Down syndrome, vaccinations and genetic susceptibility to injury: What does the research show? by Laurette Janak, MOM

Many have questioned the role that vaccines play in the development of autism. Research has found the prevalence of autism within Down syndrome far exceeds that seen in the general population. In this workshop, data will be presented from the published medical literature to support the notion that children with Down syndrome are more likely to be genetically susceptible to injury from various components of vaccines. Since the increased susceptibility in one subgroup of children implies that there can be other groups that are similarly affected, the data presented will seriously challenge the concept of a "one-size-fits-all" policy of vaccination. This presentation will be of interest to parents of children with autism as well as those with Down syndrome.

Laurette Janak is a parent-researcher and mother of a child on the autism spectrum who also has Down syndrome and leukemia. She presented at the Autism One 2007 and 2008 conferences sharing her investigations into mechanisms that might explain the significantly increased occurrence of autism within the Down syndrome population. Her most recent work includes publication of two articles on Down syndrome and autism appearing in the Winter 2009 edition of the international magazine The Autism File.