There’s a large issue surrounding the relationship between vaccinations and autism. The theory that vaccinations cause autism in young children continues to generate interest in the media and the general public, and may have contributed to the rise of many anti-vaccine campaigns.

In this podcast, the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre’s director Professor Cheryl Dissanayake sets the record straight about the fabrication that vaccines cause autism and explains why parents may think vaccines cause autism.

Professor Dissanayake says the onset of autism is variable in the first few years of life, and often there’s a sub-group who begin to show signs of autism between 15 to 18 months, which is around the time they are getting vaccinations: “It doesn’t mean that there weren’t signs previously but they become more obvious at around 18 months. And guess what happens during that time? They’re getting vaccinations.”

While medical scientist Andrew Wakefield’s paper implicated that the MMR vaccine leads to the onset of autism, Wakefield’s research and evidence has been found to be fraudulent. However, the paper already had an enormous global impact.

Listen to the Living with Autism podcast here.

Further Information

To hear more important information about autism research and related issues, the Living with Autism podcast series is available to download on iTunes and to listen to on Soundcloud.