Just wondering...

[earthmama007]

I am trying to settle a debate. Does anyone know of any person who has autism that was not ever vaccinated???

[annettemarie]

I don't know the answer, but I am certainly intrigued!
Annette

[Stevie]

nope...

:

[NatureMama3]

None of the autistic children I know were unvaccinated.

One thing to consider however, is the presence of vaccines in the mother while pregnant. If Mama got vaccines (such as flu) while PG, that may well be a trigger even if child wasn't vaccinated.

Vaccines aren't the only cause of autism, so it can be confusing to find the cause. They ARE however a major cause and a completely avoidable one.

[kaydee]

There was a letter in Mothering in 2002 or 2003 (sorry, can't remember which--but you can look it up if you have back issues) from a mom who had 2 sons with autism who were vaxed. She blamed the vaxes for the autism and decided not to vax son #3. He, too, was diagnosed with autism. She was writing because she no longer believed that the vaxes had caused the autism.

[charmarty]

*

[DesireeH]

I remember reading somewhere about a child that was unvaxed that had autism. I dont think shots are the ONLY cause of it but it's certainly related.

[weebitty2]

even unvaxxed children can be autistic - in some cases autism was caused by the exposure of parents to vaccinations.

My youngest sister has Aspergers', and she's never been vaxxed, but during early pg with her my mom had a full round of vaxes because of working in healthcare.

[Butter]

Yes, children who are unvaxed can get autism. Just like most other diseases and disorders, vaccines are far from the only cause, but can be a cause.

[earthmama007]

Thanks for your replies. I guess anything is possible, right???

[Deborah]

I'm reading "Uncle Tungsten" by Oliver Sacks. In a footnote he describes a 19th century English scientist named Cavendish, who was brilliant, but completely unable to connect to other people.

"He was almost passionless. All that needed for its apprehension more than the pure intellect, or required the exercise of fancy, imagination, affection or faith, was distasteful to Cavendish. An intellectual head thinking, a pair of wonderfully acute eyes observing, and a pair of very skilful hands experimenting or recording, are all that I realise in reading his memorials." A biography of Cavendish by George Wilson, quoted by Oliver Sacks.

Sacks concludes: "...Cavendish's remoteness and ingenuousness were much more suggestive of autism or Asperger's syndrome. I now think Wilson's biography may be the fullest account we are ever likely to have of the life and mind of a unique autistic genius."

Exposure to dangerous chemicals/pollutants occurred in the past, so this story certainly doesn't prove the "genetic" cause of autism. I can remember children playing with mercury when I was a kid (in fact I must have touched it a couple of times myself). Many manufacturing jobs involved exposure to toxins. Cavendish came of a wealthy family, however, so we'll probably never know what happened.

Nana