Why autism is not an excuse for the anti-vaccination movement.

Waleed Aly has spoken against the ‘no jab, no pay’ policy.

Thinker, writer and The Project presenter, Waleed Aly, has revealed his son has autism in his latest column.

As an opponent of the anti-vaccination movement and father to a son with autism, Waleed Aly has spoken out against the Government’s new ‘no jab, no pay’ policy in a column for Fairfax..

The policy would mean that parents who refuse to vaccinate their children will miss out on certain Government benefits. The measure was announced by Prime Minister, Tony Abbott last week and it means parents could lose up to $15, 000 per child.

“I can’t stand the free-riding hypocrisy that, under the protective, disease-free cover of everyone else’s dutiful vaccination, affords itself the luxury of a “personal choice” to abstain,” Aly wrote for The Sydney Morning Herald.

In reference to the anti-vaccination movement, He wrote of his shuddering at the suspicion of  'Big Pharma' and of his detest for the scepticism of medical science.

"And the sheer quackery that, even after the most thorough scientific discrediting, persists in connecting vaccination to autism? As the father of an autistic son, this stirs in me a uniquely furious revulsion. I lack the words for it, and words are kind of what I do."

Despite absolutely no justification or evidence, the linking of vaccinations to autism has been a strong argument from anti-vaxxers for a long time.

US based writer, Sarah Kurchak, writes about her experience of autism. She says  autism is not the awful trajectory that so many make it out to be. She has argued that autism is not as bad as measles (or any deadly disease).

"The autistic brain is not particularly good at understanding irony, and yet most people I’ve met on the autism spectrum have, over time, developed a pretty strong grasp of the concept. Many of us have even managed to teach ourselves how to wield it. I’ve begun to suspect that this is due to our constant hands-on experience," she writes.

Kurchak explains that having an autism spectrum disorder in our world exposes you constantly to 'cruel irony'. Most of it comes from non-autistic people. She explains that a lot of people will tell those with autism that they can't or don't feel empathy like 'normal' people and but that they then falter to care about your feelings when they say you're a burden and your life is full of misery.

"There’s also my current favourite: parents who are willing to put the lives of countless human beings at risk because they’re so afraid that the mercury fairy will gives their kids a tragic case of autism if they vaccinate. Gotta protect the kids from not being able to feel empathy?—?who cares whether other children live or die?" she writes.

Both Aly and Kurchak make a solid argument against the risk of autism being a valid argument against vaccinating your children. That by doing so you are willing to put other's lives (including your children's) at risk.

However, that being said, Aly goes on to argue that the 'no jab, no pay' policy is not the answer to defeat the anti-vaccination movement. It is not the parents who fear autism, or the families of the middle and upper class who are going to suffer from this policy. And hence, he argues, it won't solve the anti-vaccination problem.

"There's something purging about attacking welfare payments. This is how we express who we hate. When we condemn someone to a life without welfare we're doing more than denying them money: we're sending them into a symbolic exile," he wrote in the SMH.

He continued, "That's why we so gleefully withdraw it from people we feel have violated the pact – lately, terrorists and anti-vaxxers. It's as though it's the final site of moral judgment left in our post-moral society. It is therefore where we begin the ritual stripping of rights."

Aly's article points out that many health experts have agreed this week that it's not very likely that from this welfare withdrawal we'll see much difference. It comes from the fact that most of these anti vaxxers aren't typically on welfare payments. It may help those who often just forget to remember better but this isn't the right solution for that. There must be a better way - as Aly so eloquently put - "that doesn't mean only rich people have the right to forget."

This idea of anti-vaccination has a lot to do with capitalism and social norms. And when the 'no jab, no play' policy further pushes a certain class away from societal reward they will likely get on the back foot.

"For them, health is not granted by chemicals. It is, instead, socially determined. It's about your diet, your environment, the depth of your friendships," Aly writes in his column.

Perhaps the fear of autism (that people consider 'different' from the social norm) is greater for some than the fear of risking lives. Perhaps the worry that their child won't fit in is stronger than the worry for the greater good and wider health of society.

Kurchak speaks as a woman with autism, "The anti-vaccination movement is a particularly bitter issue for me because it doesn’t just dehumanise me as an autistic person; it also sets off two of my biggest triggers. Like many people on the spectrum, I don’t handle it well when people are 1) wrong, and 2) unfair."

What do you think about the new 'no jab, no pay' policy?

Want more? Try:

"When it comes to this disease you can't afford to take chances."

"Why the vaccination debate is OVER."