Published 9/30/25
Parenting blogger, Jackie Davidson, shares her perspective on the recent announcement by the federal government on a possible correlation between acetaminophen and autism. The accuracy of the findings remains under scrutiny.
The opinions shared are Jackie’s alone and should not be taken as medical advice.
A New Perspective
There has been a lot discussed and stated about Autism lately: in our news, our homes, social media, and our schools. People are talking a lot about something that has been around for an extremely long time, if not forever. They are posting a lot on social media with a fast click of a share button. They are reaching out to reassure parents or blame pharmaceutical companies. People also have plenty to say about our political administration and about other countries’ rates of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
A few days ago, an old friend reached out to me on one of my social media accounts to reassure me that I did not cause my daughter’s autism. I am well aware that I did not cause my daughter to be autistic. In fact, what I have observed over the last week or so is that the loudest voices I’m seeing and hearing are people who happen not to be autistic or be a caregiver to autistic people. This makes me happy or even excited, and lets me explain why.
We Might Not See This as a Bad Thing
As a parent to an autistic child, I am used to hearing ignorant opinions and wild statements about my child and her life without any proof, scientific background, and with a lot of hearsay. So, for us, this is nothing new. That’s sad, right? It sure is. Sadly, we have been conditioned to listen to nonsense about our own children from so many people, news outlets, and politicians who have no idea what our daily struggles, efforts, and most importantly, our wins are.
So, the reason you may not be hearing much from us is that this is nothing new. Our children have been explained by uneducated people for a very long time, so this is just another week for us. The reason I am happy about this? The reason I choose to be happy about this? It’s simple; it is being recognized and discussed at a higher level.
How This May Help
The first step to inclusivity is to realize how many children, adults, and humans in general are on the autism spectrum or live with neurodivergence of some sort. There is no cure since it is not an illness, but like any disability, there may be things that can help them be more comfortable in our world. We hope that the attention brought on by the federal administration has created enough of a spectacle of itself to force everyone to see our kids, friends, and family. We hope funding will be put towards research for our children, and while someone might be trying to find a cause, we might find help.
We Want Real Help
As caregivers to an autistic individual, we have never had the time to ponder why our child is who they are; we have been in defense and survival mode with them since the beginning. What we want is help and clear scientific research. We want inclusivity. We want understanding, and if this political agenda might get us some more of that, then we will be welcoming it with open arms.
The truth is, we know very little about autism, and we all want to know more. We do know that vaccines do not cause autism, that taking Tylenol has not been proven to cause autism, and that genetics play the biggest role, as they do with any evolutionary process. We do not support uneducated beliefs about ASD, but it’s not as though it is a new situation for us. What is new is having this amount of eyes and ideas about ASD, and we pray and hope that in the end, what is now pretty ugly will turn out to be some beautiful help for our kids, friends, and family.
Story by Jackie Davidson for BlueWaterParent.com
All content of BlueWaterParent.com is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.
