The misguided and unfounded idea that vaccines cause autism was opened up again during the final 15 minutes of the second Republican presidential debate. The entire exchange, although brief, was uninformed and helped perpetuate misinformed beliefs that directly and negatively affect the autism community at large. CNN’s Jake Tapper, who moderated the said debate, posed the question to Ben Carson about Donald Trump’s publicly stated beliefs of the link between childhood vaccines and autism. Carson replied that numerous studies have already debunked the said belief and other anti-vaxxers’ claims. In an effort to better educate the public (and the presidential candidates), Matt Petronzio put together a list of important lesser-known facts about autism, including facts like: there’s no link between vaccines and autism, or a singular cause or type; that increased autism prevalence is likely due in part to better diagnoses; and that there needs to be more focus on autistic adults and their low rate of employment and unavailability of housing resources. To read the full list, click here…