[MichelleZB]

https://medium.com/the-archipelago/...me-its-a-lot-better-than-measles-78cb039f4bea

As we are all aware, vaccine articles and opinion pieces are trending right now. This one was one of my favourite pieces.

 

[teacozy]

https://medium.com/the-archipelago/...me-its-a-lot-better-than-measles-78cb039f4bea

As we are all aware, vaccine articles and opinion pieces are trending right now. This one was one of my favourite pieces.

That was great! Thank you so much for sharing. From the article:

"What upsets me more than the wrongness, though, is the dangerously unfair behavior that results from it. When someone believes asinine things about vaccines, it hurts humanity on an intellectual level. When they put those beliefs into action and refuse to vaccinate their children, it puts all of us at risk of serious illness and death. The current measles outbreak, which has now infected over 100 people in 14 states and is currently spreading into Canada, is a glaring example of what can happen when people put their (ignorant) personal whims against the well-being of their community. Through no fault of their own, unvaccinated children, immunocompromised people, babies too young to receive the vaccination and the occasional vaccinated person (no vaccine is 100 per cent because science is not magic) across the continent are suffering from an infection that was essentially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000. All because a sizable group of mostly-privileged parents have decided that reviving a group of life-threatening diseases and potentially inflicting them on their loved ones and neighbors is infinitely preferable to having an autistic child."

:thumb

 

[MichelleZB]

My favourite part is how the author really humanizes the idea of being on the spectrum. It's true that often anti-vaccine rhetoric turns into anti-autism rhetoric.

 

[teacozy]

My favourite part is how the author really humanizes the idea of being on the spectrum. It's true that often anti-vaccine rhetoric turns into anti-autism rhetoric.

I agree, it was really good. Another part I liked:

"I’m not sure what the cure is here. Anti-vaxxers are very dedicated to being wrong. As The New York Times’ Brendan Nyhan discovered last year, they’re more resistant to irrefutable facts than vaccinated kids are to preventable diseases. But I’m at least a little bit hopeful that renewed interest in anti-vaxxer rhetoric, spurred by the current measles outbreak, will inspire a more thorough discussion about autism like Anne Theriault’s and Jen Zoratti’s excellent work on the topic (full disclosure—I’m quoted in the latter piece)—and that this discussion will do some good. For starters, we could talk about people on the spectrum like we’re better than measles, like we’re human, or like we’re there at all."

 

[KSLaura]

Great article! Thanks for posting!