I have a few things I’d like to address. First off, anyone who believes that there is such a thing (within human experience) as a truly objective experiment is foolish. Every experience colors our perception and every perception colors our experiences. There is no such thing as a true control group. I’m not going to spend near as much time on this as I would like because I have a tendency to get pretty preachy about it, but I will suffice it to say that I don’t have a whole lot of faith in the medical community. I’ll tell you about it sometime.
Really what I’d like to say here is this. Hannah and I are fairly vocal about our opinions on vaccinations. We may not be 100% accurate across the board, but we have tried to acknowledge that and find some more general truths than “you shouldn’t vaccinate your kid because then they’ll have autism and it will all be your fault.” Here’s what we know:
Our boys were 6 weeks premature. They had some rough health battles in the first 6 months of their lives, but they were developing normally until 15 months. Within days after they received their 15 month vaccinations they regressed to the developmental stage of a 6 month old and in all likelihood will never fully recover. Our story is only one of dozens that we know of personally.We know a family that has identical twin girls. On the day they went in for their 15 month vaccinations one of the genetically identical girls had a cold, so she didn’t receive her vaccinations. Today she is a neuro-typical (no autism) 6 year old little girl. Her sister who received her vaccinations has autism.
All I ask is that you give people a chance. For some reason there is a bitter hatred against parents who choose not to vaccinate their children. I’ve encountered some incredibly hateful people who have readily proclaimed righteous judgment against all parents who ‘endanger their children as well as everyone else’ by choosing not to vaccinate. Forgive my foolishness, but I’m led to believe that if you had endured a story similar to ours, you might be somewhat skeptical of the medical community too. Chances are that those who are vocal in their opposition to vaccinations do so because of the tragedy that they or someone they care about has endured. Whether or not they are accurate in their blame isn’t really the issue because the reality is that their lives have been adversely affected by something and they are only doing what any other human being would do by trying to battle against their perceived foe. Your experience and perception may tell you that there is no link between autism and vaccinations and anyone who believes otherwise is sorely mistaken. My experience and perception tell me that there is too much evidence linking vaccinations and autism for it to be a coincidence and anyone who believes otherwise is sorely mistaken. Who’s right? I have no idea. What I do know is that my opinion isn’t important enough to treat someone like a lesser human being because they haven’t shared my experience. You don’t have to believe what I believe. I only ask that you be sensitive of the fact that my family’s life has been drastically affected by autism and we will always struggle to find answers for it.
For the sake of clarity, here is what Hannah and I believe. Autism is a genetic disorder often triggered by an environmental factor. The amount of synthetic chemicals we subject infants and children to is alarming. Thimerosal may have been outlawed, but I personally have seen it in vaccines as recently as 2010. Parents should educate themselves on the vaccination schedules and make the most well informed decision that they are able. If you have a family history of neurological disorders we recommend you tread very carefully around vaccines. If you don't, we recommend researching alternative vaccination schedules that spread the injections out and allow the body more time to effectively recover.
Science once assured us that man would never fly and the earth was flat. The medical community once promised that there was no link between cigarettes and cancer, and now Stephen Hawking has informed us that numbers prove there is no God. Forgive my philosophy here, but the only thing I know for sure is nothing at all except that man is more often wrong than right, there is more to life than chemicals and energy, God has done more in my life than I could do myself, and the taste of raspberry sherbet on my tongue is one of the more enjoyable things in life. Study or no study; vaccine or no vaccine; autism is part of our life. We live it every day. We would love for others to be able to experience it warts and all, but you’ll never have the opportunity if you think we’re too stupid to associate with.
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