I Was Wrong!

My first child was born without complications, met all milestones, and seemed to be developing like any other typical child of the same age. Somewhere around the time most children receive their scheduled childhood vaccinations, my child suffered a series of setbacks that can only be described as regressions. Loss of interest in favorite toys, loss of speech, would only eat a few foods, only interested in a few videos, terrible bowel movements, tantrums, etc. Pretty much the same symptoms I've heard other parents report as reactions to vaccines.

I became convinced that my child was made autistic by routine vaccination. Was it the MMR, an ingredient in one of the other vaccines, thimerosal? I turned to the internet to learn more. It didn't take long to find other stories like mine. I made friends, talked to other parents who understood my anger and frustration, and found something to blame along with stories of hope.

My second child would benefit from all I had learned over the years. I wouldn't take any chances with this one. No vaccines, no antibiotics, no anything else that may contribute to autism. I knew better now and my typical child would be all of the proof I would need.

Then something strange happened. I started to notice a few behaviors that I was all too familiar with from my first child. Restricted interests in foods, toys, videos, terrible bowel movements, loss of language, etc. How could this be??? It had to have been the vaccines for my first child, it all made perfect sense and so many other parents had similar stories. How could my second, completely unvaccinated child, regress and become autistic? There may be many explanations but the inescapable truth was staring me right in the eyes. I WAS WRONG! Refusing vaccines does not guarantee your child will escape being autistic.

It is possible for an unvaccinated child to be autistic and to regress into autism right around the same time they would normally be vaccinated. My child was all of the proof I needed but was I the only one? I don't remember talking to any parents with unvaccinated children with autism let alone second or third siblings. There were a few parents that I'd lost contact with after they went off to have more children. What happened to them?

It turns out there are plenty of other unvaccinated children on the spectrum. Many of them siblings of fully vaccinated children with autism. Why hadn't I heard of them before? For the answer to that, all I needed to do was think about the difficulties I faced while coming to terms with my situation and publicly admitting. I WAS WRONG!

It's not an easy thing to admit, especially after all of the years and arguments I've had where I angrily insisted it was always the vaccines. I have several friends in the same situation. None of them have an interest in telling their stories or admitting they may have been wrong. They don't have the time, they don't feel obligated, or they are afraid of the backlash from some of the more vocal anti-vaccine groups out there.

So here I am telling my story with the hope that it will encourage a few people to share their stories and perhaps have the effect of getting others to consider that they too may be mistaken. It happened to me.