autism / hear this well / regressive autism / vaccines

Just who are these Anti-Vaxxers anyway?

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I knew nothing of the so-called ‘anti vaccination’ movement until 18 months ago.

10150542_681588701911142_5680236155793854384_nSince the late 70’s I have worked with adults with special needs, and for the last 15 years specifically in housing.  Helping adults with disabilities to live as independently as possible in the community is my passion. Families of adults with disabilities have a different focus from those with young children, their energy is geared towards the rights of adults and how to ensure that they are safe and well cared for their entire lives, especially once the family members are gone. It is an all-encompassing endeavor.  Vaccines are rarely mentioned.

In the last ten years,  the housing group meetings that I have led have gone from:

Cross-disability…  an almost even distribution of family members in need of housing who were living with physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and autism…

...to meetings that are now 80% autism families.

When I met with these families individually in order to develop an individualized housing plan for each young person,  almost every family with an autistic member had a story of regressive autism… a child who appeared to be developing typically and who changed almost overnight. These families were not activists, they were not outspoken. They were not part of any movement.  Quite the opposite, they did not elaborate but rather talked quietly of ‘moving on’, ‘putting it behind them’, ‘not their focus now’.

So we focused on housing.

Then in the spring of 2013 I was asked to give a housing presentation at a national conference of Autism One. I had never heard of the organization.  Before doing any research as to who they were, I agreed to present. However, I did do my research in the weeks following the phone call request….  ANTI-VAXXERS!  Crazy People!  Dangerous therapies!  Autism Haters! Pseudo Science! QUACKS!

What was I getting myself into?  

I had people calling and writing to warn me against participating in this conference.  I considered not going, I thought about losing whatever credibility I had built up over the years.

I also thought about the gentle voice of the retired English professor who had called and asked me to present at this conference. Oh well, I was never one to believe hearsay anyways, even when the hearsay was deafening, as in this case.   I went to the Autism One conference.

What did I find there?

I found PEOPLE.  regular PEOPLE.

Smart people, concerned people, highly educated people.  Happy people, really funny people, really serious people. Innovative people, progressive people. Quiet people. Loud people.  Regular people. 

What I DID NOT find is crazy people.  I did not find ANY haters of autistic people.  I did find many of the same people that I would have met at any of my parent’s meetings.  Families struggling to find housing and a future for their young adults with autism.  And THAT was the focus of my interactions.

The vaccine movement is not my battle.  I do believe that many of the people that I met at the Autism One conference that week believe that vaccines can cause autism. Most have had personal experiences that have shaped their beliefs. I really really like these people.  I respect these people.  I BELIEVE these people.

But my battle is HOUSING.  Just in my state of Pennsylvania, there are thousands of people with a disability who are in need of services and housing.  The numbers of young autistic people aging into the adult disability system is unprecedented.  There is so much work to be done.

However, the hatred in this country that is aimed at the ‘ANTI VAXXERS’  has put me over the edge this week.

 So WHO does everyone think these Anti-Vaxxers are, anyways?  Do they really deserve this hatred, this mockery, this ridicule, this BULLYING?  Because that is what it sounds like, it sounds like bullying. And most of them have retreated, afraid to admit that yes, it happened to their child too.  They are afraid of the bullying, and they have no voice.  No matter what your stand is on vaccines … and whether you believe them or not … the question is about bullying.

Everyone deserves to have a voice.

A small percentage of them are speaking up this week. I want to introduce you to some of them.  Here are 14 families who believe that vaccines hurt their children, that vaccines not only caused regressive autism but also seizures, mitochondrial dysfunction, encephalopathy,  and permanent severe gastrointestinal pain and dysfunction, among other medical issues.  There are over 250 of these videos now posted, with hundreds more yet to come.

But first, let’s take a look at what is being said about these people… in the news, social media, talk shows.  And after you have a laugh, I want you to listen to a few of these families, and see how it makes you feel.  Most of these families, they tell their story in less than 2 minutes… so please give them a listen below the memes.

And by the way, the one thing that they all have in common, is that they DID vaccinate their children.

Here are some things coming across my Facebook news feed:

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Reguritating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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House_MommyGroup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HaHa?  LOL? Funny stuff?

OK that’s enough.  It’s easy to find these memes, if you want more.

 

Now, listen to these families and hear their stories.  Look at their eyes while they tell their story. Because honestly, until you actually do…

 

what you believe is just hearsay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hear this Well…

Read the story behind this campaign…

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/933954-autism-parents-reply-to-cnn-hear-this-well/?photo=2

 

38 thoughts on “Just who are these Anti-Vaxxers anyway?”

  1. Wonderful piece! Thorough and thoughtful…..from one of ‘those nutjobs’ with 2 vaccine damaged kids….who is now in the housing trenches with you!

    Liked by 2 people

  2. I had doubts about modern vaccines and held off the MMR and DTP preschool until my son was nearly three years old. I gave in to pressure from my local clinic and other parents and Nathan was given the MMR at two and three quarters years – and he slowly lost all his language and sociability; he was given his pre-school DTP at three and a half years and two weeks later my son was gone. Nathan was now a screaming, head-banging, self harming ball of tension who would not make eye contact at any level.
    I KNOW that the modern vaccines damaged my son but have no recourse, no justice and no support other than from other Autism Parents.

    Liked by 3 people

  8. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I appreciate your support and realizing that normal, intelligent people are being bullied because of the government and the beliefs of the majority. If it happened to their child, maybe they would be more compassionate and understanding of the opposing view. It is a choice that should never be taken away and it should never be ridiculed. Everyone is doing the best they can and making choices according to their own experiences and knowledge. I applaud you for being open and seeing what’s going on from a loving heart.

    Liked by 4 people

  10. A great article. I have 3 grandchildren, a granddaughter who stopped talking and lost eye contact after the chicken pox vaccine (aborted fetal cells with human DNA), it took years of speech therapy to bring her back. My grandson had all his vaccines and was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old. He is now 15 years old, he suffers from depression, OCD’s, tics, allergies (bees, wheat, milk, peanuts), asthma, phobias, anxiety, leaky gut, sleep disorders and complains that his brain is racing. My 3rd grandchild has had no vaccines and no Vit K at birth. She is very healthy and bright. Vaccines cause autism and many health problems in children and adults.

    Liked by 4 people

  13. This is so wonderful. I have fear about telling people my beliefs. I don’t tell many people that I stopped vaccinating 8 years ago and that my youngest didn’t get any. It hurts that people will be so closed minded that they cannnot accept any other opinions but their own. Thank you for sharing this.

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Well-written Diane. I met you at that 2013 conference! There is something there with vaccines, as there are other causes of autism. And autism is not just a part of human nature as the nueurodiversity advocates would argue. To declare vaccines don’t have any connection is unscientific because science isn’t meant to be finite, but rather a continual process of hypothesis and research. Moreover, we have solid evidence that a growing number of vaccines simply don’t work (e.g. Pertussis, flu, HPV) as declared by drug-makers themselves and the CDC. Looking forward to seeing you at another event!

    Liked by 3 people

  15. Here are my issues with this. The thing is, the majority of the people who follow this idea are not scientists, nor are they keeping in mind any sort of scientific theories or rules of scientific research methodology. There is a circumstance in correlational research known as the third variable problem, where a third varable accounts for the apparent relationship between the two given variables. I get it, having a child with a developmental disability is scary, but when you pair the third variable problem with Occam’s Razor, it really makes it difficult to have vaccines as the cause for autism.

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  16. I don’t want to talk about vaccines (and do thrust me, I am well known as a pro-vaxxer in the anti-vaxxer community). You are doing good work by providing housing to autistics and that is the point I am focusing on.

    I have a career since last 28 of May. I work for SAP, so do 2 others autistic coworkers. One of them, having a really severe language problem but that doesn’t prevent him from doing fantastic work as a developer. The other autistic is a woman, mother of 3 and on the pattern matching test of the WAIS-IV, she was the only one who fully finished the pattern matching test in the 25 years of career of her psychologist.

    One of her child was a sack of potato (as she say) at one year old. Didn’t do anything, didn’t listen to anything, did nothing and he was even tested for his hearing ability and did very fine in the test but need that I stress again that he was a sack of potato, at one year old.

    Today, he’s 6 and he is cruising the social worker, very alert and playing with me, going to school and he absolutely can’t do any better at school and just about everywhere. The secret: he has his bedroom to retire when he need to retire and he get some assistance when he need to do a task that he don’t know well. He is also playing a lot, on his own terms with brain challenging games (think lego robot or any games that stress brain activity). No ABA, no chelation (and even then, vaccines are not mandatory for attendance to school here in Canada). No Chlorine Dioxide (which is very dangerous to the intestinal lining). Absolutely no biomedical intervention of any kinds.

    Think about it:

    1 year old, a sack of potato. Probably the only person who can have a diagnostic of autism at this age in Canada.

    6 years old, the most verbal, charming, intelligent child around. He already pass for neurotypical.

    Now about myself, I’m the least intelligent of the group (119 IQ on the raven,didn’t compare with neurotypical peoples) but I have a high paying career with a sufficient salary to have a rent which is 10 minutes walk from the job and for which, I live on the 22nd floor of a high rise building with swimming pool, gym, high speed internet, a shared kitchen and lounge at every floors (except the 30th floor which will feature a rotating resto-bar / club overseeing all the city (which shall remain nameless for now) and finally, very great neighbours.

    Now to return to the boy, read those lines again:

    1 year old, a sack of potato. Probably the only person who can have a diagnostic of autism at this age in Canada.

    6 years old, the most verbal, charming, intelligent child around. He already pass for neurotypical.

    at 22 years old, he will kick me in the ass when he start working at SAP. And for all of your client, a really good paying job at SAP or otherwise is really what you should strive for. Why? because for years, a few research group having been working on the learning skills of autistics (this group among others: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Mottron%20L%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=25155242), not their deficit. Read that again: Not their deficit. Please do read that evidence and get very, very, very familiar with autistic’s learning techniques. They need to learn how to develop the skills to work in highly paying companies like SAP, Deloitte and many others.

    Remember, the child, one year old, a sack of potato, 6 years old, already passing for neurotypical and cruising the social worker and 22 years old, he’ll kick my ass and the ass of his mother when it come to doing development or QA testing at SAP.

    Now if you say that there are more severe autistics compared to him, you haven’t understood anything. this child developed his own learning strategy and is already doing better than any autistic I have ever met.

    I also can’t condone, the use of dangerous biomedical treatment, especially in the face of how that autistic child developed better than any other autistic child being submitted to ABA, IBI or any biomedical treatment. He had the chance of having an autistic mother who applied common sense. That’s it and that’s what you should strive for. Have you listened to an autistic adult lately?

    Alain

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  17. Thank you for this. Be kind folks. Everyone is battling something and for some of us that battle comes from our children suffering because of vaccines. My daughter stopped talking after she received her vaccines. We stopped them all and she is finally back with us. So thankful to not have lost her completely.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Wow I had no idea the industries were actively persecuting people who don’t use their vaccines? That’s pretty scary, and just goes to show how little integrity they have. Would you trust someone to stick a needle in your arm who insults you like that?

    Liked by 3 people

  20. I must be living in my own pink bubble. I am a proud anti-vaxer and have been since 1976. My husband was a physician who ran vaccine programs for the City of Montreal. We had our baby vaccinated until she was a year old. She got fevers and had sore arms but, what the heck, it was good to “protect” her, right? When she was a year old, I read an anti vax article in a “Mothering” magazine by a scientist with a PhD. I took the article to my husband because I knew he would explain to me why the article was wrong. He read it, put down the magazine and said “This makes perfect sense, don’t ever have the baby vaccinated again.” I have worked as a midwife and have done everything I can to educate parents about the dangers of vaccines in my career. No one can bully or intimidate me, I know too much.

    Liked by 5 people

  21. Cindy, you are correct that “the majority of the people who follow this idea are not scientists,” but you are off base about not keeping scientific theories or rules of scientific research methodology in mind. Those who are called “anti-vaxxers” are on average more intelligent and educated than those who are not. In addition, many of them (and I include myself here) have science backgrounds, including the medical sciences. We are concerned with the quality of the science and, because of that, we are aware that the studies done so far by the CDC are designed poorly if the intent was to find any link that might exist and haven’t come close to proving that vaccines don’t cause autism. I have trouble believing that folks at the CDC truly do not understand this, so I lean toward the poor design being deliberate. In addition, Occam’s Razor says that the explanation with the fewest assumptions is more likely to be the correct one. If you are faced with thousands of parents saying that their previously healthy children developed neurological (and physiological in most cases) problems, including “autism,” immediately after a round of vaccines, the explanation with the fewest assumptions is that these parents are correct, otherwise you have to assume that thousands of intelligent, observant, well-educated parents are deluded and stupid or simply crazy. As the author of this piece indicated, not only is that assumption far-fetched, it’s way off base. And you have to believe the recent idea that “that’s just when signs of autism show up,” even though there is no history of such a thing. When I was growing up in the 1960s, NO ONE was afraid that their child would regress into autism. No one even knew anyone with autism, though we may have known someone with undiagnosed Asperger Syndrome.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. In 1986,I was pro-vax and dutifully vaccinated my newborn with the DPT vaccine. He developed a high fever immediately and screamed all night with an ungodly sound. Thankfully he seemed to pull out of it. I started looking into what happened to him. I read that the pertussis part of the DPT was causing bad side effects like what my son had experienced. The next time we took him for his shots I told the doctor absolutely no pertussis vaccine. It didn’t matter… The same reaction as before. Thankfully again my child seemed to pull through the screaming and high fever. Never again would I put my son through that. Though I never had my son diagnosed with Autistic spectrum disorder, I know that he is high functioning Aspergers; it pains me to say that. My other two children were never given vaccines because of the experience of their older brother.

    Liked by 1 person

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  27. Reblogged this on The Simply Free Life and commented:
    Had to reblog this to find and read again later. Broke my heart to see the videos. I have experienced this and medical “professionals” deny facts, and have excuses for everything, even when it’s happening before there eyes. I believe the mantra is “DENY DENY DENY”. Besides, with the bullying, no one wants to be called a quack!!

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  28. Thank you for such a well written article. I am a nurse who refused the flu vaccine two years ago and when I tried to explain my point of view in the local paper, I was viciously attacked, called Typhoid Mary… It hurts to be attacked but I won’t back down and I won’t shut up and go away but I also won’t attack those whose views differ from mine. I agree that there are 2 sides to the vaccine issue but never an excuse to bully and ridicule.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. i am lucky, my son is lucky. because of those who spoke out 7 years ago, i knew family our risk was high for an adverse reaction and chose not to vaccinate him at all. he has had severe digestive issues and at one point was cruising to an SPD diagnosis. i firmly believe if i had vaccinated him at any point, even now at 4yrs old, we would lose him.
    my friend’s family was not so lucky, and they lost her niece at 3yrs old due to damage sustained from her 1yr MMR. another friend’s uncle is a quad after his flu shot. a second cousin’s baby developed diabetes after her 6mo shots. this stuff does happen. see VAERS, see the injury payout information. billions. and it’d be more, if the govt hadn’t removed the ability to hold vax makers accountable.

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  30. Thank you!!! A great article. All my children are vaccinated. it was a choice my husband and I made and one we regret. We did not have all the info that is out there now. Our son is almost 13 and we watched him go from a very happy and placid baby to very angry and aggressive over night. I got constant abuse from other mothers for his behaviour. He started to change after his first immunisation. His temp spiked and leg swelled up so bad that the doctor would not let us leave the surgery until it settled. The doctor knew it was the immunisation and decided to give separate needles next time instead of the combined ones. However he did not record the reason. By the time he was three we had holes in walls and and he would give me bruises. The last one he had was at 5 and there will be no more. Thankfully we have an amazing homeopath who was able to remove all the heavy metals out of his system and he is now growing into a beautiful young man. My eldest daughter has also had complications from the gardasil vaccine. I respect those who vaccinate their children but also would like to see pro vaxxers respect those who don’t. After all they are not the child’s parents.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Thank you for your post. My heart bleeds for these parents and their children. As a certified “Medical Laboratory Scientist” and author of books on wellness,I firmly believe that the overwhelming number of vaccines, which ravage small bodies with contaminants and hyper immune response (DPT) are the cause of much of the autism we see in developed countries today. That being said, I feel vaccines still have their place when taken responsibly among adults (flu shots). Nonetheless, I believe that children should not be vaccinated except for the most fatal of diseases (small pox).

    I’m writing this post with the hope of helping those whose children have been affected. Me, my brother, and my son all have Tourette’s syndrome. Through years of research to treat my son, I discovered that Tourette’s syndrome is a genetic predisposition to allergens that create an autoimmune response that targets the brain. The same research indicates that ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, and Autism are different manifestations of the same disease with ADHD being the most mild and Autism being the most severe. It is my belief that vaccines cause the same allergic-autoimmune response to the brain as Tourette’s but at a far more severe level. That being said, there is a non-profit organization called “The Association for Comprehensive Neurotherapy” (ACN) that puts out a newletter called Latitudes (http://latitudes.org/), explaining how these three diseases are connected and how to successfully treat them through diet (allergy testing and abstention). In 1995, when my son was diagnosed with Tourette’s, ACN was a God send. I was able to have my son tested and put him on a diet free from his allergies. His tics disappeared in about two weeks and would only return when he went off his diet. The program was so successful that my son became one of the success stories in the newsletter. I have since treated my own Tourette’s this way with great success. I remember an abundance of success stories with regard to Autism as well. Any parent with a child suffering owes it to their child and themselves to at least read the ACN website and try this dietary treatment.

    I sincerely hope this helps those parents and children as it did for me and my son.

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  33. I feel for all these parents. It is heartbreaking to hear their testimonies. But I know this is real life.I have 9 kids.We were on top of vaccines, until the 9th child. She was given the hepB vaccine before leaving the hospital, after being born. 1 week later, wen getting ready for bed, she was really limp and not very responsive and her reespiration was quite slow and she was staring off into space. We called 911and went by ambulance to ER, spent 2 days in the hospital,where she kept setting off alarms for oxygen in the 70’s and decelerated breathing. We returned home without any answers. I did notice she had slight eye rolling. At the 2month well baby check up, had round #2 of vaccinations, hepB and DTap. 1 week later, we experienced the same thing, only worse this time. Before going to ER, we thought she had died. The baby was totally limp and unresponsive and turning bluish. One of my older daughters took our baby, stripped her and was talking to her, while rubbing and moving her arms and legs, talking to her, trying to get her to respond. Thank God this worked, if it hadn’t she probably wouldn’t be here today. We spent another 2 days in the hospital with oxygen in the 70’s and decelerated breathing. When we went home our baby had severely rolling eyes and had a blank, vacant look in her eyes. This lasted several months and over time, the vacant look left and the rolling of her eyes has almost completely gone. She is healthy and very bright. I had so much guilt for not being educated and allowing this to happen to my baby. My baby is 6years old now. She is doing wonderful. I wish everone’s outcome was as good as ours. Vaccines are not safe. I believe one more would do irreverisible damage or take her life.

    Liked by 1 person

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  36. Reblogged this on nocompulsoryvaccination and commented:
    The pro-forced vaccination mob have been very effective at painting an inaccurate picture of caring parents who question vaccines. It isn’t until you meet us that you realise how wrong the haters are. It is time to stop the bullying. It is time to stop the abuse. All parents care about their children. All parents are trying to do the best they can to keep their children healthy and safe from harm. All parents deserve the right to make informed health choices and to have those choices respected. That is all we need to know.

    Liked by 1 person

  37. I don’t have a stake in this argument one way or the other, some of my kids are vaccinated and fine, others are unvaccinated and also fine. But what drives this whole thing is FEAR. Of course every parent fears for their child not leading and independent, healthy and long life, and that’s a normal human state of mind, but to let fear rule us one way or the other is when the trouble starts.

    LIFE IS DANGEROUS. If you vaccinate, you might experience health problems (whether its related or not). If you don’t vaccinate, you might experience health problems (whether its related or not). The variables are immense and genetic and environmental. Either way, if you’re AFRAID your child/others will be harmed by people carrying diseases, you will be tempted to lash out and attack. If you’re AFRAID your child/others will be harmed by people forcing them to get vaccinated, you will be tempted to lash out and attack. Can we please start by acknowledging that there is NO WAY to keep people absolutely safe? Both paths have risks, and parents who love their children will do the best they can for them. But that doesn’t need to include attacking ANYONE.

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  38. Thank you so much for this well written article. Thank you also for all of the work you have been doing to find housing for people who need it.

    I did want to point out something in the article that I did not fully comprehend.

    Where you say:
    “The vaccine movement is not my battle…”
    But my battle is HOUSING. Just in my state of Pennsylvania, there are thousands of people with a disability who are in need of services and housing. The numbers of young autistic people aging into the adult disability system is unprecedented. There is so much work to be done.”

    Don’t get me wrong, I understand fully that people can pick and choose their battles, and what they are passionate about. However….

    Wouldn’t the vaccine fight movement be an early part of the job you are doing now? As time goes by, you will have more and more people with disability in need of your services. You will have more work to be done, and less resources to house them in. If you helped to fight the movement before this happened, maybe you would have less to deal with as they age into the need for housing?

    Just my two cents!

    But really… thank you so much for your work!

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