Autism And Vaccines

Vaccines impact everyone’s life at one point or another in the United States. Vaccinations were created to rid the world of terrible diseases, but concerns now exist stating that there is a link between these vaccines and autism spectrum disorder. Some individuals go further and believe that vaccines like the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine cause children to become autistic. Parents now have to decide whether or not to vaccinate their children, a decision that could eventually mean life or death. There may be a possibility their child will develop autism or become infected with a preventable disease. This article will explain this possible relationship and analyze evidence to hopefully make the decision of vaccinating children easier.
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The side that believes vaccines cause autism use the immediate temporal relation to effect for this claim. Temporal relation to effect states that certain factors happen before the effect actually occurs. It is true that the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine is administered before most autism diagnoses, but that is solely due to the time that behavior develops in children is similar. While temporal is the right causal claim, just because two things occur at similar times does not necessarily mean that one causes the other. Personally, I feel that the type of cause called blocking continuing influence on effect is a better representation of this claim. Blocking describes how individuals may have previous knowledge or thoughts that prevent them from realizing the true effect or cause. A great number of individuals who believe that vaccines cause autism have relatives who are autistic and because of this, are biased. Autism creates issues for the families it affects as the cause of autism is still not known, so they look for a possible cause. In many cases, they turn to vaccines to blame, even though the claims have been discredited and found to be false by credible agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reported, “Some people have had concerns that ASD might be linked to the vaccines children receive, but studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing ASD. In 2011, an Institute of Medicine report on eight vaccines given to children and adults found that with rare exceptions, these vaccines are very safe” (Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism). While these individuals could find this credible information, they continue with their own thoughts and ignore these agencies. Overall, blocking reveals how one side of the argument refutes scientific evidence to stick with