My only explanation for this is that people who are antivaxxers have an issue that most people dont believe things they cant see. Like mental illness and microscopic organisms doing deadly damage to peoples bodies. Its gotten so bad that even if you told them a vial had small pox and showed them what it could do to a human organism they will jump though mental hoops to say its something totally different happening.
Honestly I dont even believe there is a increased prevalence of autism more that ita finally being diagnosed and classifies correctly after years of mis diagnosis or non diagnosed symptoms.
My fiancé actually told me about someone who had a theory that some forms of autism could actually be signs of human evolution, some of the things that some lack socially in how they communicate etc they have extraordinary mental capcaities to do some amazing things. Its an interesting theory.
Overall though. People are stupid and I think the Internet and that quack in England caused this misinformation to spread. Honestly they need to make these people watch hours of footage of people with Polo and other infectious diseases(curable with vaccines) to understand how stupid they are.
That it coincides with a rise in autism most likely.
Which is "true" in the sense that it's being recognized and diagnosed more than it has in the past... largely because it wasn't even labeled as such until the 40s.
Exactly. Thats the only reason.