{"id":16922,"date":"2026-07-09T10:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/?post_type=jtf_topics&#038;p=16922"},"modified":"2026-07-10T10:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T15:17:15","slug":"did-autistic-people-exist-before-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"jtf_topics","link":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/jtf_topics\/did-autistic-people-exist-before-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"Did autistic people exist before vaccines?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row source=&#8221;&#8221; text=&#8221;Clinical Trials&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221; link=&#8221;&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1708910874436{border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;The Claim:&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Some anti-vaccine activists\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ValerieAnne1970\/status\/2072440108461015145\" rel=\"nofollow\">often say<\/a>\u00a0they did not know any autistic people when they were growing up. Then they claim that more children are autistic today because children get more vaccines now.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;The Facts:&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]It\u2019s true that 40 years ago, you didn\u2019t see kids with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/dear-fellow-parent-an-open-letter-about-autism\/\">autism<\/a>\u00a0in the schools. That\u2019s not because there were no kids with autism.\u00a0But because most were hidden away.<\/p>\n<p>At that time, autism was not understood the way it is today. Doctors usually only diagnosed children who needed the most help. Many children with autism were missed.<\/p>\n<p>Also, before a law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/blog\/2019\/11\/26\/education-for-students-with-disabilities\">IDEA<\/a>, many children with disabilities were not included in public schools. Only about 1 out of 5 children with disabilities went to public school. Many others were taught in separate places, kept at home, or sent to institutions.<\/p>\n<p>So when people say they did not see children with autism in school years ago, that is often because those children were left out, not because they were not there.<\/p>\n<p>Importantly, vaccines do not cause autism.\u00a0Studies show that autism is mostly caused by genetics and starts very early, even\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2014\/03\/26\/294446735\/brain-changes-suggest-autism-starts-in-the-womb\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/voicesforvaccines.us6.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3De17a65409cd8f13ba7e58cc97%26id%3Dba8865a22d%26e%3Dfc0735be13&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1731887310907000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3RaDd1u4PMEAzyUCJ06Rpr\">before a baby is born<\/a>. The brain differences seen in people with autism begin during early development in the womb, not because of vaccines or anything that happens later.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Autistic people have always existed. Before IDEA, only 1 in 5 children with disabilities attended public school. Vaccines do not cause autism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"template":"","jtf_topic_subjects":[195,399,218],"class_list":["post-16922","jtf_topics","type-jtf_topics","status-publish","hentry","jtf_topic_subjects-autism","jtf_topic_subjects-individuals-with-disabilities-education-act-idea","jtf_topic_subjects-vaccine-safety","entry","no-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/16922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/jtf_topics"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/16922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16924,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/16922\/revisions\/16924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"jtf_topic_subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topic_subjects?post=16922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}