The Kid is exempted for "philosophical reasons". I was influenced by my midwives who looked at my limited (at the time) medical history which included only the knowledge that I had unexplained seizures in infancy/toddlerhood and that my birth grandfather had grand mal epilepsy lifelong. Turns out my son also had unexplained seizures in infancy/toddlerhood and that the epilepsy is alllll over the birth family tree. So I feel good about my choice
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That's interesting. Do you think that if yr kid were vax'd you'd always wonder if his autism were from the vaccinations? It seems when you investigate things over a population, a lot of the signs of autism occur around the same age as some of the vaccinations. But I know that info rarely reassures anyone.
I also wonder why people in other countries who get vaccinated don't have the same autism<--vax connection. Maybe they have other social vax connections tho? In v rural, non"Westernized" smaller communities there's sometimes a fear that vaccination cause sterility, based on the messed up nature of previous interactions with colonialism and Western medicine
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I use my experience. My son who was typical developmentally who I lost after his 12 month shots to autism. Who I've spent the last 11 years trying to get back. Whatever the reports or research shows, something happened to him at 12 months that changed him.
I'm not nixing vaxing all together with the lil one, but am waiting until she's older before school and then will space them out. We have state health insurance and our doctor agreed to wait until she's bigger without any issues. With my son and the state run clinic, the doctor didn't even tell us we had a choice.
Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into it, so thanks for sharing with me yr story! Autism is super hard to deal with as a parent on so many levels, I will never know unless it happens to me. I do draw on my experiences from my step bro who was diagnosed on the schizophrenia spectra, which manifests later in life, but also has similar devistating impacts on a family. He was "perfectly normal" smart kid, and then wham something happened at 18. He's actually done amazingly well over the years. But at time of diagnosis there was a lot of questioning, "could we have done something to prevent this?" and "can we fix this?" It was hard to see the shell of a person we all loved when things were really bad. Over time we've come to see the variety of factors that were in play (genes, environment, etc.) Also we now see earlier smaller signs of his illness, and spectra issues in other family members. I think as a parent it would be v hard & I've always been impressed at how well you've all done
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My attitude is that vaccinating is something one does to protect the community-- to protect the most vulnerable people: newborns, elderly, poor folks and those with no immune systems. I am mildly frustrated at people who don't vax. It seems that these folks prioritize their own kiddos health, over the community's health.100% agree. I think that we have a responsibility to vaccinate our children because we live in a community. I think we have a responsibility to protect those who are too young and/or too medically fragile who cannot get the vaccines. People of our generation have not seen the damages that vaccine-preventable illness causes. For example, I had a supervisor who had polio as a child and she still suffers many problems because of it. Pretty sure that not vaccinating her children was never an option in her mind
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I'd love to read yr paper when yr done with it. I think it'd be easier to research the not-vax attitudes, because the not-up-to-date category is full of confounding factors...? But both topics sound super interesting! And likely less research about attitudes of parents who delay vax, so maybe that's more valuable to understand. As a provider I'd assume I'm realistically more able to get a no-vax parent to a delay-vax parent, than a no-vax'er to a up-to-date. Maybe I'm wrong about that assumption
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I just listened to that This American Life thing. Poor sick little measles baby.
Yeah, the reason I'm phrasing it as up-to-date is so I can include parents who delay and those who refuse certain immunizations but not others.
Or does it also have something to do with thoughts on sexuality-- like poor folks are less stuck up on thinking my baby is never going to have an STD...? I think this is definitely part of it. I just did a quick search and also found that Hispanic parents and parents who are LESS educated are more likely to have their daughters vaccinated, too. The less educated thing really worries me. Not that I want there to be health disparities or less access/availability of vaccines for those who are poor or less educated or minorities, but the fact that so many parents who have higher education are deciding to not vaccinate really worries me
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I vaccinate. I will say that sometimes it's hard seeing the kids get lots of shots, as babies, all at once. I mean, four shots at once? It's pretty harsh. I think the doctors should consider spacing it out more, though I see your point about how many parents don't come back. Maybe they could consider doing the most important vaccinations first. Or at least doing so for parents who promptly come to the first couple of appointments
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I am pro- vaccination, and anti needless shot. Yes. We live in a country where we have the resources to vaccinate against disease. We have the money, and the technology. We also have the PRIVILEGE of deciding whether or not to vaccinate. What will our privilege gain us? In the US. children go un-vaccinated, and are protected for the most part because the majority of people here do vaccinate, so said child's risk of coming into contact with the disease is minimal. However, we also live in the world of globalization, where the farthest reaches of the globe are just a few hours away... our risks for coming into contact with foreign diseases/germs are greater. Hence, the return of whooping cough, and last year's outbreak of the Measles
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yes to USA medical privilege, i want people to travel outside and see that. but i wonder why people don't get it, cuz its not like you need to see things first hand to understand.
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I also wonder why people in other countries who get vaccinated don't have the same autism<--vax connection. Maybe they have other social vax connections tho? In v rural, non"Westernized" smaller communities there's sometimes a fear that vaccination cause sterility, based on the messed up nature of previous interactions with colonialism and Western medicine ( ... )
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I'm not nixing vaxing all together with the lil one, but am waiting until she's older before school and then will space them out. We have state health insurance and our doctor agreed to wait until she's bigger without any issues. With my son and the state run clinic, the doctor didn't even tell us we had a choice.
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Will respond to the rest later/in a bit. :)
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I just listened to that This American Life thing. Poor sick little measles baby.
Yeah, the reason I'm phrasing it as up-to-date is so I can include parents who delay and those who refuse certain immunizations but not others.
Or does it also have something to do with thoughts on sexuality-- like poor folks are less stuck up on thinking my baby is never going to have an STD...? I think this is definitely part of it. I just did a quick search and also found that Hispanic parents and parents who are LESS educated are more likely to have their daughters vaccinated, too. The less educated thing really worries me. Not that I want there to be health disparities or less access/availability of vaccines for those who are poor or less educated or minorities, but the fact that so many parents who have higher education are deciding to not vaccinate really worries me ( ... )
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yes to USA medical privilege, i want people to travel outside and see that. but i wonder why people don't get it, cuz its not like you need to see things first hand to understand.
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