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Let me just make one thing very clear…

Let’s talk about vaccines for a minute. It’s not my favourite topic because I feel it’s the one topic that breaks apart the Autism community when we really should be standing up together and supporting each other.

First and foremost let me say, no, I do not believe that vaccines cause Autism. That does not mean that I do not think that there could be situations where a vaccination could trigger an already pre-existing condition (like Autism for example) which would cause a regression.

Do I think vaccines are perfectly safe? No, of course not. Not even their inventors and marketers think they’re perfectly safe. Everyone knows there is a certain % of people that have adverse reactions, allergic reactions, side effects and sometimes, even cause death.

Do I think that the recent Wakefield news means anything in regards to the vaccine risks? No. They simply proved that he lied, fabricated his evidence and findings. It doesn’t prove anything about what vaccines do or do not do though, just that his findings didn’t prove anything one way or another.

I have said since day one that if you have concerns, ask your doctor a million questions and demand a schedule that you feel more comfortable with but please please please do not deny vaccinations entirely.

Here’s the thing, this is where I think that things have gone wrong:

  1. People forget what these illnesses can do and what they’re like.
    Most of them don’t sound so bad, most of them many people had as children themselves and again, weren’t so bad. But you’re remembering and thinking of a very small piece of an entirely much larger picture. These simply “cough and get over it” illnesses do kill people! Some disfigure, some kill.. some simply clog the medical community with thousands upon hundreds of thousands of hospital visits.
  2. People think that an all but gone illness can’t come back.
    If it’s not gone, it can come back. In fact, that’s the very nature of these illnesses in the first place… to spread! It’s particularly ironic in a country like the US where most people complain about the immigration rates that they’d possibly think that an illness that still inhabits other countries could never actually find their way back in.
  3. People forget that there are babies, elderly and other lower immunity tolerance people out there.
    Yes, measles as a kid is rough, but in a senior citizen? Deadly. Whooping cough means a hospital visit for most people, it means almost certain death for a baby. When you or I talk about the illnesses these vaccines prevent, we picture ourselves and our children but in reality, much like the flu, it can kill people that are less equipped to fight it off.

Listen, without vaccines, I believe that by now, we’d probably be seeing a word wide population decrease at this point, rather than our continuing increase.  If nothing else, we’d certainly have far less medical resources to be keeping us healthy. I mean, think about it… how bad is health care where you are?? How bad would it be if a few million people every year were in there with all these diseases that are preventable?

Do I promote getting vaccines? Yes.
Do I also promote safe vaccine schedules? Yes.
Do I promote more research into all of the dangers of vaccines? Yes.
Do I promote more research into finding better and safer ingredients to be used in vaccines? Yes!

The way I see it, if they can pump out a newer and better cell phone every 3 months, they can have new and better vaccines as well.

Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that I am happy with the way things are… or that I think a certain % of vaccine injuries or deaths is just acceptable. The numbers can always be improved!

But don’t ever think that I am supposed to be out there inciting fear, panic and further division within the Autism community. That simply is not my goal. I understand if it’s not yours either but let’s be honest, many who do hate vaccines, and vaccine makers, do push the boundaries too far. They want others to share in their hatred. They want others to take up a pitchfork and fight along side them.

I am not that person.

Ask for a safer schedule, petition to have more research and safer vaccines created. But never think that not preventing many illnesses is a good way to maybe lower the risk of Autism.

Stop listening to Wakefield, stop listening to anti-vaccination people, stop listening to conspiracy theorists, stop listening to pharmaceutical companies, stop listening to marketers, stop listening to pro-vaccination people… stop listening to me!

Use some common sense, use some rational thinking… do your research, do your reading. Look at the numbers, look at the history. Ask yourself, if it’s all a risk, if it’s all about choosing from bad and bad, why would you opt for denying what you know will be prevented?

Option A prevents X, Y, Z and may cause Q
Option B prevents nothing, so you may get X, Y, Z and still may cause Q anyway
Which makes more sense??

My wife suggested that I make my blog’s tagline “using common sense”… because I pride myself in doing just that. That’s all that I see in this matter, is to use common sense.

Fight for safer vaccines. Fight for a safer schedule. Fight for more safety with our children!!

But never forget that safer actually means taking the vaccines. It does save lives.

This is my official stance on vaccines. I know it’s a hot topic, I know not everyone will agree. Please do not get mad if you don’t. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and as such, I would never think poorly of you for yours. We need to support each other in pushing for the discovery of the true cause, a way to help those that have Autism and for more resources in schools, work, housing and more. Let’s work together.

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The day that CNN phoned me – What they didn’t print

So CNN phoned me today to ask me about my reaction to the Wakefield “fraud” story and about 20 minutes later, I had said all I had to say on the subject.

As is normal in jounalism, 20 minutes of talk time generally gets you about 3 or 4 lines in a news story. In this case, I’m pretty happy with what they quoted from me, what do you think?

Few swayed by fraud finding in autism study

Here’s what they didn’t print.

“Do you believe Wakefield was honest or fraudulent?”

I honestly have no idea but what I do know is that it’s so strange that there is no real investigation, a criminal one. There are claims that he hurt the children, that he paid the children (or their parents) and that the results of all this, if the results are fraud, may have directly caused many deaths.

We’ve been hearing about this study for 13 years, it’s been discredited for several, he was disbarred last year and in all this time, we still have no real answers.

“Do you think this news story will change anything?”

No, I don’t. People who are anti-vaccination read the studies that support their stance. The people who are pro-vaccination read the studies that support their stance. Everything else, they each dismiss.

To be honest, I’m rather sick of anti-vaccination people pulling the 7 degrees of separation game with every doctor that finds no vaccine-autism link in an attempt to link them to some big pharmaceutical company. So some guy’s grandfather had a neighbor that worked as a janitor for some company… is that really a reason to believe he was paid off to say something just to discredit Wakefield?

Why does it work one way and not the other?

Why is it ok to find these links to discredit every doctor out there that says what you don’t agree with but you don’t even bother to question the very public, very obvious controversies surrounding the one doctor that does say what you agree with?

If you question one doctor, or a group of doctors, you have to question them all. Believe no one, do your own research… ALL OF IT.

“Did this story or any of the stories about this make you question vaccines?”

Not really, no. It was pretty clear my son had Autism before his MMR vaccinations and even if there was some question, I’d rather take the Autism risk than the disfigured or dead risk.

No, this controversy is the one big controversy that divides the Autism community and it makes me sick. I get asked the question a lot and usually I don’t answer because I don’t want one side or another hating me. I just want everyone to support each other.

I don’t believe we’ve found the one cause, I don’t even think there is just one cause. But I am pretty sure it’s not vaccines causing anything.

“What do you mean by this is the one controversy dividing the Autism community?”

Well, we’ve had studies, just in the last year or two, that have suggested links to Autism with living next to a highway, with IVF, with jaundice, with premature birth, with oxygen deprivation during birth, with tylenol during pregnancy, with flouride in the water… I could go on and on. Why aren’t people fighting over any of these studies? Why isn’t there some big panic over any of these things?

Why does this one issue have to be so huge that it’s causing people to snap? I mean, this morning a company that makes toys and products for Autistic children posted the link to the Wakefield story on their facebook page and some moms were furious… lashing out at this company for posting a story to discredit such a wonderful man, and to slam all these parents… and so on and so forth.

I mean, seriously. Calm down. They shared the latest Autism news. That’s all!

“So it’s been 13 years now, you said, you think that’s enough?”

Oh yeah. I mean, not a single soul will have their mind changed by these latest news articles. It simply adds fuel to the fire in terms of dividing the community even more. It prolongs the argument.

All this energy in fighting could be spent on getting more teachers out there that understand Autism, getting more employers that are patient enough to take on some Autistic teens, getting housing built that’s affordable and with available help to those adults with Autism that will need it.

I don’t know what the future holds for my son but if he gets to be my age and this argument is still going on, then he’ll have missed out on a lot of services and information that could have been made available if we could just move passed this.

“So why do you think that this continues then?”

People are very passionate about this, this is their children. There’s nothing you can be more protective of than your own child.

I feel bad for the parents who for a while have a normal child, who hugs and speaks and then shortly after they turn 2, they lose all words and no longer look them in the eye. I would look for someone to blame too. If they had just gotten vaccines, I would be pretty angry too.

No news story is going to convince them of anything. When you have that much anger and frustration, it’s passion. They’re fighting for their children.

How much time has been spent with us fighting?

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The “Which Would You Rather” Game Is a Very Dangerous Game Indeed

Probably the most prominent example, and the one to start it all off, is Jenny McCarthy’s interview where she says (and I paraphrase as best I can) “Would I rather my son have measles instead of Autism? yes, in a heart beat”.

Granted, measles doesn’t sound so bad so I’d have to agree with her, I think I’d rather my boy be sick for a while, help him get through it for a little while and then go on with his life, instead of having Autism for life.

However, that’s just one of many diseases and viruses that are held back by vaccines…  mumps and rubella aren’t really all that bad either, can be fatal but very rarely. Chances are my boy would just be sick for a while.

What gets me though, is that, in the interview, no one asks her if she’d rather have her child be disfigured or paralysed from polio, no one ever asks her if she’d rather kill someone else’s baby with whooping cough than risk her child having Autism.

Sounds a little harsh, but if you look to California, it’s happening! An outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) is happening right now, today, and it’s killing babies. Why?

Here’s the thing, some parents are convinced, absolutely and completely, that vaccines are causing Autism in children, and therefore are not taking the risk.

Let’s take a look at that risk for a moment, because I think this is where the system breaks down.

If a parent does not vaccinate their child, that child can contract a preventable illness such as whooping cough, and then come into contact with a baby sibling or some other baby, pass along the illness before that baby even has a chance at getting their vaccination and that child could die.

Meanwhile, there’s no guarantee that their child won’t already have Autism despite not being vaccinated! Recently a woman commented on another of my posts about how one mother did not vaccinate, another did, both of their children are Autistic.

This isn’t a debate about whether or not vaccines do cause Autism, it’s about the risk. Taking a risk, avoiding a risk, choosing which risk to take.

Let me put it this way, if you “don’t take the chance” by not vaccinating your child, and he/she turns out to be Autistic anyway AND comes home to infect your newborn baby and that baby dies… not only did you not avoid the risk, you took the ultimate risk and lost both times!

Some of you die hards will say that would never happen but, it can happen. We are seeing it right now. Unvaccinated children are Autistic. Unvaccinated children are dying from preventable diseases!!

The “Which Would You Rather” game is not a game, it’s very…. VERY dangerous.

I understand how watching your child be ‘vaccine injured’ can set you on a path, set you on a mission… however, I can also see how a much bigger tragedy can come of it if not careful. If your child regressing into Autism affected you this much, how much would it affect you if your child got Autism and a baby died at the same time, all because you didn’t vaccinate.

Would you still feel the same? Would your mission be different?

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Is There A Link Between Vaccines and Autism?

I get asked this a lot and I do stand on one side of the fence more than the other but I don’t usually like to get involved because I think all parents need to stick together regardless of what they believe. If you agree with that and do not wish to read further on, then I humbly recommend you stop reading and move on to another of my posts.

Now then, there’s far to much to cover in so many areas, I just don’t know where to start, however, I think most everyone that wants to know my own personal opinion is hoping that it’s not the last to be mentioned in some long winded summary… so here it is:

I personally believe that vaccines and Autism are not linked, that not only do vaccines not cause Autism, but they don’t even trigger it. Now, don’t close your browser if you disagree, and don’t just dismiss everything I say, I’m hoping to argue both sides of this and inject with my personal understandings and explain how I came to this conclusion.

Where to start? How about 1998!

In 1998, the Lancet reported that a new study had linked the MMR vaccination with Autism in children, sparking a worldwide panic and causing a lot of people to keep their children away from vaccinations. Since then however, the Lancet had retracted that report… most of us know why, if you do, skip the next 2 paragraphs, if not, here’s why:

Dr Wakefield, the doctor that conducted the study had only done the study on 12 children, and not just random children but children from a birthday party which he “rewarded” the parents for. Not only was this “control group” not really a control group at all but he conducted some experiments on them which were considered unethical. 10 of the 13 doctors that worked with Dr. Wakefield took back their findings.

It was also later revealed that he was paid 150 pounds per hour by a lawyer who was in the midst of suing vaccine companies to do the study, which is a rather large breach of interest. Due to all these things, his medical license was revoked and he has been barred from practising medicine in the UK ever again. Since then it’s also been revealed that Dr. Wakefield in fact had his own patent on his own vaccine which he was hoping would take the place of the MMR vaccine, making him a lot of money. Not to mention the book, the book which has gone on to make him a lot of money regardless of any of these controversies.

Now, don’t get me wrong… the arguments for the countless studies that deny the link are also rife with controversy, the latest study finding a link between genes and Autism apparently had some financial backing from large pharmaceutical companies.

I don’t want to make this part of it all one sided, there’s a TON that could make you question the studies finding there is no link, my opinion on this is DO NOT QUESTION ONE SIDE AND NOT THE OTHER!

It’s like this, I can’t take Dr. Wakefield’s findings or his book as the gospel and “the truth” despite there being a LOT of obvious controversy around it and then deny everything and anything on the other side of the argument. If all studies are funded by shadows on one side or the other, how can, as a side line viewer, possibly know which is true and which isn’t? I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THOSE THAT TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO HEAR BASED ON FAITH.

Again, not to seem to side with one side more than the other, I found this sattirical comic semi amusing and also well written as an attempt to simplify it: http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/05/facts-in-case-of-dr-andrew-wakefield.html

Fast Forward to Mercury (Thiomersal or Thimerosal)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiomersal#Autism

This was the big push, that there was mercury in the vaccine which is highly toxic and will mess up the brain and cause Autism. First of all, Thiomersal was removed in 1999 and the number of diagnoses continue to increase. Secondly, the ‘mercury’ that was found in it is not the same metallic stuff you used to find in a thermometer. That’s what we all picture, I even saw a youtube video of mercury being poured onto steel and compared it to what is in our heads. That simply is not the case.

However, I am no scientist and even the true scientists can not convince people of that so I’ll leave that alone for now and ask you this, how do those unvaccinated children become Autistic? What about the children in parts of the world where there are no vaccines at all? How do some children exhibit Autistic signs/symptoms before they ever get their MMR shot?

I also go into a few of my points here:  How Old is Autism?
I talked with friends how we had less vaccines as children than children do today, but then I think back to Temple Grandin and how she’s 60 now. How many vaccines did she have? Also, my grandparents had “special needs” children in their school, special classrooms to keep them in! How many vaccines did those children have? And further back than that.. was Mozart Autistic? Van Gogh? They didn’t even have vaccines back then!

There was a recent report on CNN which I found quite interesting where basically some women strapped an air examiner to their backs with a vacuum type air way near the mouth, and it analyzed the air they breathed. The conclusion? The toxins, including mercury, in their fetus corresponded to what they found in the backpack… the air they breathed did it!

The Vaccine Wars

There was a recent video on PBS called the Vaccine Wars, you can watch it here. It was very one sided, making the moms of the anti-vaccine out to be the bad guys, or just crazy… I’m not sure I agree with how the video was made, but I do agree with the conclusion.

An argument I hear a lot is “Polio is not a problem in the US so why vaccinate against it?” well, it’s not a problem BECAUSE of the vaccines. And it remains no problem BECAUSE of the vaccines. Have you ever killed all the mosquitos in your camping tent? Did another one find it’s way in later? More? You can’t expect polio to just stay where ever it is and not find it’s way back. It’s still out there and it’s looking for a way in.

The people in the US pride themselves on being a great nation that everyone wants to visit or live in well… those people may have polio!! I think that people have just forgotten how bad some of these things can be. Polio can leave your child paralysed or even dead.

Imagine you stopped vaccinating, and then you brought a newborn baby home to see it’s grandmother who was just riding out on a bus with a foreigner who just landed the day before and is carrying polio. Well, your grandmother, who was vaccinated, won’t get it… but will carry it to your newborn because that baby won’t get vaccinated for it until it’s 1 or 2 months old.

Same goes for whooping cough, mumps, measles and more… they can and do kill.

Conclusion

My first son was diagnosed with Autism, I saw it in him before his vaccination. When my second son came along 2 years later, people were quick to ask if we’d “take that chance” again. My wife and I had never even given it a second thought. We always knew that he’d be getting vaccinated as well, and he was, and he’s fine.

I am not unsympathetic… I realize your child may have been ripped away from you shortly after getting what you thought was a harmless needle. I also think, however, that if your child started coughing up blood and choked until they died, you’d be just as strong a fighter in favour of making sure future kids get vaccinated so that never happens again.

Your passion is your strength, your passion is your motivation and it can help you topple corporations and even governments, of that I have no doubt. However, if your passion is misguided… it can lead to death as well.

Don’t believe what you need to believe, believe the truth… and from where I’m sitting, we have no truth right now. Not yet. No one, not those that represent big corporations, not those that are paid off, not those that stand to make money, not those that say what we want to hear… no one has told us the truth. And that’s what we need to fight for.

Do I believe there’s a link between vaccines and autism? No, but I also know that I can be proven wrong. But being told what I want to hear isn’t proof.

PS

I’m sorry if you feel any anger towards me, think less of me, what ever… ultimately this is why I try not to speak up on this in the first place. We need to stand up together for truth, for awareness and for prevention. We need to be a united voice, not what we have now. Right now we’re split, divided and fighting amongst ourselves and the more we fight, the more passionate we get, the more we’ll rush out to buy books from both sides and line all of their pockets even more!!

While we’re divided, nobody wins but them.

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