Kaitlyn Hughes | news editor

Tammy Hughes, a professor of school psychology at Duquesne, said President Donald Trump’s advice for pregnant women to not use acetaminophen because of supposed links to autism is not informed by rigorous research.

“It’s very hard to walk these things back. When you say stuff that can catch hold, and then you’re like ‘oh no sorry that wasn’t right,’ people aren’t sure what to believe,” she said. “That’s why you have to be cautious about making policy statements.”

During a news conference last week Trump and health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited studies that suggested that taking Tylenol could lead to autism. Duquesne professors say this statement has created confusion for both medical providers and patients.

Although there may be an association between the two, Hughes said that does not mean the consumption of Tylenol during pregnancy causes autism.

“Correlation does not equal causation,” she said.

Elizabeth Nickrenz, associate professor of psychology at Duquesne, said that if there was a causal relationship between acetaminophen taken during pregnancy and an autism diagnosis then it would have been made known sooner because people are curious about what causes autism.

“Whether it’s parents who are raising a child on the autism spectrum and seeing how many things they struggle with and seeing all the ways that their life is going to be difficult … I think when we are confronted with something that is important but that we don’t have an explanation for we ask why,” she said.

The American Psychological Association said in a statement that research shows that autism has complex origins between genetics, biology and environment and is not a single condition with a single cause.

Its complicated origins are in part because autism is a behavioral diagnosis that stems from observing someone and seeing what they do, Nickrenz said.

Nickrenz thinks that instead of looking for a single explanation for the cause of autism, there should be more emphasis placed on what is hard for a person with autism and how society can make their lives easier.

“I think we need to think more about what a good life looks like for a person on the autism spectrum,” she said.

What specifically frustrated Nickrenz about the president’s statement is that sometimes it is necessary to take Tylenol.

“It’s actually better to have a range of fever reducers available to you, rather than trying to ‘tough it out.’ That is actually something that can impact kids developmentally,” she said.

Anita Showalter, who has worked at a private practice delivering babies and is a professor of OB-GYN at Duquesne, said that Tylenol is one of the medications that medical providers have felt comfortable advising patients to take during pregnancy.

“The best advice is don’t take medication without talking to your doctor and weighing the risk and benefits for your situation and that applies to everything having to do with a pregnancy,” Showalter said.

Although some people with autism might want to figure out the cause, Nickrenz said talking about autism as something that needs to be cured can sometimes be harmful.

“When people on the autism spectrum do speak up about this, what is heard is this ‘kind of thing is hurtful for us and it creates stigma, and it makes people think that our lives as we live them aren’t valuable,’” Nickrenz said.

Hughes said that after the statement from the president was released she was worried that people would begin blaming mothers who have children with autism or mothers may begin to blame themselves for certain life choices.

On the other hand, Showalter said she does not see it creating a stigma, but instead she hopes it spurs more research in relation to the topic. She also said it might change how people think about taking medications.

“We’re used to taking a pill to try to be normal when we should sleep and rest and save the medications for the high fevers that could be dangerous,” she said. “I think this will help Americans reset their thinking about when do I need a chemical in my body and when do I need a behavioral change to deal with this situation.”

Hughes added that this could also create an increased focus on autism-related research and awareness of the needs of individuals with autism.

“Normalizing that this is something we all need to know about and deserves our understanding and deserves funding to support rigorous data collection could be positive,” she said.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu