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Oct. 27th, 2009 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darchildreCredulous!coworker is talking about how vaccines cause autism.
I just want to bang my head against the desk. I can find dozens of articles refuting that online. I can ask questions like, if autism is caused by vaccines, why does it seem to occur much more often in boys than in girls?* And none of it makes any difference. None of it wipes that smug smile of, "Oh I know more than you do about how the world works" off her face. "Well, I believe that vaccines cause autism," she says.
You can believe that if you want. Whatever, fine. But you're wrong, stupidly and offensively and potentially dangerously wrong. Sure, vaccination is a controversial topic and one on which I am not terribly well-informed. I understand that there can be problems with vaccines. But I also understand that vaccination is generally a good idea and that vaccines do not cause autism.
Sweet gods above. I can deal with credulous!coworker when she's talking about conspiracies she learned about in Dan Brown novels. (Crazy.) I was even able to deal with her worrying about President Obama not actually being the president because he wasn't born in the US. (Crazy and wrong.) But this, I don't even know. It pisses me off.
Usually, I can stay quiet when she gets crazy but this time I had to say something. Not that it made any difference - she still has crazy wrong beliefs and I'm still pissed off.
Grar.
*Disclaimer: I am not actually that well informed about autism or the lives of non-neurotypical people. So, umm, if in this rant I have said anything that offends or is wrong, please let me know so that I can do better next time.
I just want to bang my head against the desk. I can find dozens of articles refuting that online. I can ask questions like, if autism is caused by vaccines, why does it seem to occur much more often in boys than in girls?* And none of it makes any difference. None of it wipes that smug smile of, "Oh I know more than you do about how the world works" off her face. "Well, I believe that vaccines cause autism," she says.
You can believe that if you want. Whatever, fine. But you're wrong, stupidly and offensively and potentially dangerously wrong. Sure, vaccination is a controversial topic and one on which I am not terribly well-informed. I understand that there can be problems with vaccines. But I also understand that vaccination is generally a good idea and that vaccines do not cause autism.
Sweet gods above. I can deal with credulous!coworker when she's talking about conspiracies she learned about in Dan Brown novels. (Crazy.) I was even able to deal with her worrying about President Obama not actually being the president because he wasn't born in the US. (Crazy and wrong.) But this, I don't even know. It pisses me off.
Usually, I can stay quiet when she gets crazy but this time I had to say something. Not that it made any difference - she still has crazy wrong beliefs and I'm still pissed off.
Grar.
*Disclaimer: I am not actually that well informed about autism or the lives of non-neurotypical people. So, umm, if in this rant I have said anything that offends or is wrong, please let me know so that I can do better next time.
