ABSTRACT
Experts rely on communication to convey their specialized information to non-specialists. Around public issues, when experts often must compete with other experts for recognition, rhetoric and argumentation offer important tools for persuading listeners to pay attention. First surfacing in 1998, the autism vaccine controversy (hereafter AVC) highlights issues of expertise in public deliberation. The debate over a purported connection between childhood vaccines and autism brings scientifi c and medical experts into conversation with parents of autistic children, parents who claim an experience-based expertise of their own. While scientifi c research has failed to fi nd evidence supporting a causal link between vaccination and the onset of autism, anecdotal evidence from parents reporting their experiences continues to circulate, keeping the issue alive in the public sphere.
