Tylenol claims elicit strong reactions
Autism experts challenge administration's message
By: Mary Walrath-Holdridge
USA Today
..... The Trump administration announced on September 22 [2025] that it had found the "answer to Autism" - a claim that drew strong reactions with some members of the autism community labeling the claim as regressive and potentially harmful.
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In a news conference, President Donald Trump, alongside Heath and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other officials, claimed that Tylenol use during pregnancy could contribute to the development of autism in children - a contrast to current medical guidelines that say acetaminophen, the generic from of Tylenol, is safe to use. Trump and his advisers also discussed a potential treatment for autism, the drug leucovorin.
.... But the oversimplification of a complex developmental difference that exists on a spectrum of many different abilities and experiences is dehumanizing at best and dangerous at its worst, autism experts, advocacy groups and members of the autism community told USA Today.
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"The announcement is an incorrect reading of data," said Noor Pervez, community engagement manager at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. "the way that RFK Jr. speaks about autism is actively dehumanizing, and it promotes stigma against autistic people."
..... While research has not found one firm, widely accepted answer for what factors contribute to autism, the general consensus supported by organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and ASAN is that ti is largely based in genetics. people who are autistic are more likely to have autistic children; the increase in autism diagnoses in the last few decades, the CDC previously found, does not inherently indicate an "epidemic" - rather, it can likely be attributed to more access to diagnostic tools and improvements in early detection.
..... "Autism is a very complex neurodvelopmental conditions," said Dr. Sara Rodriguez, executive director of Balanced Learning Center, a nonprofit providing services for autistic and neurodivergent people. "genetics are known to play a very large role and environmental factors are believed to interact with genetic predispositions. Omitting that complexity misleads policy, funding, and medical care."
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Even so, said Pervez, there is a lot we don't know, and some of that can be traced back to a history of research, funding and rhetoric that the current administration is now echoing: a focus on a singular "cause" and a "cure."
..... "The autistic community does not benefit form cure research, and the focus on it actively hurts autistic people that exist," he said.
..... While focusing on a "cause" or "cure" may sound like a positive outside the community, that rhetoric not only truncates research that could assist in improving the lives of people with disabilities, it can become dangerous when medications like leucovopin are pushed without ample scrutiny in a race to find said "cure."
...... "There is a long and troubling history of people peddling supposed autism 'miracle cures,' " said Pervez. "Those treatments did not work, and they had dangerous and sometimes fatal side effects. it is absolutely vital that, before autistic people are encouraged to take a drug, we know hat it works and that it is safe."
..... Shannon Rosa, senior editor of the news site Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, said that while different autism groups disagree about a number of things, they're all agreed that the White House's latest claim is nonsensical.
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"It feels to me like we've regressed so horribly and intentionally by the administration, because as they've demonstrated constantly, they have no interest in actual science," she said. "They have no interest in research, they have no interest on the welfare of autistic people and their families. They are only interested in whatever people whispering into their ears have told them they should do."
..... Pushing the idea that taking Tylenol during pregnancy causes autism hearkens back to pseudoscience that blamed parents for neurodivergent children, Rosa said, such as the long-since-discredited "refrigerator mother" theory of the 1950s that theorized autism was caused by emotionally distant or cold parenting.
..... Rodriguez agreed.
..... "From refrigerator mothers, to vaccines, to formula, if you notice, much of the blame has been placed on mothers," she said. "the targets shift, but the underlying message is the same ... autism is your fault, and you should fell guilty."
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Theories like these not only promote a sense of shame hat many families of disabled people already grapple with due to social pressures and judgment, said Rosa, but isolate, alienate and discourage people form networks and resources that could offer support and community.
..... "As a parent of a high-support autistic adult, i also came from outside advisability community and was initially terrified because I didn't have the right information," said Rosa, whose son was diagnosed during the cultural peak of the now-disproven and retracted theory that vaccines cause autism. The September 22 [2025] announcement is "going to put families like I was 20 years ago into an unavoidable tailspin."
..... "When my teen was younger, we were told so many fear-mongering "truths' about him," added Rodriguez, who is herself neurodivergent and the parent of a teen with autism.
..... After years of work and advocacy, both said, progress has been made. But disinformation undermines advocacy for systemic changes and diverts attention and resources from what actually improves quality of life for all people, including support, services, accommodations and rights.
..... "Autistic lives are worth living - that include people who are nonspeaking, people who have higher support needs, people of color. all means all,: said Pervez.
..... True support for people with autism looks like respect, access and community support, he continued. "The way the world is structured can make it hard for disabled people, including us - that doesn't mean autism makes you a burden. needing help doesn't mean you're a bad person. Everyone does, just in different ways and at different times."