What Is Causing the Continued Rise in Autism-2025?

Let's be clear, autism is destroying the lives of too many children and their families. The latest CDC report (Reference: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/ss/ss7402a1.htm) states that autism in 8-year-olds in the U.S.A. (for the 2002 data) is now 1 in 31—and 1 in 20 for boys—and in California for 4-year-olds it is 1 in 12.5.

This is catastrophic, and it is long past time this crisis is averted. The rate of autism for boys in California will be even worse when they compile the data for 8-year-old boys in four years.

Let's clear up one of the most divisive issues that is not helpful: the topic of neurodiversity and the idea that looking for what is driving this epidemic of autism is not honoring those who claim to be autistic and neurodiverse. If you are claiming to be autistic or have been diagnosed with ASD, but are functioning well, can take care of yourself, and will be able to live independently, then—while you may have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a term I don't like because of the word "disorder"—you can absolutely celebrate your neurodiversity and live a meaningful and wonderful life whether or not you understand or identify the reasons for your neurodiversity and ASD. For the roughly 25% of those with autism/ASD who have profound autism, it is nothing to celebrate. Do the parents of these children love and fight for their children? Absolutely! These are some of the most wonderful parents in the world who would give their lives to have their child recover.

Most with profound autism will require lifelong care. They will not generally hold down a job or live independently; many are incapacitated with frequent seizures and need help with toileting and social situations. Many are in constant pain and live with debilitating anxiety.

As a retired pediatrician who honored informed consent and supported parents who chose not to vaccinate because they had done the research, I saw something most other pediatricians have not seen. I saw how incredibly healthy the unvaccinated children were—with virtually zero autism and far less ADHD, developmental delays, learning issues, eczema, asthma, allergies, and infections of all kinds.

Below are the graphs of the data from my practice comparing the unvaccinated to the variably vaccinated—those who were basically following the Vaccine-Friendly Plan outlined in my book by the same name.

Because other pediatricians were discharging patients who would not follow the CDC schedule, for many years before my retirement, I was getting 3–4 new families a week in my practice who shared—with tears and sorrow—the tragic regression of a normally developing infant (usually between the age of 1–2 years old) into severe nonverbal autism. These were the profound autism children that no one could ever miss, so it clearly has nothing to do with better diagnosis, recognition, or changing diagnostic criteria.

Let's address the issue of association versus causation. While it is true that association does not necessarily mean causation, in medicine the first step in identifying causation is to notice an association and then research and determine if multiple studies show the same thing and whether there are plausible mechanisms that would explain how causation could take place.

No one questions whether penicillin can cause an allergic reaction. Now, for those of us who look at all the data and have lived through the past 20 years with a curious mind and careful attention to the literature and the patients right in front of us, we are clear on some of the causes and mechanisms that result in what we call autism, ASD, and a host of other chronic conditions in childhood.

Thankfully, we now have Bobby Kennedy (RFK Jr.) at the helm of HHS, leading the charge to figure this out and hopefully put an end to the iatrogenic causes of this crisis.

Iatrogenic in medicine means that it is something we are doing that is the problem. Could it be that we are doing something that is triggering this regression into autism in this growing percentage of children? What could it be?

The answer is the elephant in the room—the vaccines. The very thing we've been told over and over for 20 years does NOT cause autism, despite no proper studies on the effects of the vaccines on all health outcomes and despite no proper placebo-controlled studies on vaccine safety conducted by everyone from the NIH to the CDC and the pharmaceutical industry.

So, what are the mechanisms of harm? What are the most likely factors resulting in the explosion of autism in our world? What are the most likely top candidates for environmental causes? While genetic vulnerability is real, for there to be an epidemic in one or two generations there must be an environmental cause.

The mechanisms are clear: direct toxicity, immune activation and dysregulation, along with excitotoxicity.

What agents do this? Aluminum is a particularly bad actor here. It is responsible for direct toxicity, immune activation, and triggering autoimmunity. Most vaccines in the childhood schedule contain aluminum. Vaccines often contain many other toxins, like thimerosal (mercury) that is still in the multidose flu shot, formaldehyde (embalming fluid) that is in many vaccines, and many other ingredients that are immune activating.

But my child got all the vaccines, and they are fine, so it can’t be the vaccines! WRONG.

​Remember that before we moved from thinking that cigarettes were associated—and later known—to cause lung cancer and heart disease, there were lots of smokers who did not develop cancer or heart disease. The same is true for the vaccines. If you aren’t aware of the harm, then you won’t recognize all the negative health effects caused by the vaccines.

Here are some of the known causes of chronic health problems and autism:

• Vaccines, particularly the MMR and the Hepatitis B given to infants.
  
• The toxins in the vaccines, particularly aluminum.
  
• Acetaminophen/Paracetamol (Tylenol) – blocks the production of glutathione.
  
• Glyphosate.
  
• Nutrient deficiencies, especially vitamin D.
  
• Genetic vulnerabilities that increase risks to the above.
  

​This is not a comprehensive list, but a good start. If parents chose to follow the actual good science (and reject the junk science that is poorly done or intentionally meant to mislead), the following few steps could largely end the autism epidemic and significantly reduce the chronic diseases our children are suffering from. I'm not licensed, nor do I give medical advice; so the list below is simply a science-guided approach based on what we now know:

The obvious number one culprit for what is destroying our children's health is the vaccines. California has one of the most highly vaccinated childhood populations in the country, and they have the highest rate of autism. In the U.S.A., we have one of the highest numbers of vaccines being given to infants and children. We also have one of the highest rates of infant mortality among developed nations. In our new book VAX FACTS (VAX FACTS Website), in the chapter on SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) you will see that for the six peer-reviewed studies that looked at SIDS as it relates to when these babies died relative to when they got vaccines, the results were shocking: Seventy-eight (78)% died in the first week after vaccines!

Kennedy also made clear that the recent CDC data shows that "nearly two-thirds of children with ASD in the latest survey had either severe or borderline intellectual disability (ID)."

​The destruction of our children’s brains, neurodevelopment, and immune systems must stop! Parents, the danger is real, and until it is acknowledged and the vaccine program halted, it is up to you to study this and stop vaccinating until you truly understand the impact of the decision to vaccinate.

Consider our new book VAX FACTS: What to Consider Before Vaccinating at All Ages & Stages of Life as your guide to informed consent. (Available only in paperback; see also details on Kids First 4Ever.)

If you want help thinking through your unique situation (perhaps you are traveling, have family history considerations, or there is a disease outbreak for which a vaccine is available—or maybe you aren’t on the same page as your partner), consider coaching with Dr. Paul or DeeDee (JAM, Just a Mom) at Kids First 4Ever Coaching. DeeDee also specializes in communication, whether with your partner, doctor, friend, or relative.

To make the decision not to vaccinate a little easier for those who are new to thinking about this, I would encourage you to consider that for every single disease for which there is a vaccine, your child is more likely to die from the vaccine than from the disease itself. 

Summary: The risk of death is higher from the vaccine than the risk of death from the disease attributable to not being vaccinated. Source: https://vaxcheckers.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/PRJN4.pdf

 This data is also presented in the appendix of our new book “Vax Facts”. 
Gratitude goes to the legal team and the Control Group who did the heavy lifting to get the data and generate the report referenced here, and to Ted Kuntz who caught the error in our first printing of Vax Facts and pulled together this concise graphic above.