Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism

Peter J. Hotez (MD, PhD) is an expert on vaccines that pop up a lot of media, including MSNBC, leading me to check out two books that he wrote that is available at the library. The first is Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad.

The book is a combination of the story of his daughter Rachel, who has autism (his other three children do not; she is his and his wife's third child), and well, the subtitle. So, we learn about his work with vaccines as well as about autism specifically. The "scientific evidence" (as shown by various studies and the nature of the disease, which arise long before vaccines are given) shows vaccines do not cause autism. 

"An autism father" reviews the book here.  I think his criticism that some of the scientific writing probably will go over the head of the intended general audience.  Science is not my forte, so probably would be a helpful median reader there.  I think the book is fairly okay in this regard, but sometimes it made my eye glaze over a bit.  It is hard really to avoid this sort of thing; it takes a particular skill to translate this stuff to the average reader.

I'm not an autism father, but this to me is a lot more subjective:

My second critique is more personal and subjective. To be frank, I was saddened and sometimes angered at how Dr. Hotez wrote about Rachel, her disabilities, her obsessions, and personality quirks, and his family’s disappointment with her slow progress.

The reviewer argues that parents of autistic children "must focus on their abilities, not their disabilities." I think that unfair. Hotez himself said he was uncomfortable about being fully honest, but felt it was necessary to provide a full account. He also noted that Rachel [now in her 20s] was fully on board, enthusiastic about the effort. It seems to me to rob her of agency to challenge his approach. And, I think it quite possible for people (including members of the community) to say what "must" or "should" be done is a full honest picture. Done with empathy and nuance.

The book ends with a helpful list of "talking points." Childhood vaccines save lives. They do not cause autism. There is a lot of deliberately (his word) misleading information on the Internet. Mandatory vaccines is not a conspiracy. Diseases that vaccination prevent are not gone or mild. Only a tiny number of people vaccinated die from them; much much much more are helped. Our body's natural immunity is not adequate. And, concerns about vaccine ingredients are based on bad information. 

His most recent book is about vaccine diplomacy and his role in doing so (which is covered a bit here).  I'm reading it next.