Monday, February 8, 2010
Censored on Author of Children With Starving Brains Supports Dr. Andrew Wakefield in Letter & Petition
If you have made comments on the Age of Autism article Author of Children With Starving Brains Supports Dr. Andrew Wakefield in Letter & Petition, please copy your comment here, including the date and time you posted at AoA.
Posted at AoA on Feb. 8, 2010 at 1:03pm (EST)
ReplyDelete@Dr. McCandless
A couple quick notes. First, the General Medical Council did not consider, either favorably or unfavorably, the results of Andrew Wakefield's study. Rather, they focused on the ethics of his conduct and that of Walker-Smith and Murch. He was found to have violated ethical principles of human research. Please familiarize yourself with the Declaration of Helsinki, the Nuremburg Code, the Belmont Report and the ICH Guidelines on the protection of human subjects.
Second, you said, "none of the parents whose child participated in the original Wakefield et al study (5) has filed a complaint against Dr. Wakefield". This is not surprising, as the parents of the subjects were involved in litigation to find the MMR vaccine at fault for their children's conditions. But the actions, or inactions, of the parents has no bearing on whether or not Wakefield, et al., behaved in an unethical manner.
While I appreciate your fervor in advocating for autistic individuals, your support of Wakefield, Walker-Smith and Murch's unethical behavior is misplaced.
This comment is being copied elsewhere in the event of censorship by Age of Autism.
Posted at AoA on Feb. 8, 2010 at 1:13pm (EST)
ReplyDelete@Darian
While I can understand where the other person was coming from (that autistic individuals should be accepted for who they are), it is unreasonable to expect general society to change so easily.
I think there should be a two-prong effort: help teach people with autism how to recognize and react to social cues that would enable them to "fit in" better; and educate the general public that, although autistic social traits may be different, people with autism are bright individuals with a lot to offer those around them. Most people are woefully ignorant of the range of the autism spectrum, generally holding to the stereotype from Rainman or What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
This comment is being copied elsewhere in case it is censored by Age of Autism.