Autism and Vaccines

Posted by Melissa Hincha-Ownby Feb 12, 2008

One of the most hotly debated arguments among those in the autism community is whether the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination, and the thimerosal that was used to preserve it, is directly responsible for the increase in autism diagnoses seen in the United States. Repeated studies have been released confirming the statement that there is no statistically significant link between the MMR vaccination and autism.

For many parents accepting this as fact is simply impossible. A common thread among those who believe that their child has mercury-induced autism is that they can also be cured once the mercury is removed from their system. Accepting the idea that this is not possible is simply something that many of these parents do not want to do, and understandably so.

From my research as a parent, I do believe that some children with mercury poisoning present with autistic-like tendencies and even meet the clinical diagnosis for autism. These children who receive biomedical treatment can at times show vast improvement, some even losing the autism diagnosis. The question is whether the child truly had autism or just mercury-poisoning which masked itself as autism. There have been studies into heavy metal toxicity that support this statement.

One thing is certain – there will be some time before a definitive answer on this topic is accepted by all. I would never presume to tell a parent that no, the MMR did not induce autism in her child. I would also hope that another parent would not presume to tell me that it did cause autism in mine. My children were both different from birth, there was no defining moment in their past pointing to a date that they “turned autistic.”