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California’s Autism Epidemic Worse Than Ever

troubled boy sitting

On June 29, 2015, then-governor of California Jerry Brown signed into law California Senate Bill 277. The law, which took effect on July 1, 2016, removed the personal belief/religious exemption to vaccination for children attending public and private schools and daycare centers. SB 277 was followed by SB 276 and its companion bill SB 714 which limited the ability of doctors to grant medical exemptions for childhood vaccinations. Both of those bills were signed into law by California’s Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019.1 2 3

The elimination of all but medical exemptions to vaccination in California during the past eight years, and particularly the state’s oversight authority over the granting of medical exemptions by doctors, has made that state perhaps the strictest (some might say “draconian”) in the country in terms of its childhood vaccination laws. Other states that only allow for medical exemptions to vaccinations for schoolchildren include Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, New York and West Virginia, but they appear to be less restrictive toward physicians granting them.4 5 6 7

Childhood Vaccination Rates in California Rose After SB 277

As a result of SB 277, the percentage of children entering kindergarten in California who received all the required vaccines went up from 92.8 percent in 2015-2016 to 95.6 percent in 2016-2017. Reportedly due to parents seeking more medical exemptions for their children, the percentage of fully vaccinated kindergartners in the state dropped slightly to 95.1 percent in 2017-2018 and 94.8 percent in 2018-2019 just prior to the declaration of a COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. in early 2020.8 9 10

During the 2018-2019 school year, 4,812 kindergartners in California received medical exemptions from vaccines. This represented a 70 percent increase from 2016-2017 when SB 277 took effect. “It’s alarming that you’re having increasing numbers of medical exemptions,” said pediatrician James Campbell, MD. “You cannot imagine that that number of additional people now have new medical problems.”10

What probably happened is that many parents in California who were no longer able to obtain vaccine exemptions based on personal belief turned to the only other option they had for protecting their children from a medical procedure they had reason to believe might harm them. Some of these children may have had previous vaccine reactions or severe allergies or immune system problems that caused their parents to be more cautious about vaccination. To understand this concern by parents, you have to take into consideration the childhood autism epidemic that has been especially plaguing California since the 1990s and continues to this day.

According to an article in The Sacramento Bee published on July 18, 2016, autism rates for children attending public schools in California had increased seven-fold since 2001. More than 97,000 public schoolchildren in the state were diagnosed as autistic in 2015-2016—6,500, or seven percent, more than in 2014-2015. In 2016, 1 in 65 kindergartners in California was classified as having autism. Based on data from the California Department of Education, the article noted that the number of autistic students in California had risen by 5,000 to 7,000 every year since 2006.11

In 2011, a study done by the independent public non-profit Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health estimated the number of public schoolchildren with autism in California had risen from 7,508 in 2002 to 59,690 in 2010. In other words, an increase of more than 12-fold from 2002 to 2015-2016.12

So regardless of what health authorities in California may have thought about a possible link between vaccines and autism, the alarming continuing steady rise in childhood autism rates awakened concerns among a growing number of parents regarding vaccines and their side effects. The push by California legislators to eliminate the personal belief exemption to vaccination in 2015 left many parents desperate, searching for doctors willing to provide medical exemptions for their children. The other alternative was to simply pick up and move their families to other states with less oppressive mandatory vaccination requirements.

CDC Estimates 1 in 22 Children With Autism in California

On Mar. 23, 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an analysis in its epidemiological digest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) that determined the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among children eight years old in the U.S. to be 1 in 36. The analysis was based on data collected in 2020 by the surveillance program known as the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network in 11 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. Of these, California had the highest prevalence of ASD, with a whopping 1 in 22 eight-year-old children diagnosed with autism.13 14 15 16

The median age for the first autism diagnosis for eight-year-old children across the ADDM Network was just over four years old. The median age for the first diagnosis was three years old.16

The 1 in 22 autism prevalence rate for California in the 2020 data represented a noticeable increase from the 1 in 26 rate found in the data collected from the ADDM Network in 2018.17 18

There was no autism prevalence data for California reported as part of the ADDM Network analysis in 2016, but if you use the 1 in 65 autism prevalence rate for kindergartners (generally children 5-6 years of age) provided by the California Department of Education for that year to gauge a five-year trend (2016-2020), it is curious to observe the dramatic increase in autism prevalence in the state post-2016—the year SB 277 was implemented.13

Cause of Continuing Rise in Autism Rates Still Unknown

Of course, this is not proof of anything. There is no evidence that the increase in vaccination rates for schoolchildren in California spurred by SB 277 in any way affected autism prevalence rates in the state. Correlation is not causation. But one can certainly speculate, particularly when the reason for the continued yearly increases in the prevalence rates for this neurological condition remains largely a mystery.

“For California in particular, the data are surprising and represent the highest autism prevalence estimates from a region by an epidemiologic study,” said Walter Zahorodny, PhD, director of the New Jersey Autism Study at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who co-authored the analysis of the ADDM Network data from 2020. “The trouble is we don’t understand what the primary drivers of the increase are.”13

Rutgers University acknowledges that it is “difficult to ascertain why ASD prevalence continues to climb.” It recognizes that there are “known risk factors for autism,” which include “age of parents, multiple-gestation birth, prematurity, C-section delivery and care in the intensive care unit after delivery.” But it points out that these “perinatal factors have remained relatively stable even as the rate of ASD has continued to surge.”13

It is often theorized that the rise in autism prevalence rates can be attributed to “better awareness” and more “availability of services.” However, Dr. Zahorodny stated he believed this was “impossible” because the scope and breadth of increase in ASD has reached across all subtypes of the condition—from mild to severe and across all demographic groups. “This is not just a phenomenon of becoming more sensitive to subtly impaired kids,” Dr. Zahorodny said.13


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Click here to view References:

1 Mohanty S et al. California’s Senate Bill 277: Local Health Jurisdictions’ Experiences With the Elimination of Nonmedical Vaccine Exemptions. Am J Public Health January 2019; 109(1): 96–101.
2 Richardson D. The Fallout from California SB 277: What Happens Next? The Vaccine Reaction Aug. 16, 2015.
3 Grimes K. California Bill to Restrict Vaccine Medical Exemptions Passes: ‘SB 714 is Going to Be a Mockery of Democracy’. The Vaccine Reaction Sept. 10, 2019.
4 Burke M. Hundreds of anti-vaxx families pile into California Capitol to protest immunization bill. The Hill Apr. 24, 2019.
5 Koerner C. California Is Considering The Strictest Vaccine Law In The Country After Anti-Vaxxers Gamed The System. BuzzFeed News Aug. 28, 2019.
6 National Vaccine Information Center. State Vaccine Laws & Exemptions. 
7 Orlando J. States Without Religious Exemptions to Childhood Immunization Requirements. Connecticut General Assembly, Office of Legislative Research Oct. 28, 2021.
8 Adams JM. California kindergarten vaccination rates reach all-time high in aftermath of new law. EdSource Apr. 12, 2017.
9 California Department of Public Health. 2017-2018 Kindergarten Immunization Assessment – Executive Summary California Department of Public Health, Immunization Branch.
10 Karlamangla S, Gutierrez M. California vaccination rate drops as doctors grant more exemptions. Is there a link? Los Angeles Times July 1, 2019.
11 Reese P. Autism Rates in California Public Schools Jumped 7 Percent in 2016. The Sacramento Bee July 22, 2018.
12 Lin J. Autism Rate Triples Among California’s K-12 Students. California Watch May 25, 2011.
13 Rutgers University. Autism Rates Soar in US, CA Highest Ever. Mirage News Mar. 24, 2023.
14 TVR Staff. U.S. Autism Rate Rises to One in 36 Children. The Vaccine Reaction Apr. 2, 2023.
15 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Snapshot of Autism Spectrum Disorder in California. Mar. 23, 2023.
16 University of California San Diego. Autism Rates Continue to Rise in California. Neuroscience News Mar. 23, 2023.
17 Press Release. Autism Prevalence Higher in CDC’s ADDM Network. CDC Dec. 2, 2021.
18 Tanner L. New data suggest 1 in 44 US children affected by autism. Los Angeles Times Dec. 2, 2021.

24 Responses

  1. I sincerely hope that parents–everyone– is waking up to the injuries, deaths, and lifelong illnesses that vaccines can cause. Since the pharmaceutical companies monitor themselves and our government agencies just wave it through without oversight, i wouldn’t trust any vaccine. In 2016 a group from Italy tested many different vaccines… HPV, meningitis, tetanus, flu, pneumonia, etc.. They wanted to figure out why some people have adverse reactions. They were surprised at what they found
    https://medcraveonline.com/IJVV/new-quality-control-investigations-on-vaccines-micro–and-nanocontamination.html

  2. Simply mind-blowing how doctor’s facility in diagnosing autism is sky-rocketing! What are these amazing new diagnostic techniques that they are teaching pediatricians? Must be a closely guarded trade secret (of the pharmaceutical industry).

  3. July 1st, 2015 was the worst day of my life. That was the day that Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 277 into law. So… I am not surprised that the autism rate in California has swollen like a balloon. All I can say with bitter resolve is that they don’t care–They being the Democratic majority in the legislature. I was previously a Democrat. In fact, I opened my house to host a party for a Democratic Senator. But when I begged this woman to not vote for SB277 she joined the merry band of her fellow democrats. Yes, they got drunk and partied that day while we were in a state of shock. I hear they really had a good time.

    1. There is now a couch industry for parents seeking falsified records of experimental medical procedure against their will, compliance cards. Many tens of thousands of families simply left, and many more were forced into the impossible choice; Lose their morality and comply, or lose respect for law and order to bypass the draconian rules. But it’s not like this was a secret, California had insane rules on the books for the past decade or longer signaling what would occur. I read their vaccine rules years ago. They grandfathered in personal belief exemptions for children over a certain age when they first implemented the rules. So concerned parents whom would not have more children, could remain effectively exempt from these mandatory vax rules. But if you had another child… Or if your child was young enough to not make the grandfathered date cut off… Then that child was subjected to the full force of the California assemblies totalitarian mandatory vaccination rules. Even to this day parents continue to panic when these rules catch some of them off guard. And they have to play all the shots at once catch up. And autism increases.

      “When you already have autism but get your boosters anyways.” LEVEL UP!

  4. Lack of nutrition in food resulting in physical degeneration making infants more vulnerable to immune system insults like pesticides, pollution and vaccines during the crucial stage of brain formation.

    1. Yes, good observation. Couple that with the synergystic effects of having another even more damaging array of toxins from vaccines, injected directly into the infants blood, bypassing their still tentative and forming natural defenses such as skin, digestion, etc.

      Then irradiate them with wireless devices which they have no ability to escape or even recognize what’s happening with the subtle cellular damage which builds cumulatively, exacerbating the already imbalanced homeostasis caused by the aforementioned other interferences.

      AUTISM. The problem with people today is they have this idea they must pick a side. That there must be a definitive solution or the problem is not important enough to either be recognized or treated as a risk factor worthy of avoidance. That’s the corporate mindset programmed into the masses, despite all you experience, there is nobody to blame but yourself. Which is in fact actually true. Because anyone idiotic and ignorant enough to trust these self serving corporations and their puppet government, deserves the full measure of their own medicine.

      Repeat after me; “The very last place we go for competent advisement is the government.”

  5. I believe all vaccines are only harmful and that none of them have ever worked. Polio stopped when DDT stopped. Now the same paralysis is called by vaccines and is re-named Guillein-Barre and transverse myelitis – SAME thing. “Polio” means gray – the gray matter of the brain and spinal cord are inflamed which causes paralysis.

    1. Good, you’re keeping up with the issues quite astutely. Great job.

      The only thing people accomplish when they inject these substances directly into their blood, is they can survive a poison.

      The original vaccine was basically using a toothpick to stab just enough into the skin to reach blood, and that toothpick was just prior dipped in some pathogen. They were fiddling with this a century ago and longer, as many people routinely died from the regular flue. So when they were sick or when animals died, they would stick the affected, and then stick the healthy, to effect an immune response.

      An entirely different concept from what we have today with a mad science slurry of toxic adjuvants directed past the skin, directly into deep muscle tissue and veins which carry blood. Ghandi said it best; ‘Vaccination is a barbaric practice.’ The entire vaccine industry is akin to a stolen glory event, an imposter, an impersonator. Vaccines never stopped communicable diseases, advancements in sanitation and plumbing, clean water, that stopped communicable diseases. An ever ignorant population provides a resilient customer base. Hospitals don’t create cures, they create customers.

    1. I try to give a hundred dollars or so a year to the NVIC group. Do you?

      Put your money where your mouth is or pipe down and accept your medicine.

  6. We agree that vaccines are harmful and have obviously brought on this autism epidemic, but we also must consider the vitamin K shot newborns receive immediately after birth, and the mother does not asked for consent. They just do it. Some ingredients in Vitamin K shots are benzoyl alcohol, a preservative, and hydrochloride , an acid. Everything given to babies and children should be questioned.

    1. Try given a hep B shot on the second day of life, WITHOUT CONSENT! And give you a card the day you leave saying they gave your baby the shot already! Hep B is an unnecessary one too at birth!

  7. This is a study of eight year olds done in 2020. These kids were born in 2011 or 2012. The SB 277 took effect in 2016. Thus it is unlikely to have made a significant difference to the reported autism rates.

    The vaccines that are suspected to cause autism are given during the first two years of life. When given later, they are not so likely to cause autism.

    Autism is caused by multiple factors and is mediated by oxidative stress. Tylenol is one of the major causes. Vaccines and other environmenatl toxins (such as glyphosate) are also contributing factors.

    1. This is not the real Vijay Gupta, simply not possible. Great take on the issues though.

      Let’s not forget; aspartame, hydrolyzed substances, msg analogs, toxic food colorings, genetically modified food products, flouride, other toxic food additives, wireless item radiation of cells, effected stress patterns by non halogen generated light sources, dangerous oils when one could choose olive oils instead, etc, etc.

      We live in a literal soup of toxifying dangers every where we go and every step we take. Repeat after me; Better living without chemicals. Better living without wireless devices. Better living without genetic modification.

      Being old fashioned has it’s benefits. Clearly in this day and age, resulting in a superior health outcome. People would be better off ditching their cellular devices and all other wireless items in their home, insisting on only using incandescent light bulbs, refusing all genetically modified substances from their diets. Special pro tip; Drinking and smoking are not actually all that harmful for you, not compared to these other items. Throw your new age lifestyle away, have a beer, stop eating fast food and have a smoke instead. Pick your poison because if you try to go with the new program and stack all of that together, instant health disaster. Find this photo online; ‘Dees; How to totally F up your health in 12 easy steps.’ Don’t forget your customized pharmasuetical pills!

  8. I hope they do something to try to recover these poor kids. Mine was vaccine injured. No doubt. She is recovered and lives on her own with a good job. Took years of work. It was one step forward and two steps backwards sometimes. Thanks be to God. What will happen to all these kids is my biggest worry.

  9. The number of vaccines given during the early development of a child’s immune system may be the largest issue. Keep in mind that 80-90% of the immune system is in the gut. If there are digestive issues or other pressures on the immune system (e.g., colic), the immune system may break down. Exaggerated intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut) allows undigested, food, bacteria, toxins, etc. into the blood system. These travel to other parts of the body causing issues wherever they land. The brain undoubtedly catches a good bit of this. The resulting brain fog in a child whose body is learning to function and figure out the body around it impairs sensory feedback and mental functions. Too much stimulation too early is a recipe for disaster.

  10. A way to see if vaccinations are a cause would be to NOT immunize a select group of children and compare them with vaccinated children. That would resolve the issue once and for all.

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