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“I’d rather have a dead child than a child with autism.” That’s a horrible statement — but isn’t it essentially what parents are saying when they choose not to vaccinate their children out of fear they may develop autism?

You can’t go on social media these days without stumbling across posts about vaccinations, on both sides of the issue, and everyone seems to have strong feelings about it one way or the other. Let’s get one thing straight: There is no scientific link between vaccinations and autism spectrum disorder. The individual who published a study suggesting otherwise had his medical licence revoked because he falsified data to support his opinion.

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Before I go any further, there are some things you should know about autism spectrum disorder. ASD is referred to as a spectrum disorder for a reason, and it presents differently in every person. Those of us with experience in this field have likely heard the saying, “If you’ve met one child with autism, you’ve met one child with autism” because presentations of ASD look different for different people.