Autism and vaccination decreased over the same time period among high-income white households from California, indicating a possible causal relationship
Rogers’ claim hinges on his statement that vaccine coverage in high-income white people from California decreased over the years since 2000, and that at the same time, ASD prevalence decreased in the same population. But as we explained above, the study by Nevison and Parker, didn’t provide data on vaccine coverage. Rogers didn’t provide such data either. We reached out to Rogers to ask for it. In his reply to our email, Rogers claimed Science Feedback was among "Stasi narrative check organizations", but provided no evidence to support his claim that vaccine coverage had declined in high-income white households in California. [...] In summary, Rogers’ claim that the level of childhood vaccination among high-income white families in California led to lower rates of ASD is unsubstantiated. Country-level data also doesn’t support the hypothesis of a nationwide decline in vaccination among high-income white families. Roger’s implication about a causal link between a decrease in vaccine coverage and a decline in ASD prevalence is unsubstantiated. The Nevison and Parker study used as supporting evidence did report that the prevalence of ASD declined among white families from richer California counties. However, the study didn’t include data on vaccine coverage and didn’t establish an association with vaccination. Rogers didn’t provide any other data on vaccine coverage either.