One Thumb Down, One Thumb Up for Jenny McCarthy

A couple of months ago I took Cassie in for her one-year check-up, and, after her exam, her pediatrician asked me how I felt about giving Cassie the MMR vaccine. I hadn't brought it up, but our doctor is aware of Wilder's autism. I told him that I hadn't seen any persuasive evidence that the vaccine would harm Cassie or make her autistic, and that I thought it would be better to protect her against diseases I know could harm her. He was relieved and agreed with me. I asked him if parents of children who aren't autistic were asking about the vaccine. He said, "Every day." This incident occurred in the immediate wake of Jenny McCarthy's appearance on Oprah, during which she argued her belief that vaccines had caused, or at least triggered, her son's autism. She's not alone--thousands of parents of autistic kids blame vaccines for the disorder, and some of those parents are very high-profile. McCarthy's profile happens to be very high right now. The vaccine debate is one of the hottest and bitterest disputes in the autism community, with the medical establishment pointing to studies that disprove any link versus parents and a few doctors pointing to the higher incidence of immunilogical disorders in kids with autism. I don't claim to have a right answer, but from what I've read, if a child is not genetically predisposed to have autism, vaccines will NOT give that child autism. Admittedly, there's a lot we don't know about the genetics of autism, but parents should, in general, feel comfortable with vaccinating their children. I am. On the other hand, I just looked at the website for teach2talk, the organization that McCarthy co-founded. The materials they have developed to help increase verbal and play skills for kids with developmental disorders look excellent. I'm especially interested in the play videos, as play remains a challenge area for Wilder. So I give McCarthy a big thumbs up for helping develop parent-friendly materials to help our kids.