The Chickenpox Hunter

I am hunting, rather impatiently for chickenpox. I am a hunter who has feelers out and traps set, with not prey to catch and not a bite on the bait.  Varicella is the only vaccine that I personally feel is useless. It is a convenience vaccine to me, one that prevents parents from having to take time off from work for two weeks while they deal with a sick child. Yes, that does seem problematic for the parents who have never spent more than a weekend off with their kids between work days. But for us parents who do not live and breathe work and are not bothered by the idea of being home with a sick child, this is not an issue.
My husband and I both had chickenpox when we were kids. My entire 2nd grade class was wiped out in our school for about 3 weeks, right before a much anticipated field trip to Park Safari. This is part of the reason why I am seeking it out. I do not want to get Shingles and I would prefer not to get the adult vaccine for it. Though I know nothing is 100%. Both my husband and I would prefer to have a natural immunity update from our children.

My journey down the vaccine info road has been a long and slow one. Both of my children have all the other vaxes required by our state and peds. The only one I just see as bogus is chicken pox. It's the most common of common childhood illness. It was like the cold. Mothers would have pox parties so that all the kids would get it over with during the summer when school was on hiatus. It is not a deadly disease, it can carry risks like with everything. But heck, babies die from fevers still and other unknown causes. As sad as that is, it is a fact.

Yet now the race is on. I have to either find it and naturally immunize my children before my son starts school or give him the shot. Time is not on my side and so far neither is nature.

My only question is, when did this common childhood disease become cursed? When did it become something that we are frightened with? Adults are more likely to get shingles because their child was given the shot, thus denying the parents systems with a natural update to the disease.  What is even more interesting to me is that this episode of 'Arthur' still airs on occasion. If it were such a big deal, wouldn't they of pulled it?

Autism and the Amish: part 1

**Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor. I do not have all the facts. I am not trying to cure anything.**

I have done some reading on this, since my curiosity was piqued while watching "Down on the Farm" part of  The Business of Being Born 2.  In the movie Ina May Gaskin made the claim that the Amish do not have Autism and that they have not had a single case of it on The Farm. Some sources I have read state that there is Autism in the Amish communities, but not to the extent of which it is in the rest of the modern world.  It has reached frightening statistics in the US.
We are talking about 1 in 110 are diagnosed nationally with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). 1 in 90 of these are boys.  It is no wonder parents are clambering for any kind of answer. Yet, my question is now. Does it have to do as much with vaccines and environment as it does what happens during pregnancy and birth? In this part, the Amish seem to have the answer since they have few to no cases of it in their communities.

Here are the basics of the Old Order Amish. They don't have electricity, they go by horse and buggy, do not attend public school, do not educate past 8th grade, do not vaccinate,  do not let pictures be taken of them, and they do not talk to us "English". There are some sects of Amish who are more open to modern things, who go as far as to send cards, ride in cars, see modern Doctors, and have farm stands to sell there goods. My mother has bought Amish Doughnuts and other produce from their stands.

So adhering to the standard, the women birth in their homes/beds with no medication, no fetal monitoring. Nothing.
To some this is medieval, to others what happens in hospitals is cruel torture. But if these statics are true, then that speaks louder than words.

To quote out of the first link.

"So far, from sources inside and outside the Amish community, I have identified three Amish residents of Lancaster County who apparently have full-syndrome autism, all of them children.
A local woman told me there is one classroom with about 30 "special-needs" Amish children. In that classroom, there is one autistic Amish child. Another autistic Amish child does not go to school.
The third is that woman's pre-school-age daughter."  The Age of Autism: The Amish anomaly
By Dan Olmsted

3 in a community of hundreds? Thousands? And this is just one community, what is this statistic if we combine all of the communities? This makes autism become that rare odd disease, that genetic blip, rather than something that is becoming prevalent and scaring the living crap out of parents.

 I'm going to say here that I know the Amish do have their own set of issues. Due to the closed nature of their groups, there has been inbreeding and it has brought several genetic issues to the front, explained below.

 "Genetic diseases: Some Amish groups have a very limited gene pool. For example, the vast majority of Amish in Lancaster County, PA, are descendents of about 200 Swiss citizens who emigrated in the mid 1700s. Because they traditionally do not marry outsiders and because few outsiders have joined the order, the "community has been essentially a closed genetic population for more than 12 generations." Thus, intermarriage has brought to the fore certain genetic mutations that were present in the initial genetic pool (as they are in any population), making the Amish host to several inherited disorders." ₅ These include dwarfism, mental retardation and a large group of metabolic disorders. One in 200 have glutaric aciduria type I; they are born healthy, but can experience permanent neurological damage when a mild illness strikes. From 1988 to 2002, the Clinic for Special Children in Lancaster County, PA, has "encountered 39 heritable disorders among the Amish and 23 among the Mennonites.....For 18 of the disorders seen regularly at the clinic, the incidences are high, approximately 1/250 to 1/500 births" ₆ 

I'm not going to run off and become Amish, but apparently there is something to be said for the purity of their birth practices. They could use some fresh genes in their pool, but genetics aside. We are talking about a mysterious disease that is ransacking our children and stealing them away from us. Parents sob daily in Doctor's offices around the country, as their hearts break to hear the word 'Autism' come from the Doctors mouth. Others sink hundred of thousands on care, treatment, hopes, and heartbreak.
This is a modern reality. Yet, if in these communities there is but a blip of Autism. Than that speaks volumes.
 And it goes back to what I said in some of my posts from last year. During our pregnancies, we are told what to eat, what to avoid, what is safe and when we go into labor: it's all out the window. There is no dose monitoring as to what is safe for the infant, as it is also being pumped with whatever is being given to the mother. We are talking medicines that have not been tested to see how they affect infants. Some don't even have a set safe dose, it goes by the Doctor. And then, to have them be exposed to it for hours while the mother is laboring. Is one day of discomfort and pain too much to give for a healthy baby, especially after nine months of carrying a child that is soon to be the center of your world as soon as you two make eye contact.  

Be Aware and be Wary.

Sources:
The Age of Autism: The Amish anomaly
Myth "The Amish don't have Autism"
Autism in Amish
The Amish
What is Autism | Autism speaks

 I am going to keep delving into this mystery, hence why this is titles 'part 1'