By Meghan McCormick
July 20, 2008 12:46 am
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a series of articles examining issues surrounding immunizations.
By Meghan McCormick
Transcript Staff Writer
Meet Brian Rogers and he seems just like any other 6-year-old boy his age.
He spends summer days at the neighborhood pool, and it's hard to get his attention when he's focused on his favorite computer game Monopoly.
Brian likes to talk about his birthday party last month at Pump It Up, the inflatable party zone. The party included laughter, fun and of course, a Monopoly theme cake.
His parents Bill and Sheri Rogers didn't mind the festivities because it wasn't that long ago that their youngest son wouldn't have understood the intentions of the celebration. That's because Brian is autistic.
Both parents believe vaccines played a contributing factor in his and his older brother's condition. The oldest son, Brandon, 8, was diagnosed at age 3 with sensory integration dysfunction.
"I feel because I didn't question it, my children are paying the price," Sheri Rogers said.
The mother said she had both her children vaccinated until recently.
"We are not anti-vaccine," the mother said.
Instead, the couple want toxins removed from doses and the number of immunizations reduced. The mother and father believe it would be best for physicians to delay vaccines until a child's immune system is more mature and to spread out an injection schedule. Scientists should conduct additional testing on vaccines to make sure they are safe to inject in people, they say.
The parents have no intentions of updating their children's vaccines anytime soon.
"We're not vaccinating further because of the problems our children displayed," she said.
The mother said both boys are students at Roosevelt Elementary School and immunization exemption forms are on file for their sons.
"We are lucky to live in Oklahoma because it is a state that allows personal exemption. But the personal reasons I list are medical," she said.
Sheri Rogers said during both of her pregnancies doctors didn't detect any ailments with either baby.
"Both of my pregnancies were normal," she said. "Every test came back normal."
Once her sons were born, Rogers said she didn't miss any recommended check-ups with the pediatrician.
"If they needed a well-visit at 2 months old, they had it," she said.
Rogers said shortly after Brandon's third birthday, problems began. The toddler was hyper, had trouble paying attention in pre-school and was super-sensitive to clothing.
A doctor's visit resulted with an attention disorder diagnosis, she said.
The mother said Brian's problems started when he was much younger than his brother. At 8 months old, Brian contracted Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). The baby was given three rounds of antibiotics to cure the virus.
"He seemed to never bounce back after being healthy," she said.
Brian developed eating problems and by the time he was 18 months old, his verbal skills diminished, according to his mother.
"We brought this up with our doctor," Rogers said.
She said she took the child to the Cleveland County Health Department for health screenings. Brian passed the hearing test but failed the development screening.
When he was 19 months old, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist with Sooner Start visited the Rogers home and began therapy with the young one. But he wasn't really improving, Rogers said.
She said just after his second birthday, a physician evaluated her son and diagnosed him with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
"Once he was diagnosed, I learned more about vaccines," she said.
Rogers said Brian was due for another round of shots at 24 months old.
"I decided to hold off for his immune system," she said.
The mother said her son Brandon received all his immunizations through age 4 and Brandon up to 2 years old.
Sheri Rogers said she didn't research the chemical components in vaccine doses until Brian's diagnosis. She found herself reading medical journals and articles that explained immunization ingredients.
"I wish I had researched more and made an educational decision," she said.
Rogers' husband agrees with his wife's view.
"We are very educated," Bill Rogers said. "We learned the hard way what can happen. We've done the research and found the crap they put in vaccines."
The father said he is not objecting that genetic predispositions could have a role in autism cases.
"It's a medical epidemic," he said. "You cannot have a genetic epidemic."
His wife said she compared Centers for Disease Control vaccination schedules from 1983 and 2008. In 1983, 10 vaccines were recommended for children and the autism rate was 1 in 10,000.
"We were fine, Rogers said. "This was a really good schedule."
She said 25 years later, kids are required to receive 36 immunizations and the autism rate has increased to 1 in 150.
"One percent of kids is too many," Rogers said.
Bill Rogers said when he and his wife were told Brian was autistic, doctors didn't give much hope for their son.
"We would not take that answer," he said.
Brian has undergone a program through the Autism Research Institute Biomedical Intervention and his parents believe his condition has improved.
"We have not recovered Brian, but he is a lot better," the father said.
The parents describe their son as a "visual learner." About three years ago, he lacked communication skills, a case that is much different today.
Sheri Rogers said the boy eats a healthy diet of organic fruit and vegetables. Brian eats meat and carbohydrates. He also consumes foods that are gluten- and casein-free.
Rogers said before parents consider vaccinations, she encourages them to read two books: "What Your Doctor may not tell you About Children's Vaccinations" by Dr. Stephanie Cave and Deborah Mitchell and "Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy" by David Kirby.
Meghan McCormick 366-3539 mmccormick@normantranscript.com
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