Reply #21: Because some cases of autism can be attributed to a physical brain...

[TheMadMonk]

...defect. Unfortunately it can not be detected, except in autopsy conducted after the death of the sufferer, but it is there nonetheless. And the nature of that defect is such that it can only occur a result of improper development of the brain in the womb.

A leading cause of mitochondrial disorders is advanced maternal age. If this 30% link you cite is real, why don't we blame selfish mothers, who put their career ahead of mental wellbeing of their children, for Autism?

I just recalled upon waking up, that paternal age too plays a large part.

This from an article in http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400513.html">The Washington Post

When fathers are in their thirties, children have about 1 1/2 times the risk of developing autism of children of fathers in their teens and twenties. Compared with the offspring of the youngest fathers, children of fathers in their forties have more than five times the risk of developing autism, and children of fathers in their fifties have more than nine times the risk.

Google autism + paternal age for more.

One absolutely measurable (if not usefully so) cause of some forms of autism. AND two concretely quantifiable risk factors, both of which land the blame squarely at the feet of the parents' and implicate their personal (oftimes selfish) lifestyle choices.

No matter how you slice the numbers, it remains impossible to establish a scientifically quantifiable link between vaccines and ASDs. Factor in modern desires for big screen TVs, McMansions, SUVs, brand new everythings and the numbers fairly leap off the page. If there ever was a case of "the beam in one's own eye" this is it.

"Black and White" this: Autism, whatever its causes affects less than one in a hundred children. Once vaccination rates fall below a certain level, tens out of every hundred of those non-vaccinated children are effectively condemned to death.

Why do I call objectors "the anti-vaccination brigade"? Because they fall into exactly the same catagory as those who believe: they can't get pregnant if they have sex standing up; that ice cream eaten with the eyes closed has no calories. Woolly minded wishful thinkers, determined to indulge their desires whilst fallaciously excusing themselves of any personal blame for the consequences of their selfish actions. Also because they are determined to externalise any possible blame for their child's misfortune. Natural as such a desire might be, indulging it can only hurt themselves and others.

I am not whitewashing any possible corporate malfeasance. I am stating that despite decades of efforts on the part of numerous entities, including those determined to demonstrate a link, no such link has been found.

Proof of corporate malfeasance in one sphere, does not demonstrate corporate malfeasance in all spheres.