may be right. The reason I think it is so important to have prospective parents see this film -- not to mention all parents of autistic children -- is simply to give them the chance to talk at length with their pediatrician and work through all the possibilities. (If you're unaware that other possibilities exist, you will not seek them out, and the shame of our medical establishment rests in its trying to bury the alternatives.) The several pediatricians shown in the documentary all seem firmly convinced of what they are doing and the results that they -- with the help of the parents and autistic children -- have so far achieved. One doctor (shown above) says that, while her methods are still considered alternative by the establishment, she now sees them as absolutely mainstream so far as the treatment of autism is concerned. Whatever decision the parents make -- to go with the mainstream treatment of heavy doses of docile-making drugs or to try something alternative -- watching this film should help prepare you for the decisions ahead.

While Loudon's and Null's film is one-sided, the filmmakers list at the conclusion all the many groups, government agencies, drugs companies (particularly those that make the vaccines) -- the FDA, NIAID, NIH, CDC, NCCD, Merck and so on -- who refused to be interviewed. It'd a tad difficult to show both sides when one of the two won't talk. One-sided this documentary may be, but it's a side that bears hearing.

Photos above are from the film itself,
except for that of Mr. Null, which is taken from his website.