"A coverup for a cause of Autism?" Joe Scarborough and RFK JR on thimerosal in vaccines

Most of the studies I have seen find about 25% of the increase of autism cases can be attributed to better awareness and diagnosis. The other 75% is unknown.

The argument that those children would have been institutionalized doesn’t hold water either—there are too many autistic children per capita. If the rate were the same now as in the past there would not have been enough space in institutions for all of them. This doesn’t even consider other mental diseases.

People in the past were not stupid and autism would have been easily recognized by teachers, psychologists and the like. The disorder is in fact increasing and has been since the mid 1990’s.

""Hasn’t been used in years." Why not ? "

The standard answer would be (plus what stats tell use about the veracity of the vaccine autism link),

Thiomersal's main use is as an antiseptic and antifungal agent, due to the oligodynamic effect. In multidose injectable drug delivery systems, it prevents serious adverse effects such as the Staphylococcus infection that, in one 1928 incident, killed 12 of 21 children vaccinated with a diphtheria vaccine that lacked a preservative.[12] Unlike other vaccine preservatives used at the time, thiomersal does not reduce the potency of the vaccines that it protects.

In vitro tests conducted by Lilly investigators H. M. Powell and W. A. Jamieson found that it was forty to fifty times as effective as phenol against Staphylococcus aureus.[11] It was used to kill bacteria and prevent contamination in antiseptic ointments, creams, jellies, and sprays used by consumers and in hospitals, including nasal sprays, eye drops, contact lens solutions, immunoglobulins, and vaccines. Thiomersal was used as a preservative (bactericide) so that multidose vials of vaccines could be used instead of single-dose vials, which are more expensive.

Following a review of mercury-containing food and drugs mandated in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics asked vaccine manufacturers to remove thiomersal from vaccines as a purely precautionary measure, and it was rapidly phased out of most U.S. and European vaccines.[11][31] Many parents saw the action to remove thiomersal—in the setting of a perceived increasing rate of autism as well as increasing number of vaccines in the childhood vaccination schedule—as indicating that the preservative was the cause of autism.[11] The scientific consensus is that there is no evidence supporting these claims, and the rate of autism continues to climb despite elimination of thiomersal from routine childhood vaccines.[7][32][33][34]

In the United States, countries in the European Union, and a few other affluent countries, thiomersal is no longer used as a preservative in routine childhood vaccination schedules.[9] In the U.S., the only exceptions among vaccines routinely recommended for children are some formulations of the inactivated influenza vaccine for children older than two years.[14] Several vaccines that are not routinely recommended for young children do contain thiomersal, including DT (diphtheria and tetanus), Td (tetanus and diphtheria), and TT (tetanus toxoid); other vaccines may contain a trace of thiomersal from steps in manufacture.[12] The multi-dose versions of the influenza vaccines Fluvirin and Fluzone can contain up to 25 micrograms of mercury per dose from thiomersal.[15][16] Also, four rarely used treatments for pit viper, coral snake, and black widow venom still contain thiomersal.[17] Outside North America and Europe, many vaccines contain thiomersal; the World Health Organization has concluded that there is no evidence of toxicity from thiomersal in vaccines and no reason on safety grounds to change to more expensive single-dose administration. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiomersal

As regards increased rates of autism, the decision to make autism a condition that a qualifies a family for money (SSDI), along with broader criteria for diagnosis and with increased focus and diagnoses of autism can help explain why rates have increased so much. Note that autism rates of states largely corresponds to the testing rate, while countries such as France and Germany, Norway and Belgium which are among the countries with the lowest autism rates are also among the countries with the highest vaccination rates along with the US.

• In 1943, Leo Kanner firstcoined the term ‘infantile autism’ to describe children who seemed socially isolated and withdrawn. In 1966, researchers estimated that about 1 in 2,500 children had autism, according to criteria derived from Kanner’s description.

• in 1991, the U.S. Department of Education ruled that a diagnosis of autism qualifies a child for special education services.

[Individuals with autism may be eligible to receive SSI to help support them financially. Social Security Disability Insurance is another financial benefit through Social Security... SSDI disabled adult “child” benefits continue as long as the individual remains disabled. Your child doesn’t need to have worked to get these benefits....Most states have a program for individuals with developmental disabilities called a Medicaid Waiver...In some states, children do not need to meet eligibility criteria for Medicaid in order to qualify for a waiver....ABLE Accounts..he ABLE Act authorized the establishment of private tax-advantaged savings accounts that can help you save for long-term expenses without sacrificing eligibility for public benefits such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).... - https://www.autismspeaks.org/financial-autism-support]

• In 1994, the fourth edition of the DSM broadened the definition of autism even further, by including Asperger syndrome on the milder end of the spectrum.

• . In 2006, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended screening all children for autism during routine pediatrician visits at 18 and 24 months of age.

• The latest estimate of autism prevalence—1 in 68—is up 30 percent from the 1 in 88 rate reported in 2008, and more than double the 1 in 150 rate in 2000. In fact, the trend has been steeply upward since the early 1990s, not only in the U.S. but globally. - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-real-reasons-autism-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s/

In 2000, the CDC established the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network to estimate prevalence of autism. It detailed its method in a 2016 study on autism prevalence. Every two years, these researchers scan a representative sample of the school records of 8-year-old children for signs of autism, then extrapolate that number to estimate the number in the general population.

Drastic variations in the numbers of autistic children among different states [from about 1.54% in Texas to 4.88% in Florida: see below]... A study from March 2005, conducted by David S. Mandell at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, established a positive correlation between state educational spending and diagnoses of ASD. Additionally, the study found that diagnoses of ASD increase with the availability of health-related resources, such as pediatricians and school health clinics.

In the 1960s, researchers estimated that 0.04% of European children, or roughly 1 in 2,500 children, had autism, according to HuffPost. Currently, 1.85% of all American children, or 1 in 54, are estimated to have autism, according to the CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. A comparison of the 1966 estimate and the 2020 estimate shows the prevalence estimate increased 45-fold (or 4,525%) in that time period.

There is no objective measure for diagnosing ASD, unlike body weight and blood pressure. When applied in the 1966 study, Scientific American explains, the definition of autism had not yet made it into the widely used DSM. The definition relied on Leo Kanner's 1943 observations of "infantile autism," a term he coined to identify children who had previously been described as "as feeble-minded, retarded, moronic, idiotic or schizoid," Spectrum News writes. Therefore, most diagnosed cases were severe.

In the past two decades, the proportion of the child population the CDC has identified with ASD has increased 176%, from 6.7 cases per 1,000 in 2000 to 18.5 per 1,000 in 2016.

Finally, certain biological factors increase the chance that a child will develop autism. These include a child having older parents, in particular an older father, and a child being born prematurely.

studies by the CDC and the Institute of Medicine have found that children who receive vaccines do not have a higher chance of developing ASD. The CDC also states that studies of particular ingredients in vaccines have shown there is no correlation between ASD and vaccine ingredients. - Bayliss Wagner | USA TODAY; https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fact-check-autism-diagnosis-criteria-changes-have-led-to-increased-rates/ar-BB1fMOhW/

The estimated state-level prevalence of ever-diagnosed autism varies from about 1.54% in Texas to 4.88% in Florida. The states with the leading rates of autism are, Florida 4.0+; Maryland 4.0+; Rhode Island 4.0+; Washington D.C. 4.0+; Arizona 3.0-3.9, as with Connecticut; Delaware; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Maine; Massachusetts; States with low prevalence below 2% are Colorado, Alaska, Hawaii, Georgia, Tennessee, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Ohio Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; New Hampshire; New Jersey; Oregon; Utah ; Virginia; West Virginia. - https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/autism-rates-by-state

Global immunization coverage 2020

A summary of global vaccination coverage in 2020 follows.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) causes meningitis and pneumonia. Hib vaccine had been introduced in 192 Member States by the end of 2020. Global coverage with 3 doses of Hib vaccine is estimated at 70%. There is great variation between regions. The WHO Region of South-East Asia is estimated to have 83% coverage, while it is only 25% in the WHO Western Pacific Region.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver. Hepatitis B vaccine for infants had been introduced nationwide in 190 Member States by the end of 2020. Global coverage with 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine is estimated at 83%. In addition, 113 Member States introduced one dose of hepatitis B vaccine to newborns within the first 24 hours of life. Global coverage is 42% and is as high as 84% in the WHO Western Pacific Region, while it is only estimated to be at 6% in the WHO African region

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common viral infection of the reproductive tract and can cause cervical cancer in women, other types of cancer, and genital warts in both men and women. The HPV vaccine was introduced in 111 Member States by the end of 2020. Since many large countries have not yet introduced the vaccine and vaccine coverage decreased in 2020 in many countries - global coverage with the final dose of HPV is now estimated at 13%. This is a proportionally large reduction from 15% in 2019.

Meningitis A is an infection that is often deadly and leaves one in five affected individuals with long-term devastating sequelae. Before the introduction of MenAfriVac in 2010 – a revolutionary vaccine– meningitis serogroup A accounted for 80–85% of meningitis epidemics in the African meningitis belt. By the end of 2020 almost 350 million people in 24 out of the 26 countries in the meningitis belt had been vaccinated with MenAfriVac through campaigns. 11 countries had included MenAfriVac in their routine immunization schedule by 2020.

Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus, which usually results in a high fever and rash, and can lead to blindness, encephalitis or death. By the end of 2020, 84% of children had received one dose of measles-containing vaccine by their second birthday, and 179 Member States had included a second dose as part of routine immunization and 70% of children received two doses of measles vaccine according to national immunization schedules.

Mumps is a highly contagious virus that causes painful swelling at the side of the face under the ears (the parotid glands), fever, headache and muscle aches. It can lead to viral meningitis. Mumps vaccine had been introduced nationwide in 123 Member States by the end of 2020.

Pneumococcal diseases include pneumonia, meningitis and febrile bacteraemia, as well as otitis media, sinusitis and bronchitis. Pneumococcal vaccine had been introduced in 151 Member States by the end of 2020, including three in some parts of the country, and global third dose coverage was estimated at 49%.

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that can cause irreversible paralysis. In 2020, 83% of infants around the world received three doses of polio vaccine. In 2020, the coverage of infants receiving their first dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) in countries that are still using oral polio vaccine (OPV) is estimated at 80%. Targeted for global eradication, polio has been stopped in all countries except for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Until poliovirus transmission is interrupted in these countries, all countries remain at risk of importation of polio, especially vulnerable countries with weak public health and immunization services and travel or trade links to endemic countries.

Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhoeal disease in young children throughout the world. Rotavirus vaccine was introduced in 114 countries by the end of 2020, including three in some parts of the country. Global coverage was estimated at 46%.

Rubella is a viral disease which is usually mild in children, but infection during early pregnancy may cause fetal death or congenital rubella syndrome, which can lead to defects of the brain, heart, eyes, and ears. Rubella vaccine was introduced nationwide in 173 Member States by the end of 2020, and global coverage was estimated at 70%.

Tetanus is caused by a bacterium which grows in the absence of oxygen, for example in dirty wounds or the umbilical cord if it is not kept clean. The spores of C. tetani are present in the environment irrespective of geographical location. It produces a toxin which can cause serious complications or death. Maternal and neonatal tetanus persist as public health problems in 12 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia.Yellow fever is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. As of 2019, yellow fever vaccine had been introduced in routine infant immunization programmes in 36 of the 40 countries and territories at risk for yellow fever in Africa and the Americas. In these 40 countries and territories, coverage is estimated at 45%. - https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/immunization-coverage

The World Health Organization’s full immunization coverage rate estimates can be found here.

Here are the 10 countries with the highest rates of vaccination:

China (99.00%)
Bangladesh (99.00%)
Ethiopia (99.00%)
Dr Congo (99.00%)
Iran (99.00%)
Germany (99.00%)
France (99.00%)
Tanzania (99.00%)
Sudan (99.00%)
Morocco (99.00%) - https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/vaccination-rates-by-country
The ten countries with the lowest autism rates are;
1. France: 69.3 per 10,000/1 in 144
2. Portugal: 7.5 per 10,000/1 in 142
3. Iceland: 71.9 per 10,000/1 in 139
4. Norway: 72.0 per 10,000/1 in 139
5. Italy: 72.0 per 10,000/1 in 139
6. Germany: 72.2 per 10,000/1 in 139
7. Greece: 72.4 per 10,000/1 in 138
8. Austria: 72.6 per 10,000/1 in 138
9. Belgium: 73.0 per 10,000/1 in 137
10. Spain: 73.0 per 10,000/1 in 137
  Here are the 10 countries with the highest autism rates:
  1. Qatar (151.20 per 10k children)
  2. United Arab Emirates (112.40 per 10k children)
  3. Oman (107.20 per 10k children)
  4. Bahrain (103.30 per 10k children)
  5. Saudi Arabia (100.70 per 10k children)
  6. Kuwait (97.70 per 10k children)
  7. Jordan (92.10 per 10k children)
  8. Syria (91.90 per 10k children)
  9. Afghanistan (91.20 per 10k children)
  10. Palestine (91 per 10k children)- https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/autism-rates-by-country
    Here are the 10 countries with the highest rates of vaccination:
    1. China (99.00%)
    2. Bangladesh (99.00%)
    3. Ethiopia (99.00%)
    4. Dr Congo (99.00%)
    5. Iran (99.00%)
    6. Germany (99.00%)
    7. France (99.00%)
    8. Tanzania (99.00%)
    9. Sudan (99.00%)
    10. Morocco (99.00%) - https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/autism-rates-by-country
      Now for an example of how stats can be misleading, there is this use:
      The big picture: India has the largest number of autistic children (851,000), followed by China (422,000), Nigeria (207,000), Pakistan (172,000) and Indonesia (159,000). Vaccination rates are often low in these regions, further refuting already debunked claims about a link between vaccines and autism. In contrast, about 150,000 kids with autism live in North America and fewer than 140,000 in Western Europe.. - Peter Hotez is a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, and the author of “Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism.”
      Regardless of the authors argument, which I am not disputing, the total numbers here simply do not mean anything in this regard unless they are linked to the percentage of autistic children relative to the total pop. of such. And by the metric of total number China has the highest number of autistic children (though any stats from Communist are suspect) since their total population is much higher. However, as a percentage, China's autism rate is about the same as that of Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, being in lower pack. But it has a reported highest rate of vaccination.

"The disorder is in fact increasing and has been since the mid 1990’s."

Which is after the gov. decided to include that among the items it could spend SS money on.

"Which is after the gov. decided to include that among the items it could spend SS money on."

Correction: "Although administered by the Social Security Administration, SSI is funded from the U.S. Treasury general funds, not the Social Security trust fund." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Security_Income. In contrast, "SSDI benefits are financed primarily by Social Security payroll tax." - https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/social-security-disability-insurance

Spoke to an occupational therapist about autism. She was in her 60’s and had been in the profession for years.

She said about 1995 they had a case of a child with autism. Then the next year a few more. Then it became a flood. The owner of the business had to send the occupational and speech therapists to specialized education for autism. They only learned about it in school but had never seen it. Then it was a flood.

No, it has nothing to do with government subsidies or insurance, that came well after the dramatic increase in cases. In the early years of the “epidemic” parents had to pay for everything. My state was one of the last to mandate insurance coverage. How would you like paying out $600-$1,000 each month for ABA therapy because the insurance companies said it was educational? And, in addition, the same for speech therapy? The science clearly says it is not fiction, the EEG results can detect the disease. I witnesed it firsthand, in real time, without the doctor knowing. Then when he read the results he asked if the child had autism. He knew from the EEG.

If you don’t think I know what I am talking about, I have a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science, work in the field of medical research, familiar with audits by the FDA and foreign notified bodies, and have an autistic family member. I have read the literature (Scientific American is not a peer-reviewed journal) and am very familiar with the subject, down to the genetics.

If the government wants to spend money, the people who should be first in line for welfare are those who are disabled or disadvantaged through no fault of their own—the paralyzed, the mentally ill, the people with developmental disabilities, elderly shut-ins, children who live in poverty, etc.

And I never said vaccines caused the problem, only that the increase was real, not imagined.

"No, it has nothing to do with government subsidies or insurance, that came well after the dramatic increase in cases...If you don’t think I know what I am talking about, I have a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science, work in the field of medical research, familiar with audits by the FDA and foreign notified bodies, and have an autistic family member. "

I respect your creds and opinion. What then are the candidate for cause, aside from the proposed vaccination?

It is primarily genetic but with a strong influence on the prenatal and perinatal environment. One known drug that induces autism is maternal exposure to valproic acid during pregnancy. Perinatal complications are also a causative factor.

There is lower quality evidence use of assisted reproductive technology (IVF) and overuse of glyphosates.

The overall increase has been global with advanced economies hit hardest, or economies with wealth from natural resources. Even after controlling for risk factors such as increasing parental age.

A large Stanford study of twins shows shared genetic and environmental factors but all the environmental factors have not been found. It is truly a medical mystery:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21727249/

Thanks. At least you did not say it was Climate Change, the catch-all cause of all modern maladies.

I checked SS payments. The parents have to be poor and I would not take a $100k+ pay cut for a few hundred bucks a month.

If you can find the environmental trigger that has led to the worldwide increase you will be picking up your Nobel prize in a few years.

I have speculated that since the 1990’s we have seen a large increase in telecommunication radio waves that do correlate with the increase. Non-ionizing radiation can damage DNA.

But of course that is sheer speculation and I have no hard evidence to back this up; it remains in there realm of conjecture.

And the original thread was about thimerosal causing autism and some Freepers confirmed my belief that it is no longer used. Despite this autism rates still went up after it was discontinued. Therefore thimerosal is NOT the cause of autism today. People should not get lost in the weeds blaming that preservative.

"I checked SS payments. The parents have to be poor and I would not take a $100k+ pay cut for a few hundred bucks a month."

But those who qualify for such are substantial. And from what I have seen, being "poor" can mean you are a single mom (with a live in boyfriend or unmarried dad) and do daycare and or catering on the side, all being likely unreported, while collecting aid. And what qualifies as disability does not mean you are physically handicapped or unable to work. <

Some research as one who believes in helping immigrants and others in need via private charity:

The Social Security Administration has announced a 1.3% increase in Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for 2021...The new SSI federal base amount is $794 per month for an individual and $1,191 per month for a couple. The SSI payment amounts are higher in states that pay a supplementary SSI payment....average disability benefit: $1,277 p>An applicant for disability benefits through the Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) or SSI programs must be making less than $1,310 per month (up from $1,260 per month in 2021) to qualify for benefits. (Blind applicants can make up to $2,190 per month). Anyone working above those limits is considered to be doing "substantial gainful activity" (SGA)....

Over half of the income made by an SSI recipient is not counted toward the limit, so you can actually receive SSI until you make up to $1,672 per month (if you have no other income). However, any income received between $0 and $1,672 will reduce the monthly benefit. (For instance, if you earn $1,500 a month and have no other income, your SSI check will be only $86.50.) In some states that make extra payments to SSI recipients, the income limit for SSI recipients may be higher. The income exclusion amount for students receiving SSI is now $1,930 per month (up to an annual limit of $7,770). - https://www.nolo.com/legal-updates/social-security-and-ssi-disability-and-benefit-amounts-for-2021.html

The Social Security Administration provides benefits to children with disabilities in low-income households through the SSI program. More than 1.3 million children received SSI disability benefits in 2014; 16 percent of those – or 213,668 children -- are receiving benefits because of primary speech and language disorders. In the past decade, the size of this group has more than tripled; between 2007 and 2011, the number of children who began receiving SSI benefits for speech and language disorders increased by nearly 40 percent. ...Between 3 percent and16 percent of all children in the U.S. experience disruptions in communication because of speech and language disorders. - THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE; https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2016/01/increase-in-the-number-of-children-who-receive-federal-disability-benefits-for-speech-and-language-disorders-similar-to-trends-in-the-general-population-says-new-report

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides income support to needy persons aged 65 or older, blind or disabled adults, and blind or disabled children. Eligibility requirements and federal payment standards are nationally uniform. SSI replaced the former federal/state adult assistance programs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Payments under SSI began in January 1974, with 3.2 million persons receiving federally administered payments. By December 1974, this number had risen to nearly 4 million and remained at about that level until the mid-1980s, then rose steadily, reaching nearly 6 million in 1993 and 7 million by the end of 2004. As of December 2019, the number of recipients was about 8.1 million. Of this total, more than 4.6 million were between the ages of 18 and 64, 2.3 million were aged 65 or older, and 1.1 million were under age 18.

The average monthly federally administered SSI payment was $566. Payments varied by age group, ranging from an average of $670 for recipients aged under 18 to $459 for those aged 65 or older. The maximum federal benefit rate in December 2019 was $783 for an individual and $1,175 for a couple, plus any applicable state supplementation.

- https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/fast_facts/2020/fast_facts20.html#page24

Statistical Report on the Social Security Disability Insurance Program [SSDI]. In December 2019, there were 9,765,096 people receiving Social Security disability benefits as disabled workers, disabled widow(er)s, or disabled adult children. The majority (85.8 percent) were disabled workers, 11.7 percent were disabled adult children, and 2.5 percent were disabled widow(er)s. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/di_asr/2019/sect01.html

The following is indirectly related to SSI: Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government...The federal government spends more money each year on cash payments for disabled former workers than it spends on food stamps and welfare combined....The vast majority of people on federal disability do not work.[1] Yet because they are not technically part of the labor force, they are not counted among the unemployed...

In Hale County, Alabama, nearly 1 in 4 working-age adults is on disability.[2] On the day government checks come in every month, banks stay open late, Main Street fills up with cars, and anybody looking to unload an old TV or armchair has a yard sale. ..There's no diagnosis called disability. You don't go to the doctor and the doctor says, "We've run the tests and it looks like you have disability." It's squishy enough that you can end up with one person with high blood pressure who is labeled disabled and another who is not....The health problems where there is most latitude for judgment -- back pain, mental illness -- are among the fastest growing causes of disability.

People on disability are not counted among the unemployed. "That's a kind of ugly secret of the American labor market," David Autor, an economist at MIT, told me. "Part of the reason our unemployment rates have been low, until recently, is that a lot of people who would have trouble finding jobs are on a different program."..disability has also become a de facto welfare program for people without a lot of education or job skills. But it wasn't supposed to serve this purpose; it's not a retraining program designed to get people back onto their feet. Once people go onto disability, they almost never go back to work. Fewer than 1 percent of those who were on the federal program for disabled workers at the beginning of 2011 have returned to the workforce since then, one economist told me....

As I got further into this story, I started hearing about another group of people on disability: kids. People in Hale County told me that what you want is a kid who can "pull a check." Many people mentioned this, but I basically ignored it. It seemed like one of those things that maybe happened once or twice, got written up in the paper and became conversational fact among neighbors. Then I looked at the numbers. I found that the number of kids on a program called Supplemental Security Income -- a program for children and adults who are both poor and disabled -- is almost seven times larger than it was 30 years ago.

Jahleel Duroc (pictured above) is gap-toothed, 10 and vibrating with enthusiasm. He's excited to talk to someone new, excited to show me his map of his neighborhood in the Bronx. He's disabled in the eyes of the government because he has a learning disability.

When you are an adult applying for disability you have to prove you cannot function in a "work-like setting." When you are a kid, a disability can be anything that prevents you from progressing in school. Two-thirds of all kids on the program today have been diagnosed with mental or intellectual problems....

Jahleel's mom wants him to do well in school. That is absolutely clear. But her livelihood depends on Jahleel struggling in school. This tension only increases as kids get older. One mother told me her teenage son wanted to work, but she didn't want him to get a job because if he did, the family would lose its disability check....

By Chana Joffe-Walt. More on a problem designed to combat a problem: https://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/

"I have speculated that since the 1990’s we have seen a large increase in telecommunication radio waves that do correlate with the increase. Non-ionizing radiation can damage DNA"

I thought of that also. But in 3rd world countries?

"And the original thread was about thimerosal causing autism and some Freepers confirmed my belief that it is no longer used. Despite this autism rates still went up after it was discontinued. Therefore thimerosal is NOT the cause of autism today. People should not get lost in the weeds blaming that preservative."

True but it still sells books.