September 18, 2025
The Boost News
SPOTLIGHT: THE WHITE HOUSE AND AUTISM
When U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr., announced back in April an effort to discover, by September, the cause behind an increase in autism diagnoses, alarm bells went off. Concern focused on his determination to simplify a highly complex neurodevelopmental disorder, his dismissal of existing studies — including those debunking a link between vaccines and autism — and willful ignoring of evidence that show the rise is directly related to a more nuanced understanding of the autism spectrum and better testing methods.
Well, it’s September, and Kennedy, along with President Trump, announced that the so-called causes have been found. The supposed culprits: acetaminophen (Tylenol), when taken by pregnant women, and Kennedy’s old chestnut, childhood vaccines.
The press conference was “the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycled old myths, lousy advice, outright lies, and dangerous recommendations by anyone in authority in the world claiming to know anything about science that I have ever witnessed,” wrote Arthur L. Caplan, head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in his piece, The U.S. government has jumped the public health shark (Stat).
Below, a summary of what’s been said since.
‘Sick to My Stomach’: Trump Distorts Facts on Autism, Tylenol, and Vaccines, Scientists Say Autism experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were neither consulted for the autism announcement nor asked to review a draft of the findings and recommendations. (KFF Health News)
Leading Autism and Disability Organizations Call for Decision-Making Based on Quality Science and Compassion for the Autism Community (Posted on AAPD)
Tylenol is safe, doctors tell worried pregnant moms (Reuters)
Vance Says Pregnant Women Should ‘Follow Your Doctor’ When It Comes To Tylenol Some in the administration attempt to soften the reckless recommendation that pregnant women avoid Tylenol. (NBC News)
Leucovorin for autism? Many scientists — and parents — are skeptical The findings so far point to the prescription form of B9, touted at the press conference as a way to improve certain “symptoms” of autism, might possibly be helpful for a small subset of people on the autism spectrum, though there is no solid evidence to support this. (NPR)
‘Autism Doesn’t Need a Cure’: Trump’s Message Rankles People Living With the Disability (NYT)
US health secretary Kennedy considers adding autism symptoms to vaccine injury program Bloomberg News reports Kennedy Jr. is considering adding certain symptoms of autism to an official list of side effects that can be compensated through a government vaccine injury program, which would potentially throw it into disarray. (Reuters)
MEDICAID
Congressional Proposal Calls For Sending More Medicaid Funds To Institutions Legislation calls for repealing Medicaid’s Institutions for Mental Diseases, or IMD, exclusion, which limits states from directing federal Medicaid funds to care for individuals 21 to 64 in mental health and substance use disorder facilities with more than 16 beds in many circumstances. Read the letter opposing the change, sent to leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee organized by the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities and signed by more than 60 disability groups, here. (Disability Scoop)
LABOR
CDC backtracks on remote work ban for employees with disabilities (USA Today)
EDUCATION
Educators Worry About How Trump’s Autism Rhetoric Will Affect Students, Parents (Education Week)
Parents Fear Losing Disability Protections as Trump Slashes Civil Rights Office (KFF Health News)
Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push (ProPublica)