Disclaimer: due to the comments I have recieved I must not have made it clear that I do 100% believe in getting your child vaccinated. My confusion is when is the best time to do it.
Whilst waiting in line at Target today I was flipping through a magazine when I came across an article about Jenny McCarthy and how she helped her son beat autism. It was a very interesting article about the things she did (such as drastically changing his diet) to help him overcome his autism. And it got me to thinking... do vaccines really cause autism, or do they not? The whole thing is very confusing to me, and I often don't know what to believe. I have done a lot of reading on the subject and what I have found is that almost all mothers ( I have read about) with autistic children have said that yes, after their child recieved their vaccination is when the signs of autism began to show. But most doctors (including my pediatrican) say that no, there has been no link found between vaccines and autism. I have also read that although vaccines dont cause autism, they can make it manifest itself in children that are genetically susceptible. I am no scientist, but just by looking at the numbers it is very convincing that vaccines do have something to do with it, being that 15 yrs ago it was like 1 in 10000 children will be diagnosed with autism, and now its around 1 in 150.
Being a mom you learn to trust your instincts. You can tell when something is wrong with your child, even when no one else can. That is why I tend to believe every mother out there who has said that vaccines had something to do with it. They have nothing to gain from saying that, while drug companies have lots of money to gain by saying that vaccinations do not cause autism.
I wish I would have researched this better before I allowed Chase to recieve her vaccinations, but all I really did was ask my pediatrician and a few other young moms, who all basically said that nothing has been proven. I know that getting your child immunized is very important, and should definatly be done, but quit honestly I am really confused about when is the best time to do it. Is it best to start when they are brand new babys (like my doctor told me), or is it best to wait until they are 2 (like many moms say they wish they would've done when there child was diagnosed with autism)?
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/autismandvaccines/i/vaccines.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/06/vaccines.autism/index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303396.html
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5 comments:
i think that the known risks associated with not vaccinating your children are far greater than the unproven risks of autism. i really believe that jenny mccarthy is doing a real disservice to parents by convincing them not to vaccinate their children. i believe in a mother's intuition, but i also have to believe in science and science is not on her side.
I also think that vaccinating your child is a must, but I do think that in some situations it might be better to not start a childs vaccinations when they are babys. If a certain child is genetically more likely to have autism, and there is that possiblity that getting a certain vaccination will make that manifest itself, then why not wait until that child is 2 to get there vaccinations?
There's a lot of mis- and dis-information out there about vaccination and autism.
I have done a lot of reading on the subject and what I have found is that almost all mothers with autistic children have said that yes, after their child recieved their vaccination is when the signs of autism began to show.
I have several friends whose children have autism. None believe that vaccination had anything to do with their children's development.
If you'd like to read a wonderful blog on autism, try Kristina Chew's Autism Vox. Here's her take on autism and vaccination.
For a reliable and unbiased source on vaccination, visit Voices for Vaccines, which is an independent, unbiased source of information.
As far as this statement goes:
I am no scientist, but just by looking at the numbers it is very convincing that vaccines do have something to do with it, being that 15 yrs ago it was like 1 in 10000 children will be diagnosed with autism, and now its around 1 in 150.
You are expressing a common two-fold misunderstanding:
1. confusing causation with correlation. A goes up, and coincedentally, B goes up: but that doesn't mean B causes A or vice versa.
2. Many people hearing "autism is increasing" don't know, or haven't been told, about diagnostic substitution (Kristina Chew explains it clearly) and diagnostic expansion (the idea that behaviors that were previously classed as normal are now classed as autistic).
Arthur Allen wrote a story for Slate, Why There's No Autism Epidemic. And the mom of autistic kids explains some other studies.
There you have quick, shallow introduction to some of the science-based thinking about vaccinations, autism, autism prevalence, and autism acceptance.
Hope it helps clear up some of the confusion.
I was really worried about autism with Weston. I too asked Dr. Lindgren about it. He said he has 2 patients with autism, they are brothers and one is immunized (the older one) and one is not. Yet, they both have autism. He also said that he has treated more kids with preventable diseases than he has treated autistic children. Boys are more likely to have autism than girls. My sister in law is spreading the immunizations out with her son and only giving him one at a time with leveral months in between. I have heard of other moms doing that too. I don't believe it is a huge conspiracy between doctors and drug companies and they are all lying to us to make money. I did consider not immunizing Weston. And I really was scared to get him his first shots. I finally decided that autism is beyond my control and if I am really worried about it, I can spread the immunizations out so that my baby won't recieve so many at one time. Weston was fine. Dr. Lindgren also told me that parents sometimes ignore the signs of autism (kids that don't make eye contact etc) and then as soon as parents realize that their kids have a problem, they think it started after they got their shots. I think a lot of parents don't want to believe that there is anything wrong with their child and it is easier to blame shots than their own genetics or whatever. Just my thoughts though... Anyway, my thoughts are that I am for vaccinating, but I do understand why someone wouldn't and I wouldn't ever judge someone for not vaccinating their kids.
My sister-in-laws little girl and boy are both autistic. Do to this we have done alot of research. I have found that immunizations have nothing to do with being autistic. They claim it has something to do with the mercury in them but they haven't used mercury in them since the 80's. The latest thing they have found is a part of the DNA where in a normal person it is all working together and communicating properly but in an autisitic person this part is not communicating at all. If you have a good doctor you trust I would follow his recommendations as to when to immunize. My niece and nephew are both doing really well in there school programs that each school district has for autism. Starting early is the key to helping them develop so they can function normally like other kids. Sorry this is way long but thats what I have found. When is the GNO?
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