The anti-vaxxer movement perpetuates a phobia of autism

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I've quietly cut a few anti-vaxxers out of my small circle of friends. None of them seem to care anyway, so why should I?

I think people blame the vaccinations on their child's autism because of the way some babies seem to be developing typically and reaching all of their milestones and learning to talk, then all of a sudden after their vaccination they get a fever and suddenly regress, losing all or most of their skills they were developing. That must be very upsetting too. I know there's a thing called 'regressive autism', but why? It's hard to imagine how a normal brain can lose or suddenly wire itself differently, making the child completely different to what it should have been. It's like watching your parent's personality change and skills deteriorate with early onset dementia.

Regressive autism does happen....and it happens with some frequently.

I saw it in case studies done in the 1940s---before many of the vaccinations now implicated in "causing" autism were being used.

It was a fairly consistent pattern: Child acquires skills at a "normal" rate." At about 18 to 30 months, child loses skills already gained.

I wish this didn't happen so often----but, with some frequency, most of the skills gained don't come back fully.