TACA states, “Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.” “Autism costs the nation over $268 billion per year, a figure expected to significantly increase in the next decade.” Autism has been a big problem in the United States for a while, and with it costing us so much every year, we’re trying to crack down on what exactly is the cause of autism. Even though there is heavily researched evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, Donald J. Trump still believes that vaccines do cause autism, and he is very public about his opinion. He claims that vaccines do cause babies to get sick, and then shortly after they develop autism. He says that he has seen it happen to babies first hand. He claims that higher doses of the vaccine can also cause autism in babies. His final claim is that if you spread out the vaccines instead of getting them so close together that that will prevent babies from getting autism. In 2015, Trump debated Dr. Ben Carson at CNN, and one of their topics was vaccines. Ben Carson doesn’t think that vaccines cause autism, and that the two just are not related in any way, while Trump argues that vaccines are a big cause of the autism epidemic and that we need to cut down on the amount of dosage and we shouldn’t have vaccines so close together. Today I will be disproving Donald J Trump’s correlation between vaccines and autism.

1. “[T]he other day […] the child, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine and came back, and a week later got a tremendous fever got very very sick, now is autistic” (2:04)

Donald Trump claims to have seen vaccines cause autism first-hand. This claim is dangerous to put out there because it will cause the GOP to believe information that is completely false. Kids Health states in their website that “numerous scientific studies have shown that there is no link between vaccines”. Even though there is solid evidence against the rumors of vaccines being a factor with autism, Trump, like many others, are negligent to the proof. Though there is thorough research on autism, scientists still can’t figure out what exactly causes this disease. Kids Health states “[t]he cause(s) of autism [are] unknown.” While the causes of autism still remain unknown, scientists know for a fact that one of them is not vaccine related. It is also harmful to people if a child or adult is not vaccinated. Kids Health says, “[a]n unvaccinated child who gets one of these preventable diseases could get very sick or even die, as could other people around the child” Whether you believe vaccines work or not, it is a hazard to other kids if they are not vaccinated. Unvaccinated kids can spread the sickness they have to other children, causing many children to die or become very ill over a myth. Lastly, it is true that you or your child may have a bad reaction to a vaccine, but that does not mean it is in any way harmful or that you will develop autism from this. Kids Health states, “Sometimes, kids can have a reaction to a vaccine like a mild fever or rash”. This would only happen if you are allergic to something that is in the vaccine, getting sick from a vaccine does not mean that the vaccine is poisonous or dangerous, your body just had a bad reaction. While we don’t know the cause of autism, we know for a fact that there is no correlation between vaccines and autism.

2. Donald J. Trump, former president, (1:13)

But who is Donald J. Trump? In this video he was a possible future president of the United States as there was rumour and suspicion that he was going to run in the near future for the 2016 election. After his slogan “Make America Great Again” was created and became a hot topic around the country it seemed to be only drama and attention from that moment going forward after  his inauguration, and being the 45th President in the White House. After he got in, it was “marked by drama and controversy” , says BBC. A recording of him found in 2005 was brought up in the midst of his presidency. The video showed a recording of him “making lewd remarks about women, […] including from members of his own party, that he was not fit for office”. Not to mention his popularity on Twitter, time and time again seemed to get him in deep trouble and entangled in multiple controversies from lots of different angles. It seems as though lots of his remarks were simply to gain attention from the media and always keeping them on their toes, regardless of what he was saying is true. How should we take anything he says legitimately, if his own colleagues in his party never thought he was fit enough to run for office to begin with?

3. “[A]utism has become an epidemic twenty-five years ago thirty five years ago you look at the statistics not even close it has gotten totally out of control” (1:22)

While Trump does seem to make a good claim about autism becoming a big issue as of lately, there is a lot of misinformation in that statement. Discover, on their website says, “The disorder hasn’t actually become much more common—we’ve just developed better and more accurate ways of looking for it.” There hasn’t just been a random surge of cases that appeared in the last couple of years. A while back in the 90’s they did not have the technology to properly identify autism all the time, so lots of cases would just go unheard of. Upside Therapy explains, “Since autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not something that can be transmitted or spread to others, it cannot be considered an epidemic.” Trump in his claims spreads so much misinformation. There’s no way autism could even be considered an epidemic because it would have to be infectious, and it is not. These claims he is making seem to be a lot of fear-mongering, trying to make people scared of vaccines or wary of them. From what we know, autism is not an epidemic because it has always been a widespread issue, and it cannot be an epidemic because it is not infectious.

4. “I mean it looks just like it’s meant for a horse not for a child” (1:50)

The claim that the dosage of vaccines is too large for a child is completely false. The dosage for a child at first sight may seem like a lot, but it barely has any effect on the child’s well-being. Public Health exclaims, “[A] baby would theoretically have the ability to respond to around 10,000 vaccines at one time.” Even though shots may seem scary for babies, and that fear is valid, doctors would not give out vaccines to babies if it were going to put the baby in harm’s way. There has been extensive research on vaccines to see if they are safe, and vaccines have been proven to be successful, and safe. There’s also no way the dosage could be harmful since your body is always making new cells. Public Health claims, “The immune system could never truly be overwhelmed because the cells in the system are constantly being replenished” Even if there were a chance that the dosage could be risky, it truly would not matter because the cells are always cycled and the old ones are thrown out while new ones appear. Babies can get lots of shots at once and be just fine. Public Health says, “Even if all 14 scheduled vaccines were given at once, it would only use up slightly more than 0.1% of a baby’s immune capacity.” Usually at doctors appointments you only get 1-2 shots, so if a baby can survive at least 14 and be fine, the dosage should not be a concern. The dosage of a shot is no concern for a baby since the body is always making new cells, and it would barely use up the immune capacity.

5. “[D]o them over a longer period of time same amount just in in little sections” (2:12)

While it may look like it is a good idea to spread out vaccines, it actually does more harm than good. The closer you get your vaccines, the better. Health Leaders states, “Infectious-disease doctors and public health officials say everyday life presents far greater challenges to children’s immune systems.” Everyday you put off getting you or your child a vaccine, the more you are putting you, your child, and the people around you in danger. Even though you may have gotten one of the vaccinations does not mean you are completely immune to it, you can still easily be a danger to children or your friends. Getting your vaccines in as early as possible is the best decision because there are many diseases today that could be harmful to you or your child. Health Leaders says, “Infectious-disease doctors and public health officials say everyday life presents far greater challenges to children’s immune systems.” You could easily get sick with one of many diseases present today if you do not get a vaccine or if you delay your vaccination appointment. Putting off vaccines may seem like a good thing to do, but in the long run you could be doing more harm than good.

This whole getting a vaccine thing might seem scary, but it is a necessity. You hear a lot of things about getting vaccines, such as “you’re going to be autistic” or that it is dangerous, but all of those are false. In no way does getting a vaccine correlate to autism. Getting vaccines is not only beneficial for yourself, it is beneficial for everyone around you. It helps stop the spread of diseases and it also stops you from personally giving a deadly disease to someone. Kids Health states, “An unvaccinated child who gets one of these preventable diseases could get very sick or even die, as could other people around the child.”