SchaferAutismReport: Survey Confirms Parents' Fears, Confusion Over Autism

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Saturday, October 4, 2008

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Vol. 12 No. 142p

In This Issue:

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•

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RESEARCH

Survey Confirms Parents' Fears, Confusion Over Autism

$3.2 Billion Child Health Study To Begin In January

Many Adults With Autism Beat Odds, Utah Researchers Find

•

•

PEOPLE

Parents of Autistic Son Give South Carolina Hospital $2 Million

Autistic Boy Apparently Left On School Bus All Day

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EDUCATION

Parents Protest Yoga Classes In New York School

California Autism School Returns Some Parents' Checks

New Chicago School Opens For The Autistic

MEDIA

Fischkin Blogs for Spectrum Magazine

COMMENTARY

Exacting A Human Toll

LETTERS

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RESEARCH

Survey Confirms Parents' Fears,

Confusion Over Autism

Poll results help explain growing number of measles infections

is.gd/3u3Q

The first national survey of attitudes

toward autism reveals that a small but significant percentage of people

still believe the disease is caused by childhood vaccines. The survey of

1000 randomly selected adults was conducted for the Florida Institute of

Technology.

Nearly one in four (24 percent) said that

because vaccines may cause autism it was safer not to have children

vaccinated at all. Another 19 percent were not sure. This at a time when

the Centers for Disease Control reports that autism affects one in 150

children born in the United States.

Scientists say there is no evidence linking

vaccines and autism, but the lingering fear is leading to fewer parents

having their children vaccinated and a growing number of measles

infections. The New York Times reported in August that measles cases in the

first seven months of 2008 grew at the fastest rate in more than a decade

and cases in Britain, Switzerland, Israel and Italy are said to be soaring.

The public's concern over vaccines stems

from a controversial 1998 British study linking autism and the MMR vaccine,

which at the time contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. The

study was later retracted by most of its authors and thimerosal was removed

from all childhood vaccines in 2001, but responses to the just-completed

survey show the public is still confused.

Florida Institute of Technology commissioned

the survey, which asked specifically about the link between the

preservative and autism. Nineteen percent of the respondents agreed with

the statement " Autism is caused by a preservative once found in

childhood vaccines. " An additional 43 percent were not sure, meaning

fewer than half (38 percent) of the respondents believe no link exists

between the vaccine and autism.

Part of the confusion may stem from the fact

that the cause of autism is unknown, according to Florida Tech Assistant

Professor of Psychology Celeste Harvey. More than three in four respondents

(76 percent) to the national survey agree with the statement: " At this

time, scientists don't know exactly what causes autism. "

" Fear of the unknown, coupled with

anxiety over the growing incidence of the disease, may be leading people to

draw their own conclusions, " said Harvey.

The first national survey of the public's

knowledge and understanding of Autism was conducted for the School of

Psychology at Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Fla. The survey

includes responses from 1000 men and women, 21 years old or older, randomly

selected from throughout the nation. The poll has a plus or minus 3.1

percent confidence interval at a 95 percent level of confidence. The

telephone interviews were conducted between August 1 and August 29 by GDA

Education Research, Mount Pleasant, S.C.

In addition to asking whether a link exists

between autism and childhood vaccines, the survey explored people's

knowledge of the disease, their exposure to people with autism and their

support for early intervention programs. More results of the survey will be

released at the Institute's 2008 Autism Conference on Friday, Oct. 3, in

Melbourne. More information can be found at research.fit.edu/autismconference.

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