What will the Trump Factor do for autism?
This is the Taj Mahal, Donald Trump style.
This is the real Taj Mahal.
This is Donald Trump’s take on autism and vaccines.
This is the CDC stating that there is no valid scientific evidence to link vaccines or anything in vaccines to autism.
It’s just me, but I’d rather be at the real Taj Mahal than the Atlantic City hotel/resort/casino complex that is part of Trump’s holdings (and that I can reach readily by car, bus, or boat from anywhere in New Jersey). (Yes, the same New Jersey that is said to have an “autism cluster,” is said to be trampling on the rights of the parents of preschoolers for requiring mandatory flu vaccines for young children in daycare, has the highest rate of incidence in autism (1 in 94)—-such is life in the Garden State.)
Just as, when it comes to pronouncements on autism and vaccines, I’ll stick (pun not intended, but use it as you will) with the scientists rather than an infamous Manhattan developer (or an equally infamous former MTV-VJ).
All bets are open about who’ll be the next celebrity to step on the autism, and on the “autism-vaccine-theory” bandwagon—-with The Donald on board and Jenny already securely ensconced, who’ll make up the trifecta?
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POSTED IN: India, Money, New Jersey, Science, Vaccines
28 opinions for What will the Trump Factor do for autism?
Emily
Dec 29, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Aaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee! Aaaaaaaarrrgggghhhh.
Sigh. Can someone famous with a functioning higher-order thinking capacity speak out on these things, for once?
The AS Man
Dec 29, 2007 at 9:49 pm
You know he had one of the contests on the apprentice to be a fund raiser for Autism Speaks. I went to one of his speaking gigs in 2006. It was the learning annex. I wanted to ask him that question. But his handlers said someone already ask him that in chicago and he wanted no more questions on that topic. So naturally I yelled across and said Autism doesnt need a cure or something similar. Trump looked at me. I was like in my head “So what are you gonna to do about it”. I looked over to his people the 2 guys who the gate keepers put their heads down. I walked away. He is good friends with the wrights.
I remember a few months later He was doing a TV taping for something for PBS. I was one of members of the studio audience. When he recognize me he got a sick look on his face. He was going to take more questions etc but he cut it short. He would sign my book. That guy stewart from the dailey show there standing in front of the first row of the seated audience. As you know there is a lot of dead time between takes sometimes. I got his attention asked if if it was possible if I could i get my book signed. His reaction was like How dare I ask. Jon Stewart if you remember did that horrible sketch during that autism speaks special on TV. It was held in NYC. It basically made fun of aspies in cruel way. His friend adam sandler did that in LA as well.Sandler was going on about about how he is home alone no friends etc. Their attempts to make fun and degrade deride aspies will not go unanswered.
Daisy
Dec 29, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Celebrity carries a certain amount of responsibility. I wish these celebrities would use their power to do good, not spread false information. Ah, but if wishes were horses, then beggars might ride. I guess I’ll remain a beggar.
dkmnow
Dec 29, 2007 at 11:42 pm
More data in support of the theory that intelligence is inversely proportionate to popularity…
As if we needed more.
Mrs. C
Dec 30, 2007 at 2:14 am
Well, how seriously does everyone take his comments on marriage or anything else?? LOL
That being said, I don’t trust that vaccines are safe. I want the MMR to be thimerosol-free and I want to OPT OUT of the rubella part because of our religious objections to aborted fetal cells. (Go look on the CDC’s own website and you’ll see what I’m talking about.) This vaccine is available in France, but not here.
I know I’m not alone. Lots of other people like me who are of a certain religion are not comfortable giving our children these shots, and measles and mumps will make a comeback unless the vaccine companies and the CDC do some things to make parents comfortable.
It’s not about the science if parents don’t get the shots for their kids, you know? And it’s not about whether you disagree with my beliefs. I’m going to do what I feel is best for my child.
I got all my shots as a child and still contracted the measles in college. Even WITH the shots, you’re NOT necessarily protected. I don’t care what the scientists want you to believe… the shots aren’t always effective and they’re not always safe.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 30, 2007 at 2:18 am
Minimal “seriousness” I would think but someone must be listening—enough investors behind enough real estate……
Kassiane
Dec 30, 2007 at 3:31 am
MMR has always been thimerosol free *sigh*. Willful ignorance: it doesn’t just burn, it kills.
Celebrities need to keep their filthy money grubbing hands out of autism. They just make things worse.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 30, 2007 at 3:34 am
It’s that question: Is “any” awareness all right?
Mrs. C, thank you writing about your taking the measles vaccine and still getting them in college—-there’s so much yet to know. And all the more reason to wish that the most accurate information get out there.
Kassiane
Dec 30, 2007 at 6:28 am
“Awareness” is crap IMHO. And a cop out…”oh I am dehumanizing you and people like you but it’s ok because it’s for AWARENESS.” No. Does. Not. Fly.
Information and acceptance time. REAL information. ACTUAL acceptance. Not the “well it’s ok if my kid turns out able to talk, drive, get married, and get a degree but I won’t settle for anything less” kind of ‘acceptance’. That’s as much BS as saying that the nonexistent thimerosol in the MMR ate one’s baby.
Kathy
Dec 30, 2007 at 8:05 am
“MMR has always been thimerasol free.”
Ah, Kassiane you’re not just a pretty face , are you, eh?
Emily
Dec 30, 2007 at 10:46 am
Thanks, Kassiane, for setting that straight. As for getting measles in college…we lose immunity as we get older, whether we’ve been vaccinated or experienced the actual illness. It’s one reason for the mumps and measles and whooping cough outbreaks ongoing now. People will have chicken pox return in later life as shingles, etc., even though they actually HAD chicken pox as a child. That does NOT mean that a vaccination is not effective at a crucial time during development. Not having these vaccines means a risk of death, deafness, cognitive impairment, sterility, paralysis, disfigurement, killing someone else’s more susceptible child–especially infants–with your illness, infecting a pregnant woman and causing fetal loss/abortion/miscarriage/stillbirth. In my mind and on a calculator, the benefits outweigh these enormous costs and the relatively much lower risks associated with vaccination.
Regan
Dec 30, 2007 at 11:12 am
Something to consider is the potential that for every one of us who develops the illness, that we infect 3-7 of those friends, family and neighbors who are also not vaccinated.
Some people cannot be vaccinated because of health issues and depend on herd immunity. So “our” choice has the potential to extend beyond ourself and becomes an inadvertant choice for those as well.
Emily
Dec 30, 2007 at 11:12 am
The fetal cells used in making these vaccines were derived from cells from two abortions in the 1960s. They have essentially been reproducing since that time (they are a stable maintained human cell line–there are many of those) and are used to grow the viruses for generating the vaccines. They are certainly not present in the vaccines themselves, and it’s not just for the rubella vaccine either.
People receive organs and derive medical benefit from people who died as a result of homicide (intentional or not) all the time; is there a difference in receiving a vaccine grown in the 40-year-old cells derived from two human fetuses, even if you think abortion is murder?
Regan
Dec 30, 2007 at 11:17 am
As far as Donald Trump stating his medical opinion to the press, and they reporting it:
What extra credibility might he possibly have except way more $$ than “thee and me”?
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 30, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Perhaps there’s “hope” of him funding the Trump Center for Autism Something or Other……
winnchimes
Dec 30, 2007 at 8:15 pm
What about titer testing? Then we would could see the individual’s level of immunity to a disease before vaccinating. If the immunity is high enough, then there would be no reason to give them that particular vaccine.
Cliff
Dec 30, 2007 at 9:10 pm
If you could test for the necessary vaccines, it by definition does get rid of the problem. It’s also true that most probably aren’t going to have that immunity at birth, so it may not be much at issue.
But, yeah, money talks, and unfortunately its voice has not been helpful lately. At least he’s not advocating for exorcism. Or perhaps that would be better, assuming people would realize that such practices would be ridiculous. Or is that too much to hope?…
Cliff
stopautismquackery
Dec 30, 2007 at 9:37 pm
“…with The Donald on board and Jenny already securely ensconced, who’ll make up the trifecta?”
Kim Kardashian? She’s already been schooled in the woo by BFF Jillian.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 31, 2007 at 12:11 am
Brangelina’s?
USmagazine.com
The AS Man
Dec 31, 2007 at 2:08 am
————–
Perhaps there’s “hope” of him funding the Trump Center for Autism Something or Other……
——————–
Kristina,
I mean come on! Yeah right thats what we need he will get credit and be able to empower professionals even more.
We need to disempower these professionals as much as possible
jonathan
Dec 31, 2007 at 3:41 pm
One of the most interesting takes in the Trump saga that everyone is forgetting is that while there is no scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism, there has been research done by geneticist Jonathan Sebat as well as research out of Israel showing a relationship between paternal age and increased likelihood of having an autistic offspring. I don’t know how old the Donald is, but I think I am being charitable in saying he is having a child rather late in life. Wouldn’t it be rather ironic if Donald’s child ended up being on the spectrum due to Donald not being exactly a spring chicken in spite of the fact they were so diligent in making sure vaccines would not cause their child to live a life with autism.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 31, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Maybe he has heard of that theory and is trying to forestall allegations that “it’s his fault.”
The AS Man
Dec 31, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Or perhaps the reason for that autistic men and woman may just marry and have children late???
Mrs. C
Dec 31, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Um, Kasiane, if I *am* ignorant (and by the way, that’s a *great* way to win me over to your side of the fence… power of persuasion), it’s because our DOCTOR told us that thimerosol was in the MMR. And I believed him. I’m sorry if I spread misinformation, but there was no call to attack me like that.
As to the abortion issue, you guys do NOT have to agree with me on whether that would preclude a person from vaccinating. I just gave my personal reasons for wanting measles and mumps separate “for what it’s worth.” I’m not here to start an argument on that issue at all. My point was supposed to be that whether scientists or “business” like it or not, that it’s a factor in the decision-making process, and that I was not the *only* one who felt that way. I can tell you that I know TONS of people who homeschool and almost none of them vaccinate. There are a ton of people who really need to be won over if it really is a public health concern, and it won’t happen by ignoring the issues they have with some of the vaccines, and the misinformation they may have about them. And it won’t work with mandates because they’re not in the “system” in the first place.
And *I* have never said that thimerosol causes autism. I’d just prefer not to have it in my vaccines, just on the reasoning that it probably is not a “good” thing to pump into a child’s body if it can be avoided.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 31, 2007 at 10:14 pm
@Mrs. C (I’m a Ms. C myself), I really appreciate your writing here—as you know, vaccines and mercury and autism add up to a topic that many have many strongly felt views on. The evidence seems to refute a connection but I do think that everyone’s views, and feelings, need to be heard on this topic. Kathleen Seidel posts about the questionable expertise of some of the vaccine “experts” who were to provide testimony to demonstrate a link between mercury in vaccines and autism the case of Blackwell v. Sigma Aldrich, Inc. et al. (Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Case No. 24-C-04-004829). (More commentary at Respectful Insolence.)
Best wishes—-
Regan
Dec 31, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Mrs. C, while we may or may not agree on some points, I appreciate hearing the perspective on what variables might drive some choices. Between your and Emily’s comments, it led me to look into the manufacture of vaccines and some of the issues depending on medium choice and related research. Thanks.
We also homeschool at the current time, and for what it’s worth–vaccinate.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Dec 31, 2007 at 11:59 pm
@The AS Man,
I suspect The Donald may do himself in in the usual way—-but I’m bracing myself when the Trump Center for Autism Something Or Other comes to Manhattan!
Kassiane
Jan 1, 2008 at 2:25 am
Mrs C,
Most people who are antivax CHOOSE to believe that the gov’t is lying about the thimerosol content of MMR (which has always been 0 because it would render it useless, live viruses are like that). If your doctor was ignorant or misleading you-and docs fall into both categories at times-that sucks. It doesn’t change that the PI sheets have been available, though admittedly hard to decipher–something I forget because I taught myself how in high school.
As for the fetal tissue, that’s been addressed. So has how I communicate, elsewhere. I ran out of sugar coating before I GOT to high school. *shrug*.
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