If you don't see it close up you have no idea how disruptive having a child with autism can be. I could tell some scarey tales but we are very careful not to ever give out any personal information about our kids. One of my colleagues wrote a paper on the connection or lack of one last semester. She couldn't find a link but then again the CDC doesn't let researchers use their data.
An interesting side note Don Imus has been on a bit of an autism rant for a while now. It seems the Wall Street Journal had an oddly timed and lie filled hit piece on his ranch which he attributes to giving air time to folks who are trying to prove the link. Also Kennedy was supposed to do the talk show circuit yesterday for this article which will also be in Rolling Stone. He was cancelled from the Today Show and some other booking...
It'll be interesting to see what Santorum does on this. He has been very supportive of autism research but he also knows how conservative nutball$ get elected in this country.
edit: oh yah, I've long wondered if the Chicoms would ever use their access to Americas kids(toys crayons cookware) to poison their future. It turns out thats may have been the unintended (I pray) result of the USAs third world vaccination program. How long have they known and how do CDC folks go from protecting to poisoning?