Conference to focus on autism, abuse allegations

Jerry Ford's not afraid of a little controversy.

Ford, director of the Cape Girardeau Association for Retarded Citizens, has organized a statewide conference in Cape Girardeau this weekend at the Drury Lodge.

The conference will be book-ended by emotional topics surrounding recent abuse allegations at a St. Louis habilitation center and the theory that mercury in vaccines is the cause for autism.

A social hour Friday evening at Black Forest will kick off the event, but the informational and emotional portion of the conference starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with discussion about what Ford calls the habilitation crisis.

The Mentally Retarded Citizens of Missouri, a statewide parent group linked to the local organization and also directed by Ford, has called for the resignation of the person who oversees the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center. Bellefontaine was the location of an alleged Aug. 3 beating death of a 33-year-old retarded man and the alleged beating of a 25-year-old brain-damaged woman.

The Missouri Department of Health recently announced leadership, staffing and restraint changes at the center.

The Bellefontaine center also faced abuse accusations in 2002, 2000 and 1999.

"For the most part, these are good places," Ford said. "We'll have a full-blown discussion about habilitation procedures. We're going to have various people from around the state and representatives of parent associations and habilitation centers there to give reports of what's going on."

On Sunday morning, the topic switches to the many issues surrounding autism.

Experience and education

Several speakers have been slated to discuss a variety of topics. A former first lady of Missouri, Betty Hearnes, who has an autistic grandchild, will speak on the history of autism programs in Missouri. Dr. Kevin Threlkeld of Washington, Mo., will provide a medical analysis; Dr. Barbara Whitman of St. Louis University will talk about communication problems in autism.

Dr. Roy Holand, a state representative who sponsored a Missouri bill to ban thimerosal, and Dr. Alan and Lujene Clark, will wrap up the conference by discussing and answering questions relating to the connection between vaccines and autism.

One theory on the cause of autism is that only certain children with a specific genetic makeup are not able to excrete mercury from their bodies. As a result, they absorb mercury through their tissues, including the brain.

Lujene Clark, a former nurse, and her husband Dr. Alan Clark of Carthage, Mo. have an autistic son, Devon. All three Clarks will attend the conference Sunday.

For years Dr. Clark gave vaccines, not knowing many of them contained a preservative called thimerosal, which is made up of 50 percent mercury by weight. Mercury is a neurotoxin and many believe it is the environmental trigger that has set off an explosion in autism since the 1990s -- the same time period that the nation's immunization schedule increased.

Dr. Clark has more of a scientific background on the thimerosal theory. Lujene is more politically motivated.

She has spent countless hours traveling all over the country -- from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to Washington, D.C. -- requesting documents and sharing her findings with members of Congress. She has been interviewed for national television news reports and operates a Web site called NoMercury.org.

She was irate last year when the thimerosal bill didn't reach the Senate floor. As a result, she crossed party lines and has lobbied against political candidates.

"We're going after the bill again next year," she said. "We're very pro-vaccine, but we're very pro-choice and you run an incredible risk, especially if your child has autoimmune disorders. This is especially important with the flu season coming up. Parents need to be very careful with the flu vaccine. They need to demand from their pediatrician or health department to be given the thimerosal-free version."

Iowa passed a bill banning thimerosal last year and California recently passed a bill as well. The bill has yet to be signed by Gov. Arnold Scwharzenegger.

Government agencies, such as the CDC, the Food and Drug Administraton and the Institute of Medicine have refuted claims of a link.

The Institue of Medicine issued a report in May saying there is no link between thimerosal and autism, based on five statistically based epidemiology studies where scientists studied large vaccine databases and mathematically concluded there is no relationship. The institute stated that the biological evidence was only theoretical. Furthermore, the institute urged that no more money be spent on thimerosal research as it relates to autism.

The report outraged Clark and and a growing number of parents who are fighting for funding to explore the connection. Anti-mercury groups say the Institute of Medicine dismissed biological evidence, including a study by Columbia University researcher Dr. Mady Hornig. Hornig's study showed that genetically susceptible mice displayed autism-like behaviors when introduced to thimerosal. Other scientists have shown that mercury deadens brain neurons. Some epedimiology studies say that data suggests a link between thimerosal and autism, but the epidemiology -- both for and against -- has been heavily disputed by both sides.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635

CONFERENCE AGENDA

SATURDAY

8:30 a.m. -- Forum on habilitation centers

10 a.m. -- Dr. Gary Schroer, superintendent of Missouri's state schools.

11 a.m. -- Larry Young, director of state sheltered workshops

Afternoon -- Tours of group homes and residential apartments.

6:40 p.m. -- Awards banquet honoring former state Sen. Al Spradling of Cape Girardeau for his statewide contributions to the mentally handicapped.

SUNDAY

9 a.m. -- Autism conference featuring Betty Hearnes on the history of autism programs in Missouri; Dr. Keven Threlkeld from Washington, Mo., on medical analysis of autism; Dr. Barbara Whitman, St. Louis University on communication skills and education; Dr. Alan and Lujene Clark, parents of autistic child and leading activists on the elimination of mercury in vaccines; and Dr. Roy Holand, who sponsored a bill last year that would have eliminated thimerosal from vaccines.

INFORMATION

Registration: $65 for entire weekend; $35 for Spradling tribute; $10 for autism forum. Call 334-1166 to register.