Thank you for an honest and raw piece on autism. As the mother of a 32 year old on the spectrum who can’t keep a job and stopped trying before the pandemic, I appreciate it. I am so tired of the autism is cute crowd and specials like Love on the Spectrum who make it appear as though this is a lovable and easily manageable problem for most people. My heart goes out to you and your family.
To summarize: We have no idea what causes autism or why the numbers are suddenly exploding. But it’s definitely not the 70 plus injections of chemical immune stimulants and toxins that children born since the 1980s receive. The vaccine studies funded by the pharmaceutical companies prove they are totally safe and definitely don’t cause autism. Also, the only people who think the exploding number of childhood vaccines might have some negative consequences are conspiracy theorists and cranks, by definition. So it must be...well, just something else that we can’t put our finger on just yet.
While you disagree vehemently with RFK Jr re vaccines, you should agree that you cannot rule out vaccines as a contributing factor unless you study with an unvaccinated control group. That’s how science works.
I've felt for a very long time that the staggering rise in autism is a very serious problem, and I can't for the life of me understand why there's no push to do tons more research on the causes, and why the medical establishment is so complacent. It's yet another reason why I've lost trust in the medical establishment. They're busy occupying their time on all the more politically trendy things like Covid and Trans.
Everyone tells me "Oh it's just diagnosed more now. Autistic people always existed in the same number." Why is everything being explained this way? "Oh there are always that many trans people. They just feel more comfortable coming out now." So often I feel like I'm living in a real version of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and I'm the only one seeing horror and questioning but everyone around me have become pods and zombies.
Jesus Christ, hysterical progressive movements have all but destroyed almost every institution in our country, and clearly has captured almost all of healthcare.
No doubt parents across the country are horrified by this reality.
Childhood vaccines have never been tested against placebo, so I don’t understand how anyone can say they are certainly safe. Can we please change the narrative and push Pharma to actually test these products against placebo so we can rule out the possibility that they may cause autism. The “mountain of evidence” you cite is all suspect until these products are tested properly.
"The recent rise of the “neurodiversity” identity movement, where autism is reinvented as a natural difference to be celebrated, not investigated, prevented, or treated, has helped spread a fairy dust of complacency over the autism world." - The entire "I'm OK, you're OK" identity movement will eventually cripple if not destroy Western civilization. It is definitely preventing the much-needed research into autism. I don't need to improve, work on myself or my short-comings - I am perfect just like I am. Hell, I don't even need to be in a relationship, work (UBI), or leave the confines of virtual reality (create a world that I like). This article saddens me to the utmost degree, and I admire and have the utmost respect for the author and her journey to help her children and others.
I really appreciate that this addressed a need for looking more closely at subcategories of autism especially with the rise of identitarian component. One thing I'd say, is that causal factors for autism need to be identified, but I fail to understand why there is a pervasive belief that it is a single factor and not multi-factorial. Is this not something that might be a confluence of factors from the increased toxin load of the childhood vaccine schedule, to alterations in the microbiome because of diet and/or changes in birthing practices and breastfeeding, to the increased toxic load of our ambient environment, to hereditary components, and beyond - likely, things we can't even conceive of. As we look at some of these rising diseases, I think it's important that we recognize their inherent complexity and our inability to tease out a single reductive cause OR cure. Everything around us is multi-factorial, this will be, too.
Bari for a person who is supposedly dedicating herself to challenging establishment dogma, you are at times shockingly unwilling to even consider challenges to establishment dogma.
With all due respect, TFP makes a fool of itself going out of their way to demand that vaccines not be even a consideration as a factor in the rise of autism. You have also repeatedly misrepresented RFK Jr's position. He has never claimed that vaccines are 100% the cause. He has repeatedly said he believes its a distinct possibility due to the correlation between the rise in cases and the rapid expansion of the vaccine schedule (not to mention the ridiculously long history pharma, regulatory agencies, and "independent" researchers have of lying, corruption, bias and just plain old fallibility that coincidentally always seem to coincide with massive profits). He has also repeatedly said there are certainly a handful of other possibilities but he believes vaccines should be looked at more closely. Only an absolute moron would dig their heels in and refuse this extremely logical position.
The author basically says, I have no clue whats behind it but the rise in cases is real and the only thing we know is that the industry with the most criminal penalties leveled against it for lying about safety and funding "studies" that support those lies absolutely cannot be considered as a possible culprit. Its just stunning to me how often people will allow themselves to get burned by the exact same people and systems and continue to defend those people and systems.
We literally just had the worlds "top scientists" tell everyone that all the evidence on Covid "proves" it could not have been engineered only to find out they all were coordinating to lie to the public in order to defend the science that created the virus. They didnt even need to be bribed because the conflict of interest is stunningly obvious. OBVIOUSLY scientists who believe in GOF research will do anything to deflect from the fact that GOF research is responsible. And I suppose lets all just forget about the opioid crisis which was created by pharma, enabled by the regulatory agencies and backed by "countless studies" from "independent" researchers. I honestly just dont even know how anyone could put any trust into these institutions right now. Its really mind boggling.
To be clear, Im not saying vaccines absolutely are a factor in the development of autism, but I believe its possible and should be looked at further. I absolutely think its crazy that somehow vaccine "science" is different in the US than in other developed countries in Europe who magically do not have the same issue with autism as we do. I also think that in the absence of any real answer, only an absolute moron would ignore any possibility. Covid should have proved this to every person with a functioning brain.
Oddly enough I just had this conversation with my mother. I told her that I don't remember one family growing up who had an autistic child (I grew up in the 70s). It doesn't mean that they didn't exist, but that the occurrence was so rare that an average person didn't know any family who had a child with it (I did know people who had low IQ children, particularly downs syndrome so it wasn't that there were no disabled children). Once I had children the number skyrocketed. I knew quite a few families who had children with autism so that would be starting in the early 90's. It is horrible that we still don't know what is causing it. I would ask you to take another look at the vaccine schedule but agree it could also be issues with our food supply, or something else that we haven't yet examined.
How telling - that concern for finding out the "why", is dwindling and relegated to the basement? So shocking and sad.
I put this disease in the similar category with Alzheimers - rampant and research has gotten nowhere in decades. Families across the country are devastated and exhausted by these diseases, with not much help in sight.
I have nothing but admiration for Bari, but Christ when she drops into her “smart, nice people don’t believe these things” mode it is just pathetic. I have no idea what causes autism and my heart goes out to the families but to not look at vaccines or take them off the table seems insane.
Thank you for an honest and raw piece on autism. As the mother of a 32 year old on the spectrum who can’t keep a job and stopped trying before the pandemic, I appreciate it. I am so tired of the autism is cute crowd and specials like Love on the Spectrum who make it appear as though this is a lovable and easily manageable problem for most people. My heart goes out to you and your family.
To summarize: We have no idea what causes autism or why the numbers are suddenly exploding. But it’s definitely not the 70 plus injections of chemical immune stimulants and toxins that children born since the 1980s receive. The vaccine studies funded by the pharmaceutical companies prove they are totally safe and definitely don’t cause autism. Also, the only people who think the exploding number of childhood vaccines might have some negative consequences are conspiracy theorists and cranks, by definition. So it must be...well, just something else that we can’t put our finger on just yet.
While you disagree vehemently with RFK Jr re vaccines, you should agree that you cannot rule out vaccines as a contributing factor unless you study with an unvaccinated control group. That’s how science works.
I've felt for a very long time that the staggering rise in autism is a very serious problem, and I can't for the life of me understand why there's no push to do tons more research on the causes, and why the medical establishment is so complacent. It's yet another reason why I've lost trust in the medical establishment. They're busy occupying their time on all the more politically trendy things like Covid and Trans.
Everyone tells me "Oh it's just diagnosed more now. Autistic people always existed in the same number." Why is everything being explained this way? "Oh there are always that many trans people. They just feel more comfortable coming out now." So often I feel like I'm living in a real version of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and I'm the only one seeing horror and questioning but everyone around me have become pods and zombies.
This is the most informative piece I've ever read about autism. Given the ground it covered, it was admirably concise.
I had one question: are there good statistics about the prevalence and increase in autism in other countries?
Thank you for informing us about this important issue.
language-policing neurodiversity advocates”…..
Jesus Christ, hysterical progressive movements have all but destroyed almost every institution in our country, and clearly has captured almost all of healthcare.
No doubt parents across the country are horrified by this reality.
Childhood vaccines have never been tested against placebo, so I don’t understand how anyone can say they are certainly safe. Can we please change the narrative and push Pharma to actually test these products against placebo so we can rule out the possibility that they may cause autism. The “mountain of evidence” you cite is all suspect until these products are tested properly.
"The recent rise of the “neurodiversity” identity movement, where autism is reinvented as a natural difference to be celebrated, not investigated, prevented, or treated, has helped spread a fairy dust of complacency over the autism world." - The entire "I'm OK, you're OK" identity movement will eventually cripple if not destroy Western civilization. It is definitely preventing the much-needed research into autism. I don't need to improve, work on myself or my short-comings - I am perfect just like I am. Hell, I don't even need to be in a relationship, work (UBI), or leave the confines of virtual reality (create a world that I like). This article saddens me to the utmost degree, and I admire and have the utmost respect for the author and her journey to help her children and others.
I really appreciate that this addressed a need for looking more closely at subcategories of autism especially with the rise of identitarian component. One thing I'd say, is that causal factors for autism need to be identified, but I fail to understand why there is a pervasive belief that it is a single factor and not multi-factorial. Is this not something that might be a confluence of factors from the increased toxin load of the childhood vaccine schedule, to alterations in the microbiome because of diet and/or changes in birthing practices and breastfeeding, to the increased toxic load of our ambient environment, to hereditary components, and beyond - likely, things we can't even conceive of. As we look at some of these rising diseases, I think it's important that we recognize their inherent complexity and our inability to tease out a single reductive cause OR cure. Everything around us is multi-factorial, this will be, too.
Bari for a person who is supposedly dedicating herself to challenging establishment dogma, you are at times shockingly unwilling to even consider challenges to establishment dogma.
You have to wonder why this topic is suddenly political and why anyone that brings up vaccines is immediately persona non grata.
I had to pause while reading this. It is heartbreaking. She’s a saint of a parent.
With all due respect, TFP makes a fool of itself going out of their way to demand that vaccines not be even a consideration as a factor in the rise of autism. You have also repeatedly misrepresented RFK Jr's position. He has never claimed that vaccines are 100% the cause. He has repeatedly said he believes its a distinct possibility due to the correlation between the rise in cases and the rapid expansion of the vaccine schedule (not to mention the ridiculously long history pharma, regulatory agencies, and "independent" researchers have of lying, corruption, bias and just plain old fallibility that coincidentally always seem to coincide with massive profits). He has also repeatedly said there are certainly a handful of other possibilities but he believes vaccines should be looked at more closely. Only an absolute moron would dig their heels in and refuse this extremely logical position.
The author basically says, I have no clue whats behind it but the rise in cases is real and the only thing we know is that the industry with the most criminal penalties leveled against it for lying about safety and funding "studies" that support those lies absolutely cannot be considered as a possible culprit. Its just stunning to me how often people will allow themselves to get burned by the exact same people and systems and continue to defend those people and systems.
We literally just had the worlds "top scientists" tell everyone that all the evidence on Covid "proves" it could not have been engineered only to find out they all were coordinating to lie to the public in order to defend the science that created the virus. They didnt even need to be bribed because the conflict of interest is stunningly obvious. OBVIOUSLY scientists who believe in GOF research will do anything to deflect from the fact that GOF research is responsible. And I suppose lets all just forget about the opioid crisis which was created by pharma, enabled by the regulatory agencies and backed by "countless studies" from "independent" researchers. I honestly just dont even know how anyone could put any trust into these institutions right now. Its really mind boggling.
To be clear, Im not saying vaccines absolutely are a factor in the development of autism, but I believe its possible and should be looked at further. I absolutely think its crazy that somehow vaccine "science" is different in the US than in other developed countries in Europe who magically do not have the same issue with autism as we do. I also think that in the absence of any real answer, only an absolute moron would ignore any possibility. Covid should have proved this to every person with a functioning brain.
Oddly enough I just had this conversation with my mother. I told her that I don't remember one family growing up who had an autistic child (I grew up in the 70s). It doesn't mean that they didn't exist, but that the occurrence was so rare that an average person didn't know any family who had a child with it (I did know people who had low IQ children, particularly downs syndrome so it wasn't that there were no disabled children). Once I had children the number skyrocketed. I knew quite a few families who had children with autism so that would be starting in the early 90's. It is horrible that we still don't know what is causing it. I would ask you to take another look at the vaccine schedule but agree it could also be issues with our food supply, or something else that we haven't yet examined.
How telling - that concern for finding out the "why", is dwindling and relegated to the basement? So shocking and sad.
I put this disease in the similar category with Alzheimers - rampant and research has gotten nowhere in decades. Families across the country are devastated and exhausted by these diseases, with not much help in sight.
Thanks for this excellent piece, Jill. Godspeed.
I have nothing but admiration for Bari, but Christ when she drops into her “smart, nice people don’t believe these things” mode it is just pathetic. I have no idea what causes autism and my heart goes out to the families but to not look at vaccines or take them off the table seems insane.