My oldest son is severely autistic. He had all his shots on schedule,
before the thimerisol-free were available. With my second son I had learned
a bit, and was what I considered very careful. He received one shot at a
time, 3 months apart, and at least 6 weeks past any symptoms of illness. We
were unable to get the componants of the DTaP seperately and there was a
whooping cough outbreak here, so I allowed him to have the thimerisol-free
DTaP. He lost much of his language skills, most of his words, and stopped
pointing. Less than a month later he began having seizures. Only then did
I learn seizures within a month of the shot are a known side effect of the
DTaP. His pediatrician, of course, denies any link.

We no longer vaccinate.

Dana gave you some good links so I won't repeat the information. I just
wanted to share our experience, from a mom who thought she was doing the
right thing and protecting her child from both the evils of vaccines and
vaccine-preventable disease.

-Sara.