Hannah Poling is now a third grader in public school, working one-on-one with teachers in a special-ed classroom. She continues to struggle with the effects of autism and also has seizures. Her parents are hoping her case will spur additional research into the causes of autism, including the roles of vaccines and mitochondrial disorders.
"My daughter's case raises more questions than it answers," concedes her father, Dr. Jon Poling, a neurologist who also has a Ph.D. in biophysics. Poling believes in the importance of vaccinating children: "Vaccines are one of the most important advances in the history of medicine," he says, "but people need to know there is a risk to every medicine. There may be a small percentage of people who are susceptible to injury." He and his wife would like to see thimerosal eliminated from flu vaccines, which continue to be given to children and pregnant women, a fact that, he thinks, could be one reason autism rates haven't declined. And he urges pediatricians to take a hard look at the schedule on which vaccines are given. "I think we need a grassroots movement among pediatricians to be more conservative, and not give so many shots at once."
