Julie Obradovic is Contributing Editor to the antivaxx pit Age of Autism. Of course, she doesn’t like to be called“anti-vaccine” – according to Obradovic, she is a “vaccine safety” advocate, and she even denies that there is such a thing as an anti-vaccine movement. Apparently, it is all a ploy by the pharma shills, and critics of her “vaccine safety” concerns have “sold out to the pharmaceutical industry.” Of course, Obradovic has made it pretty clear that no amount of evidence will make her change her beliefs about vaccines, and that nothing will make her believe that vaccines are safe. Obradovic is, in other words, hardcore anti-vaccine (brilliantly shown here) who belives that the government and science are in a conspiracy against her (and I challenge you to find more breathtaking examples of strawman reasoning than Obradovic’s claims in that link).
She probably doesn’t like to be called “anti-science” either (though that’s precisely what she is), but when she made some efforts to evaluate the science of the issue for Age of Autism, the rather evident problem would be that her only technique for judging the merits of a study is whether or not it agrees with her already firmly set opinions – she wouldn’t be able to distinguish good science from junk science if her life depended on it. To Obradovic, of course, it is the scientists who don’t get it. Scientists overlook “[t]he dramatic rise in incidence [of autism]; the parallel increase in vaccinations given at the same time […]; the timing of the onset of symptoms; the anecdotal evidence of parents; […],” and complains that “[s]cience is rooted in observation, and yet, every observation here listed is casually tossed aside as a cosmic lining up of the stars. There is nothing scientific about calling all of this coincidence and explaining it away with unproven excuses.” In other words, the correlation (which is itself deeply disputable) entails causation, in Obradovic’s assessment, and the fact that science has refuted the existence of a causal link can’t shake her convictions.
Instead of science, Obradovic supports some (dangerous) woo to treat autism in children, such as Kerri Rivera’s bleach enemas (seriously).
Diagnosis: Denialism is fueled by the Dunning-Kruger lowest quartile, and Obradovic is a splendid example. She is pretty much the archetype of what you get when you pair ignorance with conviction.