I look at the graph and I see the rate is already going up, especially in England, before the MMR is introduced. In both curves you've got a significant spike right before the MMR. your graph proves beyond any doubt that the rate was climbing BEFORE MMR.
Remember, temporal link does not prove causality (ie if the graphs said what you say they said that wouldn't prove anything), but lack of temporal link does DISPROVE causality. You lack the temporal link. Whatever is causing the rise in autism was well under way pre-MMR. Your own graph shows this unequivocally.
Whatever is causing the rise in autism was well under way pre-MMR. Your own graph shows this unequivocally.No it wasn't, and the graph demonstrates nothing of a kind. There was a "catchup campaign" initiated in NW London in 1988 involving non-vaccinated children born in 1986. These children were inoculated with MMR in 1988, but the autism incidence rates were recorded by birth year, as the graph clearly shows.
Please see a discussion of this very question in a letter printed in the Lancet:
Wakefield, A, "MMR vaccination and autism," Lancet, 354 (Sep 1999): 949-950.
Next, I'll be hearing that the Lancet is a non peer-reviewed journal. LOL.