At the time autism was quite rare. I couldn't find anyone in my local area who had it and most people had never heard of it. Those that had automatically thought of Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. The statistics then were 4 out of 10,000 - the majority of whom were boys.

Fast forward to 2006 and autism is a word on everyone's lips. You may not know what it is but you will have heard of it or know some family affected. Statistically it now stands at 1 out of 156.

And the big question is WHY?

Could it be mercury, the second most toxic substance on the planet used in many childhood vaccines as a preservative under the name of thimerosal?

I think so, and what if a bit of aluminium and formaldehyde is mixed in for good measure? How can a young child's developing immune system possibly cope?

Vaccines play a very important role in eradicating preventable communicable diseases. The theory is if you put a weakened version of a live virus into someone their immune system will send out antibodies to fight. Hopefully, after a bit of a tussle the antibodies win, the body remembers the foe and should the virus attack in its full strength at a later stage it's prepared for battle.

What happens though if your immune system is too weakened to fight?

When someone contracts a virus naturally it passes through the skin or mucous substances in the nose and throat. The body has a bit of a warning. Childhood vaccines are injected directly into supposedly healthy babies. There is no warning.

Vaccines contain the weakened live virus and also preservatives and stablisers including aluminium hydroxide, aluminium hydrochloride, formaldehyde and thimerosal, all toxic substances.

I don't think it's just coincidence the amount of children falling under the autistic spectrum has increased with the introduction of more and more recommended childhood vaccines. Do you?

In UK in 1968, Polio and DPT vaccines were given at 6 months and 7 ? months. Autism was very rare.

In 1988, Polio and DPT was given at 3 months, DPT at 5 months and MMR was introduced at 13 months+. Autism rates were still low.

In 1996, Polio, DPT/HIB injections were given at 2, 3 and 4 months, followed by MMR at 13 month +. Autism rates began rising rapidly.

In 2006 - Autism pandemic

The Autism Research institute have an interesting article saying:

"The characteristics of autism and mercury poisoning are so similar as to suggest that many cases of autism are a form of mercury poisoning. For these children the exposure route is childhood vaccines, most of which contain thimerosal.

Exposure to more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury within the first three months of life significantly increases a child's risk of developing some form of neuro-developmental delay such as speech and language, autism, stuttering and attention deficit disorder".

It appears a child born in the USA in the 1990's would have had 75 micrograms by the time it was 2 months old, and if this vaccinal mercury was not excreted it migrates to the brain.

Thimerosal is 49.6% ethyl mercury and has been around for over 70 years but appears never to have been tested for safety, only efficacy. Amazingly it was banned from vaccines in dogs in USA in 1992 so why did it take until 2002 ( USA) and 2004 (UK) for children?

Could the answer be that to remove it as "a precautionary measure" might just suggest the autism pandemic we are currently experiencing was indeed man made? If so, the governments and medical profession have a lot to answer for.

California boasts the best record keeping systems in the world. In 2004 it reported the first ever nine month sustained reduction in diagnosis of autism for children between 4 and 6 years of age.

These children were born from 1999 onwards from which time the USA made a serious effort to reduce the amount of thimerosal in childhood vaccines.

Makes you think, doesn't it?