In yet another powerful display of reverse psychology, President Trump might have actually boosted the consumption of Tylenol by saying it might contribute to developing autism. Contrary to the claim that Trump was speaking in ignorance, his assertion happened to be based on a recent study by the dean of the Harvard School of Public Health.
Whether or not one accepts Trump’s warning against consuming acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol and other pain relievers), which has been around for years now, the impulse of pregnant leftist mothers spitefully gulping down Tylenol seems completely irrational. For a political movement comprised of so many college-educated Americans who unilaterally “believe in science,” this collective outcry is ironically out of place.
This is even more ironic when one considers that many of these same people actively wished death upon those who didn’t take the mRNA vaccines five short years ago. They should have seen the error of their ways at this point. However, it’s clear that the hysteria then and the hysteria now are all based on political partisanship, nothing more.
So if there is any truth to Trump’s claim about autism, there is no reason to pay any heed to leftist critics or anyone else attempting to politicize a fundamentally nonpolitical issue. Rather, conservatives and other sane Americans should take this opportunity to demonstrate a better collective approach to public health. In general, this means cultivating a clear understanding of what is usually a complex matter, proceeding with caution, and remaining open to new data and possible counterevidence.
Because of media distortions and private interests, achieving the first step of understanding a disease or ailment has been the hardest part. This is especially true in the case of autism, which ranges from a severely debilitating neurological disorder to a mildly eccentric personality trait. Even before celebrating one’s “neurodivergence” on social media became a TikTok trend, defining autism has always been a challenge. For that reason, most cases of autism went undiagnosed in the past and are now treated as another identity group who should be proud of their disability and reject all treatment for the condition.
However, due to a broadening range of symptoms denoting autism in recent decades and various funding incentives, autism diagnoses skyrocketed. Not only did this lead to a wide array of drugs and treatments to treat people who were “on the spectrum,” it also led to a wide array of theories for what causes autism in the first place. Is it something in one of the 30+ vaccines American children receive? Is it a toxin in the water or food supply? Or is it a pain reliever that many pregnant mothers take without thinking?
Even for those who attribute the rise in autism solely to increased diagnoses, this doesn’t address the question of what causes it in the first place. Also, quibbling over the data doesn’t consider what actually qualifies as autism, which makes the diagnosis all the more unreliable and subjective. As left-brain (autistic?) types like to say with computer models, “garbage in, garbage out.”
This makes it all the more necessary to cut through the false diagnoses and misrepresentations of autism in pop culture. A nonverbal person who can’t perform basic tasks became that way for very different reasons than an introverted nerd who spends hundreds of hours painting miniature Warhammer 40,000 figurines. In all likelihood, the severe forms of autism probably do have physiological causes (i.e., vaccine injury, genetics, Tylenol, etc.) while the milder forms are probably the result of environment or upbringing (i.e., too much Minecraft, not enough team sports, etc.).
This would accord with my own experience as an English teacher, where I encounter students diagnosed with dyslexia. In some cases, they really will perceive letters and words differently, which affects their ability to decode written language. In other cases, they never learned phonics in primary school. In the former case, the student likely needs a tailored intervention from a specialist; but in the latter case, the student simply needs to learn the alphabet and practice basic reading.
Most people have experienced something similar to this in their own lives. And normally they respond accordingly, seeking medical assistance in cases of serious injury or illness and applying their own remedies in less serious cases. This is usually what is meant by “common sense.”
However, because common sense is not profitable, massive pharmaceutical corporations and their ethically-challenged shills have waged a decades-long campaign against it. Covid hysteria was the culmination of this campaign. But this, in turn, largely inspired the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement and set the agenda of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Although MAHA and RFK Jr. are derided as kooks and grifters by critics, they are the natural consequence of the logical breakdown in public health. Noticing the many health problems of Americans today, supporters of MAHA dare to ask questions. In today’s expert-dependent culture where we have ceded all thinking to doctors and private interests, this seems radical; but it is perfectly natural—even healthy.
As I discussed with writer and MAHA enthusiast Evan McClanahan on a recent podcast, much of the current discourse on today’s medical treatments involves differentiating correlation and causation. Although some people go down endless rabbit holes in the search for the cause or cure for conditions as complex as autism, most people are usually humbled by how much data there is to review and interpret. This humility then fosters an appropriately cautious attitude about vaccines, drugs, or medical procedures. In nearly every case, there are trade-offs that come with even the most popular remedy.
In other words, the MAHA movement is influencing Americans to become much more conservative about health care, avoiding extremes and exercising prudence. It’s notable that every announcement or recommendation on public health made by the Trump administration has been relatively moderate and fully transparent. In contrast to the officials of the Biden administration ordering all Americans to smother themselves with N95 masks and jab their arms with an untested drug, today’s officials now caution pregnant women against taking too much Tylenol and call for removing unnecessary coloring in processed foods.
It remains to be seen whether the HHS under Trump and Kennedy will finally find a clear cause and cure for autism, but their approach should be commended. In line with the MAHA movement, they are restoring common sense to public health, empowering normal Americans, and pushing back against corporate predators and technocratic demagogues. For their part, medical professionals may even rediscover their calling to heal people and “do no harm.” This may not be celebrated by everyone—particularly Trump’s enemies—but for the rest of the country, it might just be what the doctor ordered.
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