12 Dangerous Things Anti-Vaxxers Believe That Are Actually Child Abuse
4. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
“So you've observed that some people are born with autism. Good job, that's step one. Next, you ask a question - "What caused it?". You think that it's vaccination. Now it's time to test your theory. You know that some kids who've been vaccinated develop autism, but you haven't controlled for all the other variables, such as diet, genetics, environment, chance mutations, related disabilities or simply the higher diagnosis rate due to greater awareness. Plus, you can't explain why the 99% of people who have been vaccinated didn't develop autism. OOPS! That's a sh*tty theory! Go back to step one!”
- Maddox, How to tell if you believe in bullsh*t
Newsflash: If anti-vaxxers understood science and the scientific method, there wouldn’t be any anti-vaxxers.
In an ideal world, everyone would be scientifically literate and Margot Robbie would know my name, but Margot Robbie doesn’t know I exist and there are parents who think making their autistic child breathe concentrated oxygen in a pressurised chamber is a fantastic idea. Tell me again how anti-vaxxers don’t hate people who have autism?
Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy is useful in a number of applications particularly for scuba diving related illnesses (“the bends”), thermal burns, crush injuries and carbon monoxide poisoning. However, as a treatment for autism? You guessed it – there’s no evidence.
Dangers of prolonged Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy include seizures associated with excess oxygen in the blood and central nervous system, changes in vision, causing nearsightedness, or myopia, buildup of fluid or rupture of the middle ear, damage to the lungs and Oxygen positioning. Your child doesn’t have the bends, your child is autistic. If you don’t understand the difference, you don’t deserve to be a parent.