Vaccinations and Autism-
In working with young children with various disabilities, I
have learned more from my students than I ever thought possible. They have taught me how to reflect upon the
needs of my students in discovering alternative ways to learn. Today one in every 150 children have been
diagnosed on the autism spectrum; 20 years ago that statistic was one in 10,000
(Mooney, 2009). Why the dramatic
increase? Is it because we are diagnosing
children under the Autism Spectrum Disorder rather than Developmental Delay or
Mental Retardation? Is it because we are
vaccinating our children overloading their immune system at an early age? Or,
is this disorder due to environmental factors rather than a genetic disorder? These questions have always boggled my mind,
and even through research, I feel I will never get the “true” answer, but a
topic I continue to ponder. The topic I
chose to research is the link between children with autism and
vaccinations. Both of my nieces are not
vaccinated because parents feel this may lead to possible developmental delays
or the Autism Spectrum Disorder.
However, I hope they continue to stay healthy regardless of being
vaccinated.
My subtopics include:
1-Thermisol is no longer present in vaccines given to
children, yet why do so many parents choose to not vaccinate their children?
2- Is there a link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine
and the Autism Spectrum Disorder?
3-Are we overloading our children’s immune system at an
early age by vaccinating thus resulting in more cases of developmental delays
and autism?
I have LOTS to learn when reading, investigating, and narrowing my reserach topic. Any ideas or suggestions are accepted! I feel that the topic of Autism is so large, yet I really want to learn more about it. I hope these questions will be narrow enough because I don't want to feel too overwhelmed:)
Thank you!
Tammy
References:
Mooney, Chris. Discover. Jun2009,
Vol. 30 Issue 6, p58-75. 7p. 3 Color Photographs.
This is a very interesting topic! I know some parents that refuse to have their children vaccinated because of these past experiences/rumors with immunizations. I cannot wait to hear about what you find!
ReplyDeleteI would definitely be anxious to read about your research findings.I actually wanted to research on how play can help autistic children,but I felt I might be faced with limitations here in Saudi Arabia, there aren't enough facilities and provisions in place for autistic children,it seems just starting to gain recognition and therefore treatment opportunities are coming up.i do not know so much about autism and am also eager to know why vaccinations is still associated with it and the exact symptoms to look out for.best wishes
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