Question: What is your opinion on people blaming vaccinations on causing their children to have autism - Is it just a coping strategy or are "we" ill informed? (P.S what is your dog called he's really cute)

Amy Pearson answered on 14 Jun 2018:

Thats a brilliant question! I think its a bit of both to be honest. Some people desperately want a ‘reason’ that their child is different to what they expected, and vaccinations have unfortunately been an ideal target due to the MMR Wakefield scandal. Its been almost 20 years and people still believe that the MMR causes autism despite him being fully discredited. For a parent who feels confused, and like its unfair, its an easy way to explain it. I do also think that some people ARE ill informed, but also have taken to questioning factual information and being distrustful of scientists (Im sure Dan would know a lot about the conspiracy side of this). There is a desire to turn it into a big conspiracy where ‘BIG PHARMA’ are making people autistic, but the truth is that autistic people existed long before vaccinations (the label autism just didnt exist).
I think if we had a better understanding of autism, and provided more support to parents of autistic kids so they didnt feel so frustrated and stuck, we wouldnt have so much of a problem with the spread of misinformation.

P.S. My dog is called Ragnar, after Ragnarok, the viking end of the world (because he is a big chaotic floof!).