The Women's Freedom Network Newsletter November/December, 2001, Vol. 8, Number 6. LETTER TO THE EDITOR WFN appreciates hearing from our readers. We encourage you to continue giving us feedback on articles we print in the newsletter and events that we hold. Below is a letter from a reader who wrote to us in response to an article we published in the March/April issue on autism. We print this letter not as an endorsement of the author's views, but to offer another viewpoint in this dialogue.

Dear Editor,

Your March/April issue had a stirring account of Laurie Morrow's enormous effort to find the right resources for her autistic son and the extent of the family's financial and professional sacrifices. But I take issue with her blaming the MMR vaccine (and therefore the medical profession) as the cause of the increasing incidence of autism and I offer a differ view of causality.

The MMR vaccine was developed in 1966 and by 1970 was in general use in the United States. No increase in autism occurred for over 20 years despite the huge population vaccinated. So why has the incidence skyrocketed in the last decade? The answer lies in the facts of Laurie's life and the lives of her generation - the feminist pioneers who really thought they could escape "biology is destiny" - who put off childbearing until their 40's so that they could establish high-powered careers and who never stopped to think that old eggs (and old sperm too) could be dangerous for their offspring. It is a natural human response to look for some external factor rather than one's own decisions.

The decrease in Down's Syndrome is due to the availability of amniocentesis and consequent aborting of the fetus. Unfortunately there is no such test to diagnose autism and several other disabilities. Also, I wonder about the social cost of providing four individual trainers and all the coordinating activities that are described for each individual child when so many other children, gifted or talented, languish in mediocre schools. It does seem a strange allocation of resources.

Sincerely,

Sylvia Telser
Chicago, IL