Episode 300 - Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism

01/29/25 • 74 min

1 Listener

Can you believe we made it all the way to episode 300? Well, we decided to cap off the event by revisiting a topic that was in the headlines way back when the three of us started in the field of behavior analysis...and sadly is STILL a topic of discussion: Vaccines and autism. And while the findings are in the title (they don’t), we review the research as to why there is still any discussion on the matter and reflect on whether approaching the anti-vaccine debate from a purely scientific findings lens might be playing into an ableist narrative that paradoxically feeds the misinformation discourse.

Thanks to everyone for supporting our show for all these years (and special thanks to everyone who joined us at our live recording!).

This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU.

Articles discussed this episode:

Ahearn, W.H. (2010). What every behavior analyst should know about the “MMR causes autism” hypothesis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 3, 46-52. doi: 10.1007/BF03391757

Deer, B. (2011). How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed. The BMJ, 342:c5347. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c5347

Taylor, L.E., Swerdfeger, A.L., & Eslick, G.D. (2014). Vaccines are not associated with autism: An evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies. Vaccine, 32, 3623-2629. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.04.085

Alvik-Harju, C. (2024). Finding more constructive ways forward in the debate over vaccines with increased disability cultural competence. Med Humanit, 49, 9-16. doi: 10.1136/medhum-2021-012342

If you're interested in ordering CEs for listening to this episode, click here to go to the store page. You'll need to enter your name, BCBA #, and the two episode secret code words to complete the purchase. Email us at [email protected] for further assistance.

Thanks to everyone for supporting our show for all these years (and special thanks to everyone who joined us at our live recording!).

This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU.

Articles discussed this episode:

Ahearn, W.H. (2010). What every behavior analyst should know about the “MMR causes autism” hypothesis. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 3, 46-52. doi: 10.1007/BF03391757

Deer, B. (2011). How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed. The BMJ, 342:c5347. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c5347

Alvik-Harju, C. (2024). Finding more constructive ways forward in the debate over vaccines with increased disability cultural competence. Med Humanit, 49, 9-16. doi: 10.1136/medhum-2021-012342

Previous Episode

Episode 299 - Collaborative Problem Solving

Despite living more solidly in the psychology domain, Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) as a treatment for oppositional behaviors is increasingly moving into the mainstream. But does its attempts to change behavior patterns make it behavior analytic or something else? In this episode we look at a few of the earliest studies to evaluate the efficacy of CPS as well as some of the more recent publications on CPS as a treatment for challenging behavior and to discuss just what it is and whether you should be paying attention. But will we answer the key question: Is studying CPS an avenue of collaboration between behavior analysis and psychology or a watered-down version of older behavioral treatments?

This episode is available for 1.0 LEARNING CEU.

Articles discussed this episode:

Greene, R.W., Ablon, J.S., & Goring, J.C. (2003). A transactional model of oppositional behavior: Underpinnings of the Collaborative Problem Solving approach. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 55, 67-75. doi: 10.1016/S0022-3999(02)00585-8

Greene, R.W., Ablon. J.S., Goring, J.C., Raezer-Blakely, L., Markey, J., Monuteaux, M.C., Henin, A., Edwards, G., & Rabbit, S. (2004). Effectiveness of Collaborative Problem Solving in affectively dysregulated children with oppositional-defiant disorder: Initial findings. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 1157-1164. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.72.6.1157

Pollastri, A.R., Wang, L., Eddy, C.J., & Ablon, J.S. (2023). An open trial of Collaborative Problem Solving in a naturalistic outpatient setting. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 512-524. doi: 10.1177/13591045221094387

Stoll, S.J., Hartman, J.D., Paxton, D., Wang, L., Ablon, J.S., Perry, B.D., & Pollastri, A.R. (2023). De-implemnting a point and level system in youth residential care without increased safety risk: A case study. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth. doi: 10.1080/0886571X.2023.2233408

Next Episode

February 2025 Preview

If podcasts are a box of chocolates and behavior analysis is flowers, I guess that makes you our Valentine. We kick off the shortest of months with a check-in with the crew and a review of what’s coming out in time for President’s Day. First, after a year in the vault, our last year’s book club on ACT is unlocked and on the loose. Then the listener’s take the stage with their vote for an episode on procedural integrity. Finally, we try something different with a brand new recording of one of our previous conference talks on the ethics of collaboration. It’s like you were at the conference...but now it’s a podcast episode!

Articles for February 2025

(UNLOCKED) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Book Club

Dixon, M.R., Hayes, S.C., & Belisle, J. (2023). Acceptance and commitment therapy for behavior analysts: A practice guide from theory to treatment. Routledge.

(LISTENER CHOICE) Tutorial - Procedural Integrity

Bergmann, S., Harman, M.J., Brand, D., & Vladescu, J.C. (2024). A survey of procedural-fidelity data collection in behavior-analytic practice. Behavior Analysis in Practice. doi: 10.1007/s40617-024-00995-1

Morris, C., Jones, S.H., & Oliveira, J.P. (2024). A practitioner’s guide to measuring procedural fidelity. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 17, 643-655. doi: 10.1007/s40617-024-00910-8

Al-Nasser, T., Williams, W.L., & Feeney, B. (2019). A brief evaluation of a pictorially enhanced self-instruction packet on participant fidelity across multiple ABA procedures. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 12, 387-395. doi: 10.1007/s40617/018-00282-w

The Ethics of Collaboration

Bowman, K.S., Suarez, V.D., & Weiss, M.J. (2021). Standards for interprofessional collaboration In the treatment of individuals with autism. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 1191-1208. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00560-0

Gasiewski, K., Weiss, M.J., Leaf, J.B., & Labowitz, J. (2021). Collaboration between behavior analysts and occupational therapists in autism service provision: Bridging the gap. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 14, 1209-1222. doi: 10.1007/s40617-021-00619-y

LeBlanc, L.A., Onofrio, O.M., Valentino, A.L., & Sleeper, J.D. (2020). Promoting ethical discussions and decision making in a human service agency. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 13, 905-913. doi: 10.1007/s40617-020-00454-7

Brodhead, M.T. (2015). Maintaining professional relationships in an interdisciplinary setting: Strategies for navigating nonbehavioral treatment recommendations for individuals with autism. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 8, 70-28. doi: 10.1007/s40617-015-0042-7