Emma King
In this presentation, Emma King explores the controversial topic of vaccines and autism, explaining scientific studies and research that disprove a link between the two, a well known and very controversial study concluding that some vaccines do cause autism, and a lesser-known yet more reputable study that concerns the safety of some vaccinations and their potential link to autism.
Hello there,
Great presentation and great job providing information from the scientific research from both viewpoints of the topic. Quick question in regards to the Wakefield study, did any of the scientists serve jail time?
Thank you for your feedback!
Regarding the Wakefield study, no, no one served jail time though Wakefield was removed from the medical registry in the UK and is no longer viewed as a credible academic.
Very Interesting, I especially enjoyed your addressing of both sides of the issue and your honesty about the issues. Well Done
This was a great presentation! I am familiar with the topic on a surface level but not much more than that. I can tell your research was very thorough and you did a great job touching on both sides of the argument. Also, I had never heard of the Wakefield study! After I finished watching your presentation, I went online to look up more information on that. Great job!
Thank you so much Maria! My goal was to be as unbiased as possible and show both sides of an argument that is often only shown from one side, depending on one’s viewpoint.
Love that you looked into the Wakefield study more! It’s so interesting how vastly it affected public perception on vaccines even though it was redacted later.
This is seems to be such a controversial topic lately so it was great watching someone who has done their research to address the issue. I had no clue the ethical violations of the studies that correlated vaccines to autism spectrum disorder existed! A really concise and informative presentation.
Thank you Neal! This presentation probably shows 1/30th of the research I did for the original research paper I wrote haha There’s so much information out there on this topic, but its honestly so hard to find with censorship these days. So glad you enjoyed the presentation and that it was helpful for you :)
I found this to be very thought out and well presented, you did an amazing job! I have heard about this being a topic of discussion many times before but had never done any actual research on my own time considering I don’t have any kids of my own yet and it was never something that really affected me. To see that you found interest in it and did your research in-depth to help address it, touch on both sides of the argument, and be able to help someone who may have had concerning questions about it as a topic is amazing!
Great presentation. Your throughout research and detail evidence really conveys me to look more into this topic. Especially your mention of the Wakefield, which shows bigger picture in the medical field and human righ Issues. Thank you for your research
I really enjoyed your presentation and the time and thought that was put into it. My favorite thing about this presentation is how you mentioned both views of the argument to allow the audience to form their own opinion on the topic.
Hi Emma,
Thank you for sharing helpful information on the link between vaccines and autism. One point that strikes me is that the case of autism is increasing throughout time, with ambiguous causes. I have looked up the Wakefield case and learned that medical research had prevented a number of children from receiving the MMR vaccine, which was later found to not correlate with autism. Great job mentioning two sides of this matter. I believe that even a tiny fraction of people facing abnormality is still worth addressing. People should have their research done about medical treatment before withdrawing from it.
Hello!
This is an excellent presentation. I particularly like the focus at the start on actually explaining what Autism is — most articles and other explanatory pieces I notice talking about this topic glaze over Autism and simply talk about the vaccines.
The Wakefield study has always driven me bonkers. The fact that this study was even published, especially with such a prestigious journal like The Lancet, is ludicrous. The study relied mostly on the anecdotal evidence of a couple of parents who were already inclined to have the opinion that there was a link between Autism and vaccines. And to top it all off Wakefield tried to make this connection by saying that the MMR vaccine could cause a gastrointestinal issue (wrong) WHICH caused Autism (did NOONE actually read this study?)! Argh!
It did not surprise me at all when I found out he was a sellout who wanted to promote a set of vaccines which vaccinated the children for each of the diseases separately from which he would stand to gain significant money.
The worst part of this is how pervasive this study is in starting and sustaining Anti-Vaccine rhetoric and beliefs. It’s actually really sad that such a nonsensical study could kickstart a campaign against a pillar of modern medicine.
Thanks for the presentation!
I found this presentation quite interesting. While I did know that the Wakefield study had been disproved that vaccines cause autism, I was unaware that there are studies that show that there could be a link. I found it interesting that aluminum in vaccines is a standing hypothesis for a cause of autism.
Interesting review of the problem. It’s incredible to me that a research document that has been this widely disproved can still create so much doubt and subsequent damage. It would be interesting to study sociological behaviors and values in those communities that share their allegiance to this false document. The cross-sectionality regarding opinions on this topic between otherwise seemingly vastly different cultures within our society is fascinating. And while the aluminum factor is an interesting one, a theory based on studying only 5 individuals does seem neither empirically provable nor disprovable without much larger-scale testing and analysis.