The Visible Attacks on Invisible Threat

I've been a bit slow getting around to this post, so the subject is rather old news, in blogging terms. Back at the end of April and early May, the anti-vaccine world went into a tizzy about a documentary developed by chstvFILMS (Carlsbad High School Television), an award-winning broadcast journalism program run by high school students for high school students. They have a teacher adviser and a parent volunteer to help the students, but the students do the work of writing, filming, interviewing and so forth. Several years ago, the students started work on what was intended to be a short (15 minutes or so) documentary on the immune system. What they ended up with was a roughly 45-minute documentary on vaccines, the threat of infectious diseases and the role of vaccine refusal in the spread of disease: Invisible Threat.

Invisible Threat Trailer from CHSTV Videos on Vimeo.

From the moment the students announced the project, anti-vaccine folks attacked it, with comments like this, from Age of Autism's Anne Dachel (Age of Autism, "Reporters - The Next Generation", Sept. 19, 2012):

This class assignment was a HOW-TO GUIDE on how to deceive the public by covering up relevant facts about a major issue...What was produced here was propaganda.

This, of course, without Ms. Dachel having seen the film at all. Unlike AoA's Media Director, I wanted to actually watch the film before I made any comments on it, either for or against it. So, I contacted the film's producer Lisa Posard at InvisibleThreatInfo@gmail.com.

A Parent's Story of Vaccine Reaction

Among the vocal anti-vaccine arm of the autism community, a very common story is that of a parent who brings their child to the pediatrician’s office for their routine shot, and then, BAM!, like a bolt of lightning, the light goes out of their child’s eyes and they regress into autism. Right then and there, the parent decides that no vaccine needle will ever touch their precious, “broken” child, nor indeed any of their children, ever again. Not only that, but they may be so affected by the experience that they encourage other parents to forgo immunizations for any child. At least, that’s how the story goes. More often, the timeline is more gradual, and the emergence of an anti-vaccine perspective slower, building as they read more and more material which plays on their fears and appears to confirm what they suspect: that each and every vaccine on the recommended schedule is nothing but a ticking time bomb waiting to steal children from their parents.

Well, this got me to thinking about those parents whose children had experienced an adverse event following a vaccine. What about those parents who, like many of those on the anti-vaccine side of things, have gone through similar emotions and fears, yet came out following science and reason and chose to continue to support vaccination as a means of protecting both individuals and society. They are not nearly as vocal, so their stories are seldom heard. Certainly, there must be some out there who were willing to tell their tales. Putting out the word that I was looking for these accounts, I received an email from one individual, who had been thinking about telling her story for some time. After careful thought and consideration, she agreed to let her narrative appear on Harpocrates Speaks. Without further ado, here is her story, in her words:

Got to Hand It to JB

Two days ago, I posted that Sullivan, from Left Brain/Right Brain, had outed himself, letting the world know his real name. I also mentioned that Age of Autism's J. B. Handley had made a promise last November that, if Sullivan turned out not to be Bonnie Offit, as Handley opined, that J. B. would hand over ownership of the domain name www.pauloffit.com and never utter Dr. Paul Offit's name ever again, nor even to write about him.

Well, at 5:44 am today, April 29, 2011, J. B. Handley posted on Age of Autism, stating that he will keep his word and hand over the web site. He also went so far as to say that, while he does not understand why Sullivan "reveres" Dr. Offit, he will not go after Mr. Carey, since he is also a parent of an autistic child. You can head over to Age of Autism to read Handley's words. But, just in case, I also grabbed a screen shot (after the break). At any rate, J. B., if you read this, just wanted to say thanks for keeping your word and having some integrity. I still think you're rather crass and something of a bully, but at least in this, you showed some honor.

A Harsh Reality: Wakefield and Medical/Scientific Fraud

If you are a regular reader of this somewhat irregularly updated blog, you probably have already heard the news. Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 Lancet paper was fully retracted, has now been accused of fraud. Investigative journalist, Brian Deer, wrote a rather lengthy piece for the British Medical Journal detailing the evidence of fraud committed by Wakefield. I won't go into a detailed analysis here, since it has already been covered at Respectful Insolence, Bad Astronomy, Left Brain/Right Brain, Just the Vax and elsewhere. The story has been broadcast on local news stations, as well as on CNN and Fox News. There is plenty of reading out there for those who are interested.

Instead, I'm going to take a somewhat different approach. I'm interested in what Wakefield's supporters will do now.

Age of Autism's Bully Pulpit

I shouldn't be surprised when I read some vile comment from an Age of Autism follower about someone who dared to challenge their ideology. I mean, I've written about this before, like back in May, in June, mentioned it in October and again in November. They have a history of underhandedness, attacking the people rather than addressing the content of the criticism.

Well, they are at it again. This time, the focus of their ire is a skepchick, Elyse.

Why Do We Do This?

Last night, I received an e-mail from Liz Ditz at I Speak of Dreams, letting me know that a fellow blogger and anti-quackery champion had died unexpectedly. That man was Free Speaker, at the Age of Ignorance blog.

I can't say that I knew him, really. I'd seen some of his posts around various blogs and read a few of the posts on his blog. But I cannot say that I knew him or that he was a friend. Sadly, I did not take the opportunity to forge that. About all I know is that he and I had some similarities, such as our reasons for starting our blogs.

And as I thought of his passing, and others' responses to it, I wondered, "Why do we do this?"