Yeah this is a true thing. This person that knows me asked me if vaccines caused my autism.
this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
454 points (95.2% liked)
Ask Lemmy
28703 readers
1712 users here now
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Let's put it this way, the new FBI director sells supplements to make you immune from "vaccine shedding", AKA being around vaxxed people.
People heard about the original, now discredited study, which came out around the time autism diagnosises were increasing. People then either didn't hear or chose not to believe that the OG study was discredited.
Having lived next to them for my whole life; For Americans if it sounds too stupid to be true it’s probably true
I think most of this is genuine belief. There was a doctor named Wakefield who fraudulently published this autism claim in academic journals. Those papers were retracted, but the damage was done.
I think it sticks around as a conspiracy, because otherwise there's not a whole lot else that can explain the causes or origins of autism.
Well, aside from the boring "routine expression of a spectrum of neurodivergent traits being better understood leading to increased ability to properly diagnose it, and increased awareness and support in the public education system allowing more teachers to see early indicators and advise medical consultation early so kids can get better support".
They used to just call mildly autistic people geeks and best them with rulers. Now they let them wear headphones to reduce distractions if they need it.
Well, my mom believes it and she's not even American.
If these people were around 50 yrs ago we'd still have polio and smallpox.
Hey, at least give discredit where it's due, the brits are the ones who started it.
True-ish :)
Wakefield went after the MMR vaccine. The whole (separate) mercury thing was started in the US and later perpetuated by people like Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey among others.
I work with several people who believe this.
Not American, but at least a few do. And they're exporting it. My old English teacher back when I lived in the Dominican Republic was an American missionary who taught to fund her religious activities. Guess what beliefs about science and politics she was spreading along with her beliefs about baptism of the spirit?
Not just USA.
There are more than a few mentally defective folks that believe vaccines cause a variety of maladies.
A neighbor told me that even though her now-adult children had no side effects if she could go back and decide to not vaccinate them instead, she would
Mexican here. It's not as pronounced in my country but some people are a bit hesitant of vaccines because of the bullshit leaking out of the US. It's usually the least educated who are often more inclined to believe.
Having said that, we have a lot more believers in homeopathy, including plenty of healthcare professionals because it's been recognized by our Health Department. Because if it's recognized and popular, it's gotta be true, right? 🙃
Your friend’s mom is a fucking idiot that would believe literally anything that the “right” person would say.
Absolutely a gullible little tool that’s behaving just as they want.