I think Amanda Peet needs to do some more research on Autism. There is overwhelming evidence that vaccines might cause autism. And for her to call parents that only want what's good for their children "parasites" is an outrage! I guess I must be a parasite, because my husband and I have decided not to vaccinate our daughter. It's not her decision to decide what's right for my family. And if my husband and I made the wrong decision about not vaccinating, then that's something we'll have to live with.

I think you need to look more closely at the "overwhelming evidence" you site in your comment.  What exactly is your experience in reading scientific studies?  Or do you rely on the news shows to do your research for you and then cite their findings as your own.  Or worse, a lawyer in Congress who obviously understands medicine.  There are LESS antigens in vaccines today for our children than there were 20 years ago.  How many of your peers (whom I assume were vaccinated as you were) had autism?

"There are LESS antigens in vaccines today for our children than there were 20 years ago.  How many of your peers (whom I assume were vaccinated as you were) had autism? "

Compare todays vaccine schedule with the one from 1985 and you will see a HUGE difference in the number of vaccinations a child gets.

So funny you would call out the previous poster and then make a statement like that .... You cannot compare the vaccines that children get today to the ones we got.

Hello Pot, meet Kettle.

It is quite funny that the things that was good and right to do when we were young has all of a sudden become unhealthy or dangerous for our children.

I strongly believe these are all scams to spend money and the person that can sell it better makes the most money.

It is you as a parent to decide whether or not you are going to buy into it.  There are parents who cannot buy into it because of financial reason and have healthy children.

So its up to you as a parent to choose and i do not believe anyone should be angry or take it as their concern with the decision you make for your children.

The problem with everyone make their own decisions on this topic is that it does have an effect on more than just your own child. The reason those people who do not vaccinate their children are "parasites" is because they rely on everyone else who does. If only a few people choose to forgo vaccinations, there will be no problem, but as soon as too many do there will be an outbreak of a disease that is farther-reaching than the current rates of autism (which has not conclusively been tied to vaccines). As my doctor says, the only reason people have a problem with vaccines is because they haven't ever seen polio.

As a professional working in the field of autism, there are more studies and evidence to discount the vaccination theory than there are to prove it.  Has anyone actually READ the research, or just listen to media hype?

Once again a celebrity is given a forum to say things that make them sound ignorant.
Clearly, this is nothing more than her opinion since she cannot offer any additional and/or helpful information on this debate.
I vaccinated my first child and decided to not vaccinate my second child until the age of two with a modified schedule due to the overwhelming research I have done.
What is disturbing in this is not whether you have or have not vaccinated your child, but that you are nothing more than a "parasite" for not doing it.  If a parent has decided not to do it, they clearly have done thier homework and made an educated decision for thier child as opposed to just being lazy with thier child's vaccinations.  It is a shame that someone is so quick to judge the millions of parents out there that are loving, good people to thier children.

I have not read a lot about autism related to vaccines but I remember one case recently that went to court on this issue and won proving that there IS a relationship, however they were specific enough to say it had to do with grouping several vaccines (more than usual) for the same day. The father of the child with autism was actually a doctor. I believe in vaccination, of all the people I know that have been vaccinated as well as their children I do not know one autist personally. I do hold some fear in that respect but I trust it has to do with the combination and not by vaccinating alone. I am vaccinating my child very few, the minimum necessary at a time, and if I skip one, I am spacing them out so that they are not harmful to my baby.

I believe it is the parents decision to make. However, they have not proved vaccines are related to autism. I am not an expert by any means, but I study science, Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology etc.... While no vaccine or medicine of any kind is proven "Safe", the majority of the population benefit from the protection that vaccines offer. The alternative, meaning contracting a potential disease from not being vaccinated, is something that no parent or child should ever have to endure.  

Some people are choosing to not vaccinate with out realizing that in some areas (in Canada) require your child to have their full schedule completed before they are permitted to enter the public school system. Liability on the schools would just be to great for the risk of an outbreak.  

I agree that it is up to the parent to make the decisions about getting their child vaccinations.  We had our daughter vaccinated with the schedule and have not had any problems.  We have done our research and have decide to do the same for our son.  With our decisions has come many rude and unfounded comments that we are putting our son at risk of autism.  Just like the parents that decided not to have their child vaccinated I should not have to deal with the rude comments.  

This is a hard subject, because so many emotions can be involved in the decision.  I researched for hours and hours.  I talked with different doctors and parents that had and had not vaccinated their children.  I not only approached the subject with fear of autism, but I researched the many other side effects that could go along with the vaccinations.  My conclusion was, after many hours of prayer, to do the vaccinations that I felt were vital at the time, one at a time, and to spred them out.   My doctor and I came to an agreement on which we felt my son needed the most protection from now, based on which he would be most suseptible to in reality.  The others, I will consider when he gets a little bigger.  He is 6 months now and has only had one shot per vaccination of 4 vacines.  He gets them once a month until they are done.  I feel comfortable with my decision, and I take on my role as his mother to help continue to build his immune system and make him strong and healthy.  I respect either view point on this subject because I feel as a parent you have a gut feeling about what is needed for your child.  And with education and instinct you can do what is best for your family.

As a mother of 4 kids I have had serious feelings on this issue. My oldest 3 are vaccinated. All suffered some fever and high pitched screaming and were hard to comfort. My youngest just got his 1st set last month. He got the glassy stare and was extremly cranky for more than a week. Totally not himself very scary!!! We are debating delaying the rest of his.
I truly think they shouldn't have to get them until they can talk and tell us what is wrong. I also oppose the chicken pox vaccine because most people are perfectly fine getting it as a kid. I also have read that they are expecting a huge outbreak of shingles because of the mass vacinations. I also think the measles shot was stupid to start because it use to be something you just got like the chicken pox. I think they make many of the diseases out to be far worse than they are.
I also think if people knew what they put in the shots they wouldn't so blindly take them. Do you know they are developed in animal bodies? I even watched a video online that shows the scientist who invented the polio vac. laughing about how the monkeys they were using were found to have AIDS and that they found out they were giving people cancer. That stuff scares me because I think the drug co's are money hungry and don't really care about the public because the gov. mandates them and makes it easy to keep people buying the product because the people more or less have to, to get there kids in school.  
 I just think people also need to know that you can't play God forever. Sooner or later something will take you.  You can't prevent everything.
I am not totally opposed I just think they should wait until they can talk and have a better developed immune system.

I dont think vaccinations are the cause of autism, I don't think they even know the cause of it, but some times mothers don't eat rigt when they are pregnant or breast feeding....that may explain a lot about autism....vaccination is for a protection agains a lot of viruces, thanks to vaccinations many sickness have been gone....not to judge people but, if it is for proteccion, why some parent don/t want to get their chirden vaccinated?

As a speech-language pathologist who specialized working with children with autism and  the mother of an infant I can see why this issue is so upsetting for everyone. Although there is some empirical evidence suggesting a relationship between some vaccines (MMR) and autism, there has been (to my knowledge) no studies that confirm that vaccines cause autism. Evidently vaccines don't cause it or every child would have it; however it's now believed that there is probably a combination between genetic predisposition and environmental factors (including vaccines), at least that's my take on it. Since I cannot do anything about my daughter's genetic predisposition; I do try to watch for environmental factors, she is exclusively breastfed, I eat everything organic, I don't sit her in front of a TV, but interact with her a lot, and I have her on an alternative vaccine schedule, where she gets all her vaccines but not so many at once (I got it from "the vaccine book" which is neither pro nor anti vaccines, highly recommend it). That being said I do think that from a public health stand point vacccines are very important to keep illnesses that used to kill and/or handicap children before at bay. If everyone decided not to vaccinate we would see these diseases come back. However, as many have mentioned, every parent must decide what's best for their child and it is hard enough being a parent without having people passing judgement on every decision!

I do not take my decision to not vaccinate my child lightly, it scares the heck out of me, but so does the horrible side affects that are just as bad if not worse than the actual disease we vaccinate for. The vaccine company's will not give us another option. We all deserve one that is safe

If vaccines are the cause of autism, then why do they have different brain structures than children who do not have it.  Autism is more prevelant now then it ever was and thymerisol has not been used for years.  I wouldn't say that parents are necessarily parasites but I understand where she is coming from.  Being unvaccinated and traveling is the main reason why certain diseases are not radicated from this country.  Bringing home these diseases is horrible, what about the babies who haven't been vaccinated yet or people whose immune systems are too weak to be vaccinated.  It's not fair to them.  And although dealing with the side effects of vaccines is scary and can be alarming, have any of us ever dealt with polio, lock jaw or pneumococcol?  Probably not and I'm sure that those are much worse.  

I vaccinated both of my sons in the 1980's without giving it any thought.  We were supposed to vaccinate so I did.  Thank God nothing went wrong.  I have just become a grandmother for the first time and have warned my son about the link between vaccinations, particularly MMR, and autism.  I know 4 families personally whose healthy, happy, talkative child received the vaccine only to have a totally withdrawn, non-verbal child the next day.  This terrifies me.  It is my understanding that there is a genetic disposition but one does not know if they have it until they vaccinate their child and watch him vanish.  The pediatrician states that the vaccines are safe now.  Good for him.  My grandson will be vaccinated but the vaccinations will be dramatically spaced out.  Scientific proof?  I don't need it.  This is my grandbaby, my son's child, and we will protect this child from all that we can in our wisdom as adults.  We read, study, discuss, and look around us.  I do not care if  a billion children did great with the vaccinations.  Three little boys and one little girl - gone - right after they were vaccinated. That's enough for me.  We will not gamble with our little one's life.

I too had all my children vaccinated on schedule as the doctor's recommended. Now I'm a grandmother and the baby's mother has advised me she and my son will not have my grandchild vaccinated until she is two. At first I was very concerned but after some research I have decided to back their decision. A couple years ago my sister-in-law told me a story of a neighbor friend whose little boy was diagnosed with having autism shortly after his shots. That story has always stuck in the back of my mind but now that it could affect my family, I realize the weight of it. We are always somewhat so willing to take the normal for granted until we realize we may have adverse affects from what we always thought was the "norm".
Hopefully, God willing we make the right decisions.

To Julie- I hope that you realize that thimerasol, the mercury  based preservative in many vaccinations is still being used in many of the shots currently in production! check online- I think the FDA's website gives a list of which shots by which manufacturers still contain thimerasol- if you trust it. I read a story recently that stated that a few years back, MERCK publicly stated that thimerasol had been removed from their vaccines, and later they were found to still contain it! Some still contain it and admit that they do, and who knows if the ones that say it has been removed from them have really had it removed...? Mercury is one of the most toxic substances there is- even trace amounts are too much for me to gamble with with my little one!

TO LUCY- You, and I are on the same page. I also have the same book as you ( The Vaccine Book) I highly recommend it too. It is a great happy medium for those who want to get their children vaccinated, but are scared of what the vaccination side effects are. It holds off on certain vaccines for later when children are more developed( MMR, HEP B), and gives the most crutial, and important vaccines first, also spacing out the vaccinines so that it's not too much at once. I think it is also a great alternate for most Doctors who would prefer to see the child get their vaccines, than not at all. Everyone's body reacts differently. Some children walk away fine, while others have complications. I think it's a great alternative, and you're still keeping your child, and the population protected. Bottom line is that they may not have proven that vaccines cause Autism, but they have also not proven it either. That needs years of research, and testing. We probably won't know for years. My motto is better safe than sorry. I have 1 child one the spectrum, and a newborn that I'm doing an alternate schedule with.

For those of you who are supporters of vaccinines! Please tell why there is an increase in autism 1 in every 150 children, as to a decade ago 1 in every 2000 children. Funny how that changes the same time the number of vaccination increase. There is no such thing as a genetic epidemic, and I can't believe that if a mother indulges in food that she is going to cause autism. Third world countries that don't have vaccines, but have low food sources don't seem to have a high rate of autism. I'm not against vaccines because of the good they've done in preventing horrible diseases. I wouldn't want an outbreak. I just find it very coincidental. More research needs to be done! Imagine the number of law suits there would be if the CDC annouced the link between autism, and vaccine. I don't think I would admit to anything either.  I believe there has already been one case that was proven.

it's me again
I don't believe there is a "genetic epidemic" ; however,a genetic predisposition could have been present 20, 30 or 100 years ago, as long as there was no trigger. The issue I raise is a combination of both a predisposition combined with environmental triggers. AS far as nutrition goes, I actually was born and raised in a third world country and in my experience, in such countries people tend to cook and bake from scratch so there is less junk, preservatives and chemicals in their food. There is absolutely no information (as far as I know) linking nutrition to autism, but since there is no known cause for autism (although there are those who swear by the casein and gluten free diets) and I do believe in environmetal triggers I try to do my best to prevent it (if that's even posible). Furthermore, the link to autism and vaccines was raised due to the cases of autism where regression was observed, but that only accounts for about 20% of the cases, the majority of the cases are early onset autism where the children do not develop key milestones by their first birthdays. Finaly, there is the question why do some children regress after the vaccines, but the majority of the children don't. What makes those children different?
As I said earlier, I believe being a parent is difficult ebough without having others judging your ever move. WE must respect the decision parents make for their children, but we should also understand why some people are concerned about public health.
Hopefully researchers will find causes, cures and treatments and in the mean time society will show respect and compassion for the parents and the children with autism spectrum disorders as well as other disabilities.

That was Lucy, nut Luxy by the way.
and to KTG: I heard about the book in a nursing mothers support group I used to go to and I am so happy because I found it very informative and neutral at the same time. It is very respectful to the reader, not trying to push you either way, and for me it was a relief since I was a little nervous regarding the vacciones but I also wanted to be able to provide my baby with protection from disease!

It's a shame that Amanda Peet has a voice in this world just because she's in the movies and she thinks she's above doing any of her own research. her source was a vaccine supporter/scientist so of coarse he's going to tell her that they are necessary. Any one that blindly follows what the health care system tells them to do these days is a fool.
Contrastly, it's nice to hear from so many women that they are being advocates for their children. You go girls!

As a non-vaccinating parent, I can say the least of my worries is Autism. Thats not to say that I wouldn't care child HAD it, But I'm saying there are MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger health issues related to vaccination.
Like death.

Just do some research on VAERS. Search under any vaccine with the outcome being 'death' and it will pull up several hundred cases.

We can not inject our children with massive amounts of toxins such as aluminum, formaldehyde, mercury, live viruses, aborted fetal cells (any pro-choicer out there honestly can't claim to be choice if you are vaccinating your child), I can keep going. Anyway, we can't honestly put stuff like that into our children and expect there to be no possible side effects.

And for anyone who thinks we are parasites, for I guess 'leaching off of the vaccinated's pristine health (note sarcasm), If you truly believe the vaccines work..What are you so afraid of?
My son and I have been around other kids and people who were ill, I'm ALWAYS toast...He, on the other hand has never had so much as an ear infection...much less anything serious. I credit that to his diet and an immune system that is not polluted with toxic chemicals.

Nikki,
I agree with you.  My 1st 3 are vaccinated, #4 is not so far.   I'm not completely against it, but I know I don't want my newborn injected with all of those chemicals at once.  I read a nuetral book about it as well and it really blew my mind.  The lack of long term research is absurd.  I was really naive to believe that our government wouldn't require something of us that could harm our children.  By the way, to those of you wondering about school, in most states you can sign off saying you object on a philosophical level to vaccines and your kids can still go to public school.  I think the VAERS website has links to each state so you can check.  

I am an aunt of 3 autistic children and am scared to death of the possibility that the vaccination may be the cause.  If there is a genetic issue that may cause a child to become autistic then I'll be damned if I am going to take the risk with my baby girl.  Those of you that call us parasites have obviously not had to watch a beautiful little baby grow up with autism knowing that they will never live a normal life.  I know that they have not proven that there is a link, but they have also not proven that there is not a link.  I am not completely against vaccinations and feel that eventually I will get her vaccinated, but I am going to wait until she is a little older and I will do it cautiously.  As far as the ignorant person who put the blame on mothers not eating healthy during pregnancy and breastfeeding, I assure you that both of my sisters ate very healthy during there pregnancies and how dare you put the blame on the mothers of these children when they are already agonizing over the thought that they may have done something to cause this.  I have struggled with infertility for 13 years and finally was blessed with my little miracle and I would not do anything that I thought would hurt her.  After all of the experience I have with autism and after all of the research and talking my baby's doctor who still recommended getting her vaccinated, I choose to wait.

To Robin:
I'm not sure if you referred to me when you wrote:"As far as the ignorant person who put the blame on mothers not eating healthy during pregnancy and breastfeeding", if you are referring to me (since I mentioned eating healthy and breastfeeding, but NOT in that context) I am so sorry if I made you feel I was blaming the mother. I would never in a million years blame parents. They are already going through enough hardship to add insult to injury.  You are absolutely right, we don't know what causes it, and there may be a relationship between vaccines (which I mentioned when I talked about empirical evidence) . I was just saying that in addition of having my daughter in an alternative vaccine schedule (including breaking up MMR and/or delaying it as well as spacing out all the other vaccines so that they are not getting all those  chemicals pumped at once into those tini little bodies), I try to do anything possible to avoid any other environmental triggers since we simply don't know what causes it. I have many friends who don't nurse their babies because they cannot or they choose not to and I have no problem with that . As I have said in my other messages each parent has the right to choose what is best for their child. I believe it is a well known fact that parents don't cause autism. I love my daughter very much and as a professional I have seen every day for the past decade the pain that parents go through, and I know that pain could strike me as well as my daughter is only 6 months old. As a first time mom I have struggled so much making every decision and wondering if it's the right one and I hate that mothers keep criticizing each other regarding their decisions, we all love our children the same and we all striving to do what is best for them.

Ahh! now I read the message Robin was talking about, it was the post right before my first one.
So sad.

Lucy - I just wanted you to know that I was not referring to you at all. I respect everything you stated in your post.  You were not judgemental at all and spoke intelligently. I realize that not all children are affected by the vaccinations and do just fine.  That is why I chose not to judge other mothers either way. I feel mothers need to do what they feel is best for their babies.  I have really struggled with all of the decisions I have made as a first time mom also and I just want to do whats best for my child.  Because of the possible link between the vaccines and autism and because it seems to genetically "run in my family" I felt like I needed to wait.  If she ends up getting autism, I will love her just the same and I am totally prepared for it, but at least I won't have to wonder for the rest of my life if I could have prevented it by not giving her the vaccinations so early.  Good Luck to all of the parents struggling over this decision. The only advice I can give is to at least be educated about your decision and make sure you feel good about it.  

Amanda Peet, When your family or someone you are close with is affected by autism and you notice an apparent change in this child soon after they received a vaccine then you will not make such ignorant comments. People should not feel that they can speak on topics that they really have no real experience with.

"overwhelming evidence" that is not scientifically and concretely supported is not evidence.  autism is caused by other factors such as genetics, environment, diet, upbringing, external stimuli, and others.  parents who keep saying that (Amanda) "should look more closely at "overwhelming evidence" of autism with vaccinations" and "should do more research on autism," should look more closely at overwhelming evidence on and research more on the years of documented evidence supporting the benefits of vaccinations.  i wouldn't call them parasites, though, perhaps ignorant or quick-to-panic parents.

im sorry if you dont belive in vaccs. but do you even realize what can happen to your babbies if the contract one of these deadly illnesses........

I think we are forgetting the fact that our bodies, breast milk and babies are loaded with toxins from the pollution in the environment.  Our furniture, clothes, food, air, water, are all full of pesticides, toxins and chemicals.  Lets also not forget that lead poisoning mimics autism.  Many kids toys are made of toxic plastic and painted with lead ladden paint.  How can we overlook all this and blame it entirely on vaccines.  How can we expect all this toxic garbage to not have an effect on our health, and expecially the health of a helpless tiny baby.  A predisposition to not tolerate these toxins could be a more accurate answer.  Adding the toxins from the vaccine could just be the final straw.

Let me start by saying we are all great parents who obviously care greatly about our children.  We have very hard decisions to make every day about the care of our kids.  We may not always make the right choice, but the choices we do make are in the best interest of our children.

In 2001 they changed the vaccinations to remove thimerosal which was the ingredient thought to cause Autism.  Since removing this ingredient autism is still on the rise.  If you are really opposed to vaccines, please do the research and consider giving your child vaccines on an extended calander and spacing them out so you do not give so many at once.  My husband and I spent hours and days researching since a good friend of mine has a son with autism and they swear the shots made it worse.  We were set on not vaccinating our son.  But after all the work and talking to our doctor, we decided the risk of not having the shots was worse.  With outbreaks of these diseases being in the news over the last couple of years and the fact that we love to travel, we ended up going ahead with the vaccination.  I wouldn't want to be the cause of bring one of these diseases back with us.  

Please remember, whatever your choice, it is the right one for your family and you are a good parent for caring and doing the research.  

Vicki-
And what about if your child died after the injection of a vaccine? It happens more often than the deaths associated from the 'deadly diseases'. Take DTAP (diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis) for example, There are about 10 deaths a year from Pertussis, and about 50-100 DEATHS a year from the vaccine. We only know that 20% of doctors report these deaths, so we believe the numbers are much much higher. Almost all 'deadly' diseases have great interventions and are rarely fatal. There is no intervention or medical treatment for death or vaccine injury, sorry.

Tiffany-
"In 2001 they changed the vaccinations to remove thimerosal which was the ingredient thought to cause Autism."
Correction, They have not taken mercury OUT, They have FILTERED it out. The filters can not remove all the mercury from vaccines. There are still trace amounts in alot of vaccines. What we do know about mercury is that its VERY toxic, and the only safe amount is ZERO.

Until we do long term studies (the average vaccine study is only followed for 5 days, I hear), we will never know what the long term adverse effects are. The CDC refuses to spend money on funding these studies...and if you don't look for anything, you won't find anything.

everbody relax, take a breath and stop stressing

you get more mercury from eating a can of tuna than you get from the vaccine's since they've quit using thimerosal

Oh really Jennifer. And where did you find this topic in research?????