The background to my call for a second front on the specific relationship between autism and MMR comes as a result of another excellent Pensive Quill article by Barry Gilheany.
My column is not a critique of Barry’s very thought-provoking and well-written piece. I’m merely using it as a springboard to encourage President Trump to probe deeper into what causes autism.
Readers of The Pensive Quill already know that as a Radical Right-wing Unionist, I am a huge fan of President Trump. I make no apologies for this. Neither do I make any apologies for writing this specific column as the father of a severely autistic adult son rather than as a political and religious commentator.
I should also emphasise that my doctorate is not in any medical field, but in journalism ethics, so my observations in this column are based on my gut reaction as a dad, not as a qualified expert in Special Educational Needs (SEN).
These are the statistics as I know them. My youngest son, Adam, was born in 1995. At 18 months, he had a recognised vocabulary of 20 clear words. My wife and I decided to give him the MMR jab as our eldest son had also had the jab and all he had was a temperature for a few hours.
Adam had his MMR jab. A few weeks later, he stopped talking and has never spoken since. In November 1997, he was formally statemented with non-verbal autism.
Now at the age of 30, his verbal vocabulary consists of three words - No, Up, and occasionally when walking on the beach, the word Boat. He uses a basic form of sign language and noises to communicate.
He has never been in mainstream education and never will be. He will require 24/7 supervision for all his life. The journey has been stressful at times and a challenge to my Christian faith, especially when one evangelist once told me Adam’s autism was a punishment from God on him and he would never see heaven.
I wrote about this evangelist during my Irish Daily Star days. A week after penning the article, the evangelist came back to me and told me God had told him that Adam’s autism was not a punishment, and he would indeed see heaven! Was it a word from above, or the power of the tabloid press?
So let me put my cards bluntly on the table as a dad, not as a medical expert. I blame the MMR jab for Adam’s autism. Yes, I know I have no medical evidence for writing this assertion and many, many folk in the medical profession will jump down my throat for making such a bold claim.
Perhaps you might even say, well I have to blame something, so it might as well be the MMR jab. I only know of one doctor who was brave enough to make a link between autism and the MMR jab and he has been ridiculed for doing so.
All my medical sources will never go on the record about the relationship between MMR and autism. I’m a member of various autism support groups. Again, we speak in confidential whispers when we talk about MMR and autism. Everything is ‘off the record’.
Some in the pro-MMR lobby in the medical profession would try to paint us who point the finger at MMR as being anti-vaxxers. I’m not. I believe passionately in the concept and need for vaccination, but I want freedom of choice.
Parents should have the right to choose how their children will be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella - either as a single MMR jab, or with three separate jabs. I am staunchly pro-vaccination - I’ve had my covid jabs, an annual flu jab, shingles jabs and a pneumonia jab.
Put flippantly, if there’s a jab I am entitled to, I’m taking it. That’s my choice. So I want the same for parents when it comes to MMR.
When my late dad was an Assembly member for North Antrim, we campaigned for a Northern Ireland Autism Bill to support both those on the autistic spectrum and those caring for folk with autism.
What I have noticed since Adam was statemented in 1997 is that the autism spectrum has widened over the years. There are folk being statemented in 2025 who would not have been considered to be autistic in 1997.
Is this a case of more conditions on the spectrum being taken into consideration, or is it better facilities in statementing? Give it another decade and everyone will be on the spectrum to some degree. Could the so-called ‘Monday Blues’ at having to face another week eventually be classified as being part of that spectrum?
So what precisely do I want The Donald to say next regarding autism? I would like him to reopen the debate about autism and MMR; I would like him to emphasise that those of us who blame the MMR are not anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists, but merely want freedom of choice for parents in terms of vaccination programmes.
And especially, I would President Trump to use America to lead the way in terms of assisted living facilities for adults with autism.
In the meantime, as a dad, I await the backlash from the medical profession on this column on autism and MMR.
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |
I fully understand and appreciate the struggles that John has had to deal with in raising a severely learning disabled son and I have no desire to invalidate his experiences. But I have to say that the weight of medical evidence refutes any link between the MMR vaccine and childhood autism. Andrew Wakefield's original experiment has been roundly condemned on ethical grounds because of his exploitation of his research subjects and his conflict of interest in acting on behalf of lawyers involved in anti-vaccine litigation completely negates any credibility he has.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very sensitive way to deal with the matter Barry. I think you have called it right. John is anything but antivax. His personal experience has shaped his perspective.
DeleteI don't see any good reason not to be able to space out the MMR jabs. I'm with John on this one, pro-vax but let's look more carefully at what we do and what we are giving especially to children.
ReplyDeleteThat being said thon 'evangelist' needs a good boot up the hole.
Greetings, I'd like to request permission to submit an article for publication here on the Quill in response to this article written by John. My response is far too long to simply leave as a comment, and I feel submitting an article would be better. Could you please advise? Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteMatt - post an email address as a comment. It will not be published but will allow us to send you contact details. The article will then be considered for publication on TPQ.
Deletecheck your email Matt
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