As a parent, you want to believe that you are making the best choices for your child. Who wouldn't? Many of you have probably interacted with parents that vehemently stand by these decisions. I definitely have my own opinions on particular topics and I would stand by them if confronted about them. That being said, I know I don't have all or even most of the answers and I am willing to listen to the conversations that are going on in the world around me in an effort to make sure I am making the most informed decisions that I can for my daughter. Sadly, there are some parents that are so sure of their decisions that they ignore factual evidence to the contrary. The belief that vaccinations cause autism is one case that I have recently encountered. I am not going to go into detail on this particular issue as I posted some time ago about it. The only point I would like to emphasize is that there is no scientific evidence linking autism to vaccinations and this has been shown over and over again in studies looking at the causes of autism.
Of course, as a parent you want to make the best choices for your child and it is difficult given the amount of information, and more importantly, misinformation out there to wade through. Everyone has the right to make their own decisions and I totally support that, but if I can ask one thing it is that every parent does their own research before making any kind of major decision for their child. Don't listen to the rumors, here say, speculation and conjecture that is out there. Research reputable sources (ie. not the first hit you get from Google). Search Google Scholar instead of Google to find scholarly information. Read the information posted on reputable websites such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Center for Disease Control or websites for your local health unit. I know that it is hard to trust science sometimes given that we later find out that some scientists are willing to fabricate data and pop science sometimes leaves out important details when presenting data to the general public. But if we can't put some trust in science to tell us what is right and wrong, I think we are in big trouble.
I titled this blog post mommy wars because I sometimes feel like rather than working together to make the right decisions for our children, we mothers are fighting against each other in an effort to defend our own positions (whether they be right or wrong). Everyone has something to contribute to the conversation and we can help each other immensely, but we have to be willing to listen to one another and keep an open mind if any of us are going to be good parents.
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The scientific evidence I have is watching the measles vaccine cause measles encephalitis in my two year old at the time. He had a fever of 105, his brain swelled, and he got the measles in every crevice of his body. The doctor's at the time didn't treat it as measles encephalitis, instead as a 'reaction' to the vaccine and was satisfied it was over after the fever went away. My child was never the same. I continued to vaccinate because I too thought there was no link. His immune system never recovered and after every subsequent vaccine, he went further and further into his own world of pain and suffering. At 2.5, he was diagnosed with 'autism' based on behaviors. It is a label,and that is all it is to us. Because the inflammation went on so long (we were treating with specialist), he now has autoimmune encephalopathy. Had he not gotten that measles vaccine, the trainwreck would never have occurred. Be blessed that it hasn't happened to your child, and pray for those that it has happened to. Please do not judge or fight us. We are like this because it happened to us before our very eyes. My child must now endure monthly 7 hour IVIG treatments for his autoimmune disease due to a trigger that was pulled by a vaccine. Because of this, I choose not to vaccinate my two younger children and thank God, I haven't lost another to this medically induced 'autism'.
ReplyDeleteI am one fighting as well-it is my mission to speak loudly about what happened to us. If you are interested, you may see first hand at www.chicagonow.com/fightingautism what 'us' mother's have to endure.
I struggled for quite some time with whether or not to post the following comment I received after writing this blog post. I have decided to post it because I believe that everyone deserves to have their voice heard. I also wanted to clarify my position because I feel as though my point was misinterpreted. I stated that "there is no scientific evidence linking autism to vaccinations" and this is a fact. It is also a fact that there are risks associated with vaccinations. They are designed to induce an immune response. In some cases, the immune system cannot cope (on the order of one per thousands to one per millions of doses). There are some people that should not be or should wait to be vaccinated. For example, individuals with compromised immune systems (ie. cancer patients) and those that experienced a severe allergic reaction to a previous dose of a vaccine.
ReplyDeleteHer e is what the research currently tells us about the causes of autism:
1) Genes are one of the risk factors. Studies of identical twins find that when one twin has an ASD, there is a 60-96% chance the other will be affected.
2) ASD’s tend to occur more often in people with certain other medical conditions.
3) There are some drugs when taken during pregnancy increase the risk of ADS’s.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/research.html
I feel for my reader and am sorry for everything she and her family have endured. I in no way intended to offend any parent with a child diagnosed with autism. I think it is a very serious disorder and I am looking forward to the day when researchers fully understand it.