Ignorance and Autism

I have always thought the title of my blog, "Tyrants are but the spawn of ignorance, begotten by the slaves they trample on," had many different applications. One of these is that people often become slaves to ideas that simply aren't true because they do not or cannot find out the truth.

My sister has a beautiful little boy with autism. I cannot begin to explain the struggle she went through before she had a diagnosis or the heartache she's had to endure since. But she said something very interesting to me once when we were discussing the autism/vaccination link. She said, "I really don't understand all the details of the arguments. What I do know is that I can't let myself make decisions concerning my children based on fear and that's what all the hype is." Her children have all received their vaccinations on schedule. You see, fear is probably the worst tyrant of all and it's nemesis is education.

Today, there was a great victory for freedom from fear. A federal court ruled that autism is not caused by vaccinations and that parents of autistic children cannot claim money set aside for those who have had serious reactions to vaccines. And since I believe that knowledge is what eliminates fear, I want to share a few fact on this matter.

The original scare came in 1998 when a study was released analyzing 12 children. The study claimed that the MMR shot was to blame for the rising rates of diagnosed Autism. The study has never been duplicated, despite multiple tries. 10 of the 13 authors of the study has since recanted their findings, citing problems with the science or sample.

When I asked my husband what he had learned in medical school, he said this, "There is no link. There has not been one study that conclusively proves a cause effect link." Oh sure, there are studies that claim that they found children who developed autism after receiving the MMR. But I once read a study that proves that the fall in the level of the Great Salt Lake causes more crime. It was proven by association. Of course, a logical person would see that the warmer weather caused both the change in the lake and the change in crime. The studies linking autism to MMR are similar in their logic. In fact, the information in favor of a link comes from self-reporting studies. In other words, the parents of the children talked about the changes their child underwent after receiving their immunizations. Sadly, at least one survey has shown that the same parents reported different results before and after the media hype about the supposed link. I don't think they meant to change their stories. I just think that they were subconsciously effected by the coverage.

"A worrying feature of this study, revealed by detailed review of the case records, was that in 13 children the history given by parents had changed after publicity about MMR vaccine and autism. Before the publicity the parents often reported concerns early in their children’s life, usually before the first birthday; the current history for the same children recorded symptoms as developing only after MMR vaccination, in some cases shortly after"

Yes, children are diagnosed with autism after they have their immunizations, however, there is no clustering in symptoms. In other words, the children are just as likely to begin exhibiting symptoms of autism after their immunizations as at any other time during early childhood. There are plenty of studies that show the number of children diagnosed with the disease is actually lower in immunized populations. That doesn't prove anything either. But more telling, is a recent study done in Japan after they banned the MMR shot. Autism rates continued rising, despite that. Here's the article: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7076

It's certainly indisputable that autism is on the rise, although several studies accredit this increase to increased awareness and diagnosis rather than an actual increase in cases. But the accepted research has not found any reason to think that there is a link between having your child immunized and autism. Those people who believe that there is a link frequently complain that the government is part of some conspiracy to keep it quiet. That's why it's nice to hear it from someone who has nothing to gain by sharing the info.

When you choose not to immunize, you choose to put your child and those around him/her at risk. So, are you going to base you choice on fear or on facts. I adore my autistic nephews. They are a gift from God and there is no reason to find blame for their conditions.

Sometimes the government does something right. Today's ruling is a step toward liberty by being a step away from fear. Top scientists declared it a "victory for science." I am declaring it a victory for freedom.

On a personal note, please visit my nephew's blog: http://gavinrausch.blogspot.com/ . It means a lot to my sister when people take the time to comment.