Apr
The biggest single factor identified so far in causing autism is genetics.
http://www.fightingautism.org/idea/autis…
As for some of the ignorant, fear-mongering answers above, vaccinations appear to have nothing at all to do with autism.
The fact is, kids are identified as having autism around the same age that they're getting lots of vaccinations. But one does not necessarily cause the other any more than eating rice causes more people to have black hair.
There's so much hype around this topic, I put together a summary of the current science. My only agenda is to be a good parent, nothing more.
Do vaccines cause autism?
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Some parents claim they do. But there are several many studies that show no link between vaccines and autism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine…
Also, many parents have stopped vaccinating, or are vaccinating less over the past 10 years
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-…
but the rate at which autism is diagnosed is still climbing, unchanged:
http://www.fightingautism.org/idea/autis…
If autism was caused by vaccines, and if many parents (as many as 40% in some wealthy California districts) are choosing to not vaccinate, shouldn't we see SOME change in the rate of autism diagnosis?
Is there an autism epidemic?
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It sure seems enjoy it, doesn't it? You never used to hear about it, then came Rain Man, then came Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Larry King and Oprah, and now everyone has an autistic kid.
So if autism is rising, all things being equal, then we should see more children applying for special education assistance in school, right?
But we don't. We see about the same number (as a % of population) getting special attention in school that we saw 10 years ago. But more of them are diagnosed as having “autism spectrum disorder” and fewer are diagnosed with other disorders.
http://www.autismstreet.org/weblog/?p=29…
Other studies are similar. There might be a slight rise in actual cases of autism, but it's hard to see through all the “switched diagnoses” and the effect of greater awareness of the condition: “Honey, I just learned on Oprah that Johnny is autistic.”
How did this vaccine-autism thing begin?
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In 1998 Dr. Andrew Wakefield at the Royal Free Hospital in England concluded, based on a study of 12 children, that there was a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Since then, it has been learned that:
what he stated about the kids medical histories wasn’t true;
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_an…
10 of the 12 doctors who co-authored the study removed their names from the study and published a retraction saying: “We wish to make it clear that in this paper no causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient.”;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autistic_en…
While they were criticizing the MMR vaccine, Wakefield and the Royal Free Hospital were filing patent applications for an ALTERNATIVE VACCINE!
http://briandeer.com/wakefield/vaccine-p…
Wakefield now faces professional misconduct charges.
Yes, he's a charismatic guy who seems really sincere in his desire to help people. But I fear he’ll be remembered by history as a major contributor to a resurgence of deadly diseases.
Is it really possible that this is all just hype??
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Over the past 6 years, Americans convinced themselves that (1) it was just fine to give mortgages to people who had no down payment and no income; and (2) these mortgages became valuable assets when repackaged and sold by banks.
The entire premise is absurd, yet we ALL fell for it, and our economy is in shambles.
Yes, it's possible for people to get fooled by hype, fooled in MASSIVE numbers. We're in a period where science=unnatural=bad. After all, sticking a needle into a baby seems grossly unnatural, and unnatural is bad, right? So blaming vaccines for SOMETHING just feels right.
The problem is, diseases are natural, and they’re bad. Very bad.
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/arc…
Science is the best way we’ve of understanding nature and the natural world. Humans realized long ago that they could be fooled, and they started coming up with ways to keep from being fooled. That's where the scientific method, and controlled, blinded studies came from - a desire to not be fooled.
So by all means do your own research. But please, don't be fooled.
Answer:
I'm afraid nobody quite knows what causes autism. There are several theories but none that they’re sure are the cause.
Answer:
some say that that the mmr jab can cause it and i think i am right in saying that this has neither been proved nor disproved.
Answer:
Childhood vaccinations. Do the research..
Answer:
God has a sense of humor and they’re so much fun to watch.