I feel so out of the loop.  I suppose when the Disneyland disaster with the children acquiring measles was going on, my mind just didn’t grasp what was happening.  Don’t get me wrong.  I understood that there has been an ‘anti-vaccine’ mentality in large groups of concerned parents here in the United States.  But I never truly thought it through deeply enough to realize that these children were going to school without their mandatory vaccinations.  What?  How?  When my children started school at the age of five, I would have to hand in their proof of immunizations before they were able to go to class.  There were no exceptions.  Now, it is my understanding that there is a new law that allows parents to opt out of vaccinations through a personal belief exemption.

Things have changed in the last three decades.  I know, I know.  That’s for another day.  Anyway, I have not been blind to the increased number of children who are diagnosed as being at one stage of a long and complicated Autism Spectrum Disorder.  All of you know that I fight everyday for all children with chronic diseases and their families, and it is no different for the little ones with autism.  For years we have heard hundreds of theories for the cause of Autism, some sound logical and others sound insane.  I know that, if it was me, I would fly to the moon and back to never do any harm to my child.  Believe me, when a mother is faced with so many decisions about surgeries, procedures, and medications that are known to cause death, that mom is most careful before signing on the dotted line.  When I was making those choices for my little boy, there was not any fear of hurting anyone else’s child.  It would be my family, friends, his friends and our world that would feel the repercussions from my call.

This morning I read this article and it made so much sense.  It would behoove all parents to take a look at this parent’s take on this ‘life and death’ situation  before you make your final decision about whether or not to immunize your precious ones.  Go to:  http://ww2.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2015/06/23/boy-leukemia-patient-weighs-in-as-vote-on-vaccine-bill-nears/

After you have read this article, I found this TED talk by Steve Silberman who speaks about the history of autism.  Here:  http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_silberman_the_forgotten_history_of_autism