The study that led to this belief has been debunked numerous times as being fraudulent. The author, Andrew Wakefield, even lost his medical license in the UK for manipulating evidence and breaking ethical codes. Put simply, vaccines do not cause autism. Moreover, the fact that some people would rather have their kids be dead than autistic is quite insulting to people who genuinely have autism.

Note: autism is not even necessarily a bad thing. The world is significantly better off thanks to autistic people, many of whom have made significant contributions to society.