Tagged: autism

Autistic people need a greater say in where NZ’s autism research funding is spent – here’s a way forward - Guest Work

Guest Author • Dec 07, 2021 •

• autism,
• New Zealand stories

Lisa Marie Emerson, University of Canterbury Research has tremendous potential to help the estimated 93,000 autistic New Zealanders live the lives they want to live. The trouble is, funding for autism research is currently skewed away from the areas autistic people themselves say would be most useful. When asked what future autism research should be prioritised, autistic people and … Read More

Book Review: Unlocking the World of Autism - Guest Work

Guest Author • Jan 20, 2021 •

• autism,
• autism spectrum disorder,
• book review,
• Psychology

Sara Luterman Growing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice for navigating life’s problems, even more so. In … Read More

A new study on the heritability of autism spectrum disorder - Unsorted

Alison Campbell • Jul 25, 2019 •

• autism,
• autism spectrum disorder,
• heritability

Science has known for a while now that there is a strong genetic component in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), although those opposed to vaccination tend to deny this. (David Gorski points this out in his commentary on this new 2019 paper.) In this paper, Bai et al. cite data from a meta-analysis of twin studies that estimated the heritability … Read More

The MMR Myth: How should we report it? - Unsorted

Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Mar 08, 2019 •

• autism,
• immunisation,
• Lancet,
• MMR,
• vaccination,
• Wakefield

This week a new research paper concluded, again, that there is no link between the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine and autism. It almost seems mundane to report on, given we established many years ago that there was no such link and the persistent myth was based on fraudulent ‘research’. But as a friend and family member of people … Read More

Autism revisited: genetics, environment, not vaccines - Code for life

Grant Jacobs • Mar 05, 2019 •

• autism,
• copy number variation,
• de novo mutation,
• gene,
• genetics,
• MMR vaccine,
• Vaccine,
• vaccines

Researchers are pounding the trail of the genetics of autism. There is also more evidence that vaccines don’t cause autism. More interesting is what does cause autism. (Those looking for the vaccine bit should track down to the section, Another nail on the coffin.) Not the Rain Man People with autism or autism spectrum disorder find social communication and … Read More

How many nails does it take to secure the MMR/Autism coffin? - Diplomatic Immunity

Helen Petousis Harris • Mar 05, 2019 •

• autism,
• MMR

Twenty-one years ago the most significant piece of medical piffle was published in a prestigious journal under fraudulent pretences. The now long since retracted article proposed that the MMR vaccine caused autism based of the purported claims of 8 parents. Yes eight (8). Same number of legs on an octopus. Same number of babies delivered by Octomom … Read More

No link between MMR vaccination and autism - BioBlog

Alison Campbell • Mar 05, 2019 •

• autism,
• immunisation,
• measles,
• MMR,
• vaccination,
• Wakefield

One of the myths (and there are a lot of them) continually pushed by those opposed to vaccination, is that “the MMR vaccine causes autism” – often coupled with claims that “there are no studies comparing the health of vaccinated & unvaccinated children”. (That’s another myth, by the way.) The origins of this claim can be laid squarely … Read More

A summary of the evidence for the main vaccine concerns - Code for life

Grant Jacobs • Feb 19, 2019 •

• aluminium,
• autism,
• Evidence,
• GBS,
• Guillain-Barré syndrome,
• HPV,
• measles,
• MMR,
• summary,
• Thimerosal,
• Vaccine

Vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks are happening everywhere. Measles is on the rise worldwide, including in Europe and the USA. Over 900 have died in Madagascar alone since October 2018.[1] Most will be infants. Japan’s rubella epidemic has prompted traveller warnings. 367 cases have been reported this year. Venezuela has considerable problems, not helped by diphtheria coming back. Read More

Kids with autism less likely to be fully vaccinated - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 03, 2018 •

• antivaxxers,
• autism,
• Centres for Disease Control and Prevention,
• Diagnosis,
• misinformation,
• MMR,
• neurotypical,
• Parenting,
• siblings,
• The Lancet,
• under-vaccination,
• United States,
• vaccines

Phoebe Roth, The Conversation This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Children with autism and their younger siblings are less likely to be fully vaccinated than neurotypical children and their siblings, new research from the US has found. Of children aged seven years and older, 94% of neurotypical children had … Read More

UNICEF and friends VS the outspoken Anti-vaxxers - BioBlog

Alison Campbell • Mar 07, 2018 •

• antivaxxers,
• autism,
• cancer,
• Catholic Church,
• clinical trial,
• DNA,
• fetus,
• human cell lines,
• infection,
• malnourishment,
• measles,
• New Zealand,
• Pharmacy,
• public health,
• Science,
• stem cells,
• tumour,
• UNICEF,
• vaccines,
• virotherapy

Back in mid-February, UNICEF NZ posted a piece on the importance of vaccines. Shortly thereafter, the comments thread had been overrun by anti-vaccination pro-disease activists. (I have to say, I’m really impressed with the person who does UNICEF’s social media. Talk about grace and dignity under fire!) This seems to happen every time a story about vaccine-preventable disease hits the … Read More