Really disheartening to see people starting to forget what started the anti-vaxxer movement.
Its not just rich white people. Its not conspiracy theorists. It's not people who are blindly religious and condemn science.
It's all people who hate autistc people. It's straight anti-autistic ableism.
It's a movement that was started by a man who hated autistic people (autistic children specifically) so much that he used his experience as a physician to fake research that stated vaccines cause autism. That man's name is Andrew Wakefield. He's still claiming his proven-false claims are true. He was born in England but lives now in Texas. And he's STILL LEADING THE ANTI-VAX MOVEMENT.
The movemnt is inherently anti-autistic. Anti-Vaxxers willingly admit theyd rather their child be dead than autistic. Please do not erase our suffering when talking about this.
I always hated hearing that when it first started picking up speed. My friends back in high school made jokes because someone in our group wasn't vaccinated. Saying things "like well you're not autistic," and the such. I never had the courage to tell them to stop.
Don't do what I did. If you have someone in your life making jokes at your expense, whether they know it or not, tell them to stop. Even if you aren't autistic, say something for those who can't.
