by Jennifer Lawson

Created on: November 18, 2008   Last Updated: November 25, 2008

Autism and Vaccines-teach first then blame

I have been the mother of an autistic child for 8 years. My son was diagnosed with autism at 4 years old.

The first thing that needed to be done and always should be done is to deal with any of the symptoms or "issues" individually as soon as they arise and continue to be aware of the changes that are imminent with each one. Each autistic child has a ton of them and each autistic child is different.

After dealing with the symptoms, which actually is unending, then we can start to ask "why?". There are many different theories and ideas that try to answer that question, however, none of them have been chosen as the difinitive cause. Vaccines including the MMR vaccine are one of the favorites of parents and teachers wanting an explanation or cause, because it's easy and we have someone or something to blame. I want an explanation too. I am not willing to just adopt a theory and run full tilt with it. I am usually pretty busy with working on the symptoms, advocating for my child, coming up with new learning activities and deciding which vitamins work and which to try.

There is not a definitive link between autism and any vaccine that is given to our children. There are so many children and adults that are diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum that I'm pretty sure anyone can come up with a link to many many things. Still we do not know, scientists do not know, teachers do not know, and doctors do not know. I believe that it is irresponsible to treat a child medically for something that no one knows the cause and therefore the treatment of. Chelation is the path most often taken by parents that believe vaccines and metals in the body are the cause. I have yet to hear or see a child cured of autism after going through chelation. I have however seen many autistic children improve with special diet, vitamins, speech therapy, occupational therapy, therapuetic horse riding, behavior therapy, and a hundred other interventions that can be tried. I have seen great improvements in my son in all of the areas that most autistic children need help with and have not once used chelation or even diet change. I will not say that this may not help some children, but I do feel that if you believe that vaccines may be the cause, go ahead and try, but please do not stop everything or discount anything else and put full faith into this one intervention.

Autism is not a simple disease or disorder and we will not find a simple answer. I hope with all other parents of autistic children that a cure will be found sooner rather than later. For now, we have to take care of what we do know. Interventions for the symptoms, teaching life skills, play skills, and any way we can find to help our children lead a normal and productive life. There are millions of resources out there for these kids. I truly believe that a child's entire team, which includes school, doctors, parents, friends, extended family. behaviorists, therapists and anyone else with an interest in the child, working together, communicating, trying and failing and trying again is what is going to "cure" a child with autism. There will always be speculations, behaviors and issues to deal with. We, as parents, have to put these interventions ahead of any accusations of cause for our children to succeed. Blaming is not an intervention and a waste of energy.

It is the scientists job to find where to place the blame, it is my job to teach.

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