The "debate" about thimerosal and the MMR vaccine is based in one study, done in the 1990s in England and since repudiated by its own author, which was rife with procedural errors and confirmation bias (reaching the conclusion that the researcher had assumed at the start, ignoring contrary evidence). It's kept alive by ill-informed parents who want to blame someone for their children's condition (after all, it can't be their genes - they're perfect!), and by those with an ideological opposition to the idea of them darn ol' unnatural vaccine shots.
Face it, autistics were around before Jenner first injected cowpox into English children, and barring gene-level nanosurgery we'll be around after measles, mumps, and rubella have either died out or become commensal. To borrow a phrase from another minority group, "We're here, we're weird, get used to it!"
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Sodium is a metal that reacts explosively when exposed to water. Chlorine is a gas that'll kill you dead in moments. Together they make my fries taste good.