It’s pretty clear, I think, to anyone reading the variety of blogs in the autism “community” that there are big divisions. No factor is as divisive as the vaccine/autism notion, and in a short time Jenny McCarthy has come to be the representative of it.

Blogs have been covering Jenny McCarthy since her first book. There are also websites from established organizations which have information that counters much of what Jenny McCarthy promotes. But, recently there have been a couple of websites by the autism community itself which are seeking to correct the misconceptions.

The first is StopJenny.com. I’ve known about this site for a little while, but recently I saw it get plugged by some very high traffic sites:

Pharyngula
Respectful Insolence
AutismVox

From a comment on Respectful Insolence, by the authors of StopJenny.com

There are not two sets of rules. The author of the www.stopjennywebsite.com has been requesting critiques all along to make sure the information is accurate. The author then CHANGES the information when shown why any information is inaccurate. Others are not so willing to do so, and freely keep on spreading misinformation. As you can already see, the www.stopjenny.com website has already been corrected, and linked to better sources. Unlike Jenny McCarthy, the website does not propose cures, does not offer medical advice, and does not profit in any way. We are laypersons attempting to undo the damage McCarthy et al are doing. It’s the laypersons that get hurt the most by McCarthy et al. We continue to ask for critiques, appreciate the feedback, and will continue to make any necessary changes to fulfill our purpose to educated and protect those that are being duped by people profiting off of laypersons with books and other products that are promising fake cures. We continue to hope to show why Jenny is wrong. Please email information@stopjenny.com to help us with our purpose.

As an aside, Pharyngula “Poll Mobbed” a Jenny McCarthy web-poll recently. Just an example of how well-read that blog is.

A second site that has been showing up in Google ads recently is RescueAngel.org. No, it isn’t affiliated with Generation Rescue or Jenny McCarthy (as made very clear on the site). Instead, it is a site which gives a description of some of the examples of adverse events associated with “biomed” therapies and autism. Yes, there are times when biomed seems to cause harm. Most biomed therapies, though, are completely untested and there is no one reporting on the adverse events. So, who knows what could be going wrong.

On the one hand, people could (and have) argue that showing a division like this in the autism community is detrimental. If we don’t present a united front, it will diminish our ability to advocate effectively.

I am of another opinion: If we don’t police ourselves, if we don’t point out when segments of the autism community are acting in a reckless manner, we will be in much greater trouble when we try to advocate.

While the name “StopJenny” may sound amusing, it is no joke. Left unchecked, Jenny McCarthy’s “advocacy” will result in people dying from vaccine preventable diseases. It has already happened in the U.K.. Jenny McCarthy seems to be ignoring one of the real lessons to be learned from Dr. Wakefield.