As a person of science, I admit there is no medical study that says there is any tie with vaccinations and Autism. I do not endorse the anti-vaccination movement that many parents of autistic children do endorse.
However, as a parent of not one but two autistic children, I have empirical evidence that it can play a part. My oldest son who has Asperger's Syndrome did not have any averse reaction to immunizations. I knew form the time he was born something was off. My youngest son nobody including the doctors thought there was anything wrong with him until his shots at 1.5. The very next day his vocabulary was not the same. His interaction and eye contact was not the same. So if you saw that and were in my shoes, what would you think or do? If you had another child would you vaccinate them? I do not think it was cause and effect. However, I do believe they play a part in kids that are predisposed or are on the spectrum but have not exhibited more classic symptoms.
My own pediatrician who is not a believer of the anti-vaccination movement has told us to never get flu shots for the kids and to delay immunizations as long as possible due to the history of my children that he has witnessed. Would you ignore that as a parent?
I still count us as the lucky ones. My wife has a friend from Tampa who had a child where they have video of him singing and playing at his first birthday party. He was well ahead of every single developmental milestone. He was actually even potty trained before getting his shots. Immediately after, he started going backwards. He ended up back in diapers. He lost the ability to talk, gradually became violent likely due to his inability to communicate, and sadly ended up having to be removed from the home and is under the care of the state now. Would you call his mother a dumb bitch for not immunizing the next kid they had just because there is no scientific study that shows there is in fact a tie?
Before you vilify any parent due to their beliefs that go against what the scientific community says is the case, just take a step back and think if they would really be carrying that banner if there was no reason for them to believe in it. I wish that no other parent had to ever go through what I have. However, I bet there have been more than a few people who think all the anti-vaccination parents are idiots that ended up wishing they had believed them. I know I am one.
s-psn
, people? I didn't think other people were crazy enough to travel this early. 
