Autism

Did a July 2023 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conclude that children are being harmed by masks, resulting in a 17 percent rise in developmental disabilities in children 3-17? No, that's not true: A misleading headline on a paywalled Substack blog post mentions a "New CDC Report" as if it offers evidence supporting the claim that…

Do babies not need the hepatitis B vaccine because it was only created for "hookers & drug users" and are babies being used by the pharmaceutical companies to mitigate losses? No, that's not true: There are legitimate reasons for babies to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, including serious long-term health risks, even if their parents do not engage in risky…

Did Pope Francis, acting on behalf of the World Economics Forum, publicly support euthanasia for "alcoholics, autistic and disabled people" to "help humanity" fight climate change? No, that's not true: The pontiff never said that. Following the Roman Catholic Church's long-established policy, he has condemned euthanasia more than once in his public speeches. Pope Francis does not work for the…

Did Dutch physicians start to euthanize people with autism and "other minor disabilities" against their patients' will in order "to save the planet"? No, that's not true: The source of the claim distorted the findings of a recent study that concluded that, in some cases, people requesting assisted death do not cite physical suffering. The results did not imply that…

Has the LGBTQIA2S+ community officially added a purported symbol of the autism community to the Progress Pride flag as of June 18, 2023? No, that's not true: There is no such thing as an "official flag creator for prides and LGBT" organizations, and there are numerous versions of such flags. The claim was made in a post on Twitter (archived…

Did a legitimate, peer-reviewed study successfully demonstrate that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna were shown to contain simian virus 40 (SV40), a DNA virus that has been linked to certain cancers? No, that's not true: The research in question was not published in a peer-reviewed journal and as such, has not been vetted for accuracy by scientific…

Does a list of two dozen papers allegedly funded, supported or published by government agencies present new evidence confirming that vaccines cause autism? No, that's not true: Those posts on social media reused old, previously debunked studies, stemming from a retracted article, not from government research. The claim is derived from a post published on Facebook on December 9, 2020,…

Does the pneumococcal vaccine cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children? No, that's not true: There is no scientific evidence to support the assertion that the pneumococcal vaccine or any other vaccine causes autism. The shots are recommended by both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization. The claim appeared in a slide…

Is thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, found in "almost every single vaccine" and is it "killing you slowly"? No, that's not true: Multiple studies have shown "no evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The two types of mercury people can be exposed to are very…

Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suppress the results of a study that purportedly showed an increased risk of neurodevelopmental delays in newborns who were given a Hepatitis B vaccine during the first month of life? No, that's not true: The results of the study have been available for decades. The early findings of the two-phase study…