re: #22 SixDegrees

Agree, and I can see how any parent would be inclined to latch on to anything that looked like an explanation. But the thimerosal linkage fell apart years ago, and the anti-vaxers just keep on blindly promoting it, without so much as a quanta of supporting evidence.

I’m inclined to believe that autism’s apparent rise is due entirely to increased diagnosis - even to the point of over-diagnosis, as the definition of the disorder continues to broaden. I believe that McCarthy’s own kid has been found to suffer, not from autism, but from some other neurological disorder, yet has been treated otherwise for years.

I can sympathize with wanting an explanation, any explanation for what is going wrong, but it’d be better if that explanation didn’t compromise their child’s health and our herd immunity to these diseases as a species.