@sally305 - yes it is “always” the vaccine that is the cause. I can’t see the point in arguing with them about it, but it’s very frustrating. If you believe that the medical community and the CDC can’t be trusted, then neither can any data they put out showing there is no correlation. My one very close friend with an autistic child was certain that something wasn’t “right” long before those 2-year old booster shots, but most of the other people I know feel that the medical community has caused the autism in their kids. There are enough non-vaccinated kids in my area that whooping cough isn’t all that uncommon.
It’s sad. I can imagine the frustration and stress that would come with finding out your child will never be “normal,” may never be able to live on his own, etc. It’s easy to see why these parents want someone to blame.
There have been so many other things that have happened since the documented rise in autism that could also be correlated. More and more labors are induced with pitocin. More and more women have epidurals. There are more GMOs in our food. But it seems easiest just to point to vaccines, because there is momentum around that theory even if it is unfounded.
I expect the rise in autism is due to the internet, and better diagnosis.
Folks on the spectrum are meeting up and enjoying success in life, instead of hiding out in grandma’s basement.
There seems to be a strong genetic link according to research from CHDD at the UW.
However, I also know that you can be allergic or sensitive to thimerosal, which is why they finally removed it from some vaccines.
I wasn’t able to wear contacts for years until they took thimerosal out of the solution. I didn’t even know why my eyes were sore and red, until it made news when it was removed.( I’m also allergic to nickel)
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/516045_3
What I don’t understand about the autism “worry” is, why are relatively few kids “getting autism” from vaccines? If these anti-vaxxers really thought vaccines caused autism, then how do they explain why 90+% of kids getting vaccinated do NOT develop autism?
And I realize that some of them want to blame someone or something for their kids’ diagnosis. But don’t parents of kids who develop cancer want to blame someone/thing? I don’t see the same false link to vaccines being promoted among pediatric cancer patients.
I do think some of the rise in autism is do to better awareness and diagnoses. Generations ago, people probably just talked about so-and-so’s “odd” child, or worse, blamed the parents for not disciplining the kid better or something.
There wasn’t even minimal support for most children who were " different" until 1975, when Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in response to discriminatory treatment by public educational agencies against students with disabilities. The EAHCA was later modified to strengthen protections to students with disabilities and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
So while I am on the spectrum and had great difficulty in school, I did not recieve any services or a diagnosis during my years in public school, although when I was in grade school, my principal tried to help by getting me and another student an evaluation in 1968.
It’s true parents were blamed for neuro differences. ( they still are by ignorant busybodies)
I’ve heard so many comments by people who are really clueless, and they cause a lot of harm.
@surfcity ah yes, the myth of the “frigid mother”. My personal “favorite” (sarcasm) explanation of “odd” children of times past.
In some ways, I think, parents are still blamed. “Oh, you vaccinating your children did this!” “It must’ve been something in pregnancy!” etc. It’s very strange to me that we have this assumption that all children are supposed to be born “perfect.” No, nature makes “mistakes”- not everyone is exactly the same.
@surfcity “If these anti-vaxxers really thought vaccines caused autism, then how do they explain why 90+% of kids getting vaccinated do NOT develop autism?”
Smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer. Why doesn’t everyone who smokes develop lung cancer?
Take an hour of your time and go to youtube and watch a bunch of the videos under “hearthiswell”.
There are many things that cause lung cancer and smoking also causes heart disease and emphysema. I don’t think it’s a good correlation.
Palomina, many anti-vaxxers believe Autism didn’t exist before vaccines. Lung cancer existed before cigarettes. We know that cigarettes causes lung cancer but there are many other factors. They believe that vaccines directly cause Autism with no other contributing factors.
Poor correlation.
@romanigypsyeyes I know many autism parents. The majority of them saw a huge change in the child hours following a vaccine, fever, diarrhea, seizures, illness with loss of interaction, eye contact, words, a shocking night and day difference. The stories and before and after video and photos are horrifying. Something happened because of that vaccine. In terms of regressive autism, no one is reporting a spontaneous regression like that happening on its own with no connection to a vaccine event.
Palomina, I know a lot of autism parents as well. Most of them had NO correlation with the vaccines that they got their children and some were diagnosed before the vaccines.
There’s a terrible tendency that humans have- it’s called recall bias. When something goes “wrong” we look for explanations that have NO correlation.
This weekend, I had a bad cold. So I remember very vividly where I was on Thursday or so because I’m curious as to where it came from. Had I never had a cold, I would’ve never thought twice about retracing my steps.
I don’t engage with these types of debates. Personally, I’d rather spend my energy looking for REAL causes of Autism instead of beating a dead horse over and over and over and over again.
I know a woman with three children. The second child was diagnosed along with the first when it became apparent that the first was autistic. Both kids had been vaccinated. The family chose not to vaccinate their third…who also turned out to be autistic.
Anecdotes do not data make…as most of us know.
Many times there is correlation, as Palomina’s anecdotes show. However, people who believe in the value of research which meets proper criteria and shows a pattern of being replicated over and over also know that correlation does NOT equal causation.
Sorry, I meant causation, not correlation! Eek!
In the media, they often report studies which show correlation with some factor, but rarely is it ever pointed out that correlation absolutely does not prove causation. It’s no wonder people get confused.
Wow, that poor family.
DH has several clients who have multiple severely autistic children. Sometimes you wonder how they cope…
Anecdotal evidence has a powerful effect on the person who experiences it. It often doesn’t help much to tell them that they are succumbing to the “post hoc, ergo propter hoc” fallacy.
Perhaps the “vaccine causes autism” people do not want to “blame” their own genetics.
http://www.wired.com/2014/11/autism-genetics/
http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html
There has also been research showing that older dads “cause” autism, as well as genetic connections. I had a case where there were 3 boys–all autistic and all having learning issues that varied.