Does anyone you know believe the Autism/vaccine debate?

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I'll call your idea illogical and leave it at that... Statistically, kids who are unvaccinated are actually slightly more likely to have autism. So... yeah, it really doesn't make much sense not to vaccinate. (Besides, my unvaccinated lil sis is an Aspie just like me.)

To clarify: I doubt vaccination actually has a protective effect. I think unvaccinated kids are more likely to have autism because they are on average more likely to be the siblings of vaccinated autistic kids whose parents got scared away from vaccination; or they are medically fragile children who are both more likely to develop autism and less likely to be vaccinated.

It seems like a lot of this is just superstition-type thinking, a common human trait. For example... When you blow out birthday candles, do you make a wish? Probably, if that's a custom in your culture. Why? Well, you know rationally that there's no good reason why the wish should come true; but making the wish doesn't hurt you any, so why not?

Many parents seem to think about vaccines the same way. Sure, they probably don't cause autism; but why risk it? You probably haven't heard of a case of measles, polio, or congenital rubella syndrome from your acquaintances; but you hear autism everywhere you turn. Autism seems like the bigger threat. So you "play it safe"... just like you make a wish when you blow out your birthday candles.

But this isn't just a fun custom like wishing on birthday candles; it's a real threat to public health. Vaccines may carry risks--but so does not vaccinating. Breakout mini-epidemics have already been happening; and people have been dying. Because there are risks involved, you can't afford to go by superstition or follow your feelings; you have to do the research for yourself (which does NOT just mean googling it; sorry, Jenny McCarthy), and make an informed decision.

I don't believe that vaccines are the sole cause of autism. It just seems that there must be something environmental going on with the large increases in the number of cases of ASD . When autism was first labeled by Kanner, he believed that it was a rare disorder. I live in a metropolitan area, and I come across someone almost weekly that has some form of it, or knows of someone who does. It just doesn't make sense to me that we are having a genetic outbreak of ASD. I just wish there were more answers!! I started vaccinating my son because I researched a lot, and believed that there was no link. But when he was not walking at 19 mos., and had very low muscle tone, I made the decision to stop vaccinating. He is now 4.5, and I may decide to slowly catch him up, but I will do more research on it. I know this is a heated topic, but I just wish scientists could find more about what is causing this increase.

I do believe vaccines may increase autistic traits. Personally, I don't think vaccines cause autism, as much as the heavy metals there may increase autistic traits to detectable levels. I may have Asperger's Syndrome because, when I was very young, I lived in a house that may have had lead as a contaminant in our water supply. I don't think that gave me AS, but I do think it facilitated its development. CURSE YOU LEAD!! !

I don't believe that the vaccines are harmful (though not 100% comfortable with the swine flu jab) but I do think sticking a needle in 3 year old's arm could be quite traumatising.

I wonder sometimes if having a good memory means that I remember events that most people block out, allowing them to move on completely and successfully, or perhaps the MMR itself activated my memory... it's just a thought, I'm not saying it's true at all.

I think anything occurring in nature can be chemically induced, for example, cancer. I have other views but this is one topic I don't argue about online anymore. I don't have children and never will so the vaccination thing is not an issue for me. I'm not sure I understand why people on the spectrum are bothered by this argument though. (I'm not coming back to this thread to find out though).

I know someone who is having her baby have all the shots but spread out instead of all in one go.

We all know apples are good for us. Suddenly, some children got permanantly sick after eating apples. No one could prove it was the apples that caused the illness, and then, MANY children get sick with the same thing, apples or not. Most if not all parents would stop feeding the kids apples until they were 100% certain that apples were safe. We've just been brainwashed that vaccines are necessary.

I feel that ASD's are genetic since I am convinced my late mom had it, but my AS is much more severe and she also had German measles (rubella) when she was pg with me. Just a coincidence that the MMR (measles, mumps rubella) is the main vaccine implicated in onset ASD's?

I read about a case of autism in the mid 1960's and the only thing the mother could think of was that when she was pregnant, her doctor advised her to have a measles shot because she had been exposed to it from a small child.
Her son was born autistic. Some scientists believe that it is the measles virus itself that may cause autistic like symptoms.

My son has not had the MMR shot. I started vaccinating when he was a baby, then with all of his developmental delays, I decided to stop. I decided that I was not taking any chances with the MMR. He continues to improve and progress daily. I know that his AS has some genetic links, but I don't want to add to it. Just trying to make the best decisions for my son.

On a different note though, even if vaccines did cause autism in some, I personally would take that risk anytime rather than not vaccinating at all. It would be a rather easy choice in fact, if viewed rationally: either your child ends up with autism (which could very well be HFA or mild AS), or it quite possibly perishes or suffers with lifelong bad health from some easily preventable disease, like polio or measles. Let's be realistic people, that is what happened on a rather large scale before there were vaccinations. The last polio outbreak in my country, in 1956, devastated hundreds, if not thousands of lives. Not to speak of what would happen if smallpox hadn't been eradicated through vaccination. With a largely unvaccinated population, both infant and adult mortality would skyrocket.

So, apart from very probably not being true, one should consider the whole "vaccination scare" twice a non-argument against vaccination.

My mother is convinced that vaccinating causes autism and aspergers. I don't think I was ever vaccinated except for whooping cough but I can't be certain as I've never asked my mum about me being vaccinated - all I know is that every time I go to get my kid's next shots my mum tells me about the dangers of vaccinating. I however don't believe that AS is caused by vaccinations and anyway, even if that was the case, I believe it is a much more serious risk to not vaccinate than to vaccinate. I have vaccinated both of my kids (and neither display any AS traights so far).
I believe that my father and one of my brothers may have AS, and with my other brother I am convinced of it, but my mum says that there is no point putting labeling on things (although she thinks it is also a possibility).

Yes. This is a pet issue for me.

This misinformation is literally rampant here in the Seattle area. Being very liberal and granola crunchy, people equate vaccine denial with healthful living (quite literally). I think it's a tragedy. Also, you immunize for protection in the species not necessarily in the individual. So as more people choose to deny vaccinations, the population is more at risk.

While pregnant with my son, I was exposed to a toddler whose mother refused to give her children even the chicken pox vaccine. I had to undergo really painful immuno-globulin shots and myself and my pregnancy were at risk, because this woman had brought her unvaccinated child (who had chicken pox incubating, unbeknownst to her) around an 8 month pregnant and naturally immune compromised woman.

In my opinion this is another form of victim blaming - blame the parents. In decades past, autism was "blamed" on the mother - failure to thrive, etc. People are so eager to quickly assign blame. How comforting to believe that if you choose to routinely vaccinate your child you're "taking a risk". If you don't vaccinate them, you're eliminating that "risk". ?? It gives people the illusion they have control over something that they cannot control.

Very timely article on this apropos of this discussion:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0208/ ... -mind.html

As far as I know its entirely a genetic condition, if people want to listen to advice from noted geniuses like Jenny McCarthy, that's their own prerogative, the world needs a little chlorine in the gene pool, I had all my inoculations and there was no noticeable change in me