Autism, PDD, ADD, and immunizations | Autism PDD

Jan,
Thank you for your response, I"m in TExas, I don't know where you are. Also, I"m new at all this, it has taken me this long to just get Savannah started on her Developmental Evaluations.  I have been trying to get this done since she was about 15 months old.  I had to relocate completely, and get her on Medicaid to get it done.
  IF you could tell me specific organizations , or Public Instruction  YOu are speaking of, it would be much easier for me.  
  I did a search to find this.   I actually didn't know it existed.

  ANGELINA

Hi Angelina,

You have a right to refuse to immunize your child if you choose.  That should be an extremely well researched and thought out choice in my opinion.  You will need to sign something for the school district saying that you choose not to immunize.  There is no reliable research at this time that proves a link between immunizations and autism.

If your daughter is just entering the public school system, does she have an IEP?  If not, contact the school district's department of special education and tell them of her needs.  They will very likely want to do an educational assessment before she comes to school.  This assessment is completely free to you, and will identify your daughter's educational needs.

Karolygirl,
  My daughter has been in public school now for over 2 yrs, they tested her in the beginning, and labeled her Mentally retarded, not Autistic, that was because of the test scores, they won't allow more testing for 3 yrs.   Since she has started the diet I have her on, SHe has improved so much.    Her imagination is opening up, and alot of the fears are gone.   She can hold thoughts, and isn't stimming anywhere near as much.  ONly when it gets loud around her, does she withdraw now.
  The school district she is in now knows this, I changed it this year, they still won't retest, but yes they are making adjustments, as well as learning along with me.  SHe has a wonderful open minded teacher, although it is a LIfe Skills class for the MR>
  Since on the diet the Teacher has noticed the difference, with her.  SHe exceeds all the characteristics of the children in her class.   To me that is a Healing, and is so very Awesome.
  Thank you for the imput, I take it all and keep it in my mind.

I appreciate you all.  Please continue.

  The main thing is,   Savannah had this immunization already, but they are saying she was too young to have it then.  They want to give it to her again, the first time, she stopped breathing, along with a temp of 105, that wouldn't break with any type of med.
  SO maybe you can see my reluctance to give it to her again.


Sunny
  Hi I'm new here, so I will keep it short.  My daughter will soon be 9, and I have put her in public school. Her shots are up to date, but they are saying that her MMR was given at too early a age, so now she needs another. 
 When my daughter recieved the last one, she had a reaction of a fever over 105, she stopped breathing, as well as didn't talk again for over 6 yrs.
  I don't want her to go through that again, now that we are finally having some progress.  With the GF/CF all organic, diet.  She is able to write the full alphabet, and draw pictures of things a few weeks ago I could only dream of her ever doing.
  I want to know what her rights are, she had the shots, even if she got it early, does  she have to do this again.  Am I required to put my child at risk.?

thank you so much.

Sunny
I think you just have to sign some form saying that you will not be giving immunizations. The papers that come home every year for the beginning of school here always have one included. I don't think, by law, they can deny her school because of no immunizations. I'm not sure if it is a State thing or Federal. I would call your local Dept. of Public Instruction.  I'm sure someone here knows more than I do about this.

Hi Angelina,

I don't know Savannah at all, but your description sure sounds more autism than MR.  Almost all of the autism tests are rating scales that would be filled out by you and other people who know Savannah well.

One of the autism tests, the ADOS is a little different.  In this test the examiner uses toys and books and plays with the child, and asks the child to play with the toys, etc.  NT kids play with toys in a certain way, kids with autism play with the toys in a different way.  There is a burden of knowledge on the examiner to know what to look for, because throughout the activities the examiner is really checking for theory of mind, joint attention, and social understanding.

Typically when a school district assesses for autism, they do one or two autism tests (like the ADOS, GARS, GADS, CARS, etc, etc) plus social skills inventories (such as the ssri or the dyssemia rating scale)  2 observations on 2 different days to observe for social understanding, as well as tests of visual/motor integration (VMI) and a Sensory Profile.  Testing for IQ or adaptive skills is optional.

Maybe if the appropriate testing was done, she could get more services.... though this is yours to weigh out, she is making progress and you like her teacher where she is right now.

We chose not to give our kids the MMR booster.   Instead, we opted for a blood test to check the titers of the antibodies.  My children had immunity so we were able to avoid the immunization without repercussions.  Ask your doctor about having the blood test - only a small amount of blood needs to be drawn so it's not much worse than having the needle.

Sharon

Hi Sunny,

I totally understand your reluctance to give the vaccine and I don't think I would give it if I were in your shoes, but I wouldn't want you to make any decisions based on what I think about vaccines because I do not know enough.

I do know that it is a load of crap for anyone in public schools to tell you that because of (insert any reason here) there will be no more testing for 3 years.  This is called laziness.  Special ed law (federal law) requires that children receiving special ed services get re-evaluated at least once every 3 years.  Neither the law or ANY test result prevents testing more often- especially if you use different tests.  The law also requires the school to conduct the evaluation if it is requested by the parent- period.  Now, as a teacher, I hope parents don't abuse this by making me test their kids every 6 months- that is exhausting for everyone and not productive.  As a parent, if I felt my child needed a service he was not getting, I would immediately request an evaluation to prove he needs the service.

I am curious, did they do any tests for autism?  I ask because only the adaptive and IQ tests can be used to qualify for MR.  The autism tests do not include anything about IQ.

I am thrilled she is doing so well on the diet, many kids do.  When it works, it is SO helpful.

I'm still working on getting the full Medical evaluations, they only did a test in the public school over 18 months ago, I didn't know they were doing the test.  The Public school labeled her MR. 
  Before, my daughter was almost completely non responsive, she didn't let anyone touch her, even me. Let alone hug anyone. NOw, she initiates the hugs. SHe has friends, although younger, but they come knocking on the door asking her to play. She asks if she can go out.  She didn't even talk 2 yrs ago.
  I wonder how does a teacher who doesn't know my child , when she doesn't speak, how do they test her?
  I have asked for her to be retested, I changed her school, because she was suppose to be in Summer School last summer, and was suppose to have an end of the year AARD, and they never did it.  Neither the AARD, or the Summer School, and I did ask about  it.  I think it was because since  we were Katrina victims, they assumed we would be moving away.
  This public school she is in now, has put her into a life skills classroom, where now they don't focus on acedemics.   After changing the school she had attended, and just adjusted to.  Savannah doesn't deal with change well.
  IF you knew Savannah the way I do, you would see her brilliance, she is not Mentally retarded.  She has a photographic memory.  SHe is reading, can do math, and draws pictures with detail, and color.  SHe loves Rainbows.   USed to, the only thing that would get her attention was a light beam on anything.  Now, she sees and hears everything.These things have only started happening since she has been on the diet.
  IT is amazing, a Miracle to say the least.
Thank you all for your responses, and thank you for the site, I did find a way there for her to not have to have the same shot again.  I will get an affidavid from her doctor.

God Bless You

Angelina

Hi Angelina,

Our children began school for the first time this year (had been homeschooled before this year) and I just went to the health dept and asked for an exemption to immunization form for each of them. They asked me if it was a medical exemption or a religious one. I picked religious.

 

I certainly understand your reluctance to go through this again....
Here is a site that will direct you to the law, and what you need to do, if you do NOT want to have the vaccine:
http://www.nvic.org/state-site/Texas.htm

Good luck!

NO CHILD CAN'T BE IN SCHOOL WITH OUT SHOTS THAT IS THE PARENTS CHOICE. GET A HEALTH WEAVER FROM THE HEALTH DEPT. THEY CAN'T ASK YOU WHY. TIDERS PROOVE IMMUNITY. OUR KIDS ARE FINE.

http://www.909shot.com/state-site/state-exemptions.htm  More info about it.

 

Also, for those who don't know...on the CDC website, it states that the 2nd MMR (given at the entrance to Kindergarten) is NOT a booster and is only given because 2-5% of the population do not develop immunity during the first injection.

Also, if you don't want to go the religious route, you can ask the Ped to do a MMR titer level test to check if she has immunity.  If she does, he/she can prepare a medical waiver from the vaccination.

My son has not had his final Dtap vaccine because he had a severe reaction to the vaccine when he was around 2.  He developed cellulitis on his left arm, and the infection was really quite terrible.  They were able to ascertain that the lot of the immunization was okay, and then advised me to not let my son have the immunization again.  They said it more than likely was not an allergic reaction, but they could not rule it out completely.  I simply stated that it was against my personal beliefs to give that immunization and had this statement notarized and this was good for Sandis’s school.   

Ok, it seems that Savannah's doctors when she was very small, made a mistake, Savannah was given the MMR 3 times, before her 2 nd birthday.  All the more reason to believe that they were what caused Savannah's problem.  Thank you all for your imput, I hope to keep in touch with you all.

God Bless You, and Keep you and your CHildren.

Research and study is our friend.


Angelina

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