Bill Maher's Shiny Tin Foil Hat

I watch Real Time with Bill Maher even though I suspect that he’s sort of a jerk in real life and I find some of his positions offensive. But I agree with him about most things, and I appreciate that he invites conservatives onto his show, so it’s not a complete echo chamber. And, well, he makes me laugh.

Anyway, the point is, I watch Bill Maher, and I watch him religiously (see what I did there?). 

But a couple of weeks ago, Maher added something new to his wardrobe that I didn't expect: a shiny tin foil hat. And it wasn't at all becoming. 

Maher's opening guest on Friday was pediatrician Jay Gordon, who is a vaccine skeptic. And inexplicably, it was a softball interview. Their united message was this: we can't be absolutely sure that vaccines don't cause autism.  And while neither man was telling the audience to avoid vaccinations, the clear message was that it's perfectly okay if you do, because doctors don't really know what the fuck they're doing anyway. 

Nowhere in the discussion was it mentioned that correlation does not equal causation. Neither Maher nor Gordon brought up policy implications or the concept of herd immunity. You would think those would be worthy of a casual mention at the very least, but no. Maher did offer this bit of unimpeachable evidence, though:  one time when he got a flu shot, he got the flu right away. 

So Maher and Gordon want you to know that there is a one-in-a-million chance that your kid could get autism from a vaccine. 

This, as you already know, is not only ridiculous, but dangerous The study that linked autism to the MMR vaccine has been roundly debunked. Indeed, the researcher was such a bad actor that he lost his medical license over the study. The recent measles outbreaks are effective reminders of the impact anti-vaxxers have on public health.

Autistic self-advocates find the anti-vaxx movement highly offensive for another reason as well: When an anti-vaxxer decides not to vaccinate their child, they are really saying that they would rather have their kid die from a terrible disease than to be autistic. 

Autistics aren't so okay with that sentiment.

As most Autistic self-advocates see it, autism is a feature, not a defect, and while most Autistics need support -- and some need a whole lot of support -- that doesn't mean they all want to be cured (although this isn’t universal). Many of them -- of us -- see autism as an essential part of who we are. What we want is not a cure, but accommodations.

The perception many people have of autism -- a terrifying fate worse than death and a destroyer of families -- is the result of a well-funded, 15-year fear campaign led by Autism Speaks, the most well-known association related to autism. The organization has justly earned a great deal of criticism by most Autistic self-advocates for its scare tactics and dogged efforts to eliminate autism at all costs. Indeed, it is considered downright villainous by some. Autism Speaks has cleaned up its act somewhat, but it has a long way to go. I’ll talk more about that another time.

The point is, Bill Maher is a moron when it comes to this subject. So get your ass vaccinated, and vaccinate your kids, for Christ sake. Because even if vaccines did increase the risk of autism -- and they don't -- autism is not a fate worse than death. And frankly, we're not inclined to be eliminated.