Letter to the Editor: Finding blame around Autism

I’m not part of a “woke mob”. I am a speech-language pathologist who has been working with Babies Can’t Wait, the early intervention program of Georgia, for 26 years primarily in Fayette and Coweta counties. Many of the children we see, who are between the ages of 0-3, have or will have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. I am often one of the first professionals to mention the diagnosis because they are so young. This diagnosis can be devastating to a family because the diagnosis alone does not tell you what the future holds. The “spectrum” is so vast, and prognosis is impossible to know. I’ve seen some amazing families who have shown me what is possible if you start early, have access to resources, and work unbearably hard. And never ever blame yourself. These parents endure more than one can imagine unless you are in it yourself.  

The recent announcement from the White House regarding autism was dreadful. To watch this “announcement” be teased over the last several months, including as a campaign promise to “figure out autism”, only to have it turn into illogical and sometimes incoherent drivel… was a slap in the face to all families and the caregivers that work with them. I’m taking nothing out of context nor am I misunderstanding any “jokes”. I am truly afraid for our families after what I saw.

To be clear, the scientific and medical communities agree that Tylenol (acetaminophen) is still the only approved pain reliever and fever reducer for pregnant women. There is no other medical choice. Nothing has changed in medical advice since this announcement. Taking any other medications such as aspirin Advil/Motrin (ibuprofen) is not advised due to known, proven dangers to the pregnancy. But the president told pregnant women to “tough it out”. Allowing a fever to go untreated in pregnancy could be devastating to the fetus. The most broad, inclusive, and recent study shows no causation between Tylenol and autism. Tylenol has not been pulled as a treatment for pregnant women with pain and fever. In addition, the president said not to give it to our children, even though that was not even part of the studies, just an improv, apparently. 

In the days since this announcement, a parent told me she drove her infant with a 103-degree fever to Kroger to get Motrin instead of using the Tylenol in her cabinet because of what the president said. This baby could have had a seizure or worse, but the mother was so fearful that she would do the “wrong thing” she risked giving a medication that is not medically appropriate for his age and weight. The president’s words could have killed that child. It would not be her fault.

Secondly, Leucovorin, the prescription drug mentioned in this announcement, is a known treatment for some patients suffering from a folate deficiency due to chemotherapy. For the last 20 years, it has also been used for a different condition called Cerebral Folate Deficiency (CFD), a syndrome discovered in 2002, which often causes autism symptoms, but not always. Leucovorin is a high dosage-controlled vitamin B9 that is only effective if the patient has CFD. CFD can be discovered through genetic, blood, cerebral spinal fluid testing, and imaging.  Just because someone has autism, does not mean they have CFD, so taking this drug without a CFD diagnosis will not help, and could do real harm. It does not cure autism. The only thing different after this announcement is FDA approval of a drug that physicians have been able to prescribe for 20 years. But now that people have heard about it from White House, they think it could help their child. I am talking to parents now searching Amazon trying to find high level B9 supplements to give their children without knowing the risks. Many don’t understand that the vitamin and supplement industry is not regulated so there isn’t even a way of knowing what is in these bottles nor what dosage could be too high. And taking B9, Folinic Acid or Folic Acid has no provable effects to alleviate autism symptoms and also could cause harm. But parents are desperate for good news, and it would not be their fault for trying.

The president, even stating that he shouldn’t do so, went on to say that the Amish do not have autism in their communities. “None”, he said. The Amish do indeed have children with autism. And he indicated that vaccines could be the cause, another thoroughly investigated and disproven statement from over 20 years ago. Vaccines do not cause autism.  The number of unvaccinated children in the U.S. is growing along with cases of measles, whooping cough, etc. These are diseases that can be deadly, especially for people with disabilities or other health issues. So instead of curing autism, we will have children with autism and measles. 

Social media is feeding off of this and bringing old conspiracy theories out of the 1990’s to a generation who hasn’t heard them before and thinks they are plausible. To be clear, I do not fault the parents for this in any way. This is entirely in the lap of this administration and the snake oil social media pariahs who follow in his wake.

In short, they lied to the American public. And worse, they lied to vulnerable populations. They lied to pregnant women. They lied to families of people with autism. There was nothing new in the research they cited. They know what they are doing, and they don’t think it matters, because you might believe them if you don’t know better. You might think they just cured autism. And if a child gets sick because of an unregulated supplement, it’s not their fault. And if a baby has birth defects because the mother “toughs it out”, it’s not their problem. And if a baby dies because the parents were too afraid to give Tylenol, well, who is to blame? 

I care about families of children with autism, and so do the amazing people that work with me and in this community. Our pediatricians, obstetricians, therapists, and teachers have spent their whole adult lives working towards making this better. We cry over families that we see struggling, and children who are genuinely suffering. We want to find the causes, cures, and treatments for autism, but we know it is a many-faceted issue that requires the best and brightest to continue to work in multiple fields of study.There are ways the federal government can help. They can reinstate university health research funding, fully fund public school special education, make healthcare affordable, address the lack of maternal health providers and delivering hospitals, and elevate knowledge in public discourse. There are ways we can prevent becoming a victim of these lies. Talk to people with provable knowledge and experience in the field. These are our own physicians, teachers, and therapists who have licensures that legally prevent them from spreading misinformation unlike social media influencers and politicians to whom we are the product. 

https://www.nih.gov/…/study-reveals-no-causal-link….

https://www.google.com/search?q=leucovorin%20for%20cfd…

https://www.acog.org/news/news-releases/2025/09/acog-affirms-safety-benefits-acetaminophen-pregnancy

(Name Omitted by Request)

Fayetteville, GA