Not long ago, a 4-year-old boy died of the flu. His mother, under doctor's orders, watched his two little brothers like a hawk, terrified they might get sick and die, too.
Grieving and frightened, just days after her son's death she checked her Facebook page hoping to read messages of comfort from family and friends.
Instead, she found dozens of hateful comments: You're a terrible mother. You killed your child. You deserved what happened to your son. This is all fake - your child doesn't exist.
Bewildered and rattled, she closed her Facebook app.
A few days later she received a text message from someone named Ron. Expect more like this, Ron warned. Expect more.
The attacks were from those who oppose vaccination, and this mother, who lives in the Midwest, doesn't want her name used for fear the attention would only encourage more messages.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/19/heal ... index.html
On the subject of vaccinations first the science is settled - there is no link between vaccines and autism whatsoever and that myth was thoroughly debunked over twenty years ago. And yes there are many tales of parents who found their child had autism after the child had vaccinations, that's because the age at which signs of autism begin to manifest is roughly the same time as when you have your child vaccinated and for the same reason - it's when the child begins to socialise.
Even if the science were not settled, which it is but pretend for a second it isn't, you take it from someone on the spectrum, autism is much better than death. And it's not just us Aspies who think so, ask most parents if they would prefer to have a child with a disorder than be managed or treated or a dead child and the response would go very much in favour of having a living autistic child.
Lacking a facts, or even a coherent argument around their 'alternative facts' the anti-vaxxers take to trying to shout down the overwhelming mountain of evidence against them. It used to be that anti-vaxxers were the Brexiteers or Climate Change deniers of the 'green' left. These days the extreme right, whose memes of government conspiracies and anti-education, anti-science and anti-evidence are more aligned with the anti-vaxxers, seem to have taken the lead. That's a pity because whilst those on the 'green' left would insist on treating themselves with only herbal tea and quietly die off without being anything more than a minor annoyance the extreme right are far more dangerous.
