Guest Author • Jan 20, 2021 •
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
Alison Campbell • Jul 25, 2019 •
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
Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Mar 08, 2019 •
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
Grant Jacobs • Mar 05, 2019 •
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
Helen Petousis Harris • Mar 05, 2019 •
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 The now long since retracted article proposed that the MMR vaccine caused autism based of the purported claims of 8 parents.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
Alison Campbell • Mar 05, 2019 •
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
Grant Jacobs • Feb 19, 2019 •
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
Guest Author • Apr 03, 2018 •
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
Alison Campbell • Mar 07, 2018 •
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
Jean Balchin • Feb 27, 2018 •
On Friday, October 13, at about 11.30pm, a blood clot travelled up from my father’s heart to the left side of his brain. Here, it lodged itself in an artery, and promptly caused a stroke. I don’t know how Dad felt about this, or whether he knew what was happening, because he hasn’t been able to speak since then. It’s … Read More