Content creators with autism say Donald Trump’s claims that there is a link between paracetamol and the condition are “really dangerous for the autism community”.
The US president said on Monday that there had been a “meteoric rise” in cases of autism and suggested that the use of Tylenol – an American-branded version of paracetamol – during pregnancy is a potential cause.
While the rates of autism diagnoses are going up, studies suggesting a correlation between mothers who took paracetamol during pregnancy and the birth of a child with autism have been far from conclusive.
Sky News has spoken to content creators in the autism community who are concerned about the potential impact of Mr Trump’s claims.
Chelsea Webster, founder of the online Autism Support Group, says she believes that the president is shifting the narrative around autism from supporting those struggling to prevention of diagnosis, and that she’s concerned this will lead research, awareness and advocacy efforts away from improving the lives of those who need help.
“What this actually does is it raises political opinion above science and data, which is really dangerous because it undermines peer-backed science and data,” she explains.
“And we don’t want that because that spreads misinformation, which is really dangerous for the autism community.”
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She acknowledges that there was a study which connected Tylenol taken during pregnancy to the potential of autism in babies, but adds it is “a correlation, not a causation”.
“And the fact that we let political leaders say things willy-nilly, unaccountably, without there being sort of fact-based dissection of that is really harmful,” she adds.
“It sets the precedent that that can continue, which spreads more misinformation, which makes people vulnerable to things like wack cures or preventative methods that are unproven.”
Ellie Middleton, a content creator and author with autism and ADHD, has also refuted Mr Trump’s claims, suggesting the increase in diagnoses is because more people on the spectrum are aware of autism than they once were and are therefore more likely to get tested for it and eventually diagnosed.
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Like Ms Webster, she believes Mr Trump’s comments could prove dangerous for the autism community.
“All of the conversation that’s happening around this conversation is very thinly veiled eugenics ideology,” she warns.
Eugenics is the now widely discredited study of the selective breeding of humans, with the perceived aim of “improving” the human species.
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“We’re hearing phrases like, ‘We need to eradicate autism,’ but you can’t eradicate autism without eradicating autistic people,” Ms Middleton says.
“It’s not something that can be separated. I can’t have my autism taken out of me and fixed, it’s part of who I am and the way that I think, feel, process [and] exist.
“We need to be really careful of where this sort of ideology and rhetoric leads.”
She says her first reaction to Mr Trump’s comments was “an eye roll” and that they are now “another thing on a long list of unhelpful misinformation that’s spread about autism”.
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“And for it to have come from literally the most powerful man in the world is incredibly frustrating, because it just pushes back all the hard work that so many of us in the autistic community are doing to beat stigma and change people’s perceptions.”
Autistic people not being heard, creators say
Both Ms Webster and Ms Middleton suggest this is just the latest instance in which the voices in the autism community are not being listened to.
“Instead of looking for a cause or trying to eradicate autism, it would be much more useful for time, energy and resources to go into actually speaking to autistic people and the people closest to them,” Ms Middleton says, adding it would help those in power discover how they could be better supported.
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Similarly, Ms Webster says: “I wish political figures, particularly leaders in charge, would support autistic people and listen to autistic people when we say we need X, Y, Z, and then to provide that support.
“For instance, here in the UK, for example, waitlists for autism diagnosis are extremely long. In more remote places like Scotland and Wales, autism services are being shut down.
“So what we need is for leaders to look at the actual problems and what autistic people are saying about them and then fix those problems.
She says she’s “not surprised” to see Mr Trump sharing what she calls “misinformation”, because she thinks it’s a tactic aimed at moving the focus away from contentious issues like the war in Gaza, climate change, wealth inequalities and health disparities.
