Competing Anti-Vaccine Autism Theories

Vaccines don’t cause autism.

We know that.

Well, most of us know that.

But did you know that there are actually competing theories from anti-vaccine folks about how they think vaccines ’cause autism?’

Wakefield and MMR Causes Autism Theory

On one side, you have the followers of Andrew Wakefield who think that the MMR vaccine is to blame.

To be clear, they seem to think that the problem isn’t necessarily vaccines, but rather the combination of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines into one.

“Again, this was very contentious and you would not get consensus from all members of the group on this, but that is my feeling, that the, the risk of this particular syndrome developing is related to the combined vaccine, the MMR, rather than the single vaccines.”

Andrew Wakefield

Wakefield had even filed a patent on his own vaccine replacement – a measles vaccine.

No, Thimerosal Causes Autism Theory

Then you have folks like Robert F Kennedy, Jr who claim that it is thimerosal in vaccines, which was actually removed in the late 1990s, that is to blame.

The thing is, although RFK, Jr believes that kids are still exposed to lots of thimerosal in vaccines, the MMR never ever contained thimerosal. So, if the MMR vaccine causes autism, it isn’t because of thimerosal.

And if thimerosal causes autism, then you can’t really blame the MMR vaccine…

No, Glyphosate Causes Autism Theory

And believe it or not, some folks don’t even blame vaccines!

Dr. Stephanie Seneff, with a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, believes that exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is causing kids to become autistic.

“Is there a toxic substance that is currently in our environment on the rise in step with increasing rates of Autism that could explain this?… The answer is yes, I’m quite sure that I’m right, and the answer is glyphosate.”

Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D.

Well, they still blame vaccines.

They think vaccines are contaminated with glyphosate.

Stephanie Seneff actually believes that autism will “afflict 50% of American children by 2025.”

That’s right, she thinks half of all kids will be autistic in just 8 years.

It’s Everything About Vaccines That Causes Autism Theory

And lastly, you have folks who just want to blame anything and everything about vaccines.

They may have blamed the MMR vaccine or thimerosal at one time, but may have moved on to other vaccine ingredients, like aluminum or formaldehyde, or simply getting too many vaccines at the same time.

Or they may believe in combinations of theories, with all of the ‘toxins‘ in vaccines supposedly having a synergistic effect – causing autism.

In many cases, they might not even be sure what it is about vaccines that causes autism, but they are still sure it is vaccines.

Why are there so many competing theories about how vaccines could cause autism?

Could it be because vaccines don’t cause autism?

What To Know About Anti-Vaccine Autism Theories

Whichever anti-vaccine expert is pushing their theory, remember that vaccines still don’t cause autism.

For More Information on Anti-Vaccine Autism Theories

• The Autism-Vaccine Myth
• Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses
• Debunking the Lists of Papers That Claim Vaccines Cause Autism
• CDC – Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism
• Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism, But That’s Not the Point
• No, There Still Is No Connection Between Vaccines and Autism
• One Thing We Know About Autism: Vaccines Aren’t to Blame
• Science says vaccines and autism unrelated
• NOVA’s ‘Calling The Shots’ On Autism And Vaccines
• The end of the vaccines cause autism myth
• Vaccines and autism: A thorough review of the evidence
• Why are there so many reports of autism following vaccination? A mathematical assessment
• A Brief History of Vaccine Conspiracy Theories
• The truth about vaccines, autism and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s conspiracy theory
• Andrew Wakefield’s vaccine patent
• The Anti-Vaccine And Anti-GMO Movements Are Inextricably Linked And Cause Preventable Suffering
• Study – Vaccines are not associated with autism: An evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies
• Study – The familial risk of autism.

Last Updated on August 3, 2017