Free Republic

The idea of autism as a single spectrum has shaped thinking for decades, but the metaphor is misleading, says this public health expert.The phrases “autism spectrum” or “on the spectrum” have become part of everyday language. They are often used as different ways of referring to someone who is “neurodivergent”. The term was coined in the 1980s by psychiatrist Dr Lorna Wing, whose work transformed how autism was understood in the United Kingdom. At the time, her “autism spectrum” concept was groundbreaking. Instead of seeing autism as a rare, narrowly defined condition, she recognised a wide range of traits and...

The diagnostic categorisation for autism is so broad that families of profoundly autistic children are being left behind, says the mother of a 7-year-old nonverbal daughter. When I tell strangers that my daughter is autistic, their questions are often so far from my reality, it’s painful. Does she have a unique talent? Special interests? They picture a child who excels at puzzles. But my daughter hasn’t shown an interest in toys since she was 20 months old and is unable to tell me what she wants to be for Halloween or when she grows up. I fear illnesses like strep...

In 2020, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that one in 36 children (approximately four percent of boys and one percent of girls) was estimated to have autism-spectrum disorder, estimates that were significantly higher than those in all previous years. But just five years later, according to the press conference held just weeks ago on September 22, President Trump — in the presence of U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz — announced that the Department of Health and...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed Thursday there may be a link between circumcision — due to the use of Tylenol following the procedure — and autism. “There’s two studies which show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” Kennedy said during a meeting of Trump’s cabinet members. “It’s highly likely because they were given Tylenol.”

The pharmaceutical company behind Tylenol privately acknowledged the likelihood of an association between its drug in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism in children seven years ago, company documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.“The weight of the evidence is starting to feel heavy to me,” said Rachel Weinstein, U.S. director of epidemiology for Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, in 2018. Johnson & Johnson marketed Tylenol at the time but in 2023 spun off its consumer products division into a separate company called Kenvue.Legacy media headlines and vocal public health experts have dismissed the conclusion...

Tylenol has come under fresh scrutiny after a 2017 post resurfaced in which the brand appeared to warn pregnant women against using its products. The tweet, now being widely shared, stated: 'We actually don't recommend taking any of our products while pregnant.' It has been seized on by the White House just days after President Donald Trump claimed the common painkiller — known as generic paracetamol in Britain and generic acetaminophen in the US — may cause autism. His remarks provoked outrage from doctors, who said there is 'no robust evidence' for such claims. Britain's regulator, the MHRA, also stressed:...

On Monday, President Donald Trump issued an advisory for pregnant women to refrain from taking Tylenol or at the very least cut back on their intake of it as a precaution due to a possible link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and autism.The reaction to this announcement by the Associated Press that same day displayed an obvious animus that Science was dying. This fury was reflected in the headline of the AP story by Ali Swenson and Lauran Neergaard: "Trump makes unfounded claims about Tylenol and repeats discredited link between vaccines and autism."

In a bizarre "stand" against President Trump, liberal pregnant women have taken to social media, posting videos of themselves taking Tylenol. This comes after a major announcement on Monday, where the Trump administration said that they will no longer recommend pregnant women take Tylenol, as they believe it may increase the chances of a child being born with autism. Even if the announcement were untrue, why would these mothers risk hurting their children simply to rub it in President Trump's face? It is less of taking a stand, and more of just plain stupidity. This is Michelle Vu, MD. She...

On Monday, President Donald Trump presented a major announcement on the administration's plan to combat, treat, and prevent autism. The Trump Administration's Autism Action Plan pic.twitter.com/5aY5huzg8x— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 22, 2025Flanked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, and acting Assistant Secretary of HHS Dr. Dorothy Fink, Trump thanked Kennedy for bringing this health crisis "to the forefront of American politics." He also thanked Bhattacharya,...

President Trump and top health officials Monday said pregnant women should not take acetaminophen for pain relief due to a potential link to autism. Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol, one of the most widely used medications in the world. “Taking Tylenol is not good,” Trump said during a White House announcement. Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin updating the label on acetaminophen and will begin notifying physicians that Tylenol “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.” “All pregnant women should talk...

“We’re going to have an announcement on autism on Monday,” Trump said during remarks from Mt. Vernon, the historic home of President George Washington for the American Cornerstone Institute. “I think it’s gonna be a very important announcement. I think its gonna be one of the most important things that we will do,” he added.

FULL TITLE: Democratic Socialists convention is ridiculed as a 'meeting of snowflakes' after one delegate complains his 'sensory overload' has been triggered by 'whispering' - accidentally sparking a debate over gendered nouns Delegates at the Democratic Socialists of America convention are being ridiculed on social media after videos of them interrupting their 'comrades' to complain of being 'triggered' by chattering crowds and the use of gendered pronouns went viral. The 2019 DSA National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, concluded on Sunday but is still inspiring conversation online, particularly among those who are opposed to the Democratic Socialist ideals. Social media users...

Disgraced CDC vaccine researcher Poul Thorsen was arrested in Germany after a decade on the run for fraud and money laundering. His fraudulent studies, used to dismiss vaccine-autism links, helped deny more than 5,000 injury claims while he stole nearly $1 million in CDC funds. Thorsen’s research was riddled with flaws, ethical violations, and conflicts of interest, yet the CDC continued defending it even after his crimes were exposed. Critics say his arrest reveals systemic corruption in vaccine research, where pharmaceutical influence and fraudulent science silence families of injured children. If extradited and compelled to testify, Thorsen could expose deeper...

"If we hadn’t won this election we would have all been vaxxed to death and censored so no one could hear our dying screams" — Mike Benz on "X". That reckoning you’ve heard about lo these many years? It’s here now. We’re in it. You just can’t see all the moving parts, and if you did, you might not understand how or where they are moving, and what they are fixing to do next. Aside from certain US senators playing their pre-scripted mad scenes for the cameras, a disquieting quiet blankets the swamp like a miasma. It feels like a...

Trump said tonight New Orleans is the next... The Wall Street Journal reported today that the US Health and Human Services Department... Police in Serbia firing tear gas and stun grenades at anti-government protesters... In the high-profile immigration case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia... 475 people, most of them South Koreans, arrested in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant under... "Or as they say in English 'B*****it'" That is a top Russian official's assessment... CNN reports that US President...weighing his options to attack Venezuela...warplanes buzzing a US warship for the second time...Trump spoke of Venezuelan warplanes being 'shot down"... A...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will reveal that Tylenol use during pregnancy and a folate deficiency may be linked to autism. During a Cabinet meeting last week, HSS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that his department has pinpointed “certain interventions” that are almost certainly causing autism in children. President Trump pressed the issue head-on during the Cabinet meeting, calling the autism crisis “a tremendous horror show” devastating American families. Kennedy stunned the room with the numbers. In 1970, he said, a massive Wisconsin study of 900,000 children found an autism rate of less than one...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. raised the alarm earlier this year about the meteoric rise of reported autism cases in the United States, underscoring at a press conference, "We are doing this to our children, and we need to put an end to it." "The [autism spectrum disorder] prevalence rate in 8-year-olds is now 1 in 31," said Kennedy, referring to a study that examined children born in 2014. The health secretary noted further that American boys face an "extreme risk" of ending up with autism, stating that they have a 1 in 20 chance of...

Kennedy first announced a joint research effort to find the root causes of autism in April as part of the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" mission. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on Tuesday confirmed to President Donald Trump that his department is still on track to publish information identifying "interventions" that are contributing to a rise in autism.Kennedy first announced a joint research effort to find the root causes of autism in April as part of the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" mission. One-in-36 children have autism spectrum disorder, according to a Centers...

The trial of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students, will be moved to Boise, the Idaho State Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The State Supreme Court granted a ‘change of venue’ motion, which will move the trial from its current location in Latah County, in North Idaho, down south to the capital in Ada County. This comes nearly two years after the murders took place. Bryan Kohberger is accused of murdering University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in an off-campus house in Nov. 2022. The house was located...

Up until taking his case, Bryan Kohberger’s court-appointed public defender was actively representing a parent of one of the four Moscow stabbing victims her client is accused of killing, court records show. Anne Taylor, chief of the Kootenai County Public Defender’s Office, filed an attorney withdrawal notice in Kootenai County Court for the parent on Jan. 5 — the same day Kohberger made his first court appearance in Idaho in Latah County. The parent previously was sentenced on unrelated misdemeanor charges. In that case, as well as another where the parent faces two felony charges, the public defender’s office withdrew...