People with autism bristle at continued stigmatization from Trump, RFK
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People with autism say President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's insistence that vaccines or Tylenol cause autism despite contrary evidence further marginalizes them.
Why it matters: People with autism and their advocates told Axios that treating autism as a disease with a single cause that can be cured rather than a condition to be accommodated contributes to social stigma and undermines efforts to incorporate them into society.
- "That's death by a million cuts on a daily basis from society, and then to have it come from our government with a sledgehammer is very disheartening," Russell Lehmann, an international disability rights advocate at UCLA who has autism, told Axios.
Driving the news: Trump and Kennedy on Monday insisted that acetaminophen use by pregnant women is contributing to autism — a statement the Department of Health and Human Services later walked back, noting some studies have shown an association but not a causal link between the two.
- However, Trump told pregnant women to avoid taking the medication and instead "tough it out" if they have a fever.
What they're saying: "It's very clear that their goal is to further marginalize people," Eli Brottman, the policy director for a Chicago-based good government organization who has autism, told Axios.
- "They're not concerned about supporting people with autism, about listening to their concerns."
- White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the Trump administration is committed to addressing parents' questions and concerns. The Department of Health and Human Services deferred to the White House for comment.
Zoom in: While some studies have found that prenatal exposure to Tylenol is associated with increased the risk of autism and ADHD, others have not. One large study of more than 2 million children in Sweden in 2024 concluded that there was no connection.
- "Moms who are pregnant don't want to have unhealthy outcomes," Laura Kennedy, the mother of 43-year-old Julia Kennedy, who has autism, told Axios. "This is fear mongering."
- "I wonder why the president gets involved with an issue like this in such a blatant way," she added. "We've been working with credible institutions that we trust and admire and welcome guidance — he's diminishing those institutions."
- "This is dangerous, it's anti-science and it's irresponsible," Mel Merritt, head of policy and campaigns at the UK's National Autistic Society. said in a Monday statement.
- "Such dangerous pseudo-science is putting pregnant women and children at risk and devaluing autistic people," he added.
Catch up quick: Robert Kennedy, who has long pushed the debunked link between vaccines and autism, has made it one of his central missions to find the causes of and cures for autism, despite the community urging the administration to invest time and money into more productive research.
- "The fact that they're using the word cure, which conjures up that it's a disease, maybe even contagious, that does a huge disservice and adds to the rampant ignorance out there," Lehmann said.
- "It's misplaced and it's frightening," Laura Kennedy said.
Go deeper: Trump links autism to Tylenol, urges pregnant women not to take it
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from the White House.
Axios' Maya Goldman contributed reporting.
