Does anyone you know believe the Autism/vaccine debate?

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My older sister (who found the diagnosis of Asperger's for me) was talking about how she had her babies shots made into 2 shots (2 each) and not 4 since at the time the whole Autism vaccine debate. My mom mention she thought Autism was genectic or environmental. I'm sorry to bring this up please don't hate me I just thought I'd mention the conversation me/family had. I hope I didn't upset anyone. IMO that debate is laughable and stupid I stand by its genetics not sure of environmental causes though.

I don't know anyone IRL who buys into the vaccine theory. However, most of my family don't care a f*ck about autism. I think my boyfriend (dx'd autie but not really involved in acitivsm or anything) is pretty neutral on causation. I personally do believe there are environmental risk factors to autism (eg. prenatal infections like rubella that could affect the brain, premature birth, etc.) but I don't believe the vaccine theory.

And as if the anti-vaccine BS wasn't enough, now PETA wants in on the let's-blame-autism-on-the-thing-we-don't-like-even-though-we-have-no-proof game.

My mom does. I've tried to talk to her, but she won't even listen to logic. Apparently, according to her reasoning, if a thing has any risks at all, it must be bad and you must avoid it. She ignores that vaccines have never been connected to autism, and listens only to people who present what must seem to be plausible arguments to her; only she doesn't remember a thing from high school biology or anatomy and can't fact-check anything. She seems happiest when she finds reasons to believe that people are out to get her money, especially the doctors and the drug companies, and won't understand that she's spent more on nutritional supplements and special food than anybody would ever spend on health insurance during their lifetimes. Apparently, when doctors take your money, it's a sign of evil; but when alternative health gurus take your money, it's just fine.

I even tried the dihydrogen monoxide hoax on her once, just to try to prove to her how easily she was convinced by rhetoric. She fell for it. Then she completely missed the point of the thing and went on ranting about how modern people were exposed to too many chemicals.

I've lost all respect for her over the past few years.

My mom thinks autism is environmental, not because there is better diagnosing and doctors are more aware of the spectrum but she said that's her theory so I can't argue that. She thinks my ear infections might have made me be on the spectrum but she says language problems and other things autistic people have runs in our family.
My husband also thinks its environmental and not genetic and everytime I hear "But that's not what the paper said" I scream at him about how wrong that paper is and his friend who wrote that paper. She wrote it. I tell him if it's not environmental, then why do traits run in our families? He think people are born with autistic traits but something in the environment has to cause their autism to make them be on the spectrum. He thinks if it weren't for my ear infections, I might have just had traits only and not be on it.

One of my aspie friends from here thinks my ear infections might have caused the different wiring in my brain.

That doesn't make much sense to me; I could see a simple speech delay caused by recurrent ear infections, but autism? Where do you get the non-language-related aspects of autism out of simple hearing loss?

I have a good friend with whom I simply cannot discuss the vaccine thing, She's convinced they cause Autism and keeps pointing to me as an example. (The fact that my NT brother had the same vaccines doesn't seem to penetrate.) She keesp saying how wonderful her kids are and she'd be so sad if they were Autistic. Makes me want to shake her, because while I honestly see where she's coming from, it's still insulting.

My AS-ish mom....she also blames the mercury in her tooth fillings...for her own particular neuro-issues.....

my mother uses "autism in the family" to get out of any vaccines, thinks organic food is better for anyone with autism in the family, thinks vitamins or special diets will cure just about anything...

I FINALLY convinced my mom that vaccines don't cause autism. She still believes that they exacerbate the symptoms, a view that's harder to refute. I convinced her that her dad had autism too.

I don't understand the big thing with supplements and fad foods. I take supplements, yeah, and would hate to see the more stringent interpretations of Codex Alimentarius implemented where you can't own vitamin C drops, but supplements aren't cure alls, the hippies at the natural food store don't know more about health than your own doctor, and some of that stuff does real harm.

Blood pressure pills don't interact well with psych drugs, so I take CoQ10. I have hereditary anemia, so iron too. Papaya pills work far better than Nexium, the purple pill named after a cult, on acid reflux. But there's a place for Big Pharma, even though I think they're scum their stuff DOES work. I'm worried that the anti-vaccine hysteria will mean thousands of people dying from something preventable a few years from now, giving the feds an excuse to start martial law.

Question to the group: have your family members tried to "cure" you using quack therapies? Right before I quit the Autism Speaks forums, a 15 year old girl named Gaby showed up. She said that her parents had spent thousands of dollars to "cure" her autism, all the way up to hyperbaric therapy, when she was a little kid. Then, their wallets significantly lighter, they decided to accept their daughter for who she was. It's terrible to think of putting a little kid through that. It's easier simply to accept your kid from the start.

I am beginning to come to that sad conclusion...

I do think vitamin supplements are a good idea. So many of us deal with restricted diets due to sensory issues, or have trouble feeding ourselves properly, that it makes sense to make sure we're getting at least some of the trace substances we need. Supplements may not be necessary for the average person, but for people with autism and off-kilter eating habits, it just makes sense.

I know those people exist but I don't know them, or at least am unaware they feel that way. Most people I've talked to seem to be of the opinion that it's a coincidence that people notice autistic traits in their child about the same time as the vaccinations and just need something to blame it on, cause genetics kinda says "we did this".

I am not sure that they are the sole cause of autism, but I do believe that people who are genetically predisposed to autism may be more sensitive to toxins in vaccines. My son has not had the MMR shot, but the day after his 4 month old vaccines, he started shaking his head side to side like he was saying no. I thought he was having a seizure. The doctor said it was probably just a coincidence that he learned to do this and enjoyed it. Looking at some of our family tree, I do see some autistic like traits in some family members. However, they were not bombarded with the same amount of vaccines that my little boy was given. I think it may be a problem to little babies and their underdeveloped central nervous systems. I know many don't believe it, but I am not totally convinced! Call me crazy!