To not want to talk about my ASD son to earnest anti-vaxxer?

[Hillfarmer]

On holiday with my 2 dcs.. DS has Asperger's. Meet family with similar aged dcs and they are having lots of fun together. I talk to the mum while watching our respective kids splash about. After all the niceties, we get down to the 'and what do you do?' -type stuff.. She tells me she's studying - I say, oh that's interesting, and she says she's Studying homeopathy - and proceeds to go on at length with much breathless enthusiasm about how much homeopathy has helped her DS's behaviour, with tangents into all the 'dangerous heavy metals' in childhood vaccines, how amazing it is, what they can treat nowadays etc etc.

I'm thinking 'oh great, an anti-vaxxer' and inwardly braced myself for some pronouncement on autism.

Sure enough, today by the pool, she starts on and not-so subtley inquires about whether my DS was fully vaccinated and if I 'noticed' anything around that time in terms of adverse reactions etc. I mean how fucking insensitive is that? It's so fucking predictable isn't it?

So I said yes, he is fully vaccinated and yes, I looked very hard at the evidence and oh, isn't it a shame that all the proper peer-reviewed, longditunidal, massive sample, studies show no ACTUAL correlation between MMR and autism, and that that Andrew Wakefield was basically a crook wasn't he? He didn't do your cause much good did he?

And then she takes the last refuge of the desperate crystal-fairy and says there have been studies but they've been suppressed by the medical establishment and 'the government.' Okaaay.

Would I be unreasonable to tell her to cock off with her mad theories and stop being so bloody rude next time. Coming to a sun lounger near you...

[LouKout]

Tell her there have been studies into homeopathy too..

[UppityHumpty]

Just tell her she's being hurtful and she'll stop?

[DartmoorDoughnut]

YANBU

[BitchPeas]

YANBU. What an insensitive dick. Sorry you have to put up with that on your holiday.

[Ummmmgogo]

Tell her to fuck off and take her disease ridden kids with her. Enjoy the rest of your holiday xx

[Chavelita]

Tip her in the pool. Or tip her in the pool, semi-drown her and ask her how happy crystals are going to help her now, the dopey, New Age crystal fairy?

[LadyPW]

Don't you just love a good conspiracy theory
Ask her if she believes in UFOs and little green men too.

[BastardBloodAndSand]

She'll hate me then......we vaccinated ds but put it off until he was 5 because another family member had had a reaction.

He was vaccinated 3 years AFTER being diagnosed as being profoundly Autistic

[uglyflowers]

My sympathies. I got told that vaccines had caused my son's epilepsy.
Me: But he had epilepsy before he ever had any vaccines.
Mad Idiot: Ah but YOU'VE been vaccinated haven't you? Its damaged your genes.

[ThoraGruntwhistle]

Tell you'd still rather put your faith in scientifically proven vaccines and medicines than in the idea that water is going to remember it once touched some herbs.

[HighwayDragon1]

Ask her if she believes that vaccines cause autism, then when she says yes ask her why she would prefer a child to die than be autistic, ask her why she'd choose for a kid to get polio than be like your son.

Watch her squrim.

[Hillfarmer]

Well I did mention what a blessing that Trump was now on the case and that his Vaccines Investigation Commission must be such welcome news for her!

[NotInMyBackYard1]

The weirdo homeopathic devotee parent in my child's class proclaimed last week that she never got sickness bugs due to 'immune system meditation music, meditation, mindfulness and health affirmations'
HAAAAAAAA!

[AntiHop]

Yanbu. She sounds tiresome and insensitive.

[glueandstick]

I'd be sharing norovirus with the weird parent notinmybackyard

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

Swimming pools and homeopaths don't mix well.

[LadyPW]

Ask her how come there are millions more NT people who were vaccinated than there are autistics.... Or are they just the excepions to the rule

[Anniegetyourgun]

It is a well-known fact that viruses HATE music. It must be the vibrations.

Or the constant drone of health affirmations bored the bugs to death.

[mayoli]

YANBU.

I'm autistic and wasn't vaccinated (got them done as soon as I left my parents house though!). Agree with everything above.

[smallchanceofrain]

YANBU OP and you have my sympathy. My mother is convinced that 11 year old DS's Asperger's is my fault because I had him vaccinated. It'a actually genetic in DS's case. I only have to look at me and my Dad to know that.
My mother reads the Daily Mail and evidently there was an article in there about how dangerous vaccines are. So it must be true then!
Please do tell the stupid woman to cock off with her new age crappery and conspiracy theories.

[DrDreReturns]

homeopathy = bullshit imo

[dangermouseisace]

YANBU. You're right- she's completely insensitive and also completely wrong.

[Amockingjayhey]

Push her in the pool.

[zen1]

YANBU! I once encountered a similar batshit "therapist" who reckoned she could help cure my DS's ASD with crystals and the like.

[Hillfarmer]

Thanks lovely people.

I really have been nodding urgently in that 'Please stop talking now' way and trying to veer her off. It's like a religion - people think they can evangelise all they like and can never even countenance that their views cause offence, coz it's The Truth innit?

I find it so arrogant and patronising. If I told her I thought her ideas were total moonshine, I'm sure she would smile sweetly and tell me I was in denial.