Should you give your child the MMR jab, and will your child become autistic after being immunised?
The current thinking amongst medical professionals is that the MMR jab does not cause autism and doctors are urging parents to have their children immunized. This subject has recently hit the the news here in the UK after large scale outbreaks of Measles point to parents worrying about the possible risks of “MMR related autism” and deciding not to immunize their children.
My thinking on this is that there have probably always been people with what we now call autism, way before the MMR jab had been invented and given to children. There will always be anecdotal evidence that supports the MMR causes Autism school of thought but I have my own anecdotal evidence in my work as a tutor at The National Autistic Society* and for local government authority children’s services* where often I see the hereditary factor where the parent of the autistic child will also display quite obvious autistic symptoms. In fact my father shows many traits that are common autistic type symptoms. These observations would seem to negate the MMR causes Autism theory.
There are of course many parents that do not display any autistic traits but as I said I am just relating personal anecdotes and observations. I understand that many experts now talk about genetic factors in relation to autism.
Could it also be possible that some people have been adversely affected by the occasional rogue batch of the MMR compound that could have caused a degree of brain damage? Actually before my diagnosis of high functioning autism, I was told by the psychologist that I either had some brain damage or autism! I expect the screening and safety checks on vaccinations when I was a child were not as advanced as they are now.
So at this time I do not think there is the need to think there is a link between autism and the MMR jab, and on balance I would tend to go along with what the majority of doctors are advising. There is a huge amount of probably unreliable “evidence” on the internet that blames the MMR jab for causing autism.
But in this case I trust the professionals.
Steve
* The views expressed in this article are my own and not necessarily those of the National Autistic Society or any other organisation
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