Did anybody here become autistic after vaccinations?

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I think what Sophist said was interesting - I don't think I've read anyone even addressing the idea of severity before, so I'm quite willing to leave that question open for more research 'til I've read it. I think, for me, it really does come down to the public health implications. you need a 94% vaccination rate (IIRC, the number might not be exactly right, but it's in the low 90s) to avoid major outbreaks of communicable diseases, and many western countries have dropped well below that because of the autism/vaccine scares. Given that the information connecting the two is what I'd consider less than shaky, it bothers me to see the connection trotted out again, and again, and again, because it does have very real public health implications. As I said earlier, children have died. More children will die. And I don't believe that's necessary. I'm absolutely convinced that the research looking for a connection is there mostly because a simple "quick fix" to end autism is where the money is right now, whereas I believe autism is a combination of prenatal hormones and genetic predispositions. It does seem like there may be some weird autoimmune stuff going on in those who already have autism, I'd be happy for more study on that. My objection is to those who believe that vaccines cause autism. I think that's an incredibly dangerous myth.

Well, I would agree that there is not enough evidence at this point to tell parents not to vaccinate their kids. I haven't said that vaccines are The Cause, and there would be a real cost to not vaccinating.

But it is too soon to say that our current programs are the optimum, or to close the book on the question. For years, doctors gave antibiotics for the slightest thing, and it seemed that they were truly miraculous and good. Then they changed the guidelines as it became clear that antibiotics don't help with everything, and they can cause serious problems when over-prescribed, and some rare but serious problems even when used conservatively. Will we ultimately have vaccines that make the current generation look crude and amateurish? Better protection, fewer side effects? Probably.

Pre-natal hormone levels clearly affect the development of the brain, and also seem to play a role in ASDs - not arguing that. As to whether that is a primary cause (along with genetics), or just one factor, I don't know. I lean towards immune factors of some sort as being the most important factors, but whether or not that is ultimately shown to be true remains to be seen.

If parents took a cooperative stance on vaccinations and just vaccinated later (i.e., beyond the two year period when brain growth is a little more stable and myelination is completed-- and on the same token, when the immune system is a bit more mature), then that would be better then not vaccinating at all. But then again, parents who are scared for what they see as their children's safety rarely think in moderation.

If there is any effect of the vaccinations and ASC, it could even be temporal, during a time when the brain and immune system are more vulnerable.

As long as the parents vaccinate prior to sending their kids off into the world (school, preschool), then there is little communicable risk, provided this technique doesn't become common for everyone.

I tend to agree with mmaestro. I feel really cynical saying this, but it seems like so many of the folks pushing the vaccination theory are upper-middle class mothers who want to place the blame on an environmental factor rather than a genetic one. I've heard that most autistic kids have at least one parent (usually the father) who displays some autistic traits. I get really upset by the tone of mothers involved in the autism "cure" movements. It seems as though they're outraged that they had a child who was less than perfect (in their eyes, anyway) and so therefore, someone or something outside the family must be at fault. And I really hate hearing the whining of mothers who claim their hopes and dreams have been destroyed by their child's autism. Rarely is empathy shown for their child's feelings, even though there's plenty of literature available that describes what it's like to be autistic. Never have I seen a group of kids so blatantly and publicly disrespected by their mothers as autistic kids. Can you imagine what would have happened if a mother had stated on film that she'd once wanted to drive herself and her paraplegic daughter off a bridge?? But if the kid is autistic, then they show this statement in an "educational" film for other parents!! Whoooppeeee!!

I know for a fact that my son and my friend's 2 sons were autistic before vaccines. Both her sons were speaking within the first few months of their lives. Then at about 18 months, when they already spoke hundreds of words, they lost all their language.

They get vaccines, what, like every 3 months at that age? Of course it will seem to some like they are related. But how do you explain their extremely early development of language?

In my son, he started reading books to himself as soon as his chubby hands could turn pages (like 4 months). He learned all his numbers on his own by the time he was 18 months from a little baby numbers book, which he would've read all day if I'd have let him. I think he pointed to and said his first number at about 8 months. You can't tell me that vaccines made him do that.

Something in their baby brains developed way too fast, or I should say, way faster than average. In my friend's case, they developed way too fast and then crashed. And in my son's case, he didn't crash, but other things, like physical things, are developing way too slow.

p.s.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that autistic people are just really, really smart. But that also makes them super sensitive. I think those whose brains have shut down are simply overstimulated.

i wonder at that....

I don't think vaccinations caused my AS.

Tim

I was very different before vaccinations I was more active and after vaccinations my eye sight went all wierd. Still is. I wasn't active anymore started being on my own a lot. But the main vaccination is the MMR vaccine which is three different vaccinations all in one which I don't understand anyway I think personally you should things like that separatly I think it is possible that a vaccination can cause something like that or something else also. I think really they should do vaccinations separatly because MMR (Measles Mumps and Rebella are three different diseases how can they connect together?

Well, I haven't seen the movie you refer to, so I can't comment on that. It certainly could have been insensitive. But the statement I was referring to had lots of generalizations that I don't think are representative. And my statement about the genetic traits was a direct response to something that person said - one one hand, they were arguing that it is so genetic that you can see the autistic traits in the parents, and on the other hand, the parents are so terrible for not being empathetic enough (which they probably couldn't if they have those traits).

I don't know if vaccinations caused my AS. From what my parents told me, I was aspie-like (they didn't use that exact word, just the descriptions of my actions) since 6 months old, and I had my first vaccination sometime in preschool. However, when I heard about the Thimerosal scandals, I was paranoid about getting a flu shot. In fact, I think I annoyed the pharmacist giving me the shot by asking too many questions. However, he told me something like this: "It's like lead paint; the effect on adults is minimal."

As far as I know I was normal when I was really little. I walked really early, but apparently didn't talk much until I was 3 (my mom thinks it was because I was a perfectionist, and didn't want to do it unless I was perfect-she said when I did start talking regularly I started immediately with full paragraphs, etc., and I, she, and my pediatrician knew that I understood everything).

Anyway, my understanding is that currently it's thought to be a combination of genetics and environment, as identical twins can end up on different places on the spectrum.

Regarding vaccines-isn't what's really at issue that thymarasol (misspelling it I'm sure)-the mercury that used to be in it until recently? I can't see how that could be good regardless of whether it has any influence on the spectrum, and should pretty obviously be removed regardless-it was just in there so they could put more doses in a single bottle (!)

Apparently flu vaccines have that in them too! My mom had me quit taking them because I was having bad/weird reactions to them for like a week afterwards. She assumed it was an allergy to something in them, but when I recently found out they had mercury I've wondered about that. I've even wondered if I got weirder/worse after having those. Didn't fit in as well afterwards, but that could be a coincidence based on my age at the time.

I don't think that vaccines caused me to have AS.