John McCain on the Cause of Autism

Posted by Melissa Hincha-Ownby Feb 29, 2008

One of the main questions that continues to haunt the entire autism community is, “What causes autism?” Truth be told, there is no definitive answer. A few weeks ago I blogged on autism and vaccines and before that I discussed a few presidential candidates’ stances on support of autism spectrum disorders, this week I’m combining the two.

AutismLink, a company that provides news releases on autism spectrum disorders, has sent out an email to its subscribers commenting on John McCain’s belief that thimerosal-containing vaccinations are likely the cause of the increase in autism rates. According to ABC News’ reporter Bret Hovell, who AutismLink quoted in its press release, McCain said "It’s indisputable that (autism) is on the rise amongst children, the question is what’s causing it. And we go back and forth and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines."

This is the most forthright statement that any presidential candidate has made with regards to autism. It is likely to cause a bit of a media flurry among those in the autism community as well. Recent reports have been released refuting the vaccine/autism claim. On the other side of the issue, a vaccine case being tried in Federal court has the government conceding that the plaintiff’s evidence was insurmountable.

It will be interesting to see what others in the autism community have to say on this comment. I will go back to my original stance, while it would be nice to know what causes autism I think far more effort should go into helping those living with autism day-to-day.

Source:

AutismLink News Release