Tager-Flusberg

1. That it is caused by vaccines!
2. That people with autism don't love other people - most children with autism form strong attachments to their parents and siblings even if their behaviors may be different (e.g., not wanting to be hugged too often).
3. That people with autism aren't able to learn, work or enjoy living in the world.

Here's what I really wanted to respond to your original question: Well I still have my job but she doesn't!!

For many reasons....one is that there was no evidence that people with Asperger syndrome were any different from people diagnosed with autism who had no cognitive or linguistic impairments. A second reason is that while clinicians can agree about who does and who doesn't have ASD (autism spectrum disorder) they didn't agree on whether a person met criteria for Asperger or autism. We now use the umbrella ASD BUT recognize that it is important to evaluate a person's cognitive and language level - these are not part of the ASD diagnosis but they impact many aspects of how the ASD is expressed.

1. There is now very good evidence showing that there are differences in the brains of infants as early as 6 months which foreshadow a later diagnosis of autism.

2. Multiple well conducted epidemiological studies have found NO link between the onset of autism symptoms and receiving vaccines.

3. Millions of children around the world receive vaccines which keep them from getting ill or dying ---99% don't have autism.

I haven't seen her 'proof' or evidence ---but I have read many studies (all published in the scientific literature) that haven't found any evidence linking vaccines to autism.