With outbreaks of both measles and mumps in Ohio, health officials are encouraging immunization. However, some parents express concern regarding vaccinations for children and the amount of vaccinations.
Some parents feel that the medically recommended immunization schedule involves introducing too many substances to a child’s body at one time, and that “overload” may be too much for children with early autism markers. They feel that early development should be noted, markers watched for, and the immunization schedule varied accordingly.
Steve and Cindy Shasky, of Mansfield, are the parents of 19-year-old Emily Shasky, who was diagnosed with autism at a young age.
“I don’t think it causes it,” Cindy Shasky said of the vaccination and her daughter’s autism, “but if they would not give babies this onslaught of so many at one time, and they would wait a little bit to see part of the child’s development, they might be able to reduce the risk.”
“I’m not saying you shouldn’t have your children immunized. I’m saying you shouldn’t have your children immunized in this fashion,” said Steve Shasky.
“Em had early speech skills. She could pretty much do anything,” Cindy Shasky said, “but there were some differences in her, too.”
“When she got her MMR [Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccination], at about 18 months, she was changed,” said Cindy Shasky. “She didn’t speak anymore. She was different.”
The change, noted Cindy Shasky, took place in a short period of time. “It was not overnight, but it was soon enough to know that the MMR shot was related,” she said.
“If someone had told me their child would change because of the MMR shot, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Cindy Shasky, “and if they’d told me my daughter would improve on a gluten-free, casein-free diet, I wouldn’t have believed it. But we saw it.”
The gluten-free, casein-free diet was started when Emily Shasky was in preschool. Cindy Shasky added that it was a short time into the diet that a change was noticeable in her daughter, who was once again pointing, talking, making eye contact and showing expression.
Since that fateful MMR vaccination, Emily Shasky has received only one other vaccination, pertussis, during an outbreak in the area. The Shaskys feel that the chance of a change in Emily’s personality is not worth the risk of any other vaccinations.
Ashland County resident, mother, active blogger and autism advocate Ashley Murdock had a similar experience with her autistic son’s vaccinations, “Within hours of being vaccinated our son had a bad rash and high fever. He quit talking and looking at us and he cried non-stop for what seemed to be no reason.”
“Within days of that, he stopped eating his favorite foods and seemed to be very disoriented and inconsolable all the time. He started getting chronic ear infections. It was like a switch had been flipped. Our son was not acting like our son,” she added. “This happened to him every time he was vaccinated. He would gain some words and then he would lose them all over again.”
Murdock noted that she does not feel any further vaccinations will be considered for her son, now 12.
“Most of us in the autism community aren’t crazy anti-vaccine activists like some people think,” said Murdock. “We just want what is best for our kids.”
Loudonville resident and mother Jennifer Yohe referred to her background in science when making vaccination choices for her children. Yohe possesses a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology, as well as experience in pre-clinical drug research and environmental toxicology.
Yohe, a leader in a local natural parenting group, said that there are many reasons parents may not want to vaccinate their children.
“One of the reasons I’m currently researching has to do with the use of stem cell lines (from human aborted fetuses) in the production and manufacturing of the vaccines,” she said. “If you are a Christian or a Catholic and you believe certain things regarding abortion, do you use a product that was developed using an aborted fetus?”
Yohe noted that, according to her research, some vaccines are available without the stem cell lines, but not every vaccine. She plans to continue research in that area. “That’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to stop [vaccinations] with my son,” she noted.
Other ingredients in vaccines may cause issues as well, she said, particularly the adjuvants used to improve the vaccine’s effectiveness. “I know people like to blame the MMR. I have heard quite a few people that, about the two year mark, their child shows up with autism. I think that the problem might be the aluminum, and the point that, by the time they get to two years, it’s now the seventh or eighth vaccine. Once you add up enough [aluminum], you start having issues.”
Yohe’s two children are partially vaccinated. She said her choices in future vaccinations will be based on research, and the risk involved. “Polio has very significant lifestyle effects,” she said, noting that the risk of that vaccination may be less than the risk of the disease, and that she would research further before coming to any decisions.
“Most of us in the autism community aren’t crazy anti-vaccine activists like some people think,” said Ashley Murdock. “We just want what is best for our kids.”
