# Another Worthless Celebrity Anti-Vaxer **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734 "2014-03-14T23:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/141 "2014-03-20T16:00:43Z")
At the risk of raining scorn on my head, this reasoning seems awfully close to the Deaf community who want deafness to be viewed no differently from, say, being a red-head to the point where they opt out of procedures for their children that could repair their hearing. I understand the rationale–people who are autistic (and those who love them) don’t want to be viewed as broken, especially those who are on the higher-functional scale. But it **is a disorder** ; some people with autism will never be able to live on their own. If we ever find something that reduces autism then we should adopt it. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/142 "2014-03-20T16:06:18Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > At the risk of raining scorn on my head, this reasoning seems awfully close to the Deaf community who want deafness to be viewed no differently from, say, being a red-head to the point where they opt out of procedures for their children that could repair their hearing. > > I understand the rationale–people who are autistic (and those who love them) don’t want to be viewed as broken, especially those who are on the higher-functional scale. But it **is a disorder** ; some people with autism will never be able to live on their own. If we ever find something that reduces autism then we should adopt it. It is. If this seems completely alien, try reading Andrew Solomon’s _Defiantly Deaf_: [Defiantly Deaf | Andrew Solomon](http://andrewsolomon.com/articles/defiantly-deaf/) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/143 "2014-03-20T18:16:45Z")
My daughter is autistic. I love her like mad. I would never want her to not be her. If, however, I were given a button to push that made the autism instantly go away, would I push it? Hell yes. To make my own life easier? No. Because I know exactly - well, no, not exactly - how much more difficult her life is going to be because of her condition, and I would do anything to let her live more normally. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/144 "2014-03-20T21:39:18Z")
I’m trying to keep my son as is but do what I can to change the world. He’ll make his accommodations, bur hopefully things will be easier for him when he grows up than they are for autistic adults today. But yeah, I’d do anything that would help him lead an independent, satisfying life. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/145 "2014-03-21T23:06:14Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Also since Barobama reads this website I’d like to say, “Hi.” Oh, I wish he did! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/146 "2014-03-21T23:18:27Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > This is the first time you have heard any dissent, I presume, because you have not really given this much thought. > > Autistic Jim Sinclair writes in _Don’t Mourn For Us_: > > While you’re on wiki: [Neurodiversity - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurodiversity) > See for yourself what the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network thinks of “combating autism”: [http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/03/stopcombatingme/](http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/03/stopcombatingme/) [Let’s take this argument to GD where it belongs.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=718918) ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/147 "2014-03-27T12:20:06Z")
Meantime, there’s a new study saying that autism likely [begins in pregnancy](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26750786). Take THAT, you stupid anti-vaxxers. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/148 "2014-03-27T17:23:16Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Meantime, there’s a new study saying that autism likely [begins in pregnancy](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26750786). Take THAT, you stupid anti-vaxxers. Sorry, but then we can blame vaccines the mom got (even back in her childhood. Epigenetics, you know). \*"Assuming the results (of research indicating autism begins prenatally) pan out, this would provide further evidence that autism is likely to be a genetic disorder affecting early brain development. Onset in the womb, of course, would eliminate childhood vaccines as a cause. We already know, however, that this won’t stop the anti-vaccine community from continuing to claim that vaccines or mercury cause autism. The evidence is not relevant to their beliefs. They already have shifted to blaming the mother’s vaccines."\* > **[When Does Autism Begin? - NeuroLogica Blog](https://theness.com/neurologicablog/when-does-autism-begin/)** > > One common feature of unscientific belief systems is that they do not change in the face of new evidence. They tend to evolve like cultural beliefs or marketing campaigns, but do not appear to be affected by scientific evidence in any meaningful way.... Of course it could be the fault of Dad’s vaccines. Or even the parents talking about what vaccines the baby might get later on. It’s a toxic subject. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/149 "2014-03-27T19:28:10Z")
_sigh_ Ok, I admit it. It’s my fault. I’m the Autism Fairy. I took over this job from the previous Autism Fairy shortly after I was born back in 1962. I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t know it was wrong. I was too young to know. As I grew up, I came to hate Humanity (stupid little half-monkeys) and really came to enjoy my job. Hell, for a while there I was deliberately giving Autism to kids who had been vaccinated, just to mess with you folks. But I have come to recognize the errors of my ways. I’m will be resigning the job very shortly. However, since the job must be filled and the only way to resign is to find your replacement, and I’m looking at several candidates. One of them seems promising, even if he is a bit old. Anyone heard of Dick Cheney? ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/150 "2014-03-27T20:37:45Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Sorry, but then we can blame vaccines the mom got (even back in her childhood. Epigenetics, you know). > > \*"Assuming the results (of research indicating autism begins prenatally) pan out, this would provide further evidence that autism is likely to be a genetic disorder affecting early brain development. Onset in the womb, of course, would eliminate childhood vaccines as a cause. > > We already know, however, that this won’t stop the anti-vaccine community from continuing to claim that vaccines or mercury cause autism. The evidence is not relevant to their beliefs. They already have shifted to blaming the mother’s vaccines."\* > > [When Does Autism Begin? - NeuroLogica Blog](http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/when-does-autism-begin/) > > Of course it could be the fault of Dad’s vaccines. Or even the parents talking about what vaccines the baby might get later on. It’s a toxic subject. 😕 If it’s down to the mother’s vaccines, though, then surely at least there’s very little argument left for not vaccinating the kids? I’m vaccinated to the gills, so my kids are already epigenetically fucked (if I believed that, which I don’t), so where’s the extra harm in vaccinating them? ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/151 "2014-03-27T21:14:30Z")
make sure to include Dr. Oz in your list of anti-Vaxx celebrities. While he’s not contractually free to fully express his opinions on the subject, he admits to not vaccinating his kids. there are actually quite a lot of MD’s against vaccination, though their voices are not widely heard as they are sidelined by the MSM. This article links to a list of 150+ MD’s (no google degrees here) who have spoken out: > **[Doctors Against Vaccines: The Other Side of the Story is Not Being Told](https://healthimpactnews.com/2014/doctors-against-vaccines-the-other-side-of-the-story-is-not-being-told/?utm_content=buffer76372&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer)** > > The pro-Pharma mainstream media would like everyone to believe that doctors and "scientists" all agree that vaccines are safe and effective, and that dissenters are uneducated or uninformed parents. Not true. Doctors and scientist who dare to speak... I guess they’re all crazy… ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/152 "2014-03-27T22:27:47Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > If it’s down to the mother’s vaccines, though, then surely at least there’s very little argument left for not vaccinating the kids? I’m vaccinated to the gills, so my kids are already epigenetically fucked (if I believed that, which I don’t), so where’s the extra harm in vaccinating them? See, there you go employing logic. We can’t have that. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/153 "2014-03-27T22:41:24Z")
After hearing the news today, I’m starting to wonder if all children nowadays should be assumed to be autistic until proven otherwise. > **[Autism rates now 1 in 68 U.S. children: CDC | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/health/cdc-autism/index.html?hpt=hp_t2)** > > One in 68 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder, a 30% increase from 1 in 88 two years ago, according to a new report from the CDC Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/154 "2014-03-27T22:45:58Z")
a novel way to shut-up the anti-Vaxxers, find the actual cause(s) of Autism. 1 in 68 now in the US? That’s crazy! Clearly there’s something really bad going on, maybe something in our environment that was approved and shouldn’t have been… Clearly that’s a large enough sample pool to do some studies… You can’t blame it all on the anti-Vaxxers “distracting” the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/155 "2014-03-27T22:51:14Z")
> [@akrako1](#): > > a novel way to shut-up the anti-Vaxxers, find the actual cause(s) of Autism. 1 in 68 now in the US? That’s crazy! Clearly there’s something really bad going on, maybe something in our environment that was approved and shouldn’t have been… Clearly that’s a large enough sample pool to do some studies… You can’t blame it all on the anti-Vaxxers “distracting” the conversation. Please explain what you mean by this post. Do you think vaccines have something to do with autism? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/156 "2014-03-27T22:52:17Z")
> [@akrako1](#): > > a novel way to shut-up the anti-Vaxxers, find the actual cause(s) of Autism. 1 in 68 now in the US? That’s crazy! Clearly there’s something really bad going on, maybe something in our environment that was approved and shouldn’t have been… Clearly that’s a large enough sample pool to do some studies… You can’t blame it all on the anti-Vaxxers “distracting” the conversation. I think it’s because it’s being properly identified and diagnosed. Some people also attribute it to video and computer dating, which has enabled people on the high-functioning end of the spectrum who otherwise might not have been able to find partners to do so. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/157 "2014-03-27T23:02:15Z")
> [@akrako1](#): > > make sure to include Dr. Oz in your list of anti-Vaxx celebrities. While he’s not contractually free to fully express his opinions on the subject, he admits to not vaccinating his kids. > > there are actually quite a lot of MD’s against vaccination, though their voices are not widely heard as they are sidelined by the MSM. This article links to a list of 150+ MD’s (no google degrees here) who have spoken out: > [Doctors Against Vaccines: The Other Side of the Story is Not Being Told](http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/doctors-against-vaccines-the-other-side-of-the-story-is-not-being-told/?utm_content=buffer76372&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer) > > I guess they’re all crazy… FYI, the source you linked to here hypes bullshit for gullible people. Their idea of a reputable source on vaccines is a nonsensical piece of [propaganda](http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-greater-good-pure-unadulterated-anti-vaccine-propagand/) that promotes anti-vax horseshit. And then suggests coconuts are the solution to all health problems. ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/158 "2014-03-27T23:05:20Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Please explain what you mean by this post. Do you think vaccines have something to do with autism? Well clearly there is _something_ people are more exposed to these days that is causing a rise in autism, it’s not all due to overdiagnosis or expanding the definition of the “spectrum”. A lot of the Holistic crowd thinks it’s a combination or build up of aggravating factors, and not just vaccines - which has a ring of truth to me. But one has to at least admit that the Immunologic adjuvants in vaccines are by definition toxic. But vaccines just can’t be the only factor, as there would be clear correlations with autism. I’m betting on a more broadly used environmental contaminant, perhaps a pesticide or other hastily approved product, or combination of chemicals that’s the larger part of the problem, while the vaccination might just be the tipping point. I do believe the parents who swear there was a drastic, irreversible change after a vaccination, I just think they’re misguided if they consider it the only cause. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/159 "2014-03-27T23:09:15Z")
> [@akrako1](#): > > Well clearly there is _something_ people are more exposed to these days that is causing a rise in autism . . . What makes you think there is a rise in autism? ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734/160 "2014-03-27T23:12:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What makes you think there is a rise in autism? Have you not been paying attention? Of the TONs of articles on the subject, here’s just one recent one: > **[Autism Rate Has Increased -- 1 In 68 Kids Now Identified With The Disorder](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/autism-rate-1-in-68_n_5041858)** > > Autism Rate Has Increased -- 1 In 68 Kids Now Identified With The Disorder > [@](#): > > One in 68 children in the United States have now been identified with an autism spectrum disorder, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers released Thursday. > … > > The global prevalence of autism has increased twenty- to thirtyfold since the first population studies were conducted in Europe in the late 1960s and '70s, according to background information provided in the new report. At that time, research suggested that only 1 in 2,500 children in Europe were affected by autism. > > The CDC began tracking autism rates in the U.S. in 2000 with the establishment of its Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, which relies on health and education records. Early estimates found that autism affected roughly 1 in every 150 children – a number that has steadily increased with each subsequent report. (A separate 2013 CDC report estimated that 1 in every 50 children in the U.S. have an autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, although that was based on parental reports, not official records.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-worthless-celebrity-anti-vaxer/683734.md?page=9)