Thread by @erikaheidewald

I think I know why parents like Jenny McCarthy thought vaccines caused their kids’ autism. I think it was MCAS. Their kid was already autistic but the vaccine created an immune response which created an MCAS attack which created brain fog & their kid “retreated into their mind”

There’s a very high comorbidity rate with MCAS and autism and I already thought I might have it but my reaction to the vaccine has resulted in some very weird symptoms I’ve never experienced before, particularly disassociation. I’ve had terrible physical anxiety & presyncope

I’ve had a hard time talking when I’m in these presyncope/anxiety/dissociation moments. My brain feels too slow & I can’t turn thoughts into words & say them as easily and that isn’t normal for me. If I’m having trouble with that as an adult who talks a lot, a kid would have more

So their kid already had autism and MCAS, and the vaccine isn’t actually causing anything, it’s triggering their immune response and their immune response is causing the problems because that’s what MCAS is - a bad reaction to your own immune response.

Interpreting this to mean anything remotely close to i think vaccines aren’t safe or that I think there’s credence to the idea that vaccines cause autism is ridiculous. I’m not saying that whatsoever and i despise the anti-vax movement for what they’ve done to autistic people

The only thing this does is potentially explain why parents interpreted what they saw that way and gives an alternate explanation, and that *discredits* the anti-vax movement. It doesn’t support it. Please read the words I’m actually writing & not what you imagine I’m saying