Hmmm...that's weird...one of sentences showed up in the post incomplete....

It was supposed to be: ..."be created because of the seeming connection between autism and multiple immunizations given to children so young..."

Or something like that.
Sorry.

As I have stated in the other vaccine thread, I don't feel that there is an actual connection between vaccines and autism.

From the research that I have done, it was the mercury in the shots that may have caused problems and to date I believe that the mercury is no longer an issue in the vaccines.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to read about this guy, so sorry for not giving a completely educated assumption, but I think that the autism shows its ugly head in a child for reasons other than vaccines. It is one of those medical have-no-answer issues.

Maybe some people are predisposed to having autism, while others aren't. If the vaccines caused autism then why doesn't it effect everyone the same way.

Not to be dumb, but is the MMR shot that is the main culprit here? I thought that I read something about that. In any case, I feel so secure in the vaccines that my children received that I would have no problem revaccinating myself with those same shots. I did have to have my MMR after the birth of my Savannah, and aside from hurting like hell and a bump at the injection sight, I suffered no other ill effects....my brain damage is from my children LOL

This topic was debated on a different board and I was actually told not to post anymore because I was not making other opinions feel validated....i.e. I was stating this same opinion and this particular message board (IVillage) felt that keeping the piece was more important than actually debating topics.

I look forward to hearing other opinions on this because it is a real personal issue; however, I think that a child is done more harm than good if they don't receive the shots. There is a reason that these diseases have been eradicated for the most part..VACCINATIONS...if you don't vaccinate now, your child may end up getting these diseases later in life when it is much more dangerous.

Our pediatrician is a big pusher of the vaccinations and I am doing what they call a "slow vac" which means I wait until my son is a little older before all the shots.

She did tell me that the culprit in studies linked to autism was the carring fluid rather than the vaccinations themselves. She confirmed that most pharmaceutical companies no longer use that carring substance.

The question it raised for me is - they were using it for years with that carrying fluid and weren't aware of the link to autism. What else are they not aware of today that they'll know in a year or ten years. ho-hum, I agonize over the vaccination issue.

My whole question is... why the heck do we need to give so many shots at once? I know it saves visits to the drs office, but if there is a reaction it will make it harder to pinpoint which vaccine caused it. Plus you are bombarding these poor little immune systems with 6 things at once (MMR is 3 things alone). I would rather drop by once a week for four weeks to get the shots. A quick check by the nurse of temp to make sure they aren't sick and give them the shot, not even have to see the doctor.

You're right this schedule has been used of years, including on us. Why is there all of a sudden increase in autism. And while Jennie McCarthy may be very persuasive and intelligent, I don't see a PhD after her name so I'm going to take what she says with a grain of salt. (not that a PhD necessarily means the person is right)

I think this is one of the hardest issues for parents right now. You are right, there is an outpouring of info now attempting to support the connection. I have a step son that has a functioning form of autism, and honestly, I believe it has more to do with his prenatal care (or lack there of) and how his mother treated her own body that would cause me to believe is where the disorder may have came from than the shots. I hate them, my daughter gets VERY sick from them everytime and I dread taking her, but I do. I can also say that being involved with different autism forums/charities I can sympathize with these parents especially the ones with FULL on autism and I would probably be hunting out a reason as well. It is hard enough being a parent we should not have to rationalize whether to give aide in the health of our kids, it stinks all the way around.

I did not read the link but I do share an opinion. I am a mom of a 20mth old boy and I am an beh therapist that works with children with autism. YEs there has not been evidence to prove the MMR causes autism. I think it became an issue bc a Dr in the UK came out in 1998 saying there was a link bc the preservative in it contained mercury. THey have removed that preservative now. In fact they went on to do another study that followed families and vaccinations and realized taht although the # of vaccinations went down, the # of cases of autism stayed the same which proves there was no link. HOWEVER, I work with alot of families that swear by the fact that their children were dev normally until 18 mths to 2yrs old. Now there is such a thing as regressive autism 9not sure how common it is) which means that children dev well and for no reason regress and lose their skills..which could explain what happend to these children. No one knows which is part of the mystery.Maybe there are children suseptible to it and the vaccines trigger a reaction bc their body cannot metabolize the fluid. THE centre for disease control is currently re-investigating the link which is why being in the field and seeing what I see, I have not given my son the vaccines yet. I want to wait until he is older and his brain has matured. However there are measles going around in toronto and I am constantly thinking about my decision. In the states when do children rec the MMR. In canada its a 12mths and 18mths.

I also don't have the time to read this dude, but as far as I can tell the studies that "prove" the link have taken a group of Autistic children and looked at when they got their shots compare with when they developed Autism. Where is the control study? Millions, that's right millions, of children get the MMR vaccine and don't develop Autism. These studies are NOT science.

Sorry, but the nay-sayers just make me mad. It's like the Church centuries ago saying the Earth was the centre of the Solar Sytem despite the facts.

I know what I know, don't confuse me with the facts.

Also, the reason we give vaccinations as quickly as possible and hence all at once is to give our kids immunity BEFORE they come into contact with these horrific diseases. Did you know that measles kills 1 in 1000 kids that get it? That's just terrible, I think.

I've always been a believer that biological & genetic makeup are what determine autism. I can't bring myself to readily believe the vaccine theory.

Especially since my eldest had the same schedule of shots as they have now (with the exception of the right-after-birth Hep B shot...though I declined that on my youngest as well) and she is fine.

Anyway...I just thought it was interesting...sort of.

what it boils down to is this...

its not the doctors who are going to make the determination as to whether the vaccines are 'safe' its the drug manufacturers. And the thing that troubles me about drug manufacturers is that they don't have any neutral testing grounds. The tests which are performed are done so by the very industry which stands to gain or lose based on the results of the test... and such test results can always be manipulated to show the result which they favor unless there is a grave connection where a particular drug causes undeniable complications.

Doctors have their hearts in the right place by encouraging vaccines as a means to erradicate certain diseases from society, and in some cases they have worked wonders.... but who is to say what the long term ramifications of ANY of the chemicals being produced by self-governed bodies... If you ask me, the FDA ought to mandate that any drug is tested independantly by a neutral third party who has no vested interest in the outcome of the testing. But then, we all certainly know that the government agencies are in bed with eachother... so we have to just do our best to weed through what information is available, and choose the lesser of two evils.

That said, I do have my children vaccinated at this point. But if they try to tell me that my daughter will not be able to go school without getting the HPV vaccine at the ripe age of 9 or 11... well, that will be my cue to homeschool.