According to some lay groups, the nation is experiencing an autism epidemic—a rapid escalation in the prevalence of
autism for unknown reasons. However, no sound scientific evidence indicates that the increasing number of diagnosed
cases of autism arises from anything other than purposely broadened diagnostic criteria, coupled with greater public
awareness and intentionally improved case finding.

Read the article “Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism” by Heyworth (2011), and write a two-page summary explaining the
reasons why the public perceives vaccinations to be the cause of the increase in autism.

Search Tip: If you are having trouble finding the article, consider searching for the author rather than the title in the
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center database. To better help you, the reference is included below:

Heyworth, K. K. (2011). Vaccines do not cause autism. In D. Haugen & S. Musser (Eds.), Epidemics. Detroit: Greenhaven
Press. Retrieved from Opposing Viewpoints in Context database.

NOTE: Although you are welcome to state your personal opinion on this topic, please discuss this article using the
scientific theories covered in this unit.

Link for Reading: http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&u=oran95108&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010133275