Rick Rollens

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Rick Rollens (b. 1950) is a lobbyist, political consultant and internationally known advocate for autism research. Prior to his son Russell's autism diagnosis, Rollens was the secretary of the California State Senate. Rollens resides in Granite Bay, California, a community beset by what some have described as an autism cluster, from where he runs a consulting business.

Rollens has assisted in raising over $70 million dollars to fund research efforts aimed at finding the causes and treatments for autistic spectrum disorders. Rollens was instrumental in the founding of Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT) and the University of California, Davis M.I.N.D. Institute (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders). Rollens is also a former board member of the Autism Society of America.

1 Education
2 Political career
3 The M.I.N.D. Institute
4 Russell Rollens
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Education

Rollens graduated from California State University, Northridge.

[edit] Political career

During a 23 year career working within the California State Legislature, Rollens has served as a senator's chief of staff, as the chief consultant to the Senate Rules Committee, and as the director and creator of the state's Office of Senate Floor Analyses.

[edit] The M.I.N.D. Institute

Rollens is a co-founder of the prestigious M.I.N.D. Institute, founded in 1998 and located in Sacramento, California. The center is a collaboration --between the parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders and UC Davis researchers-- who have united in a quest to find the causes of autism, and [[Autism therapies|treatment for, neurodevelopmental disorders. Among the center's primary objectives is examination of the biological mechanisms of how vaccinations may trigger autistic disorders in genetically predisposed children, and possibly may have contributed to an autism epidemic.

In explaining the need for alternatives to mainstream autism research, which focuses primarily on genetics, Rollens points to the fact vaccines contain numerous potent and neurotoxic agents, ranging from live, attenuated viruses cultured in animal tissues, genetically engineered bacterial agents, to preservatives and adjuvants made from neurotoxic chemicals such as aluminum, formaldehyde, and mercury.

The research center differs from mainstream academic centers in its emphasis on parents. Parents are equal partners with UC Davis researchers and administrators in all decisions, and serve in equal numbers on its governing committees. The founders devised strategies allowing parents, kids and researchers to work together. The parents who founded the center insisted on close collaboration with the researchers, because conventional research has made little progress.

Rollens says just pouring money into traditional autism research would not get them very far, "If we were going to wait for mainstream medicine to get around to finding a cure for our kids, we would all be old and gray and our kids would outlive us in their condition." Rollens also says the mass vaccine system is "riddled with conflicts of interest, and driven by profits" and medical arrogance, rather than research that will ever find what has caused the epidemic of autism diagnoses.

[edit] Russell Rollens

Rollens suspects vaccines induced his son Russell's autism, "He had a physical reaction to those vaccines, including a high-pitched scream and days of high pitched crying and listlessness." After Russell's diagnosis in 1996, Rollens' life changed completely: his 23 year tenure with the Senate came to an end and he began to devote his working hours to the investigation of vaccine injuries and autism. In 2000, Russel's picture graced the cover of Time magazine. Russell and his parents were also featured in a Newsweek cover story on autism that year.

Russell is not alone in his hometown of Granite Bay, a community with an unusually high rate of autism diagnoses and considered by some as a bellwether for the autism epidemic sweeping California and many countries around the globe. In Granite Bay, 22 of the 2,930 children enrolled in grades K-6 are autistic, a ratio about 10 percent higher than the well known autism cluster in Brick Township, New Jersey.

Russell began life as a healthy, robust child, meeting all age appropriate milestones. But at seven months, after a series of vaccinations, Russell slowly began to slip into the world of autism. Within hours, he began a nonstop 10 day period of high pitch screaming, fevers and listlessness. Within days after his first MMR vaccination, Russell began losing most of his remaining skills, and developed severe sleep disruptions, chronic gastrointestinal problems (see autistic enterocolitis), autoimmune problems, and suffered excruciating pain.

Since the MMR vaccine was added to the mandated childhood immunization schedule in 1980, according to Rollens, California has experienced an increasing epidemic of autism. Since then, 14 additional vaccine doses have been added to the state's mandated childhood immunization schedule. The M.I.N.D. Institute, the California Department of Developmental Services, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services do not refer to the increase of autism cases as an epidemic, and there is a large body of research challenging any thimerosal-autism link.

Months of medical investigation of Russell's condition followed his initial diagnosis, including brain scans, hundreds of tests and immunological and neurological work-ups. The upshot: Russell's brain dysfunction had very likely occurred as a result of some form of encephalitis, resulting in brain swelling and bilateral hypometabolism in the temporal lobes.

Prompted by his son's condition, Rollens testified before the California Legislature, "The system is a sham. When it comes to examining the question of the link between autism and vaccines, this same conflict ridden group continues to produce junk science...studies produced not to seek the truth, but to contain damage control over the growing concern that vaccines may in fact be causing autism. Even our own Department of Health Services, Immunization Branch is guilty of this deception."

[edit] See also

List of vaccine topics

[edit] External links

CNN.com - 'California's autism mystery deepens: 'Russell Rollens was a picture-perfect baby. Then at 15 months - just like every other baby - he got his measles, mumps and rubella vaccination, or MMR', Rusty Dornin, CNN (November 21, 2002)
AroundTheCapitol.com - 'California Lobbying Directory: Rollens Consulting, Lobbying Receipts by Quarter'
AutisticSociety.org - 'Rapid spread of autism baffling: Increase creates a big financial burden for state, summit is told', David Whitney, Sacramento Bee (November 21, 2003)
GeoCities.com - 'California's Autism Epidemic Tsunami Rapidly Growing', Rick Rollens, Schafer Autism Report (January 12, 2005)
Mothering.com - 'The MIND Institute: New Hope for Autism', Rick Rollens
NPR.org - 'A New Approach to Autism: MIND Institute Sees Parents as Essential to a Cure', Jon Hamilton, NPR
SCDD.ca.gov - 'Four Dads' Passion Leads to New University-Based Institute for Treating Autism and other Disorders: Team effort and relentless drive makes parents' vision a reality', UC Davis (March 19, 1999)
NeuroDiversity.com - 'More "Autism Epidemic" Rhetoric from MIND: The following is a letter to Dr. Robert Hendren, Executive Director, UC Davis MIND Institute, and members of the MIND board and staff' ('open letter' regarding an editorial by Rick Rollens), Kathleen Seidel (February 1, 2006)
UCDavis.edu - M.I.N.D. Institute
VaccinationNews.com - 'Russell's story, one child every three hours, the ultimate betrayal' (testimony before the California State Senate Committee on Health and Human Services), Rick Rollens (January 23, 2002)
VacLib.org - 'Trouble in Paradise - Autism Epidemic: "Have you had a Vaccine Reaction?"', Rick Rollens, (August 21, 2001)
VoiceOfTheEnvironment.org - 'California Reports: New Autism Cases Continue To Decline - Decline coincides with the phasing out of mercury from childhood vaccines', Rick Rollens (October 13, 2005)