DENVER (KDVR) — While President Donald Trump is discouraging pregnant women from taking Tylenol, saying the drug has ties to autism, autism advocates in Colorado say there’s more to the story.
“Research shows that autism arises from a combination, a complex combination of genetic, social and environmental factors,” said CEO of Firefly Autism, Dr. Amanda Kelly.
The maker of Tylenol released a statement saying acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy, and that rigorous research confirms there is no credible link between acetaminophen and autism.
Autism advocate and professor at Colorado State, Temple Grandin, says when she heard the president’s remarks, she immediately went to the research.
“It’s likely that acetaminophen may increase the risk or severity of autism when it’s combined with susceptible genetics. Genetics is a major factor in the cause of autism and that’s also something very well documented,” Grandin said.
While research has been done on the topic, some, like Kelly, say the neurodevelopmental condition is far too complicated to point the cause to any one factor.
“Research shows that autism arises from a combination, a complex combination, of genetic social and environmental factors, so unfortunately it’s not as simple as just being one singular cause, right, and I think as well, autism itself is sometimes widely misunderstood,” Kelly said.
Executive Director of the Autism Society of Colorado Jennifer Korb echoed that statement and said more research is vitally important for the future of understanding and caring for the next generations who have autism.
“We have to consider this is a large spectrum of different presentations of autism. And there’s not one right way for any autistic person. There’s lots of varied ways that we have to be sure to include when we think about how we support autism and how we talk about autism,” Korb said.
Korb added that Trump’s language and rhetoric surrounding autism at the announcement on Monday do not support a path forward to knowledge and understanding.
“To say that we’re going to cure autism or autism is going away, that is not going to happen. Might we find a way to mitigate some of the symptoms of autism? Absolutely. Might we find a way to lessen impact of autism on individuals? Absolutely,” Korb said.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
