I was visiting my Grandmother and she was reading over the paper as she did every morning. She shouted to me from the other room, “Did you hear this? It says there might be a link between autism and the MMR.”
“Sounds like a bunch of sad angry
parents looking for someone to blame.”
I didn't read the article. I didn't
even ask her for any details. I completely dismissed it. It was an
incredulous idea....a childhood vaccination having anything to do
with autism. Why would doctors expose infants and children to such a
thing? It couldn't possibly be true.
I went on for years never hearing about
it again.
During that time, I was focused on
teaching my son. I was involved in his school and talked daily with
his teachers, aides and therapists. I continued behavior plans and
followed through with expectations at home.
I was focused and never strayed.
I was never in an autism support group;
never even heard of one.
I never searched the internet about
autism or tried to find other moms online. It was relatively new and
I didn't have time.
I had two little kids who were
constantly sick even though they never went to daycare. I was
overcome with worry and took them to doctors, who never seemed too
concerned and never really helped.
When Tristen was about 9 years old, I
received a book for my birthday from my mother-in-law. It talked
about kids like him who were chronically ill. The kids described in
the book had the same issues my kids did. This was the first time I
had some kind of direction how to get my kids healthy.
I took him to a new doctor who tested
his blood. He told me how sick he was and that most of the vaccines
he had been given had not provided him with immunity. I was shocked
that I had done what I was told by our previous doctors, and put him
through so much trauma, just to have them not work. This is where I
started to question what had been taught to me my whole life.
I started to look back through their baby books and journals. I started to see where they had been affected by their vaccinations. My youngest son, Tanner, even had a severe reaction to the DTP where the doctor who finally stabilized him told me he should never have that vaccine again. The next doctor we saw disagreed and mocked me for my concerns. There were all these red flags never set right with me, but I didn't know what to do about it. Everything started to come together.
I wanted to continue to learn more about how to heal my son's health issues so I decided to go to my first ever autism conference and meet people who were just like me.
I took what I learned about autism and
vaccines from lecturing doctors I met in person. And lots and LOTS
of books.
I never believed the headline my
Grandmother read to me 15 years ago, because it was easier to
dismiss. Juggling a 2 year old with autism and a newborn baby while
my husband was deployed left no time or energy to go down a rabbit
hole of questioning everything I had ever been taught.
Last year I learned about the CDC
covering up a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. They knew if
the children received that vaccination on time (at 12 moths per the
CDC recommendation) there was a dramatic increase in chance of
autism. They found it in their own study, and they covered it up.
I'm not saying the MMR caused my son's
autism, but it has definitely caused some kid's autism.
It is easy to dismiss something when it
seems it can't possibly be true....when deep down you don't want it
to be true because it upsets the foundation of what your life has
been based on....being responsible and following the rules.
