UK Top 10 News

President Donald Trump’s announcement linking the use of Tylenol during pregnancy to autism has caused significant distress and a ‘mind game’ for countless mothers.
When Christina Collura, a Canadian mother of two boys including a 12-year-old son with autism, heard the claim, she admitted she ‘went down a rabbit hole,’ anxiously wracking her brain to recall if she had taken paracetamol, the main ingredient in Tylenol, during her pregnancies.
She said the mere ‘thought that she may have done something harmful to her baby played such a mind game’ and was ‘scary.’ Collura highlighted the damaging effect of such high-profile, unsupported claims, stating that the more one focuses on the purported link, the more it ‘gets in the way of your providing the services and the acceptance and the inclusion support’ needed for children with autism.
She also sought to reassure the community by noting that with estimates suggesting 3% of children have autism, it is not a condition that is ‘particularly rare’ or something that people should be ‘scared of or panicking about.’ The focus, she argues, should be on recognition and support rather than fear.
She emphasized that autism is not a new phenomenon but is instead ‘something that’s newly recognised.’ The announcement by the Trump administration has been met with concern from many, who feel that such claims, particularly when targeting a common, over-the-counter pain reliever, can be deeply unsettling for parents and potentially distract from established therapeutic and inclusion-based support services for children with autism.