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A mom on trust & vaccines:
I have 4 girls, ages 13-21
#3 (15) has autism. She was diagnosed at 18mo
I don't know what caused it
I do know that her symptoms started around 10wks & didn't fit the pattern of 18mo/2yr developmental regression often described w/ vaccine injury
1/
I have 4 girls, ages 13-21
#3 (15) has autism. She was diagnosed at 18mo
I don't know what caused it
I do know that her symptoms started around 10wks & didn't fit the pattern of 18mo/2yr developmental regression often described w/ vaccine injury
1/
I figured she was born that way.
The doctors didn't have any answers, and the timing of her symptom onset was enough for me to claim - with absolute certainty - that her dx was not vaccine-related.
She was 2mo old. She hadn't even had that many vaccines. (She had had 7.)
2/
The doctors didn't have any answers, and the timing of her symptom onset was enough for me to claim - with absolute certainty - that her dx was not vaccine-related.
She was 2mo old. She hadn't even had that many vaccines. (She had had 7.)
2/
As time passed & our lives were increasingly consumed by therapies & functional limitations, I became angry at the uneducated idiots who believed there was a connection.
I jumped into FB threads shaming those who asked questions.
3/
I jumped into FB threads shaming those who asked questions.
3/
My grief wouldn't let me consider it.
It even wouldn't let me *let them* consider it.
I even spoke to a class of SLP-D students at the local university about my conviction.
"My daughter's autism was not caused by vaccines & it's offensive to suggest it was!"
4/
It even wouldn't let me *let them* consider it.
I even spoke to a class of SLP-D students at the local university about my conviction.
"My daughter's autism was not caused by vaccines & it's offensive to suggest it was!"
4/
But why was I so certain?
In retrospect, I was driven by both a need to be seen as a good mom by my daughter's many Drs & an unwillingness to consider that my choices had led to this outcome.
I had no certainty.
I had an emotional need for certainty...
5/
In retrospect, I was driven by both a need to be seen as a good mom by my daughter's many Drs & an unwillingness to consider that my choices had led to this outcome.
I had no certainty.
I had an emotional need for certainty...
5/
I've spent many nights over the last 15 years crying behind my closed bedroom door, wishing the universe had dealt her a different hand.
My one consolation for all those years was the idea that whatever tool carved out this path for her was out of my control...
6/
My one consolation for all those years was the idea that whatever tool carved out this path for her was out of my control...
6/
Her life will never be easy.
She has incredible artistic gifts & significant functional deficits - and despite her earnest efforts to learn social skills & make friends, she is lonely most of the time.
I thank God every day that she has her sisters.
But it's still hard...
7/
She has incredible artistic gifts & significant functional deficits - and despite her earnest efforts to learn social skills & make friends, she is lonely most of the time.
I thank God every day that she has her sisters.
But it's still hard...
7/
Less than 2yrs after I had #3, #4 was born 7wks early w/ cerebral palsy.
It was a shock.
Her tests & ultrasounds were all fine, with no indication of probs (although it was a rough pregnancy for me.)
She was due in Feb & born in mid-December.
Her CP was never explained...
It was a shock.
Her tests & ultrasounds were all fine, with no indication of probs (although it was a rough pregnancy for me.)
She was due in Feb & born in mid-December.
Her CP was never explained...
They told me that it usually isn't. It's just one of those things that can happen.
I accepted that, too.
Although, part of me always wondered.
Two developmental disorders striking two kids in a row seemed like really bad luck, but it was harder to dismiss...
8/
I accepted that, too.
Although, part of me always wondered.
Two developmental disorders striking two kids in a row seemed like really bad luck, but it was harder to dismiss...
8/
Then, in 2021/2022, I watched the CDC tell pregnant women that the safety of the COVID vaccine was a certainty - when it was not - I was appalled.
I was horrified when they mandated it for pregnant women working certain jobs.
"Take the jab or lose your job, expectant mother"
I was horrified when they mandated it for pregnant women working certain jobs.
"Take the jab or lose your job, expectant mother"
I watched Ob/Gyns parrot the "Perfectly safe!" message in unison while masking laboring mothers & separating them from their support people during the most intense, challenging, & vulnerable moment of their lives...
And that was it for me.
Trust in vaccines, gone...
10/
And that was it for me.
Trust in vaccines, gone...
10/
I remembered that I had received the H1N1 vaccine less than 2w before I went into unexpected pre-term labor at 33w and birthed an infant who would shortly thereafter be diagnosed with CP.
Maybe that's relevant.
Maybe it's not.
I can't say for certain. But the Drs did.
"No"
Maybe that's relevant.
Maybe it's not.
I can't say for certain. But the Drs did.
"No"
I remembered that when my CP baby was little, her neuro delayed all of her vaccinations until after 5y.o & then spaced them out.
She said she was too neurologically fragile to get them & it wasn't worth the risk.
I never said, "But I thought they were safe?" ...
12/
She said she was too neurologically fragile to get them & it wasn't worth the risk.
I never said, "But I thought they were safe?" ...
12/
I remembered that my oldest had 3 notable vaccine reactions in her life.
1. At 5, her arm swelled so big that they had to monitor her for compartment syndrome & give pain meds.
2. At 11, she developed a prune-sized swollen lymph node adjacent to the injection site...
13/
1. At 5, her arm swelled so big that they had to monitor her for compartment syndrome & give pain meds.
2. At 11, she developed a prune-sized swollen lymph node adjacent to the injection site...
13/
3. At 16, she got up from an afternoon nap hours after a flu shot and passed out cold.
She dropped like a rock, smacking her head on her bed rail on the way down.
Not tragic, but notable.
And those are just the ones I remember...
14/
She dropped like a rock, smacking her head on her bed rail on the way down.
Not tragic, but notable.
And those are just the ones I remember...
14/
It's impossible for me to say with any certainty whether vaccines did or didn't cause any of these issues - but what I can tell you is that not one of these 5 potential reactions was reported to VAERS.
I didn't even know VAERS existed back then.
But my girls' Drs did...
15/
I didn't even know VAERS existed back then.
But my girls' Drs did...
15/
And I'm just one mom with 4 kids & a handful of "maybes," but not one of those maybes was brought to the attention of the people in charge of vaccine safety.
How many others have been overlooked? And how, without knowing, can CDC claim safety?
Those seem like fair questions ...
How many others have been overlooked? And how, without knowing, can CDC claim safety?
Those seem like fair questions ...
There are four things that have become clear to me in the past 3 years since I've stopped rubber-stamping what doctors tell me:
1. The people tasked with ensuring that the vaccines we give our kids are safe have proven themselves untrustworthy...
17/
1. The people tasked with ensuring that the vaccines we give our kids are safe have proven themselves untrustworthy...
17/
2. The systems put in place to monitor potential vaccine reactions are not capturing most post-vaccine adverse events.
3. The incentives for Pharma to get vaccines on the Childhood vaccine schedule encourage developers to prioritize profit over safety...
18/
3. The incentives for Pharma to get vaccines on the Childhood vaccine schedule encourage developers to prioritize profit over safety...
18/
4. The gov't has its head so deep in the sand that, were a new, irrefutable adverse connection published, I have zero confidence they'd admit it.
Parents saying, "I don't trust you, Dr." isn't "anti-vax".
It's anti-corruption, obfuscation, & deception.
It's pro-child.
19/
Parents saying, "I don't trust you, Dr." isn't "anti-vax".
It's anti-corruption, obfuscation, & deception.
It's pro-child.
19/
I have no desire to tell anyone what to do.
I can say, however, that if I knew then what I know now, I would be much more judicious about what I allow my kids to be injected with.
And that Drs could learn a lot from the growing mistrust...
20/
I can say, however, that if I knew then what I know now, I would be much more judicious about what I allow my kids to be injected with.
And that Drs could learn a lot from the growing mistrust...
20/
The addition of the Covid vaccine to the Childhood Schedule alone
- an insufficiently tested, non-sterilizing vaccine with rapidly waning (if any) efficacy against a disease that poses statistically zero threat to children -
is enough to call the others into question ...
21/
- an insufficiently tested, non-sterilizing vaccine with rapidly waning (if any) efficacy against a disease that poses statistically zero threat to children -
is enough to call the others into question ...
21/
You can't scoff at someone who says, "X was definitely caused by a vaccine," while making the inverse claim that it definitely wasn't.
To do so is uninformed, at best. Intentionally misleading at worst.
Certainty is a sales tactic, not a scientific conclusion...
22/
To do so is uninformed, at best. Intentionally misleading at worst.
Certainty is a sales tactic, not a scientific conclusion...
22/
The minimum that parents deserve is transparency.
They deserve to be informed and then allowed to make the choices that are best for their child.
"Vaccines are perfectly safe" is a lie.
"Anti-vaxer" is a slur.
And neither will repair the broken trust re: vaccines.
23/
They deserve to be informed and then allowed to make the choices that are best for their child.
"Vaccines are perfectly safe" is a lie.
"Anti-vaxer" is a slur.
And neither will repair the broken trust re: vaccines.
23/
@operator7777 He was 32, I believe.
@gummibear737 @RobertKennedyJr Thank you. I’m glad that came across. That’s exactly my position, too. 👍
@Michele73395146 Great question.
Here’s my Community Note on your take, bud: This lady is not “blaming vaccines for causing her child’s autism.”
She’s saying that
1. Her daughter has autism, and
2. The people who make claims of certainty re: vaccine safety are untrustworthy.
✌️
She’s saying that
1. Her daughter has autism, and
2. The people who make claims of certainty re: vaccine safety are untrustworthy.
✌️
https://twitter.com/notahoax/status/1673068677300899840
@LondonCat5 Yep. Substituting certainty for inquiry — especially when incentives exist to do so — is a problem.
@operator7777 I think I’ve read a little bit on the father age correlation.
I appreciate your curiosity. 👍
I appreciate your curiosity. 👍
@Flamehalf What if they don’t know? 🤷♀️
@AdamSchiavone Meh.
I don’t get the sense that there’s enough intellectual insecurity in this crowd for your whole “You’re-a-dumb-dumb-head!” strat to be super-effective, but go ahead and shoot your shot, bud.
I don’t get the sense that there’s enough intellectual insecurity in this crowd for your whole “You’re-a-dumb-dumb-head!” strat to be super-effective, but go ahead and shoot your shot, bud.
@Unofficialpeds Thank you for sharing. Important perspective. 🙏
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