This issue highlights how our brains can play tricks on us. Humans are wired to look for patterns. If a child gets a vaccine at twelve months, and then parents notice signs of autism at fourteen months, it is natural to think the vaccine caused it. This is a classic mix-up between timing and cause. Just because two things happen close together does not mean one caused the other. For example, eating ice cream does not cause sunburns, even though both happen in the summer.