Tell congress what you thought of the hearings on autism!

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First I want to thank you for holding these hearings.
As an adult with Asperger's Syndrome I have experienced first hand the lack of knowledge (both in the public and in the medical community), lack of research and lack of support systems (particularly for adults), so I definitely view the hearings as a step in the right direction.
I was greatly disappointed, however that the first hearing focused so much on vaccines. It felt like we took two steps backward into an issue that for the majority of us was resolved several years ago. Since they have removed the mercury from all but the multi-vial flu vaccine and the autism rates continue to climb, that tells me that it wasn't even a factor in autism to begin with. By continuing to demonize vaccines you are not only perpetuating the myth that they are dangerous (which discourages parents from having their children immunized and is the cause for recent outbreaks of preventable diseases), but you are distracting everyone away from finding the real cause of autism.
Additionally, while I do believe that finding the cause (and hopefully a way to prevent it) is vitally important, please don't forget about those of us who are already here and are continuing to suffer from this condition. Protecting future generations is important, but so is helping the current generation. Autism doesn't go away when we become adults and left on our own, most of us struggle greatly to try to adapt to the adult world on our own because there is no one to help us. There needs to be more emphasis placed on helping us transition into adulthood.
In future hearings please make sure that multiple groups are represented and not just one or two.