1. Vaccines do not cause autism.

Vaccines are shots you get to help you not get sick.
For example, the flu shot is a vaccine.
It keeps you from getting sick with the flu.

In 1997, a scientist said that vaccines caused autism.
His name was Andrew Wakefield.
He was lying.
Lots of scientists proved him wrong.
They showed that autism is not caused by vaccines.
But some people still believe vaccines cause autism.
They don’t give their kids vaccines.
They think it is better for their kids to get sick than to be autistic.
It hurts autistic people to hear that other people are so scared of us.

It is safe to get vaccines.
Vaccines keep people from getting sick.
If people weren’t so scared of autism, they would be calm about vaccines.
That would be better for everyone.

We don’t always know what makes people autistic.
We know that autism is mostly genetic.
That means you get it before you are born. It comes from your family.
Autistic people sometimes have a lot of autistic family members.

In the end, what causes autism doesn’t matter very much.
What matters is supporting autistic people.
We should be able to have good lives no matter what.