Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’m reminded of a hunch I had about the theory that vaccines cause autism. It’s by now thoroughly been debunked, but I don’t think it’s such a foolish thing to believe. My idea is that autism is not caused by a vaccine, but that it may be caused by an autoimmune reaction that’s triggered by a viral or bacterial infection that is caught in a pediatrician’s office while getting vaccinated. Everyone knows pediatricians’ offices are swarming with every sort of bug; many people believe that autoimmunity can be triggered by an infection (it’s possible that my Hashimoto’s was triggered by a bronchial infection that I had in the preceding months); and there is some evidence to suggest a link between autoimmune conditions and autism. This is just an idea and I’d love to see it tested some day.