DAN JONES DISPELS FIVE OF THE MOST FREQUENTLY SHARED MYTHS ABOUT WHAT CAUSES AUTISM.

By Dan JONES

There is a lot of controversy and many persistent myths around the causes of autism (and Asperger’s Syndrome which is now not a diagnostic term). I will discuss these and a few of the other persistent autism myths.

MYTH 1: Autism is caused by vaccinations

Back in the late 1990’s, a flawed research study was carried out involving 12 children who weren’t randomly selected, and it claimed to find a link between the MMR vaccination and autism. This was false. There have since been many large-scale, well-executed studies done which disprove this research.

The reason this myth is thought to continue to persist is because the vaccination happens about the age of 2, and because autism is a social-developmental condition, it is often noticed around the age of 2-2.5 years old. This is when the child is beginning to become more mobile, mix with others more, and talk more, but if certain milestones which would be expected at this time aren’t happening, this can raise concerns. Sometimes, a child may seem to have been developing well and then regressed in their development about this time if they are on the autistic spectrum.

This myth assumes that the MMR vaccination, which came just before noticing the child’s struggles, is the cause of the problems rather than just happening to occur around the same time.

It is like someone assuming that Thanksgiving caused Christmas; the two things happen near each other, but one doesn’t cause the other.