This is Autism Awareness Month. Linda Trent of Toto has two grandchildren who are autistic, and she is helping us understand the needs of autistic children, their parents and grandparents.
One controversy that has raged for the past few years is that vaccinations cause autism. Even though much research has been done on the correlation between the vaccinations and the disease, most medical experts dispel it as untrue.
“Most people I talk to that have had autistic children, they are not opposed to vaccinations,” said Trent. “What they’re opposed to is giving a child eight or ten in a row. When you think about it, when we were younger we had a few and some we didn’t get. We didn’t get the massive amounts and we didn’t them as infants and small children. Now, if you don’t have a certain quota of vaccinations by the time the child is in Kindergarten, they’ll throw your child out of school. We’re not saying don’t. We’re saying maybe the vaccinations could be done differently.”
Most medical experts say because a majority of vaccinations are given about the time autism is detected that many parents believe the two are connected.
Mrs. Trent is not sure if there is a correlation or not but she said we need more research.
“Let’s find out why or how we can help them and what can be done,” she said. “They have made more efforts, but I just don’t think enough has been done. Many people do not know what it is, but almost everyone knows somebody that has autistic children.”
Can autistic children grow to become independent adults? We’ll explore that part of the autism story tomorrow.
