Tag: autism

Autism prevalence increases to 1 in 38, and antivaxxers blame vaccines without using the word “vaccine”
The CDC updated its estimates for the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders. Predictably, antivaxxers blame the increasing prevalence of ASDs reported, particularly in Black children, on "environmental factors," which is antivax code for, "Vaccines are to blame."

Ivermectin is now fast becoming the new MMS
A recent VICE story described a Telegram channel devoted to promoting veterinary ivermectin to treat autism. It has echoes of autism quackery going back at least to the use of MMS (a kind of bleach) to "cure" autism by eliminating "parasites."

What the New York Times gets wrong about puberty blockers for transgender youth
The New York Times recently published an article expressing grave concern about the use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in transgender adolescents. Unfortunately, the reporting ignored evidence and important context to weave a narrative portraying puberty blockers as far more risky than they actually are.

Peer review fail: Vaccine publishes antivax propaganda disguised as “reanalyses” of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial data
In order portray COVID-19 vaccines as dangerous, Peter Doshi has now managed to get poorly designed and performed "reanalyses" of the clinical trial data used by the FDA to grant emergency use approval of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines published in two reputable journals, The BMJ and Vaccine? What happened?

Facilitated Communication Is Still Pseudoscience
Facilitated communication is a harmful pseudoscientific technique that has managed to survive through rebranding and deception.

Fetal Signs of Autism
More evidence that ASD is a developmental disorder that begins in the womb.

Videos Said to be “Proof” that Nonverbal Autistics Can Communicate by Spelling
The father of nonverbal autistic child believes videos constitute proof that other children with autism can communicate by by pointing to letters on a board held by a facilitator to spell out words. He is wrong.

Court overturns FDA ban on electric shock device used on special needs students
An FDA ban on using electric shock devices to control behavior in special needs students, a method deemed "torture" in a U.N. report, was overturned in a flawed court decision. The FDA should appeal.

Epidural Labor Analgesia Not Linked to Autism Says New and Improved Study
A new and improved study investigating a potential link between epidural analgesia during labor and autism found no connection. That's great news for mothers and babies.

The latest antivax false claim: mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 are not vaccines but “medical devices” or “gene therapy”
There's a new antivaccine talking point in town, and it's just as much disinformation as other antivaccine talking points. It's the claim that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not really vaccines but "medical devices," "gene therapy," or "experimental biologics" and that they were falsely classified as vaccines in order to bypass safety testing. Here, we discuss why this claim is utter nonsense based...