ORLANDO, Fla. -- With children being given top priority when the swine flu vaccine is released later this year, parents will be face with the tough decision of whether to have their child receive it.

Testing for the vaccine just began and while some parents said shots and vaccines are a must for their kids, others are concerned about potential hidden dangers is another shot.

Mary said her son Aidan was diagnosed with autism shortly after he received a flu shot.

"As parents, we have to ask ourselves what we have control over, and injecting our children is something we have control over," Mary said.

Debby, another local mom with an autistic child, blames the myriad of vaccines her daughter received as an infant.

"I pulled my older daughter's records and there has been a significant increase in the number of vaccines given to children. My older daughter had 10 in the same amount of time my younger daughter had 21 -- more than double," Debby said.

In 1989, the nationally recommended vaccination schedule called for around nine vaccines during childhood. The recommended number now is 36.

Because of fear of an outbreak of swine flu when students return to school, the government is rushing production and clinical trials of a vaccine, which will be without the benefit of a long-term study.

"Childhood vaccines are saving millions of lives around the world," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The swine flu vaccine will be the first given to children with so little evidence of what the long-term effects could be, but the CDC said it s confident the vaccine will be safe.

"It’s a lot of shots and none of us as parents like to see them get anything that's painful in the least way, but we have to keep in mind that this is to protect them," a CDC representative said.

Theresa said the CDC's promises bring her little comfort. She believes her daughter, Taylor, was hurt by a standard vaccine.

"To me, when we ask our pediatricians, 'What about this next shot? Will it make her regress?' and they say, 'I can't guarantee it,' there's no way. No way," Theresa said.

The swine flu vaccine is expected to be available to the public in October. It will be a series of two shots and doctors recommend it be given in addition to the seasonal flu vaccine.