ASAT
ASAT Responds to Huffington Post's "The Autism Vaccine Controversy and the Need for Responsible Science Journalism"
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Dear Mr. Mnookin,
Thank you for your tireless efforts at providing a voice
of reason in the continual storm of sensational journalism on the purported connection
of vaccines and autism (The Panic Virus, 2011).
Given your book's examination of the limits of rational thought, I
imagine that it must be frustrating to note that despite any further evidence
of this connection, the controversy rages on in the media. I commiserate. The fact that ostensibly responsible
journalists fail to understand the simple theory of falsifiability is difficult
to swallow. Yet, here we are, forced to
swallow it and, in fact, must chase it with a swill comprising an uptick in
vaccine-preventable diseases and anti-science rhetoric.
I appreciate your taking the time to yet again highlight
the issues at the heart of the anti-science approach to treatment and etiology
of autism. Hopefully your readers get
the message: It is dangerous to flout scientific evidence in favor of pet
theories. It is not simply a risk that
an individual takes for himself, but one which compromises the safety of us
all. It saddens me to hear about the
fear your students have about lack of career options for science writers. As you astutely point out, we need them.
Desperately!
Please continue educating budding science journalists to
responsibly report on these types of things. I appreciate your commitment to
science and accuracy in the reporting of it.
Kudos for your unflagging fight in the face of depressing odds. All of the children of parents who choose
science-based treatment and eschew the woo will thank you.
Your ally in science,
Joshua K. Pritchard, M.S., BCBA
Board Member, Association for Science in Autism Treatment
Read More at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-mnookin/need-for-reliable-science-journalism_b_1183429.html
