Autism Services: Statements
Dr. Henry: I thank Senator Ross for sharing his time with me. I also thank him for initiating this debate and for explaining so clearly the practical problems that the parents of the children we are discussing are having.
Like Senator Ross, I too am rather disappointed by the statements of the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley. His statement focused on staffing, which is all very well, but as Senator Ross mentioned, we really do not appear to know the numbers of children who are suffering from autistic spectrum disorder - which is probably a better way of describing them than autistic children. Autism is not a pure diagnosis and it is a feature of many children who have mental disabilities.
It is extremely important that we become involved in research as to the cause of the condition. We are not sure of the cause but it is quite possibly a genetic disorder of brain chemistry. What we do know is that there are about four boys to one girl affected and that it comes on at the time of cognitive development at about 18 months to two years. This is just when a child is beginning to flower and develop and it is extraordinarily distressing for parents who, as Senator Ross so rightly said, then cannot get anyone to see and assess their children.
I wish to draw the Minister of State's attention to an article written in a recent copy of the British Medical Journal regarding the association in the minds of the public between the administration of MMR, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, and the development of autistic spectrum disorder. The authors of this report interviewed members of the public as to how they felt the medical profession perceived the association between MMR and the development of autism. The general public felt that it was split about 50:50; that about 50% of the medical profession supported the notion and the other 50% did not. This, as the Minister of State knows, is not the case at all. Very few people see that there is any association between the administration of MMR and the development of autism. It is just unfortunate that these things happen around the same time and, naturally, all of us like to find a cause for what has happened to our child. British, French, and Finnish studies have shown no association at all between them.
I remind the House that the administration of MMR is still compulsory in the United States of America before a child is allowed enter school. It is most important that we try to do something about the falling rates of MMR vaccination in this country. The public health doctors' strike is making matters even worse. We need to come forward with proper research into the issue because we will end up with children with mental disabilities due to their being unvaccinated. Unvaccinated girls who contract rubella, German measles, when pregnant may produce mentally and physically disabled children. If they contract measles when pregnant they can get encephalopathies later in life. I urge the Minister of State to bring research on autism to the top of his agenda in order that we can make a contribution to this issue on the world stage.
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