They DONT know. They wonder. They think “I have a wonderfully healthy baby here and if there is the SLIGHTEST risk that I could irreparably damage my child by giving them a shot that they MIGHT not ever need, I won’t do it.”

Not so much the autism risks but all the other known and unknown but rare risks. It’s a real and not so unreasonable feeling to have as a parent.

Parents don’t give a hoot about “herd immunity” when it’s their little boy who is on the alter of science. For every parent with a child with autism it’s an n=1 because N=1. Who cares what the population risk is when it happens to you?

Discounting those feelings and thoughts by vilifying and verbally abusing them won’t change action. We need to understand and accept that they have concerns about the unknown without alienating them from the conversation. We need to let them know the autism connection really honestly truly is false and that the risks of disease are so much more likely to cause their child harm.