Is autism caused by too many vaccines?

A father claims his son developed severe regressive autism after a Tennessee judge ordered 18 vaccinations in one day during a custody battle, which he believes led to lifelong health challenges and hardships for the family.

The claim that a large number of vaccines suddenly caused autism goes against the best research on autism’s genetic roots. Studies show that autism is mostly genetic and often starts before birth, during early brain development in the womb. The brain differences seen in autism are usually there before birth and don’t appear suddenly because of things like vaccines. This supports research suggesting that autism’s main causes happen well before a baby is born.

Large-scale studies from global health authorities, including the CDC, WHO, and various peer-reviewed sources, have repeatedly shown no causal link between vaccines and autism.

The father claims that doctors at Vanderbilt University said his son Isaac’s autism was caused by being forced to get many vaccines. But if people like RFK Jr. at the Children’s Health Defense group say vaccines often cause autism this way, it’s important to ask why one doctor also told the father she’s only seen one other child with symptoms like Isaac’s. This suggests that cases like Isaac’s are extremely rare, which goes against the idea that vaccines commonly cause autism.

One more thing to note: regressive autism isn’t autism you develop; the diagnosis of regressive autism is given to someone who was always autistic but loses skills, such as speech, as they grow older.