Over the last decade, autism has gone from a rare and misunderstood condition to a disorder that may affect as many as 1.5 million Americans. Without a clear explanation in sight, parents and doctors have worked tirelessly to pinpoint the cause of autism, but the answer remains elusive. Are vaccines the missing link?
Parent and Autism Activist
Do vaccines cause autism? Its a question that can only be answered by quality science.
Anecdotes will not do and only serve to muddle the picture. An example of an anecdote is a parent swearing that their child regressed after vaccination. There is a term for this - Recall Bias. There is also a documented instance of this being illustrated. During the Cedillo hearings of the Autism Omnibus, Michelle Cedillo's parents were adamant she was fine before her vaccines. However, when video of her was shown, it was clear to autism diagnosticians that she showed multiple signs of autism prior to vaccines.
It is all too easy to fool ourselves.
Quality science is published in a high quality journal. High quality journals are:
1) Peer reviewed. This means an independent set of the authors peers judge if the paper passes basic standards of good science for the discipline in question.
2) Published in a journal that is indexed by PubMed
3) Published in a journal that ranks well on the Eigenfactor database.
And this is just the start of assuming competence. Papers that are unpublished, or that have been accepted by journals that do not perform peer review or are not indexed by PubMed or rank very low on Eigenfactor do not even meet this basic standard.
These criteria are not to ensure that things are 'kept quiet' or to make sure only certain authors get published whilst others are frozen out. It is ensure that the basic standard of science is maintained. If we purport to really want to know what causes autism we must be prepared to meet these basic standards. The vaccine hypotheses do not.
Next Argument
Biweekly updates on new debates and experts
Please check your email to confirm your subscription.
© 2008 Opposing Views, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Opposing Views, Inc. is not responsible for the content posted on this website. Please view full disclaimer under Terms
Expert Verified
Link
