Thursday, January 31, 2008

Guess what? The Amish vaccinate!

And they have autism.

In the spring of 2005, UPI reporter Dan Olmsted wrote that autism is rare among the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. “Where are the autistic Amish?” he wrote. “I have come here to find them, but so far my mission has failed, and the very few I have identified raise some very interesting questions about some widely held views on autism.”



Strauss also sees plenty of Amish children showing symptoms of autism. “Autism isn’t a diagnosis - it’s a description of behavior. We see autistic behaviors along with seizure disorders or mental retardation or a genetic disorder, where the autism is part of a more complicated clinical spectrum.” Fragile X syndrome and Retts is also common among the clinic’s patients.

Strauss, along with Dr. D. Holmes Morton, MD, authored a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which described a mysterious seizure disorder that resulted in mental retardation and autistic behavior in nine Amish children. The study was publish one year after Olmsted’s mythic voyage, so it would seem a story correction would be in order.



Strauss says he doesn’t see “idiopathic autism” at the clinic, which he defines as children with average or above average IQs who display autistic behavior. “My personal experience is we don’t see a lot of Amish children with idiopathic autism. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist, only that we aren’t seeing them at the clinic.”


Strauss adds that the Amish have a high prevalence of genetic risk factors and are protected from others. The low rate of idiopathic autism “might have more to do what genetic structure of population than lifestyle, environment or diet.”


Mr. Olmsted found autistic children, but didn’t count them - either because he either didn’t feel that they had real autism or because it conflicted with his forgone conclusion.

The Amish families - being somewhat suspicious of “outsiders” (not without good reason) - didn’t confide the details of their family medical issues with Mr. Olmsted.
I’m still waiting for Mr. Olmsted’s side of the story.


Joseph said...

Good work on this. I think the burden of proof is on Olmstead to show that he didn't fabricate the story in its entirety.

AutismNewsBeat said...

Journalists are fired over fabricating stories like this. Olmsted has since left the UPI, and has taken up residence at Age of Autism, the same group that awarded KOMU for journalistic excellence.

Macy Brittany said...

yeah, but Olmsted did talk to a water purifier salesman! Ashley and her boss needs to be ashamed of themselves for what they have wrought. I don't know if these women have what it takes to do that, though. It looks like they are shameless.

AutismNewsBeat said...

More clueless than shameless. The KOMU staff still doesn't realize how little they understand the subject matter.

Anonymous said...

What exact statistic did Dr. Strauss provide regarding Amish who vaccinate? Why was it not included?

Why are Ken Reibel's shrill posts so low on scientific data and heavy on generalizations and sneer?

Dan Olmsted addresses Ken's sincere concerns here:

AutismNewsBeat said...

Strauss didn't speculate as to rates of vaccination among Lancaster County Amish. He did say that the weekly vaccination clinic was well attended.

A study completed just a few years ago found a 90 percent vaccination rate among Old Order Amish in Illinois.

Anonymous said...

This whole debate seems complex. It would be nice to see a pediatrician actually weigh in.