I understand it was a profile on an actress but the reporter presented the actress in such a glowing light. It was repeatedly noted that "she had done her homework," that Amanda, "boned up on the facts." You cannot escape the implication that others who disagree have not. I did not see your story in 2006, but that is a long time ago in the world of autism. I hope that Cookie allows the other side of the debate to be heard after Ms. Peet was portrayed so positively as she was given a platform to characterize parents like myself as "parasites."

I was profiled in this year's green issue of ELLE. Rachel Combe did a very good piece about all sides of the issue. The more educated a parent is the more likely they delay or space out vaccinations.

The suffering in the autism community cannot be overstated. Unless you know what it is like to bring a healthy toddler into your pediatrician's office to be vaccinated only to watch him scream, have fevers and conclusions for 2 days afterwards, and disappear into autism, Peet and Cookie have no right to judge parents like myself. I would hazard that 75% of parents believe that too many vaccines, too soon, triggered their child's autism. After my older son's disastrous response to the 7 vaccines in one day, I believe I have good reason to delay my second son's vaccines and I do not appreciate Peet's desire to so rudely pass judgment of parents in my shoes.

—Katie Wright, Board Member of SafeMinds and the National Autism Association

Thank you so much for speaking out in favor of vaccines. This new trend of people not vaccinating their children is extremely disturbing. I have worked with families of autistic children. I have seen several families that had one autistic child, blamed the vaccinations, and decided not to vaccinate their second child. Guess what? The second (unvaccinated) child ended up being autistic, too. The belief that vaccinations cause autism is absurd. The ignorance out there is unbelievable. Thank you for taking a stand for the intelligent and responsible thing to do.

—Anonymous

As a parent of three children, one of which suffers from autism, I was very interested in reading about Amanda Peet's own journey to investigate the safety of vaccines. Our first children (twins) were fully vaccinated up to the point of receiving the MMR. Shortly after receiving the vaccination, our daughter stopped speaking and regressed into the world of Autism while her brother was more fortunate and only developed severe asthma. Do I believe that the vaccinations caused their health issues? Yes and no. I believe that my children were born with a weakened immune system and that their bodies could not handle the viral load and toxins contained in the vaccinations. When we had a third child, we decided not to vaccinate her at least until she was older. We already know that she may be genetically predisposed to immune issues and we feel it would be too risky to vaccinate her. It is not a decision we came to lightly but one we feel strongly about. I believe it is every parents right and responsibility to make this decision for themselves. To refer to those of us who choose not to vaccinate as "parasites" is highly offensive, and I believe that printing her comment was irresponsible of your magazine. It is very easy to be pious and judgmental when you are holding a healthy child. Most of us parents of Autistic children are not anti-vaccination, we just believe the schedule is "too many, too soon".

—Carrie Bischoff

I used to adore her, before reading this article. Too bad she was hooked up with [Paul] Offit, [M.D]. There is quite a bit of conflict of interest there. I have two autistic kids and the symptoms started showing immediately after their vaccinations. Amazing how there is no research to prove the safety of the vaccine schedule. We're just supposed to assume and trust in our government. I'm glad her kid is okay, but what about the one in 96 parents of boys that aren't? I did vaccinate and didn't know what I was doing at the time. It would be excellent to see an article about autism and the biomedical interventions that help. Government research be damned. No one is helping our kids—it is up to the parents (mostly moms) and many of us are having success.

—Lisa Sigismondi

I'm writing in response to Amanda Peet calling unvaccinating parents parasites. I hope her "research" went beyond talking to a doctor who creates vaccines. What else is he going to say about them! I have given birth to two beautiful, completely healthy children. My daughter came first and she was fully vaccinated and is a perfectly healthy normal child. Then I had my son (who is now 3) he is also fully vaccinated and diagnosed with severe autism. This is a child who went to his one-year checkup completely normal, with a 16 word vocabulary, able to name and point to 13 body parts. He started slowly regressing shortly after that appointment and within 6 months was completely non-verbal, stimming and autistic. Do I know without a doubt that vaccines did this? No, and he will continue to get most vaccinations, but they will be on my schedule and only the important ones. I can understand people who support vaccines; what I can't understand are people who insist we give this many to infants and small children. Spread them out!

—Shelly Kidd

I am shocked that Amanda Peet feels that she is so high and mighty as to determine that parents who choose not to vaccinate their children are parasites. For someone that has "done her homework," I think she should crack open a few more books such as "Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy" by David Kirby. My child is fully vaccinated and has Autism. Do vaccines cause autism by themselves? No. But it has not been proven that they are not a contributing factor. I think parents need to make educated decisions on their own and not judge others who are making the best decision for their own child. If Ms. Peet feels vaccines are safe, power to her. However, shaming parents that have different beliefs is uncalled for. Shame on her and I'm sorry that her child will be raised by an individual that judges others.

—Jennifer Gazda

I really enjoy Amanda Peet's work and so I was especially disappointed to hear that the actress calls parents who don't vaccinate "parasites". My firstborn received all his shots on time and ended up with moderate to severe autism that we have worked hard to scale back to high functioning autism in the past four years. I don't think you can blame any parent who has been face-to-face with the hardships of autism to be wary of anything (including vaccines) that might be the cause of their child's issues since the cause is still unknown. My second is fully vaccinated at age four with the staggered approach and we are currently working out a schedule for my third (who's just two) as his arm swells and bruises for days after every vaccine. I am not of 'the anti-vaccine camp' nor do I believe that vaccines are the cause of all problems, but I do support parents, especially those with special circumstances or special-needs kids, to make the decision best for them and their children when the time comes. Having dealt with autism and vaccine reactions in our family firsthand and still believing that vaccines are important to my children's health care regimen, even if it is a slower schedule, I don't appreciate being grouped as a "parasite" because we stagger our vaccines and don't meet the requirements of the slogan "Every Child By 2"!

—Jenna Zwiller

While I'm sure she meant well when she referred to parents who don't vaccinate their children as "parasites"... I'm sure she did her research, all within the medical community. But the reality is that there are many children who are injured everyday from vaccines, whether it is because they are allergic to certain components or for other reasons. While they are not the majority, I imagine "statistics" are of no concern to parents who have to deal with these injuries to their children. The CDC has a whole list of reported vaccine injuries...feel free to log on. And I personally know several parents who have had this horror happen to their children. I have vaccinated my child, but only what is required by law and I have staggered them. While I don't believe in not vaccinating, I do whole-heartedly believe in pre-testing. I hope that people do keep themselves informed and make fully-educated decisions by researching health topics regarding their children.

—Karen Giacco