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Suspected autism and vaccination

ConcernedMum

Hi, new here and would welcome some advice. My son is almost 20 and I've suspected since about 15/16 that he may be autistic. He's high functioning and did well academically and sports wise at school, but struggled socially. I tried to discuss it with him when he was about 17 but he dismissed it and that was the end of the subject. He's immature for his age.

Covid happened and his plans for his gap year (achieving a sporting goal) were grounded which made him very angry and agitated - all of the time. Fast forward to now. For various reasons, he has now come to the conclusion that he is on the spectrum. He has done an online assessment which has confirmed to him that there is a "high probability" but he doesn't (yet) want to consider getting a diagnosis. He has really struggled with Covid and is completely against getting the vaccine, and has got sucked into the anti-vax conspiracy theories online. While doing his research he has come across the Andrew Wakefield/Autism/Vaccine information. He had single jabs as a baby (it was at the time of the scandal) and didn't have the MMR booster until the age of 10. He is now convinced that having the MMR at 10 'gave' him Autism as the 'traits' didn't really become obvious until he was well into his teens. I've told him that that's not the case as he definitely had the characteristics before the age of 10 but I just didn't know enough about it at that stage. 

The problem now is that he is very distrustful (and fearful) of any medical intervention.  Not only is he refusing to get vaccinated, but he won't take any Covid tests either (sensory sensitivity) so has pretty much become reclusive as the restrictions are increasingly requiring testing or Covid passports.  I am really worried about what his future looks like - how will he get a job or even function in society?  And to make matters worse, all of our family lives outside the UK and he won't be able to travel if he won't be vaccinated or tested.

Any advice would be welcomed.  He's not receptive to help from me or a third party at this stage.

Parents

  • I knew one of Wakefield's former PhD students. He, very bravely, refused to have his name added to the authors of the Lancet paper. At the time he thought that the study was poorly conducted and that the conclusions drawn from the data were entirely erroneous. There is no connection between any vaccine and autism. This is just a scientific fact. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition and is there from birth. There is no conceivable way in which a vaccine could alter the architecture of the brain. In many children it becomes noticeable around the time they generally get childhood vaccinations, but this is pure coincidence, not causation. Conspiracy theories act to bolster self-worth and self-regard. Believers think that they know some special information that is unknown to, or rejected by, the 'deluded masses'. This effect on self-esteem makes conspiracy theories particularly insidious and difficult to be rescued from.

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  • I knew one of Wakefield's former PhD students. He, very bravely, refused to have his name added to the authors of the Lancet paper. At the time he thought that the study was poorly conducted and that the conclusions drawn from the data were entirely erroneous. There is no connection between any vaccine and autism. This is just a scientific fact. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition and is there from birth. There is no conceivable way in which a vaccine could alter the architecture of the brain. In many children it becomes noticeable around the time they generally get childhood vaccinations, but this is pure coincidence, not causation. Conspiracy theories act to bolster self-worth and self-regard. Believers think that they know some special information that is unknown to, or rejected by, the 'deluded masses'. This effect on self-esteem makes conspiracy theories particularly insidious and difficult to be rescued from.

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