In recent months there has been a lot of information about autism being delivered to us at an astounding rate. Oprah has dedicated shows to it, CNN has done a series of specials on it, and even Jenny McCarthy has written a book. These are all people looking for answers, much like the rest of us, but time and time again the same accusations and finger pointing arise. The answer in every case is that these children have been given autism through the proccess of vaccinations.

I should first explain that I am not against the idea that vaccines may play a role in the development of autism. The theory (and as of the writing of this blog it is still a theory) has been taken into consideration by many of the top researchers in this field. It does seem to make sense from the parent's perspective. My son was progressing at a strong rate in his daycare, ahead of many in his class with repect to problem solving, motor skills and creative development. Then sometime in his twos he began to distance himself developmentaly from the rest of his peers. This is roughly the same story we all have and the only thing that makes sense is that right around that time he had his MMR shot. Seems to make sense.

But what if that's not the answer? Perhaps we just want it to be the answer and maybe we are trying so desparately to find someone to blame that we are missing out on other possibilities. There are plenty of reasons why lawyers are very interested in class action lawsuits regarding autism. And every one of those reasons revolve around money. If we could somehow convince enough people that vaccines are the cause then we would have one of the biggest bank accounts in the world to draw from. We could all win a sum of money from the declaration that this was the problem all along and then we'd have closure. But the only problem is, we really wouldn't.

There would be no reason to continue looking for a cure. The cure would be stopping the vaccinations but that would never happen. Given the choice of protecting 250 children to help protect 1 would fly in the face of the health care system. There is too much money to be made from vaccines to just give it up and with every "new" disease there are pharmacutical companies lined up around the corner to take advantage of them.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that we should be looking for answers in other places as well because the answer is most likely to be found in a combination of factors rather than one simple explaination. Childhood illness causing lowered immune systems, drinking water contamination, environmental concerns such as air quality, processed food, viruses etc. are all possibilities that may not be explored if we continue with our "eyes on the prize" appraoch.

If it turns out to be the case, so be it, great in fact, but right now somebody has to start addressing other avenues before the focus shifts off of the news and on to the next issue du jur.